1933

A belated check of our files brings to light a report on the doings of Ted andLaura Allen that includes two poems by Laura, the official "sweet singer of 1933." Laura turns on the poetic spigot at the drop of a hat, and the proffered verse included a brief Christmas greeting as well as a paean of praise to the 125-year-old Ascutney (Vt.) Union Church. The latter included a nostalgic glance backward to a time when children walked to school and the record of "Scissors to Grind" was played on a wind-up gramophone. Congregationalism was duly supported. Unfortunately, limitations of space prevent reprinting these effusions.

An added editorial note referring to last fall's mini-reunion observes that, "We have all quieted down these past reunions!" But not, happily, our beloved poet laureate!

A while back we received a news clipping which describes another classmate as leading the pack of octogenarians who find that daily exercise pays off healthwise. Pictured in color is "Fearless Frank" Ripley in white shorts, shirt, and sun hat, grimly preparing a slashing backhand in a weekly Sunday morning tennis match with his doctor. (An excess of caution?) Tennis expert Hal Smith, in sending the clip, comments, "Note the high-tech racket and the high-tech swing."

Ned Lord, continuing his excellent work on the 1933 Class Notes newsletter, waxed poetic in the January issue when he described the benign New Hampshire winter, the fields on the Lyme Road, and the vacation-time quiet of hibernating Hanover.

Laryngitis superimposed on Parkinson's made talk with Lup White a bit difficult, but we had a pleasant conversation when we caught him at his home in Chatham, N.J., recently. After Dartmouth he signed on with Socony Mobil and contemporaneously took a business-administration course at N.Y.U., then rose to be treasurer of Mobil Overseas Oil Co. with responsibility for all the financial operations of Mobil's international business. Traveling frequently to company offices all over the world, he served Mobil for 35 years until his retirement. He reminisced about our romps in Fayerweather with Hagan and Seixas. He finds some things good and some things bad about the administration in Hanover, but ends up supporting the College.

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