1938

The 50th Reunion figures are improving by leaps and bounds. As of this writing (mid-January) Dick Francis tells me that 178 classmates have indicated they will definitely be back in Hanover on June 10, 11, 12—and 34 have said "maybe." By the time you read this in early March the figures will no doubt have increased sizably, for Dick anticipates that at least 200 classmates will be on hand for the reunion. It's by no means too late; June is still three months away. Get your reservation and deposit in to Dick soonest—right now, for instance.

Just a year ago I reported in this column on one of the more spectacular hobbies pursued by a classmate, namely Sturgis White, who has taken up sky-diving as his retirement avocation. Now some sleuthing has turned up some other hobbies among us which, though perhaps less hair-raising, are no less unusual.

Take Jim Sutcliffe, for instance. It turns out he pans gold. That's right: gold. Having retired from the construction and banking business a few years back, Jim and his wife, Marion, moved from Newton to Dennis Port, Mass. Each summer, however, they desert Cape Cod for northern Maine and New Hampshire, where they pan gold from the native streams. Can you really turn a profit panning gold nowadays? "No, not really," Jim says. "It's strictly a hobby. We get fragments now and then, but that's about it." But, he quickly adds, "Next year we want to try some streams in the West. They say some of them are pretty productive." Now there speaks a true prospector!

Or take the case of Brad Jenkins, who lives not far from Jim in Duxbury, Mass. Brad has turned a lifelong hobby of woodworking into a profitable retirement business. Together he and his wife, Ginny, turn out sophisticated hand-crafted models of shore birds and waterfowl. Brad does the woodworking, Ginny does the painting. It began about ten years ago, the Jenkinses say, when Brad made a small wooden duck in his shop one day to amuse two bored, visiting grandchildren. Sensing the potential in such models, however, Brad and Ginny spent about three years studying bird books, doing research, and making trial patterns. By 1980 they were selling their first models, and since then they've never looked back. Now each year they produce hundreds of detailed models of over 50 species of birds, many of them in multiple patterns, and their work is in demand not only by individual collectors but also by retail stores and boutiques throughout the country. Ginny summed it up: "It's fascinating work. It keeps us busy but not frantic." Who could ask for more than that!

Sky divers, gold panners, model makers. That often applied adjective is right: we are an "amazing" bunch. THE-WAY-IT-WAS DEPARTMENT

From the Dartmouth, Saturday, March 5, 1938: "Snow changing to sleet and rain. Saturday night rain and warmer. Headline, same date, same source: "Town Election Brings/Big Weekend Exodus/Classes Deserted./Lure of Smith, Wellesley/Pine Manor and Other/Attractions Cause Mass/Exodus from Hanover." Somehow I doubt town election day had much to do with that longago "exodus." Any excuse would do. It was the pits, March in Hanover! Cause enough to leave town! And leave we did.

Box 42 Waterford, ME 04088

RECAPTURE THE RAPTURE 10.11 &12 June 1988