1948

In an old yellowed copy of The Dartmouth dated June 1948 is found the following on one of our members in an article on Dartmouth's New England lacrosse champions. This outstanding '48 brought honor to Dartmouth during his undergrad years in Hanover and it's an honor to include the statement here. "Indian sparkplug throughout the season was attackman Capt. Bobby Merriam, letter-winner in soccer, hockey, and lacrosse, and recipient of the annual Dartmouth Cup awarded for outstanding qualities in an athlete both on and off the field." Bob's achievements also include his being head marshal in leading the march of his fellow graduating seniors at Commencement a few days later. In education over his lifetime since Dartmouth, Bob today at home in western Massachusetts is also an authority on old, rare books. We can be proud of this son of Eleazar.

Great talk with Charlie Kaufman. He and Madelyn live in Shrewsbury, Mass., near Worcester, where he entered the field of personal financial advice in 1978 after leaving spacesuit manufacturing. Charlie likes financial consulting as a useful way to help others, and he cited a saying in the trade: dollar averaging is a program God would pursue if He didn't already know what will happen. Charlie's reminiscing went back to his arrival in Hanover in July '43 in the first Marine V-12 group. He wonders if any of his unit remember Sargent "Zero" Gant or "Jungle Jim." His best buddy was A1 Gustafson and he recalled a weekend DOC hike in late '44 led by Al when they climbed the steep Wild Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail on Mount Washington to the Lakes-of-the-Clouds hut and dove through the ice into one of the ponds. "Never so cold in my life!" he says now. Charlie left for active service in the Pacific soon after, where he saw action on Okinawa and at Tientsin, China. He sounds pleased with life, saw his son awarded a Ph.D. a few years ago in Hanover, and always attends the Dartmouth Club of Worcester's Xmas party, where he hopes to find Cal Brown and Ray Richard this year. I passed Gus's phone number to him so they can talk for the first time in many years. The Kaufmans expect to be at the Nifty Fifty for '48 on June 12-14 in '98, and Charlie expects to see many old '48 buddies.

Reunion chair Fran Hummel and his committee are successfully developing the program. He promises there will be plenty of time to relax with your old friends to review the old days. As yours truly is to make a little presentation about '48 history and people, I'd be delighted to receive any thoughts or reminiscences about us you may forward to me. And be sure to send Fran any suggestions you may have about the program for the 50th. Your help is needed!

I report with deep sadness the passing of Al Cassin on December 6 last, AlFritzsche on December 27, and WidWashburn on February 1. Their classmates of 1948 express our sorrow to the families and friends of these good men. Who can forget...

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