1952

1952

A few weeks ago a notice came in the mail announcing plans for the 70th reunion for my high school class, and I thought that was a bit much—and then, I thought again. If 1948 was when most of us graduated from high school, then 1948 was the year of the creation of the great class of 1952 at Dartmouth College. Seventy years ago, the summer of 1948, thinking back, was the start of life-changing events: the challenge, the thrill, the responsibility, the opportunity, and, yes, the fear of the unknown. All of this stood before us in the summer of 1948. This led me to a trip back through our freshman year Green Book to relive experiences with our friends, some for the full 70 years, some later in life, and, sad to say, quite a few who have left us with just the fond memories. If you still have your Green Book, take some time and walk through it again, slowly. You won’t be disappointed. Then, take sometime to go through the 25-year and 50-year books. There are many interesting stories in these reports on our lives. My experience led to a look at where we prepared for college and who might have been friends for even longer than our start in 1948. It was only a little surprising to find the school with the most ’52s was Kimball Union Academy, with 19. Next in line was another prep school, Deerfield, with some 17 classmates. Prep schools had the most concentrations, but public high schools (as best we can define) are still our largest preparatory background. New Trier High school in Winnetka, Illinois, blessed us with eight (maybe nine, nobody is sure) classmates, and three—John Brower, Pete Burnside, and Vic Trautwein—are all still in touch with each other. There are probably many examples like that. If this rings a bell for you, send us your experience and enjoy the ride. Sadly, as you might expect, we report the passing of four more classmates, Charles “Chuck” Keenen, Gil Noble, Ray Pierce, and John Wall.

—William Montgomery, 11 Berrill Farms Lane, Hanover, NH03755; (603) 643-0261; wmontgod52@aol.com