1956

This has been a remarkably quiet month. I have heard from absolutely no one, with the exception of the Alumni Office, without whose regular and timely assistance this column often would be sheer fabrication.

By the time you see this, you will have heard of The Will to Excel Campaign kick-off on November 15-16 at New York's Lincoln Center, "recognizing a group of alumni and their Dartmouth mentors in the inaugural awarding of the Presidential Medal for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership." In a letter to Clem Malin, Barbara E. Whipple '85, associate director of Alumni Affairs, pointed out that we should "be particularly interested since [our] classmate Joseph Gonnella will be honored at this event." Congratulations, Joe. We hope to see you at reunion.

And congratulations, too, to Donald H.Gray Jr., recently named vice president of sales and marketing for GNB Incorporated. Woody served in the Marine Corps from 1956 to 1959. He spent some ten years with Colgate Palmolive before joining GNB Incorporated as product manager in 1975. He has held a number of positions in sales and marketing with the company, including marketing manager, sales manager, and most recently, vice president of marketing activities, including product development, brand and private label programs, advertising, publicity and communications, marketing services, and national sales management. Sounds as if his plate is full. We hope to see him at reunion, too.

I trust that everyone with an eye on his portfolio caught George M. Yeager's comments on his favorite growth stocks in the August 12 issue of Fortune, page 32. President of Yeager Wood & Marshall, a New York City money management firm, George is said to do "just fine by ignoring the economy's ups and downs and focusing on solid companies with enduring growth rates." That strategy has placed George's firm in the top ten among the nation's money managers for the past three years, with an average annual return of 22.9 percent. Wish he'd been managing my money for the last three years! Perhaps we can get some tips from him at reunion.

Last month I could find only two guys in the class of '56 who were celebrating, if that's the right word, their 56th birthdays. This month, unless my eyes fail me (and everything seems to be failing just a bit these days), only Forrest L. Fraser Jr. turns 56. And so, on the 16th of the month, in addition to celebrating Joe Gonnella's achievements and award, let's hope that tire mermaids will burst into spontaneous song in honor of that Fraser youngster. The numbers are indeed thinning rapidly, though we are still a long way from our youngest classmate's 56th birthday. You'll just have to suffer more of this if you fail to contribute anything more meaty. Fortunately, God willing, someone else will be doing this job when a mere youth like Lincoln T. Yu finally turns 56. Link won't hit the mark until February 1993, poor kid.

That's it for now. 'Til next time.

51 Tradd Street, Charleston, SC 29401