1962

What does Charlie Balch do when he isn't hard at work in Atlanta and balancing the books as treasurer of the class? Why, he jets over to Queens Club, London, with wife Ann and picks up a tennis match on the grass courts with Leslie and Mike Schaefer, Candy and Carl Funke, Helen and Carl Jaeger, Nancy and John Walters, and others. What does John Smith do when he isn't teaching and writing poetry in Moorestown, N.J.? He persuades his outdoorsman son Sean to travel in England and Ireland with some old guys and their spouses (plus the Komarek sons Chris and Mike). Then John delivers a superb after-dinner talk in Cardiff, Wales, on Welsh history, customs, and language.

What does Roy Halstead do before leaving Brussels to visit London, Wales, and Ireland? Simple. He and wife Gabriele entertain a gang of '62s and their spouses at dieir home on the Island of Corsica!

Before classmates get the wrong idea, let me explain that most of us on the LondonEngland-Wales-Ireland trip aren't really jet-setters at all. We just had one heck of a good time. We were dazzled in London and the countryside captivated us in Wales and Ireland.

The most talked about day was the trek to "Dan's place." Dan Hummel explained to the boisterous group at the Ivory Tower Restaurant in Cork the night before that his career path after Dartmouth was a wee bit different from most."l searched and found a nearly ideal site on Ireland's mild, but wild, west coast," said Dan in the 25th Reunion book.

We left Cork in the brand new behemoth coach ably driven by driver-guide Peter (and, by acclamation, nominee for honorary class member.) Decent roads with enough room for the coach to pass a lorry coming the other way gave way to roads where Peter had to slow down and put the left wheels in the ditch (British Isles, you know, they drive on that side) when a car came along. Then to one-lane roads winding up switchbacks to the crest of a hill by La Pieta. Some rode a van down winding lanes past stone farmhouses and working sheep farms; lots of folks walked the last two and a half miles to Dan's stone cottage. Everyone had to trek the last half mile on a stone path along the meadows sloping down to Bantry Bay. Dan's stone cottage with grass growing on the roof commanded a breathtaking view. And to think that Dan bicycled his supplies from Bantry, carried the stones on his back, piped the water from an alpine stream for his Japanese ofuro, and crafted his cottage by hand. Most of us still are shaking our heads in wonder at such a different lifestyle. None of us have forgotten the wild beauty of the spot.

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