1957

Here comes fall, and that means Homecoming. Autumn in Hanover. The parade. The bonfire. The class meeting. Football. The post-game '57 party and dinner at the Norwich Inn. Sunday pancake breakfast hosted by Clark Griffiths (and Happy). We turn out about 60 each year and since it will be my 14th, I can say with authority that it is a great time. The dates are October 24-26, and full details are in the '57 newsletter. Don't miss it.

David McCullough's excellent biography of John Adams (read by your secretary during the Costa Rica '57 mini-reunion) provided good preparation for the Dartmouth Club of Cape Cod April excursion to the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Massachusetts, organized by Jim Taylor. Also on the bus were Jack Cramer (and Liz), Dick Handy (and Barbara) and Rod Hinkle. The group toured the birthplaces of John and John Quincy Adams, had lunch at the waterfront, heard an Adams talk by Dartmouth professor Jere Daniell '55, and visited the United First Parish Church, where both presidents and their first ladies are buried. David McCullough was Dartmouth's 2003 Commencement speaker.

Reyn Guyer writes that at the top of the list of his current projects is The Sonday System, a reading remediation program that he began and that is being run by his son, Tom, and Cynthia, one of his daughters. It is taking off in the New York City schools as well as Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Hawaii. For more information on this exciting educational approach, look up "Sonday System" on the Web. Reyn is also at work jointly writing a musical that is headed back to the York Theatre in New York City for a second reading. Reyn is certainly one of our more creative classmates. You can find out more about what he has been doing by looking up "Reyn Guyer" on the Web.

A press release announces that after 46 years in the retail industry, including the past 13 years as co-owner of de Jong's with Carol, his wife, Howie Abrams is retiring and closing the store. Howie started out at Bloomingdales in New York City. His boss was D.J. (Doris Jane) Salinger, sibling of J.D. (Jerome David) Salinger of the famous Catcher in the Rye novel. Howie spent 16 exciting, formative years at Bloomingdales before moving on to Charles A. Stevens, a women's specialty store in Chicago, Higbees in Cleveland and de Jong's in Evansville, Indiana, where he will continue to live.

The environment and what is happening to it is of concern to many of our classmates. Lee Hirschey was elected to the regional advisory board (central and western New York) for The Nature Conservancy. Bob Mowbray serves as our listsrv watchdog for global climate change, tropical deforestation and biodiversity loss. Many mates are active locally in environmental issues and there are probably some groups in your community that could use help. Consider it an investment of your retirement time for the benefit of future generations.

P.O. Box 3328, Pocasset, MA02559; (508) 564-6484; fphowland@aol.com