1944
Old Testament: Genesis, XXIII _ "Old and well stricken in age." Hah. Speak for yourself. Go tell it to the marines. (But not Colonel North; he'd probably take the Fifth). Anyway, we're recently back from a winter assault on Mt. Owls Head, in the White Mountains, all part of the peakbagging enterprise of climbing all 48 of New Hampshire's 4,000-footers. We're up to 20 and raring to knock off the remaining 28. Give me a scoot if you'd like to try a little mountain air.
Wemo Epply and I placed our flags atop Mt. Garfield, 4,480 feet, in October and it was just splendid. Weather was a bit raw and too cloudy for a clear view of the North Pole, but the peanut butterand-jelly sandwiches and Mars bars couldn't have tasted better. And, the companionship, of course, was sparkling.
Perpetually on the go is that retired Swampscott, Mass., shoe merchant, StanBarr. He divides his time between Swampscott and his cabin in northern Maine. "When I'm in Massachusetts," he writes, "I keep my hand in by travelling the area with my chain saw, cutting and trimming trees for all my friends and neighbors." Not that he's always in the area. Last fall, Stan took in Yellowstone and Glacier parks and then headed for the Canadian Rockies Banff, Jasper, and all of the glacial lakes in between. But no part of the trip could top his visit to his old roomie, Spence Baird, who, with his wife, Judy, has created an incredible retreat in a remote area of Vancouver Island.
Writes Stan: "Spence and Judy are both retired professors of biochemistry at the University of Oregon, and they've spent the last seven to eight years building their hideaway, which is a seven-mile boatride from civilization! The main house is on a cliff overlooking the ocean, surrounded by cedars up to 16 feet in diameter. Spence has built cedar shake paths and walkways to adjacent beaches, and they go through rain forests and over cliffs and gorges.
"They have all the amenities electricity, running water, etc. thanks to Spence's ingenuity. The electricity is a combination of hydroelectric power and solar-celled batteries, with a maze of switches and circuitry that would bedazzle the wizards at G.E. where Spence spent a few years as an inventor. The water works, with an equally elaborate network of gates, shut-offs, etc., comes from a 3,000 gallon wooden tank which Spence built himself and which is filled with a hydro-ram from nearby streams. He has his own sawmill and Judy maintains 22 gardens, where she grows all of their vegetables and a wide variety of flowers.
Despite their remote location, Stan says the Bairds welcome Dartmouth visitors. Frank Ebaugh was there recently.
Like the rest pf us, Dave and Ann Patterson are doing things on a slightly smaller scale. They have sold their family home in Binghamton, N.Y., and moved into an apartment. "We are continually finding more pluses to this simpler lifestyle," they write, "and have recently bought a summer lakeside cottage nearby, the ideal spot for summers." Daughter Julie, who was married in October, graduates from Dartmouth Medical School in June.
Der Herr Professor Merle Hagen at Henniker College in N.H. says he's going to erase his last blackboard late next fall and retire in December.
A December note from Charlie Spallino, who is in the liquor business in Springfield, Mass. "Spent two weeks in Burgundy and Bordeaux on a wine-buying trip in October, ending up in Epernay at the Chateau Saran as the guest of Moet and Chandon, drinking Dom Perignon."
The College's Alumni Records Office has asked for help locating a number of "lost" '44s. Kindly let me know if you know anything about any of the following:
Joaquin Aguirre, Donald A. Campbell,William A. Duffy Jr., M. James Finn,
Robert S. Hyde, Henry E. Montgomery,Frank E. West 111, Howard S. Wood,Douglas C. Alton, Leßoy F. Briggs, J.Averell Clark Jr., Robert Q. Ecob, Richard H. Gutherie, John T. Hempstead,Thomas W. Kunau, George S. Peak, and John L. Vandegrift Jr.
Vinton W. Mitchell died of throat cancer December 30, 1986. Sympathies to his widow, Sylvia, and daughter, Katherine.
That's it. Blessings. P.S. A sad, late word: Nancy Hagen, a '44 stalwart and my assistant at Dartmouth for a dozen years died of a heart attack January 18 at her new home in Virginia. Our sympathies.
Lovejoy Hill Cornish Flat, NH 03746
