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JANUARY 2001 Each December, the number of East Coast 54s who gather for holiday merriment and conviviality grows. This year, some 75 classmates heeded the call and massed at The Pillar House, the Yale Club and Baltimore's venerable Phillips Harborhouse (for those launching the maiden voyage of a mid-Atlantic do). Within this number was a Boston/NY traveling squad of nine and 2 from the same squad in Baltimore, netting us down to 64, and the greatest Class expression of its late-year joy in history. Massachusetts stringer DICK BARKER reported on the Boston activities (slightly edited): "JAY ("connecting is the vitamin of life") DAVIS presided and acknowledged the excused absence of DICK LEWIS due to eyeball doings. BOB ADNOPOZ presented the Class of 1954 Award to a properly surprised JOHN POPE, who responded appropriately. JIM CLARK - golf and guiding tours in New England, upstate New York JOHN CROWE - still practicing; recalled a crew dumping, including PHIL COOKE in a cast. BOB BUCHANAN - phasing out of governmental duties to which he has been consistently elected under questionable circumstances. BOB OSMOND - retired to Lake Winnepesaukee; pushed Florida '54 golf outing by suggesting that John Pope was running it. MORT GALPER - 'doing only what I want to do'. PETE BULLIS - music and architecture. DICK DANFORTH -2 days a week at an Indian museum; doctor told him he's blind, but 'keep your head down and keep going'. DICK TROWBRIDGE - jazz concerts in NH and questionable relationships with large mounds of Labrador Retrievers. PETE KENYON - 14-year-old-daughter-itis. STEARNS MARTIN - challenged someone to organize the battalion of '54s on Cape Cod into a legitimate golf tournament. PHIL COOKE - golf, tennis, skiing; demonstrated stroke to be used when struggling in the Connecticut River with a cast on your leg. DICK GORSEY - working, plus tennis, skiing and Martha's Vineyard. GEORGE GRABOYS - still half-time, annoying former banking associates; living in Marion. PETE GUTLON - still Canyon Ranch plus real estate brokering. SHELLY WOOLF - unsuccessfully attempted to claim true fly-fishing skills. JIM TOFIAS - still working; another Cape Codder. PETE DWIGHT - 'I'll be brief' - total of his remarks. LEW MILKEY - splitting time between Arizona and Cape Cod. DON KELLER -euphoric that he is no longer in the 'running money' business; Florida golf with HAYNES, CHRISTOPHE, LEWIS and SHERWOOD. WIL WILKINS - Florida Keys/Rhode Island as arenas for hunting and fishing; proposed the creation of enforceable rules for '54 fishing outings. Following the lunch, Dick Barker had been commissioned by JOHN GILLESPIE to explore other ideas for a site. Considerations include more room for schmoozing and, perhaps, less emphasis on high-end food. Dick loaded classmates Milkey, Woolf and DUNC ROBERTS into his car for further discussion on the way out to the Cape and found he had a flat tire. Shelly talked Dick out of using Lew’s cell phone to call AAA in favor of a well-served squad of 54s actually changing the tire! No photo, but Dick mentioned that he has had only two flat tire in the last 10/15 years and both times, Lew Milkey was in the car. Makes you wonder At the Yale Club, we were gladdened to notice that the '53s had finally awakened to the idea of a holiday luncheon. Their room was next to '54's and those milling around included luminaries such as Bob Malin, Fred Whittemore, Ron Lazar and Bob Callender. They were awe struck as the elevator disgorged '54s like downs popping out of a tiny circus car. Obviously out-manned, they pooled their funds for bail money and managed a semi-respectable number - a double minivan, plus. The anticipated 33 classmates swelled to 37 as the usual late-deciders joined the mob for pre-luncheon cocktails. After the food (far more fish-eaters than meat), JAY DAVIS took the podium and proclaimed the 22nd New York luncheon open. He reviewed the tribulations of DICK LEWIS – a malignant lesion was discovered in his right eye in early November. Radiation therapy was recommended and Dick went in for the implantation of radioactive seeds behind his eyeball in early December. According to a rather graphic description forwarded by AUDREY, the procedure went as planned and, in Dick's words, the lesion was "cooked" for a period of time. At year end, the report is that the surgeon is virtually positive that the cancer has been eliminated. Other than some double vision, our president is fully back in action. Jay reviewed the cornucopia of connecting events on the '54 calendar followed by these recitations, ranging from the sublime to the outrageous: KENT KLINEMAN asked that we close our eyes while he intoned a prayer (editor closed only one eye in the pursuit of total event coverage). The prayer required that each '54 speak directly to specific body parts. Somewhere around Elbow, the next-door '53s burst into the raucous version of "Dartmouth's In Town Again (Run Girls, Run!)", somewhat detracting from the solemnity of the occasion. JOHN HESTON - if the Martians carry him away from choate Road, BETTY has committed to hang in for Hamburgers for the 50th. JAY DAVIS - has "left" the New York area, quit real working and Wilder is his life. BOB VORSANGER - we '54s look better than most Vermonters he encounters. BOB LEVINE - high school class has declined from 135 to 8! BRUCE CLASSON - going to writing school; lots of sailing. JOHN CUNNINGHAM - feels there is a great film in recreating a 1950 food fight; looking for the right actress to play Jeanette Gill. DICK DAVIDOFF - claims distinction of most recently divorced '54. DICK PAGE - there ~ life after Trusteeship, although he still chairs the Board of the Medical Center; can't meet Borden's requirement of heavy drinking to operate heavy machinery. BOB ADNOPOZ -still in commercial real estate. JOHN GILLESPIE - the entire 50th reunion is in John Heston's basement. BILL GROVER -continues to dazzle the ladies on the dance floor all over the globe. BRAD BORDEN -used the trip to NYC to revisit old drinking haunts, including the Gay Nineties bar; seems he still had an outstanding tab and a woman named Mitzi had been looking for him. HOWIE ARONSON - training Civil Air Patrol pilots. TONY KANE - finally scored a continuing role on new program "Dateline", then it was canceled; new grandfather. DAVE MANDELBAUM - still at work; expanding Norwich home, possibly obviating need for Heston's. DICK PEARL -both daughters married in the same 12-month period - small, intimate family weddings grew to events Cecil B. DeMille would have admired. DAVE LEVINE -having conquered complex renaissance woodworking, now pursuing a career as an Italian chef; taking in all genres of homeless animals. DICK FRANKLIN - current media career a struggle; offered up five erudite aphorisms, but lost track in the middle. TOM SAYLES - involved in the up-grading of the Dartmouth golf course - seeking ~$4 million. VIC MAHLER - although having lost most of his sight, continues architectural consulting; chaired graduation of Harvard School of Design. BOB CLEMENTS -enjoying a rich life with family and places in Stamford, Grand Cayman and Vermont; MARILYN paints every day. JERRY GOLDSTEIN - apple cultivator par excellence; new career as party planner has first client ('54) as non-payer; receptive for ideas for Class 70th birthday party in 2002. ED WINNICK - slowly withdrawing from the practice of law. ART RAUCH - heading to New Year's Eve wedding in Florence. BOB BERRY - warned tall men to avoid riding motorcycles in Bermuda; various Berry parts still in healing phase. WAYNE WElL - still running Dartmouth Graphics. DAVE MCLAUGHLIN - chairing New Hampshire commission to determine best way to finance K-12th education; has traveled state, running forums; a rich, taxless state poses major difficulties in conducting civil civic discussion. DON BERLIN - still lawyering, gained a grandchild, BARBARA retiring; with Dick Page, investigating a '54 European charter yacht (Mediterranean) - 17/22 couples, $4,500 per head, 10 days. RICK HARTMAN - cited strengths of Dick Danforth, charging at life while enduring daily dialysis; splits time between Simsbury and Eastman. TOM KELSEY - posited that a democracy based on litigation is worrisome; fascinating trips to China and Spain. BRYCE BASTIAN - studying creative writing; SUE continues good works in education. WALT ANDERSON - making good use of retirement in volunteer work and traveling. JOHN FENN - made mistake of thinking the presidency of a coop was an honor. HARRY ROBINSON -43 years of wedded bliss; CPA president Lewis looking over his treasurer's shoulder. DANA LOW - blending computerbound volunteer work with the physical - skiing and another 500 miles on the Appalachian Trail. STEVE MULLINS -scored a home run in settling real estate suit with New York; new house on Lake Michigan; Israel and Africa on travel schedule; he and BILL WHITE have agreed to do the Class book for the 50th reunion with help of DICK BARKER. Oddly, the quasi-elderly group dispersed with an animation suggesting they actually had someplace to go. The Baltimore kick off was a good one. BILL GROVER (of Billerica, MA) got a lot of crabs eaten by six '54's, two wives and a dazzled '60. Three lawyers present lead to discussions of the most recent tweakings of the Constitution, etc. JOHN HEYN, a significant power in the construction industry in the metro MD area has pulled back slightly and still keeps his hand in, part-time. Dr. WES DINGMAN whirled in the heady area of mental research and psychiatry as his career and now prevails as a gentleman farmer on eight lush acres. NOEL, on the other hand is a celebrated weaver and has developed an arcane method of extracting dye from mushrooms for bringing weird tones to woven fabrics. Noel has completed the Appalachian Trail and Wes has half of it under his belt. MITCH KRAMER proclaims that he will never stop practicing law (in Rydal, PA). Giving in to this implacable position, JUDY, a U of PA grad, heads administration in Mitch's office. George Uebman '60 is a former law associate of BOB LEVY and was regarded as a virtual proxy for Bob. DAVE MCLAUGHLIN talked about his MD-based Orion Research (largest U.S. manufacturer of highway and marine flares. He also described his "non-legal" role on the Bar Association Ethics 2000 Commission. The man who recruited him for this duty, Chief Justice NORM VEASEY rambled down memory lane, recalling his rise from fledgling attorney in New York to his present heights. On the legal moves and court processes of the Presidential election, Judge Veasey opined that, on the whole, things were conducted well. A good start. Those assembled talked about other possible locations, with an eye toward assembling a larger group next year -maybe Wilmington. From a stack of Green cards: TOM SCOTT: Get your PSA test every year! JOE MESICS - Remembering roommate Dr. ALBIE DIXON rolling his car on a Colby Jr. run, then driving on after it was righted. Considers computers "rude". Feels that Ivy football is the closest to the original idea of the game. Suggests that all recruiting be banned and giving coaches academic tenure after four years. Joe realizes that the ban on recruiting would probably also have to apply to computer geeks, poets, future Nobels, etc. LARRY MARTZ - has basically un-retired. With a half-time gig writing and editing for a book packager, he was elected President of the Overseas Press club of America (noted with "a Rouse!" in the Alumni Magazine) The OPC presents coveted awards for international reporting, provides ten annual scholarships and raises up in protest when journalists are mistreated. HANK GREBE: "PAT and I retired to a condo on Moose Pond in Bridgton, ME. The lake is 50 feet in front of us and Shawnee Peak is walking distance. Still involved in choral singing and serve as President of the Ralph Farris Chorale. Pat volunteers at the local animal shelter. We love the lake in the summer and skiing in winter. Regards to all classmates." RIP COFFIN - about his 50th reunion: "Six of the sixty seniors in the nifty class of '50 of the Haverford School matriculated at Dartmouth. All six made it back to our 50th reunion - a sign of hoariness or granite or something, as 15 of the 60 had died. NED COX, PAUL DABNEY, BOB DEAN, JOHN HESTON and BOB KIRKPATRICK plus yours truly were in attendance along with our wives. We six are in pretty good shape compared to most of the other classmates." coffin@consultantsonpurpose.com Dr. ROSS TUCKER - on a badly wrinkled Green card, obviously retrieved from the wastebasket: "Since leaving Hanover in '54, graduated from McGill Med '58, 4 years in post-grad residency in Buffalo, 2 years USAF, 16 years at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, 10 years private practice in Sarasota, FL, 7 years at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and, for past 3 years, half-years back at Mayo in Rochester, doing Arabic medicine. Winters off in Sarasota are nice!" HARRY ROBINSON: "Old roommate DAVE DAME is still after bad bugs - formal title = Entomological Services" Holiday-time letters from several '54 talk about spirited international travel with a wide variety of activities ranging from conquering mountains to defeating large amounts of food and drink. A snippet from the always-hilarious ED/ISABEL Scott letter (captioned NEOL): "Ed's 50th reunion was incredible. Dozens of BMW's (Avis tags). Lots of gastrointestinal chit-chat. Many new wives and 'others'. Fabulous nostalgic and traditional banquet of Shepherd's Pie, Brussel Sprouts and choice of stewed prunes or rice pudding (raisins!). Since Ed had left his teeth at the motel, his batteries were running low and someone stepped on his trifocals, Isabel took notes of the speeches and r~d the~ to him after his nap." From tax attorney BOB DURHAM: "I am about to retire after forty years of practice and am looking forward to some serious travel with MIMI. Hope to work in a few fishing and quail hunting expeditions. It has been so long since I 'played' that I am going to have to relearn the concept." STU ROTH was honored at a major bash in Rancho Mirage, CA for his past chairmanship of the area's Alzheimer's Association. The featured newspaper photo showed a dashing, tuxedoed Stu in the company of sportscaster Tim Ryan, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan and Actor David Hyde Pierce. The Princess first brought the affliction to public attention when she appeared before a New York court to assume control of the legal affairs of her famous mother, Rita Hayworth. And the Class was dismayed so many years ago when our own GEORGE VOSS was diagnosed. Around the time of Thanksgiving, Dr. JOHN STEEL emailed an inspiring story of the first Thanksgiving in 1621 during which the Pilgrims gave thanks for the Almighty sending an Indian, Squanto, to provide food and ultimate salvation. As a post script, John mentioned his Indian name, "Pesutawaste" (good medicine) bestowed upon him by Professor Ben E. Hardman, Phd '31, a Yankton Sioux Indian. STEVE MULLINS - the class of 1956 newsletter had an article on the 1954 400-yard relay swim team of Steve1 JOHN HEYN, John Glover '55 and Duke Hust '56. Forty-five years later, Duke and Steve were in adjoining lanes for the men's (65~9) 800 meters. Steve out-touched Duke for ninth. The piece listed Steve's placings in five other events. In an accompanying photo, Duke is identified as "the one with the hair". More Steve - New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL sent eleven to our class - PETE DAVIS, NED HOBAN, STAN JOHNSON, LARRY KELLEY, BOB O'NEAL, BILL PITNEY, DOUG SMITH, JACK SMITH, TED WELDON, KEN ZWEINER and Steve.Bob, Ted and Steve were among the 200 alums attending and apparently dazzled with their accomplishments, physical shape and demonstrated savoir4aire. One more Steve - a tale of extensive Southeast Asian travel is contained in "Carol and Steve's Excellent Adventure (2000 version)". Rejoining the initial trip, interrupted by Carol's kneecapping in a VietCave, the duo (independently) hit virtually every country in that part of the world - China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Burma-Myanmar, Malaysia. "Most interesting were the people and the primitive villages encountered along the way; from those soon to be relocated as a result of the Three Gorges Dam project in China to the hill tribes met trekking through northern Thailand to the isolated (river access only) and void-of-electricity ones along the Aeyeyardey in Burma."47 days, including 24 one-nighters. Transportation included 34 planes plus the Orient Express, all kinds of boats, rickshaws, elephants, etc. Call/email your editor for a complete copy of the report. Last October, the Dartmouth golf team played in the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association tournament at The Captain's Course in Brewster on Cape Cod. Dick and Jane Page provided bed and board for their practice rounds and the Dartmouth Club of Cape Cod sponsored a reception for them at Shelly and Elizabeth Woolf's with Shelly and Dick Barker flipping burgers and dogs. Second place individual honors went to sophomore Jose Esteve from Florida (69/76) and the team placed fifth overall. Rev. DAVE and LOUISE RANSOM "experience a different congregation each week when we draw a town's name from a used raisin carton. We enjoy our visits and reconnecting with colleagues and friends." The dynamic twosome intends to continue their sabbatical walk of the Appalachian Trail in Kent, CT in April. Being enthusiastic appreciators of the great outdoors, their treks are not limited to the AT and they have joined friends in wandering over various mountain ranges in the East. Grandchildren keep appearing, much to the joy of Dave's 97-year-old mother in Madison, CT. AL (Lefty) and SAL TERRILL journeyed from the wilds of Idaho to visit 101-year-old Mom in Peterboro, NH, hit his 50th in Ansonia, saw post-surgery BOB CLARK in West Hartford and managed an Inn lunch with Boise freshmen on the way to see BOB and PATTY OSMOND. Whew! Note: 100 ‘54’s are mentioned herein.
THE CLASS OF 1954 AWARD: JOHN DAVID POPE
If there lives a '54 whose blood flows through his veins any greener than yours, he must be either a frog or a plant. Your loyalty and dedication to Dartmouth is legendary and is admired and appreciated by both your College and your Class. From your early years in Swampscott, MA, you rolled into Hanover with an unruly band of rowdies from Kimball Union Academy. Among your KUA pursuits had been a senior year venture into the fine art of lacrosse. Sensibly, after two years of being legally whacked with sticks on Green teams, you decided to spend more time assuring that the Kappa Kappa Kappa house had no dull parties. In June 1954, you emerged with a bachelor's degree in History and a hard-won naval commission. Marriage to Jinny in 1955 was the finest decision you have ever made. Connubial bliss was somehow derived in the early years despite two all-over-the-world years aboard a destroyer out of Norfolk. You got down to the serious business of being an adult upon discharge from the Navy when you joined your father ('20) in the family business of wholesale distribution of plumbing and heating supplies. Five years later, you succeeded to the head of the firm and, ten years later, in your own words: "finally figured out what it was I was supposed to do." The figuring it out proved to be the stimulus to your taking a small business to a listing as one of the largest private businesses in Massachusetts. You generously shared your wisdom and experience as a leader in key associations in the industry. You and Jinny raised four fine children, your two older boys adding tempo and spirit to the Class of 1981. It is a rare Dartmouth football game or 1954 occasion that you do not attend. Your service to the College includes dedicated enrollment work and yeoman duty as president of the North Shore Dartmouth Club. During your tenure, a continuing book program was initiated. Most recently, you and Jinny brought tremendous pride to the Class with your generous support of the newly opened Boss Tennis Center on campus. Your names and the inscribed "Class of 1954" stand as reminders of your love of the place and belief in its future. We are delighted to present you with The Class of 1954 Award.
December 2000 |