1953

As usual, the highlight of any visit to Hanover is meeting and visiting with members of our '53 family. This past weekend was no exception. Leadership Weekend provided an opportunity for fifteen of us to gather in Hanover. Though we participated in different events during the day, we met at meals where Lillian and Donald Goss, Liliane and Ron Lazar Barbara and JohnKennedy, Nancy and Al Collins Jan and TedHibson, Dick Fleming, and Val and FredEngland joined Bobby and me. It was so pleasant to just sit and talk with them.

At.dinner I learned that Al and Nancy will not be at Homecoming this year for only the second time since 1953. They have a wonderful reason. The Geiger Cos. of Austria has selected their store (the only one in the United States) to be a host of a grand program they are putting on in conjunction with Gourmet Magazine. Geiger is sending out one thousand invitatons to this event. Sounds like quite an honor to me!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Ron and Liliane's grandson Michael, who, at the age of nine, looks as if he is ready for Dartmouth right now. Having interviewed his father, Allen Waxman '84, and known his mother, Sharon Lazar Waxman '83, since her high school days, I know from whom he gets all this poise, charisma, and intelligence. Reaching out to others has been a hallmark of our class. Father Ed Boyle has devoted his life to the application of religious faith-values to secular life, especially the workplace. He has now become immersed in a new venture, The Massachussetts Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.

And Connie and Howard Clery have devoted the past 11 years to making our nation's campuses safer. They have been the driving force in the passage of The Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act of 1990 and now are most vigorously promoting the Campus Crime Disclosure Act, which will provide for financial sanctions against schools that violate the aforementioned law. They could both use our support in their ventures.

I must note with sadness the deaths of two of our classmates, William Craven andFrank Casalvieri. We offer our condolences to Barbara, William's wife of 41 years, and to Mary, Frank's wife, and their children Carol, Lauren, and Kevin.

The Dartmouth Class of 1953 Charitable Trust continues to roll toward its goal of a substantial, distinctive, and enduring gift to Dartmouth at our 50th Reunion in June 2003. Several interesting ideas have been proposed by classmates, including a John Sloan Dickey classroom building, a class of 1953 alumni center, an interdisciplinary studies program on American civilization and citizenship, a major environmental studies program, and a large scholarship program for designated recipients. What are your own ideas, and what are your thoughts about any of the foregoing? Please drop me a line or e-mail me at .

I wish you all a very happy holiday and a wonderful new year ahead.

4 Schuyler Drive, Jericho, NY 11753