1944

Lots of '44 "cats" on hot tin roofs this past summer. No less than a plethora at Stan Barr's second annual lobster Barr-B- Q, held at Nancy and Reg Pierce's ('46) place in Etna, outside Hanover. Friendly Stan comes over from his Maine log cabin, handsomely encumbered with lobsters and steamers, and handsome classmates, accompanied by their yet handsomer wives, show up in lobster bibs and tuckers. Seen clawing this past June were: Lu and Jim Browning, Helen andGeorge Bruce, Liz and Bill Craig, Anneand Fritz Hier, Ann and Bob McLaughry,June and Rod Morgan, Don and MaryannPfeifle, Ellie and Jack Stephenson, and Nancy and Bud Troxell.

The Troxells, by the way, spent two weeks in the Hiers' log cabin in Cornish Flat, and a dandier set of renters you can't imagine. Bud and Nancy were up from New Orleans to see son Todd graduate from Dartmouth Medical School; and also on hand was George's doctor son, George III, and his family, from nearby Durham, N.H. Troxells as far as the eye could see . . .

Then, Betty and Ben Jones held their annual Shelter Island, L.1., bash in July, and there were some repeaters at that one, namely, the Craigs and Hiers. Also, Nancy and Leo Leopold, with Leo recovering nicely from recent surgery. Sadly, regulars Pat and Ezz Hale couldn't join us from Rochester because of the death of Ezz's father at age 91.

The plot thickens a bit: an earlier phone call from John Billington revealed that he had spent a weekend at the Joneses on Shelter Island, by way of Maplewood, N.J., and Green Valley, Ariz. The Billingtons took early retirement, at 63, from their Woolrich, Pa., digs, and John was on a toot east to visit old haunts and friends. Maplewood was a key because that is where he and Ben Jones schooled together they were also roomies at Dartmouth. When John called from White River Junction, he was just off five days hiking Vermont's Long Trail. John was solo on this trip but says that he and wife Katherine do lots of hiking in Arizona, and they have their legs set on doing the same in Utah and Colorado.

Small-world, long-odds department: it came out at dinner last spring that Betty Jones and Lu Browning were both born in Idaho and went through schools not far from each other, Betty in Ahsahka and Lu in American Falls. Yup, in Idaho ...

Slightly further afield, Joey and SteveTate headed for Everest Base camp in May but had to put aside their alpenstocks in Kathmandu when Joey came up with a bad back. But not all was lost. "We had a great time/' said Steve. "We rode elephants and camels at Tiger Tops, we stayed in princely places, we got to the Taj Mahal, and we had almost the whole beach at Goa to ourselves the Indians don't swim." Altogether five weeks in India.

A press release tells us that Alex Gillespie, who lives in Greenwich, Conn., has changed titles at ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company). He was vice chairman and general counsel; effective last May he became vice chairman legal and corporate affairs. Alex joined ASARCO in 1960 as an attorney and has held a variety of positions with the company since then. He is a member of a number of bar associations and is on the board of mining associations in Latin America.

Wiley Hitchcock is co-editor of TheNew Grove Dictionary of American Music, a four-volume work described as "a stunning achievement in editorial organization." Wiley is Distinguished Professor of Music of the City University of New York and founding director of the Institute of studies in American Music at Brooklyn College. He has pursued research under Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships and Was named one of the first Getty Scholars for 1985-1986.

Ed Fitzgerald writes from NYC: "It's been a tough year physically. I had some cancer surgery at the end of January to remove some lymph nodes. The sur- rounding area was clean, and I've fully recovered from all that stuff."

Ann and Bob Conroy have sold bits and pieces of real estate and sea-going vessels and have bought a home in West Lebanon, N.H. They'll be dividing their time between New Hampshire and an apartment in New York.

From engineer John Lovewell in Edgartown, Mass.: "I've been semi-retired for a couple of years now, but I did run for sewer commissioner in town and got elected. Since most of my experience has been as a 'dirty water engineer,' I thought I'd get a look at it from the owner's side. I keep my hand in by doing some consulting work, but I'm concentrating on improving my golf game."

Lydia McLoud, widow of Malcolm, sent us the announcement of son Paul's graduation from De Pauw University in June. He will be going to Indiana University this fall for his master's in environmental geology.

That's it. Blessings.

Lovejoy Hill Cornish Flat, NH 03746