1944

You all know by now of the '44 Concerned Classmate Committee (C.C.C.), and my enthusiasm for the project is unbounded. What could be more important than rallying to the side of someone in need? It would be wonderful in this dipsy-doodle world if this committee never had a "patient," but that is hardly realistic as we personally move towards our three-quarter century mark.

So, any time any of us need a hug or a plug, or a couch for an ouch, get in touch with the C.C.C.

By the time you read this, the 1996 football season will be all but over. Whatever this year's scores, we've got a scoop for you. Dartmouth has three more years of playing Fordham, Lehigh, Lafayette as non-league opponents, but in the year 2000 all that changes. Scoop: from 2000 until (at least) 2011, Dartmouth's fall football schedule will be one and the same, i.e., we begin with Colgate each and every year, and we end with Princeton each and every year, and in between we play New Hampshire, Penn, Yale, Holy Cross, Columbia, Harvard, Cornell, and Brown in that same order. On a home and home basis, of course.

So make your reservations now. We'll see you on the 50-yard line for the Colgate opener in 2011 and for the finale against Princeton, both games scheduled for Hanover.

Only one '44 representative at this past summer's Alumni College in Hanover, Bill Fead's widow, Hope. Can't be, can it, that the rest of us already know all there is to know?

No way. The Hanover-based Institute for Lifelong Education at Dartmouth (ILEAD) lists among its members: Russand Helena Burdge, Karl and BettyMusser, Jack and Ellie Stephenson,Dick and Joannie Whiting, and JeanAllen and June Morgan, widows of Needle and Rod, respectively.

We had a nice talk with obstetrician John Baker, who with wife Pat retired from practice in Potsdam, N.Y., to fulltime residence in Tupper Lake, N.Y. They have transformed a summer cottage on the lake to a fulltime residence; John plays lots of golf; and they serve as a bed-and-breakfast to friends and family from near and far. Their four kids are located in the east and visit often. Daughter Maura is a '77.

Finally, how can you match this one: Wemo Epply's brother Roger '41 was a well-known artist and illustrator, stricken last year with cancer. He picked out a perfect, quiet place in an old Connecticut churchyard for his burial place. Showing it to Wemo and his sister, he said: "Isn't this nice? This is where I'll be the artist in residence."

And this thought occurs: Every day I count my blessings, and every day it takes me longer.

Three cancer deaths, Whit Wells, RickLewis, and Jack Snobble; and Jim Clark from Parkinson's. Our sympathies.

That's it. Blessings.

P.O. Box 24, Lovejoy Hill, Cornish Flat, NH 03746