Robert Frost for Site s.JPG (8613 bytes)          Dartmouth Class of 1961

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April 2007
Welcome 1961Alumni Magazine Notes and the Wide Wide WorldAlumni Fund InformationBulletin BoardMini-Reunions in Hanover and San Francisco and our 40th in June, 2001RedirectionsThe Gallery - Art from the ClassClass Directory - Email addressesJust what do we want this web site to be?Contact Vic Rich, John Wilkins, Bert Rawley, and others  

President:

Roger W. McArt

26 McKinley St.

Rowayton, CT06853-1530

 

Vice-President:

J. Michael Murphy

11042 Lake Butler Blvd.

Windermere, FL34786-7806

 

Secretary:

Victor S. Rich Jr.

5 Red Ground Rd.

Old Westbury, NY11568-1119

 

Treasurer:

Ivar A. Jozus

Box 1298

73 Main St.

Middletown, CT06457-3408

Head Agent:

Donald F. O’Neill

9959 Brassie Bend

Naples, FL34108-1923

 

Newsletter Editor:

Thomas S. Conger

PO Box 563

Kula, HI96790-0563

tcink**hawaii.rr.com

 

Gift Planning Chair:

Peter M. Palin

854 Azalia St.

Boca Raton, FL33486-3536

 

Mini-Reunion Chairman:

Maynard B. Wheeler

P.O. Box 538

Grantham, NH03753-0538

Alumni Council:

Peter A. Bleyler

19 Rocky Hill Ln.

Lyme, NH03768-3425

 

Web Master(s):

Harris B. McKee (Publisher)

5 Cunningham Ln.

Bella Vista, AR72714-3550

 

Robert H. Conn (Editor)

3025 Loch Dr.

Winston Salem, NC27106-3007

 

Project Chair:

Cleve E. Carney

708 Lenox Rd.

Glen Ellyn, IL60137-3932

Class Web Site:

http://www.dartmouth.org/classes/61/

Go Directly to: Province News, Pulse-Takings

 

Mini-Reunion-Sep 28-30, 2007

 

The Ides of March are come and gone. High time to reconnect. Maynard Wheeler has been in action, setting up for a splendid fall mini-reunion. In this message to the class, he posts what we have in store at this juncture:Plans are well under way, and this year we will be at the historic Juniper Hill Inn in Windsor as the SumnerMansion is for sale!  We will be gathering at the peak of the leaf season for the weekend of September 28 – 30, 2007 so early lodging arrangements will be key.

LODGING
:  The Juniper Hill Inn in Windsor, VT, will be the site of our Saturday night dinner, and we hope some of you will stay there. Visit it on the web ( HYPERLINK "http://www.juniperhillinn.com" www.juniperhillinn.com) and learn about its history.  It was called the “Summer White House” and hosted Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge, Wilson and Taft.  Allow time for a tour of this historic house which retains much of the original artifacts, furniture, etc. Call 800/359-2541 or 802/674-5273 for reservations.  Room rates including breakfast are from $165 – 350 depending on which President you want to sleep with. See the 22 rooms on the web site. (Saturday morning they will offer a breakfast buffet starting at 7:30AM so we can eat before coming to the event with students) Alternatively, the Class has reserved rooms at the Comfort Inn in White River Junction for $159/night plus 9% tax: 802/295-3051. Ask for “The Class of ‘61 Block” of rooms.  This is the same price as last year.  If you want two beds, call right away.  The reserved rooms have king sized beds.  The cutoff date for room reservations at this rate will be Friday, September 1.

EVENTS: Friday night we will get together at 6:30PM at a location yet to be confirmed.Saturday morning at 9:30AM we will repeat last year’s meeting with the students whom we support from the Arts, Academics and Athletics followed by a box lunch before the football game with PENN at 12:30PM.  Weather permitting we will gather after the game at the Frost Statue.Saturday night we will be at the Juniper Hill Inn with a dinner by Christophe’s catering service which has served us for the last several years; we will be joined by the students we support to continue our discussion from the morning.  A speaker from the College will be invited.We look forward to another stimulating weekend in Hanover.

 

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News from the provinces


Jim “Workshop” Richards <maplelag**arvig.net> should just now be in the throes of shutting down the Maplelag Resort for the season, and heading off on holiday. In his terms: “...not all work here, but when we do it is seven days a week and 15-18 hour days; now it will be until the middle of March.  Mary and I made our annual
London trip the end of Oct. for the London Film Festival and, in two weeks, we took in 46 films.  Wonderful films that never come to the US for the most part, and subtitles which I love—hard to catch all the words, and thus miss some of the harder to catch nuances of speech. And the Q&A with directors and actors are always special.   I think since we were there last year, I have only seen one movie or video, and took the Grandkids to Star Wars which I couldn't wait to end.  When we closed last March, Mary and I also hit Puerto Vallarta in Mexico and just chilled for a month; read over 40 books plus great R&R to recharge the old body.  Then in June and July I went to Argentina for five weeks by myself, took Spanish lessons, went skiing for a week in Ushuaia and had a blast. Just hung out, walked and took in various events. The value there is so great it is hard to believe, and BA is just like a European city: Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, etc.  I also went to get parts for the parrilla [BBQ] we built as shown on the postcard you got.  The food in Argentina is super: steaks that you cannot finish and a bottle of Malbec will run around $10 per person.  Mary and I are going back again in March, and I hope to make it in June and July also.  July is my least favorite month as I am not a hot weather person.  If you haven't read some of the short stories of Borges, I think you would enjoy them... So that is about the news from here.  Business is great and the family likewise.” [Anybody ever look into Argentina for a mini...? ed.]  

Frank Stephens
<franklin.stephens**ntlworld.com> responded to the last
WWW thusly: “Would be pleased to receive WWW over the ‘net. Saves postage and decreases the carbon footprint with less paper and less fuel to transport it to its various destinations.  Quite busy at work as we are involved in two large M&A transactions in France and Spain.  I was in Moscow last week to speak at a conference.  It was about zero degrees F for the daily high[!].  Also met with clients and prospective clients.  I studied Russian for two years in Hanover. As I had no opportunity to use it, I cannot converse.  However, I do remember how to read the Cyrillic alphabet and many English and French words are transliterated directly into Cyrillic.  So  ‘RESTAURANT’ appears as ‘PECTAPAH’.  Have been invited to return to speak at another conference in April.” [Now, as for retirement, Franklin...? ed] 

Bill Bull
<billbull**ix.netcom.com> opted for an e-mail “green card,” which we encourage so as not to lose anything in translation nor misinterpretation of prescriptionese (physician’s cyrillic...): “I'm retired from Apple for five plus years now and don't miss it at all.  I'm havin’ so much fun and keeping so busy, I don't know how I ever worked.  Got 3 grandkids now and we (Claire & I) love every minute we can spend with them.  They live at
Lake Tahoe which is tough to take.  Our son Jim has his own small construction company and loves it.  Our daughter Cathy works in San Francisco as a video editor for an advertising agency.   She's our excuse to go to the big City for dinner and a walk along the wharf.  We're traveling some; spent most of January in Costa Rica, and cruised the Mediterranean last October.  Spend most of my time working out, or designing and building projects around the house.  Spent the last 2 days putting in a new huge shower head in our bath....I never have been the speediest horse in the shed, but I do have fun.  Still see a few classmates occasionally.  Willy Cooper and I have attended a few Good Guys car shows together.  He has two fantastic ‘54 Ford convertibles (one for parts, one for show).  I have my trusty ‘40 Chev that is now a pretty respectable street rod. Willy is doin’ great!  See Bill Wood once in a while.  We both really enjoy hiking and he has an ‘annual’ hiking weekend at his place in northern CA close to wilderness. See Dave Skuce at least once a year (we have the same birthday and try to have lunch to celebrate).  Of course, he has not changed one bit.  He still hunts, fishes, rides horses, has a place right on the Fall River, also somewhere in the northern CA wilderness.  He still works!!!...at exactly the same financial advisor job he started out of Dartmouth....He's nuts.” [We would also implore Dave to retire, but fear Paine Webber in Palo Alto would implode as he walked out the door... ed.]

George Harrington
<GeoCHarrington**aol.com> also responded by e-mail to the last issue: “I was unable to access the Class web site listed at the top of the February Newsletter. I realize my computer skills are limited, but wondered if the complete address was printed? [No. We had it wrong. Webmaster Harris McKee was kind enough to pass on the most direct link:
http://www.dartmouth.org/classes/61/ ]In response to your two questions on page 6: I would be interested in buying a miniature replica of the Frost statue, and also would be interested in receiving the Class Newsletter via the Internet.  In connection with the discussion regarding giving to the DCF versus named funds, it is my understanding that donations to named funds do not add to the total they have available to spend. A specific donation to an athletic team or to the Hood does not mean they have more to spend, just that the College does not have to fund their budget in full. I find this to be objectionable, as well as the credit issue, as my intent on making the gift is so that particular entity would have additional funds to do more beyond the budgeted amount. [We are awaiting confirmation/denial of this situation, Pls. stay tuned. ed.]P.S. I was in Hanover yesterday. The Carnival ice statue was truly pathetic, and neither the dorms nor the fraternities have any. Maybe you really can't go home again?

Dutton Foster <duttonfosters**comcast.net> e-mails: “Enjoyed reading Dave Birney's remarks as well as your thoughts on the Legacy.  I'm one who was motivated to give more to this cause than to the alumni fund in general.As far as news, nothing too earthshaking.  Retired from teaching/directing plays in 2004; currently spend time alternately on home improvements (an endless job and one which had a twenty-year backlog); Habitat for Humanity one day a week with a group of (mostly) fellow retirees; doing my own artwork, which consists of painting in acrylics (landscape and railroad scenes); and designing/building sets for the drama program of St. Paul Academy, my former employer (well, current, I guess, since they do pay me for this work!).  Caroline and I also enjoy birding in season and getting out for walks, biking (on a tandem at times), and occasional canoeing.” [Train buffs would worship his railroad scenes! ed.] 

Stu Sheldon dsislands**aol.com wires from Useppa Island, FL: “My executive computator operator [Jack Houser] is doing this for me inasmuch as I am a highly talented executive dictator.  Wanted you to know that I was really impressed with Dave Birney's great letter.  As always, your comments are right on the mark.  We are indeed lucky to have you as our class scribe.  I keep tabs on Houser.  He is hanging in there.  I don't know how he manages to maintain his sense of humor in the face of some very tough situations. Diana and I continue to enjoy Useppa and our occasional trips on Wahoo [their, uh, ‘executive launch’].” 
Art Kelton akjr**vail.net
was kind enough to report on the Fifth Annual Dartmouth Winter CarniVail which took place March 2-4: “Over 3 days, some 200 Dartmouth/Tuck alumni and friends gathered in Vail,
Colorado to ski, converse, party and discuss some serious subjects.  The weekend included a talk on Dartmouth's involvement in the creation of one of the US Army's most unique organizations, the ski troops of the 10th Mountain Division, and the heroic participation of several Dartmouth grads, and staff, in WWII by author Charles Sanders (The Boys of Winter, 2005).  It also included an exceptional seminar hosted by the TuckSchool on Alternative Energy initiatives, led by renowned Tuck professors Bob Howell and J. B. Quinn with the involvement of several AE industry experts.  Participants in CarniVAIL - 2007 included folks who were involved with Dartmouth alumni in 1942-45 to students about to graduate in 2007. Several classes used the weekend for Mini Reunions. The Class of 1961 was represented by myself and George Breed who came down from Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the weekend. Also of interest, Ken Walker was here in Vail for a few days following the Dartmouth Vail Weekend. He seems to be doing well and had some great skiing while he was here in Vail. Spent a wonderful day with Denny Denniston at Bob Downey's Dartmouth Ski Week in Keystone on March 1st. Denny and I had a great day skiing together and then a very enjoyable dinner that evening. That's the latest news from Vail! How's everything in Maui?” [Um, OK, I guess - kinda dull compared to what’s happenin’ in the Rockies... ed.] 

Glenn Gemelli
<cgranch**FRONTIERNET.NET> comments: FYI: “I skied at SnowBasin regularly from 1973 to 1987 – then an undiscovered jewel.  The 2002 Olympics had a huge impact on its development and notoriety, but it apparently is still relatively un-crowded.  PowderMountain is a short distance north across picturesque OgdenValley; it is smaller but is often blessed with fine ‘powder’.  Great memories, but now I have McCall’s BrundageMountain and Tamarack – typically great snow, good variety, and light crowds.  Life is good…”

Gerry Kaminsky gkaminsky**nb.com adds: “I was in Deer Valley for four days and hope you had as good a time as I did- it is hard to have better conditions skied snow basin for first time- if someone has not done it is worth the trip- glad to know Oscar is back and on the mend

Better insert right here the news that OscarArslanian was involved in a rollover auto accident early this month while driving client Fabian Forte to an engagement in Palm Springs. Exact details escape us, but apparently O was sideswiped by another vehicle racing past on the freeway. Injuries were not serious, though scary, and O is recuperating as we read (Fabian escaped injury; all were wearing seat belts. We hope that racer moron was not...). This incident generated a flurry of concerned and/or clever e-mails among classmates, some of whom recall Oscar’s close call senior year, to wit: Duane Cox: Hi guys, I have been in touch with Oscar since the accident. Nyla is here with us in PS which is where the hospital is located. Oscar is doing fine. He has scalp lacerations and is quite sore, as I am sure you can understand. He should be released Wednesday and will return to LA. He will make a full recovery. Load up his email inbox with good wishes. 
Dave Prewitt: Please give my best wishes to my old roommate for a speedy recovery. His recent accident is a flashback to a roll-over accident he was involved in back in 1960 on his way to Boston . I recall that he sustained scalp lacerations in that accident . Deja vu all over again !!!

     [now the plot thickens, as O’s accident merges with reports from the Hop...] 
Maynard Wheeler
: Inside the front cover of the HOP program tonight was this advertisement photo for a coming attraction May 19, with the commissioned artist showing her work to Robert Frost [the statue]. Too bad they did not caption it "The Class of '61 Robert Frost Statue" but, once again, we can observe how worthwhile the effort of a valiant few was to have the statue come into being. 
Ivar Jozus: I received the spring calendar for the HopkinsCenter performing arts.  What immediately attracted my attention was the promise that a performance by the Dartmouth Dance Ensemble "MAY contain nudity". WOW! However, I kept reading and noticed that on April 20th Kurt Elling will be performing.  I believe that is Cleve Carney's son in law who performed for us in Chicago at our mini.
Jim Watson: Kurt is Cleve's son-in-law. He is a 3 or 4 time Grammy nominated jazz vocalist - highly regarded! Coincidentally, we are going to his concert thisSunday in Chicago. They'll love him in Hanover!
David Birney:
Cleve, as you know, has a very strong artistic bent and my guess is that he might be convinced to appear either with Kurt, or even alone, in a nude performance of his own at the Hop. We should encourage that.
Oscar
: As you know, Cleve spent most of his 4 years half-naked on the swimming team. So, we know he's comfortable with it.(As  you can see, I'm back! Recovery will take a bit of time.)
tc: Right on! Good to have you on the mend. Listen: uh, considering your age and ethnic background, no sense bothering with any cosmetic repairs, right...?
Birney
: Given Oscar’s age and ethnic background, Tom, I suspect the only body part Oscar might be worried about is not located above the waist.  And Nyla has told me herself that the damage was basically to the scalp. So, no worries.....He might even agree to appear with Cleve.
tc:  We all know that nothing above his neck was subject to any detriment...But 'twould be a pity if anything marred that protuberant proboscis....!
Carney: happy you are still with us oscar ... sounded like a tough accident ...hope we can see kurt ** catalina's sometime i will call before i come next and set up eli broads warehouse... david, do you think i could get free tickets? 
Pete Synott
:BIG O, SORRY TO LEARN OF YOUR ACCIDENT. IT'S A GOOD THING THAT YOU LANDED ON THE HARDEST PLACEON YOUR BODY.BEST WISHES FOR A SPEEDY RECOVERY AND A QUICK FIX TO YOUR FACE.  THE SNOTSTER
Bill Glenn
: Gentlemen of ‘61, Cleve and I were together on Sanibel in Feb. and I can tell you that we do not want to see him in his Speedo nor his birthday suit!  Time takes its toll.  On the other hand, Cleve's daughter, Jennifer, is not only very beautiful, bright and talented, but she is also married to Kurt Elling. Mardi and I have all of Kurt's recordings and have seen him perform on several occasions... he is a real talent and a "must see" when you can. Oscar, Lundsted and I have been comparing notes on you from the '50s through '61. Recover rapidly, we need to talk before the National Rag gets hold of the story... your resiliency is a blessing.

Webmaster McKee
:  I've enjoyed the fellowship of shared comments about various topics in the last week distributed by email to the ExecComm. I do have a suggestion to class correspondents that I think will improve communications: since nearly all of the mails used the same Subject:  viz. "Re: Oscar Arslanian", despite comments that wandered far from Oscar's accident and recovery, I thought that I'd point out that one can insert a new Subject line when replying to such emails.  That would provide an added benefit for those of us who sometimes have to prioritize our email reading.
Rev. George Bland
: Wow, Harris: You don't mean it!  You mean, two seconds thought might protect us all from tapping the Send button on unmeant, unsavory messages?? which, given a nanosecond to recant, we might suppress and just send to the individual classmate we consider to be mature and discreet enough to himself suppress the message, and toddle off to the confessional on our behalf?? Don't worry, TC, you're exempt.  Brilliant remarks! [No, I'm serious!] 
Love, everybody, GB
[well, you get the drift... ed.] 

Hard copy green cards were submitted as well.

Sam Baker
claims, “Aloha! I’m enjoying ‘Wide Wide World’—you guys are having fun—me too! Semi-retired from orthopedics. Doing volunteer orthopedics overseas in
Bhutan. [FYI, a favorite travel destination among globe-trotting ‘57s from Punahou - ed.] Martha and I blessed with good health. Our son & daughter and their spouses are all teachers. Hope all is well with you.”

Mike Kirst
<mwk**stanford.edu> notes from LSJU: “My research has focused on improving academic preparation (in high school) for students who go to ‘broad access’ higher education—these are colleges that are open enrollment (50% of freshmen enroll in community colleges and 30% in 4-year colleges that accept all qualified applicants). Most of these students never finish college. My news is that I have started a blog http//thecollegepuzzle.blogspot.com to disseminate my specific ideas on improving academic preparation.” [which will be deeply appreciated by most college professors! ed.]

Marshall Ledger
sent a beautiful four-color “green card” consisting of the Pew Charitable Trusts newsmagazine, which he edits. The Fall ‘06 cover story deals with the marine sanctuary in the
Northwest Hawaiian Islands, recently dedicated by the First Lady, “which stretch for 1,200 miles across the north-central Pacific...literally in the middle of nowhere.” It even has a formal name: Papahanaumokuakea, which I can pronounce but won’t attempt to translate in print... On the back of his actual green card, Marshall sketched a portrait in ball-point of a craggy contemplative soul, assured us ‘twas not himself, and closed with, “I enjoyed Houser’s comments in the Feb. WWW, and concur.” [that may be a compliment; if so, mahalo, bruddah! ed.]

David Hugo
stated simply: “Retired from book business—moved to
Maine [specifically: PO Box 115, Lovell, ME04051, or from Lowell, MA to Lovell, ME...]. Interested in statuette of R. Frost.” 

 

Wendy & Skip Johnson showed up in person. With Episcopal Charities business at the Maui Prince Hotel, they managed to sneak away for lunch out Makena way (where it never rains), and we really caught up with each other after, oh, only 46 years or so. Of particular interest was the fact that Skipper & tc were a matched set of halfbacks for the Bullet back in the late ‘50s, both checking in at 6’2”&195#, and that, in spite of the passage of years, they are still fast as lightning—although both require a gridiron’s length to slow down and stop. See photo to verify they are still Bullet’s biggest backs...

Bullet’s Biggest Backs

 

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Pulse-taking

Which brings us back to earth, and a couple of pulse-takings we posited in the last issue: 

1. How many of you would like a miniature of the Frost statue? There were only positive responses, but the numbers were not overwhelming. This might take some doing, and we are loath to encourage some enterprising ‘61 to do a lot of leg work if there is not enough genuine interest to justify the expenditure. Pls. use your green card, e-mail, or other means of commo to indicate your interest.


2. How many of you would be satisfied to receive
WWW only on the Internet? There are many advantages to this conversion, not only in reduced cost but also immediate delivery, color photos, link inserts, etc. Harris has about 30-40 classmates who have indicated they would be delighted to have their newsletter on the web. If you have not responded to this query, please e-mail him at <h4mmckee**sbcglobal.net> .

3. Would you like to have a hard bound illustrated copy of Herb West’s classic farewell address to the college on
May 28, 1964? This is a delightful piece of work, quite in tune with occasional laments from today’s alumni, and certainly a climax to Prof. West’s ongoing, uh, interaction with the administration throughout most of his 42 years on the faculty. We urge you to contact Jim Hamilton ‘65 at Westholm Publications (many will recognize that as  HFW’s personal imprint, used posthumously with his permission) 298 King Street; Cohasset, MA02025 <hamilton.james**comcast.net> . You’ll be glad you did.

Discussions are presently under way regarding compilation of an updated Class Directory. As you may have noticed, we did not produce one concurrent with the 45th reunion back in June. However, in that many classmates have now retired and relocated, and e-mail addresses change regularly as ‘61s seek out better, or less costly, providers, we had best get into the present. Watch this space, and be prepared to submit your most recent contact data.

That ought to do it for now. Let’s call it a wrap.

/aloha,  tc/

 

Webmaster’s note: All email addresses have been modified to thwart web-crawlers by replacing the usual connector with “**”.

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