1963
Thirtieth Reunion, June 14—17! Were we really seated in the elegantly arranged Alumni Hall, sipping wine, discussing stocks, politics, or the kids? Or were we for one brief moment in Thayer... or Webster ...or Dartmouth Hall with Thaddeus Seymour, dean of deans, father, friend, one of the boys, keeping us in stitches?
Except this wasn't dean-to-student humor, designed to relax, to gain confidence, as in the past. Rather, this was Thad, our peer, ribbing that when he was our dean, he was actually 20 years younger than we are today. This was Thad giving us die inside scoop.
What was it like to be a first-year dean overseeing a bunch of smart, over-sexed, real and would-be jocks? He learned deaning from us, said the man who became president of Wabash College in Indiana and then Rollins College down in Florida. How do you stop food fights? Take names, even if you don't have ink in your pen. Never, never serve mashed potatoes and butter pats!
And what if your Winter Carnival Queen's name happens to be Horney? Swallow your pride and mumble the announcement on national TV.
It was vintage Thad brimming with one-liners, and proud of his '63 proteges; Thad quoting Frost and Santayana with the nimbleness of an English prof, which he was and is; Thad the ex-crew coach, who earlier in the day saw a new lightweight boat named in his honor.
Before Thad at the reunion's formal dinner, Dave Boldt, editorial page editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, presented six of the seven Alan V. Davies Soaring Pine Awards for 1993, to Federaljudge Ernie Torres, Merrill Lynch executive Launny Steffens, psychologist Steve Banks, actor Steve Macht, astronomer Fred Chaffee, and real-estate executive Alan Davies (posthumously). The seventh went to Dave Boldt himself, who was pleasantly shocked. Sheila Davies, Alan's widow, assisted.
Dave Downey's appearance at that same event brought the house down. Wheelchairbound and blind, he came up from Manchester, N.H., with the help of his daughter Tanya, mother Maiy (celebrating her 84th birthday), and Pete Slavin of Oakton, Va. Bill Adelaar of New York, an NROTC buddy, and Dan Matayola of Somerville, N.J., an ex-marine like Downey, were among many well-wishers.
Bruce Baggaley, outgoing president, turned over a giant check for $400,000, raised from reunion giving, to President Freedman. All in all, classmates have given $1.8 million to the Campaign to Excel.
Rich Berkowitz, Westport, Conn., was elected our new president; Bob Bysshe, Granite Springs, N. Y., vice president; Harry Zlokower, Brooklyn, N.Y., secretary; Bill Russell, Metuchen, N.J., treasurer; Bruce Baggaley, Darien, Conn., head agent; Barrett Johnson, Tallahassee, Fla., newsletter editor; Larry Bailey, Seattle, Wash., bequest chairman; and Dave Schaefer, Concord, Mass., alumni councilor.
Thad's keynote capped three days and nights of fun, memories, and relaxation in which nineties sobriety merged with sixties nostalgia. Who was there among the nearly 200 people in our group of '63s, wives, friends, and children? Where did they come from? What are they up to? Read it in mondis ahead.
171 Madison Avenue, Ste. 1107, New York, NY 10016
Buddies Larry Peltola '62, Marshall "Spider" Potterton '63, Perry Butler '64 (of Perry's restaurants in San Francisco), Robert Evans '64, and Mike Kohlman '64 came together in the party tent to tell exaggerated tales about one another.
