1953

"Ho, a song by the fire! Pass the pipes, pass the bowl. Ho, a song by the fire! With a skoal, with a skoal!" It is that time of the year again and as we sit by the fire here in Florida, sipping Eleazar's New England Cold Low Cholesterol Rum, we are reminded that "the ice gnomes are marching from their Norways, And the great white cold walks abroad" all over our precious Dartmouth land per the Weather Channel. "Zum, zum, zum," goes our motorbike on the way to the golf course. "For there's four good fellows, And the beech wood and the bellows," referring to the woods in which we find ourselves, and the unkind shouts uttered expressing the plight of the while pellet, "And the cup is at the lip (19th hole) in the pledge of fellowship, of fellowship." Did Richard Hovey '85 (1885, that is) realize that he was composing the Dartmouth Golfer's Anthem when out came the Hanover Winter Song?

The last composition of this column for 1995, which you will see in 1996, must end with levity, said I to me. And what better story than the recounting of the 44th celebration of the "Here, Sir" incident that catapulted Jack Patten into international fame and fortune as "Publisher Extraordinaire." For those of you whose memory may be dimming, Jack, playing in his first football game against Cornell in 1951, recovered a fumble and, rather than running for the touchdown, showed his eminent sense of fair play and diplomacy which were to characterize his extraordinary career as a publisher, by presenting the ball to an official, quite politely, with the statement, "Here, Sir." Extraordinary, that it was, and equally extraordinary is that the "Here, Sir" faithful made a special black tie celebration recently of the 44th anniversary of this historic event (Jack's number was 44, you may recall) at the Racquet Club in New York. All this was duly reported by one of our more distinguished honorary classmates, GerryGrady, Cornell '53, who, with BobDouglass and others, turned out for the gala evening. And, as part of his news submittal, Gerry added another twist to the constant American preoccupation with the attributes and sins of alcohol with a summary article on Boston University School of Medicine study on the subject, which concluded, "Regular drinking is good for you—aids the digestion as well as raising the spirits. This is commonplace folk wisdom in Britain, France, Poland, Japan, Nicaragua, Antigua, and Australia—indeed in most places in the world except America." While the study stresses the dangers of immoderation, it points out that "abstinence from alcohol is immoderation too. For studies here and in other countries are utterly consistent in showing that moderate drinkers live healthier and longer lives than teetotalers."

"For here by the fire, We defy the frost and storm. Ha, ha we are warm, And we have our hearts' desire. In the pledge of fellowship, of fellowship."

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