1955

The editor has suggested that we continue the "Unabashed Nostalgia" theme in Class Notes. Unexpectedly I had to visit Hanover for several days between Christmas and the New Year on personal business and experienced a real nostalgia attack myself. There had been a fresh snow fall, and as I took a leisurely evening stroll from Main Street across the Green and up College Street, memories of long-ago events flowed through my mind. Crossing the Green I recalled helping to build several ice statues including "Nanook" for the 1955 Carnival, designed by Lou Miano as well as a number of towering bonfires. Wheeler Hall, where I spent my first two years, brought back memories of the first time I heard "fifty-five out," the late night sandwich vendor, and other innumerable episodes of dormitory life.

Further on came the chemistry building where Professor Scarlett terrorized us, or so it seemed, with regular quizzes. And wherever I looked was the timeless beauty of Dartmouth against the snow. As Jud Hale, who wrote the introduction for this issue, has said, "Well, after all, Dartmouth was darn near perfect back in our day." Indeed, and so it remains.

Another memorable event from our undergraduate days came to me from DickHogarty. Dick, a professor of political science at U. Mass., Boston, has recently written a distance running article which was published by Cornell. "Heps Deep in Snow," concerns the November 6, 1953, heptagonal race in New York City among the Ivy eight, Army, and Navy. As Dick points out, at that time distance running was not very popular and the country had not taken up the obsession with exercise, good health, jogging, and marathons, so there were barely enough runners for us to field a team. The Dartmouth harriers were coached by Ellie Noyes and in addition to Dick included classmates PeterJebsen, Paul Merriken, and Mark Starr. Also, Dave Corderman, who had matriculated with our class, was on the Army team for the race. Race day dawned dark and blustery, and by noon snow was falling. When the race started in Van Cortlandt Park at 2:00 p.m., "the course looked like a white-out scene from Dr. Zhivago... Coming from the north country, we Dartmouth Harriers were accustomed to dealing with the slush, but even we had never run in such a brutal storm." Cornell won the race, with six Dartmouth runners finishing. In spite of everyting, all but two runners completed the course, and most had enough enthusiasm to engage in a post-race snowball battle. Dick concludes "the memory of that race still remains vivid in my mind today. For me, the snow race captures the rivalries, the comradeship of competition, the common joy of running, and the fond hopes we had when we were young and agile. The weather set the only records that day, but we knew that we had participated in a rare event."

Dick Blodgett, 110 Valeview Road, Wilton, CT 06897