1925

The Greenwich (Conn.) Country Club was the setting on November 5, 1997,for the Dartmouth Club of Fairfield County's reception and dinner, which culminated with remarks by President James O. Freedman. It was a privilege for Dick and me to chat with him at length and see him looking so well. His enthusiasm and love for Dartmouth just shines through.

In his talk he stressed the importance of a liberal arts education in producing adults of idealism and humanity with the desire to grow and understand others and their different points of view, quoting President Dickey in calling liberal arts "the liberating arts." He said Dartmouth aims for and gets the "aristocracy of brains," a phrase borrowed from President Hopkins.

He reported that the construction of the new Berry Library will begin in 1998, emphasizing that "if you don't go forward you run the risk of falling behind." With all the new plans for Dartmouth, including new courses now or soon to be offered, "going forward" is the key phrase.

It was sad to hear that Ginny Haffenreffer, widow of Rudolf H.Haffenreffer, died last June. They were the ones who had a pre-50th reunion at their home in Bristol, R.I., which helped to make our 50th the huge success it was.

It was an unhappy coincidence that about three weeks later Bud Petrequin died in July. He was the one who introduced Ginny and Rudolf. Also, I must tell you that Mrs. David (Ginnie) Burnes died recently. They had two Dartmouth sons, David '53, now deceased, and James '59.

We received two wonderful letters from recipients of class of 1925 scholarships: Bonnie Cheung '98, with the T.P.Carpenter Scholarship, and Sara Becker '00, with the J. Davis endowed scholarship. I will be telling you more about these two exciting young people next month.

25 East Point Lane, Old Greenwich, CT; (203) 637-8594; (203) 637-8596 (fax); rdm080531@aol.com