1937
Class Notes first appeared in this magazine in 1906 under the editorship of Ernest Martin Hopkins '01. J. Wilcox Brown treasures a handwritten letter from President Hopkins dated November 14,1963, as follows: "Dear Mr. Brown, Thank you for sending me a copy of your monograph on 'Moosilauke.' Ever since college days that has been my favorite mountain. I have had new interest and great pleasure in reading this article of yours. You and Mrs. Brown were very kind to call upon me when you were in Hanover. I enjoyed our visit very much. Very sincerely yours, Ernest M. Hopkins."
'37 class notes were written by DonMcKinley, Jack Devlin, Whitey Fuller, BibsBankart, and, since our 50th Reunion, by CarlErdman. Our resident Hanover historian, Lem Bowen, spent an afternoon in Blunt scanning the Alumni Magazine file copies and found the following nostalgia items from our Class Notes over the years.
Lem found that Class Notes reflect the personality of the secretary, the limitations of the size of the magazine, and, most importandy, the times in which they were written.
Earliest notes, beginning with October 12, 1937, told of new careers, new matrionial excursions and, later, new progeny. Then came the War, and we read about what classmates were doing from Sauk Center to Guadalcanal to the Kasserine Pass to Anzio to Remagen to Okinawa and back. Next, new jobs, or return to old ones, more progeny, more matrimonial ventures. Then promotions, vacation trips, and finally retirement and entry on the Long Roll.
Most interesting were vignettes we always enjoyed. Frank Danzig won a $75 first prize for his trumpet solo on the Tommy Dorsey amateur program. Gordon Torrey got sick in Hong Kong and missed sailing on Richard Halliburton's Chinese Junk, which was lost in a typhoon as it headed for Midway. Don Otis got "promoted" to the command of all the bands in the Atlantic Squadron because the Admiral overheard Don chewing out his parochial bandmaster for emitting sour notes.
Don Rowley remembers, "Cold morning near Middle Mass, Camerer jams head out of window and bellows 'Hopwood, you (cen-sored) bring back my pants, or you'll wish you never left Canada! They are the only ones I've got, you thief.' Hopwood does not alter course, legs it for 80'clock class."
May '43 issue reports Lt. Harry Schultz missing-in-action in North Africa. June issue recounts the "good news" that he'd only been captured by the Germans (whose prisoner he remained for the rest of the War). Thanks, Lem, for helping us remember what we've been through together.
Your Fantastic 55th Reunion Committee met at Chairman Stearns's home on January 2 with Ben Doran, Bob McCoy, Fran Fenn,Jud Smith, John Johannessen, Lem Bowen, and Carl Erdman present. Chairman Russ reports that 80 classmates and 50 spouses and friends are already on board for the reunion, with 35 not certain. His goal is 175 attending the 55 th. Sign your card now and mail it to Russ. Let's make the most of our opportunities to renew our friendships. You will receive a mailing in March from the College about dorm housing in John J. Buchanan hall.
1415 Parkside Drive N., Wyomissing, PA 19610
