1949

Much is being made of Dartmouth hockeys centennial this year. From the 1905 beginning on Occom Pond, or wherever local ice was available, to Davis Rink home to Dartmouth hockey from 1930-1975. During our era, when bench splinters and flying pucks were assumed risks, along with the inconstant reliability of "natural ice, and the presence of Eddie Jeremiah and the Riley brothers, at. al., we were blessed.

The Valentines Day version of the '49 luncheon at the Norwich Inn saw a dozen attendees, including Ted Krug, complete with walker, a transitional assist as he recovers from what started as a replacement of an old hip replacement (but there were complications followed by troubles, then problems). But after several months, things are finally improving. All this prompted a poll, which revealed that only two people were free of manmade replacement parts, about average for folks of our age and habits.

Doug Parsons, a New Hampshire Lakes Region resident of long standing, recently suffered a mild stroke. He was hospitalized, had a much more severe stroke and was transferred to Dartmouth- Hitchcock. I saw him and his wife there, on the day he was to be discharged to a rehab facility nearer home.

The Dartmouth Club of the Upper Valley, the largest Dartmouth alumni club, met informally on January 30 at the Hop and was addressed by President Jim Wright, his first address to this group in seven years. In his eight years as our college president, Wright believes the student life initiative has much improved campus life. In 1964 when Jim Wright came to Dartmouth, the student body was 3,200 strong with 12 percent legacies. Visitors to the Hanover Plain today will see many changes. Wright says todays construction activity is probably the most active in college history and there were several reminders of his oft-stated goal to have Dartmouth be the premier teaching institution. An interesting side note, President Wright said that of the 29 Ivy League athletes in the Winter Olympics, 14 were from Dartmouth.

Matt Fenton's older brother Tom, recently retired as senior European correspondent for CBS, has written a book, Bad News: The Declineof Reporting, the Business of News, and the Danger ofUs All, about the lack of coverage of foreign news. He is tough on the media moguls who are more interested in the bottom line than news coverage.

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