November 2012

   
     
       
President : Newsletter Editor: Communication Officers:
Denny Denniston Thomas S. Conger Harris B. McKee (Webmaster)
266 West 91st St P.O. Box 115 5 Cunningham Ln.
New York, NY 10024-1101 Grantham, NH 03753 tcink85***gmail.com Bella Vista, AR 72715-6550
Vice-President: Co-Bequest Chairs Robert H. Conn (Editor)
Ken DeHaven Peter M. Palin 3025 Loch Dr.
19 Sky Ridge Dr 1704 S.W. 14th Street Winston Salem, NC 27106-3007
Rochester, NY 14625-2159 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312-4104  
Secretary : John Damon Arts & Legacy Committee
Victor S. Rich Jr. 79 Bayberry Lane, PO Box 218 David Birney
5 Red Ground Rd. Barnstable MA 02630-1801 20 Ocean Park Blvd, Townhouse 11
Old Westbury, NY 11568-1119   Santa Monica, CA 90405-3589
Treasurer : Reunion Chairman: Hanover Cleve E. Carney
Ivar A. Jozus Maynard B. Wheeler 708 Lenox Rd.
73 Main St. P.O. Box 538 Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-3932
Middletown, CT 06457-3408 Grantham, NH 02753-0538 Oscar Arslanian
Head Agent :   2489 North Edgemont St
Peter Stuart Co-Mini-Reunion Chairman: Non-Hanover Los Angeles, CA 90027-1054
26 New London Rd Dave Prewitt Pete Bleyler
Mystic, CT 06355-2449 279 Warner Road 43 Berrill Farms Lane
Alumni Council : Wayne , PA 19087-2156 Hanover, NH 03755-3216
Alan Orschel  
1258 Pine Street Class Web Site:
Winnetka, IL 60093-2028 http://www.dartmouth.org/classes/61/
     
   
     

 

 
         

 

Go Directly to:     Fall-Mini  Attendees    2013 Spring Mini   2013 Fall Mini    Upper Valley Lunch Bunch  Women of '61 Christmas Pudding   "8" The Play   Photos   Obits   Golf Report                    

 

Class Member Updates:  Brignano    Bull   Corbus   Dale   Dayton    DeHaven     Foster     Gleeson   Haertl   Hargraves    Horan   Huse    Jackson    McArt    Kirst     Noel   O'Neill    Prewitt    Rozycki   Serrell   Shearer   Skuce   Spencer    Sperling    Synnott   Vincent     Welty    Wheeler     Wood   Wybo     Zinn 

 

WWW 11/1/2012 - November already? How doth the tempus fugit...? Let’s post a report on our mid-October mini-reunion from majordomo Maynard Wheeler:


2012 Fall Mini-Reunion
“Twenty-six classmates, most with significant others, gathered for a weekend in Hanover which coincided with the gala opening of the HOP 50th Anniversary celebration. Friday evening cocktails/dinner in the Hanover Inn’s lovely new Hayward Room began early, to allow classmates to make the 7:30 opening of ‘Igniting Imagination: A Salute to the HOP’s 50 Years’ in Spaulding Auditorium, hosted by Aisha Taylor ’92 and featuring a large cast of Dartmouth students, plus appearances by Dartmouth alums famous in the performing arts. Major emphasis on the HOP’s achievements and importance to the College was stressed. ‘Igniting’ was followed by the premiere of artist Ross Ashton’s ‘Five Windows,’ projected on the outside face of the HOP. It was an evening which should prove mighty tough to match in coming years.

Saturday started by meeting with the students whom we support. Our Academic student, Rebecca Lau ’13 from the Computer Science Dept., told us about her project ‘Developing Home Care Applications for Hypertensive Patients’ for which our funds provided a wi-fi blood pressure cuff and tablet for recording/transmitting the readings. She received many helpful comments from septuagenarians in the group, several of whom are on cardiac monitors. Our Arts Initiative student award had been given to a ’12 who was tied up in New York in her new career. No matter: Samantha Knowles sent us the DVD of her documentary project, ‘Why Do You Have BLACK DOLLS’, and talked with us about it via Skype, a first for such discussions. It all worked beautifully. She received many helpful suggestions and potential contacts. Her documentary has already received one award, and the #1 credit for support was to the Class of 1961.

Meanwhile the sturdy DRFC rugby juggernaut was busy routing Yale 42-0 on Brophy Field at the Corey Ford Clubhouse complex, and the B side sent the Eli 2nd XV home with a 97-0 shellacking. In so doing, the Injuns maintained their position atop the Ivy League in regular season play. The rugby organization remains the most successful sports team ever fielded by Dartmouth, and is clearly due recognition for the excellence they reflect upon the college.

After the usual sack lunch from Lou’s, it was off to the Sacred Heart [American] football game—a disappointment with a 27-10 loss. We all then gathered with our very special guest, Pete Synnott’s daughter Leslie (and her fiancee Gary), at the Robert Frost statue for a brew and a time of remembrance. Denny Denniston read eulogies* by Birney, O’Neill, Duane Cox, and Brother Conn, to which tc added some memories.

We adjourned to the Sumner Mansion for our accustomed evening with superb food by our favorite caterer, Cristophe. Professor Thomas Corman, chair of the Computer Science department, and his wife joined us. He enlightened us about the role of this new (since our day) department and affirmed the importance of research in teaching. As the majority departed after a fine evening, some diehards were noticed to be deep in conversation.

Sunday morning a select few gathered for brunch at the Hanover Inn before returning to their ‘normal’ world by various byways.”

 

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*Memories of Snot from Denny’s notes are below in full:
David Birney: I barely knew Pete while at school; in fact, I did not even know him well while on the "alumni trail." What I did know, however, is that Pete was the exemplary classmate. Speaking for myself, I'm not so sure that I would have either the desire or the energy to do what Pete did in his physical condition, time after time and year after year, to attend AND FULLY PARTICIPATE in each and every Class reunion and mini-reunion which he attended, which were nearly each and every reunion and mini-reunion held by our Class, at least during the past 15 years. I'm only glad that Pete was able to make our 50th, which he very much wanted to do, and that we were able to acknowledge publicly, in front of his attending classmates, his tangible and intangible contribution to the Class of 1961.
Don O’Neill: Pete exemplified the spirit, tenacity and courage of the class of '61. He taught all of us the true meaning of loyalty, brotherhood, and commitment, and who dealt with a severe physical disability by essentially living his life with little or no regard for it.
Dobes Cox: Paul Agnew Synnott will be missed. I met Snot in fall rush, 1958. The '61 AD brotherhood was small in number but mighty in spirit. Pete had the most infections and sometimes sinister (in an AD setting) sense of humor. As we reconnected, we shared many recountings of our time together. He was indeed a courageous soul. He will be missed but our collective memories of him will continue. Carry on, my Brother.
Bob Conn: One of our staunchest classmates, Despite advancing Parkinson’s disease, Pete made virtually every class event in at least the past 10 years, including football game mini-reunions, and out-of-Hanover reunions. He presented our class check to President Wright at our 45th, and many have pictures of that.

Top: Classmates & S.O.s at Frost Statue to Commemorate Pete Synnott

Below: Class Pres. Denny Denniston and Leslie Synnott at our Shovel-Ready Snot Project . . . (Jobbly Jackson in background)



Below is a list of attendees:

Bleyler

Pete

Ruth

 

 

 

Burton

Gim

Eileen

Knox

Tim

Liz

Conger

Tom

Judy Miller

Lynn

Mort

Susan

Conn

Bob

 

Murphy

Mike

Helene

Damon

John

Cathy

Osterhout

David

Susan Tannenbaum

Denniston

Denny

Chris Thomas

Palin

Pete

Linda Bolitho

Eberhardt

Henry

Laurie

Prewitt

Dave

Joan

Fuller

Bob

Margaret

Spencer

Dick

Nancy Meng

George

Larry

Helen

Sullivan

Bob

 

Gleeson

Larry

Jean Moltz

Synnott

 

Leslie, (Fiance Gary)

Holmberg

Hop

Judy

Wheeler

Maynard

Sandy

Jackson

Bob

Karin

Wybranowski

Ron

Joan

Jozus

Ivar

Carol

McDonough

Tom

 

2013 Spring Mini-Reunion Back to Top

Our mini-reunions are a sheer delight, and the Hanover occasions offer a chance for those of you who have resisted the siren call of the Uppah Valley to return and rekindle the flame of passion(s) of yore. For those still looking to finish their Bucket List, we also have spectacular affairs ‘round the girdled earth. Here Dave Prewitt reveals the details of next April’s min:
Dartmouth Class of ’61 Mini Reunion 2013—Charleston, SC April 14-17, 2013
• Hotel: The Mills House Hotel–on Conde Nast’s “Gold List of the World’s Best Hotels”—home to Gen Robert E Lee during the buildup to the Civil War, is in the center of the historic district, so no car needed. There’s even a swimming pool for those escaping the northeast mud season . . .
• We have reserved 50 rooms for our Class at a special room rate of $179 per nite (add 13.5% taxes )
• Rooms must be reserved on an individual basis by calling 843/577-2400 before March 15, 2013, mentioning “Dartmouth Class of ’61 Reunion” and providing a credit card number.
• Guided historic tours of Charleston – our walking tour will be preceded by a talk by an historian.
• Afternoons free to allow visits to other Charleston attractions such as the USS Yorktown at Patriot’s Point and the Confederate Museum.
• Boat cruise of the Charleston harbor with a visit to Ft Sumter, where the Civil War (“the wah of nawthuhn aggression”...) began.
• Cocktail Reception and dinner: at historic Hibernian Hall - adjacent to the Mills House Hotel.
Visit the the Charleston Aquarium and much, much more
Anticipated cost per person: $475 including catered dinner with cocktails/social hour each night, all breakfasts and local transportation.

2013 Fall Mini-Reunion in Hanover
Save the Dates: Oct 11 - 13, HOMECOMING weekend with the Yale game. It is scheduled as an afternoon game at this point so we will follow our usual schedule including hearing from our students Saturday morning. Therefore, mark your calendars and consider locking up room reservations early. For those dates rooms appear to be available at: The Hampton Inn WRJ 802-296-2800 ($120), The Fairfield Inn by Marriott ($170), the Residence Inn by Marriott ($190), but not the Courtyard Marriott Hanover Lebanon. Always try for a "Dartmouth Discount". The Sumner Mansion is not available so we will look for another Saturday night venue. It should be a great weekend. Any questions or suggestions, email me at mbwheeler61@alum.dartmouth.org or phone 603-863-3206. Maynard

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Bob Hargraves has written a fine book on alternative fuel, to wit: THORIUM: energy cheaper than coal has just been published. Thorium energy can help us check CO2 and global warming, cut deadly air pollution, provide inexhaustible energy, and increase human prosperity.
Our world is beset by global warming, pollution, resource conflicts, and energy poverty. Millions die from coal plant emissions. We war over mideast oil. Food supplies from sea and land are threatened. Developing nations' growth exacerbates the crises.
Few nations will adopt carbon taxes or energy policies against their economic self-interests to reduce global CO2 emissions. Energy cheaper than coal will dissuade all nations from burning coal. Innovative thorium energy uses economic persuasion to end the pollution, to provide energy and prosperity to impoverished peoples, and to create energy security for all people for all time.
Please click here for a full description. Thank you for looking at my new book.
Robert Hargraves


THORIUM : energy cheaper than coal
http://www.thoriumenergycheaperthancoal.com

Bob has sold his book to eager readers at the ’61 monthly lunchies—which might be a nice segue: why haven’t you joined us yet?
Upper Valley Luncheons
Our pilot program of ’61 Uppah Valley luncheons commenced the summer after our 50th reunion. They happen once a month, in a bistro accessible to most whose e-mail addresses we have. So far we’ve been drawing about 8-12 gents, thus response to invitations is somewhat less than optimum: we have 48 classmates in NH&VT generally within reach of the UV, and of those we usually get about 12-15 total responses (etiquette note: RSVP merely means “please reply”; it does not demand attendance...). So we could do better—but those who show up do seem to enjoy themselves. Yesterday’s topics of discussion ranged from general health to hearing aid technology, night football games in Hanover, underwater subways in NYC, micro-brews at Norwich Inn, and culminated with a thorough discourse on dispersal of cremains and some of the screwy ways dead folks decree that their ashes be strewn. No kiddin’, folks: many people have some bizarre requests regarding their final disposition (which survivors seem bound to accommodate)—and these were people we knew and loved. Holy clinkers, Batman...!
Y’all come join us, y’hea?          Back to Top

 

 

The Women of 1961 have their own lunch program, probably a lot more sedate - and considerably more intellectual. Here they are at Tip Top Cafe in White Rivah on Oct. 10:

(LtoR): Jo Ortwein, Ann Hargraves, Sandy Wheeler, Ruth Bleyler, Carol Baum and Diane Kittredge.

They’re meeting again on November 7. Be there or be square .


Tony Horan reports via Green Card, "Marcie & I signed up for the Sierra High Camps in February and went up in August to Vogelsang. Here the granite is mostly silica and white like snow. It was 10,000 feet altitude. Then the next day we descend 3,000 feet to Merced Lake. Our quadriceps were like jelly. We could barely walk the next two days, then back up to Vogelsang 3,000', which was ravishing once again. They provide two meals & a picnic and tent cabins. '61s would love it. Plenty of people our age."          Back to Top


Cybergremlins got into the commo between Larry Gleeson and WWW HQ last issue, causing us to publish a greatly abbreviated version of what Larry had tried to convey. (Larry: “My account in the attached file titled, ‘The Nugget Out West’ mentioned a number of classmates and referred to movies and music in ways that I thought would remind fellow '61s of our Hanover days. In May I sent this same material to Steve & Fran Dale, Barc Corbus, Dutton & Caroline Foster, and Ron Huse. The Dales were pleased to see I had told of Steve's CD. Ron Huse was glad to see the movie stills he gave me. All of us are disappointed that coverage in the August WWW was abbreviated to the point where it made little or no sense.”) And since what we included was so vastly different from his original version, we’re gonna try again:
The Nugget Out West
Conversations about movies at our 50th class reunion led to the accompanying photos. Because Steve Dale's wife, Fran, and I discovered our common fascination with movies, she, Steve, and Barc Corbus came for a film festival in my version of the Nugget in Buena Vista, Colorado, during May 2012.


Steve Dale, Larry Gleeson, Barc Corbus and Mount Princeton. Photo by Fran Dale.

While we hiked by the Arkansas River, had a picnic with my girlfriend Jean, and listened to Steve's CD Peace, we spent much of the time in my dedicated home theater with its ten-foot screen, nine speakers, two rows of reclining seats and high definition, ceiling-mounted projector. For several years now Dutton and Caroline Foster have also joined me for movies when visiting their log cabin about fifteen miles south of my home.

My watching of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen and 3:10 to Yuma (2007) plus excerpts from Rear Window, Psycho, To Catch a Thief, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and a host of other classic Hollywood pictures was greatly enhanced by Fran's extensive knowledge of movies and Steve's insights into the soundtracks.

Larry Gleeson's Nugget                                                    Steve Dale's CD Peace

After conversations in Hanover last June with Ron Huse and subsequent e-mails, Ron sent me some forty movie stills from his collection. In our senior year Ron headed the Dartmouth Film Society to which I belonged all four years. These are only a portion of Ron's stills.


Ron Huse's film stills outside Larry Gleeson's Nugget.

My home is three hours from the Denver airport and two hours from the Colorado Springs airport. Copper Mountain and Monarch ski areas are each about an hour away. This is a great area for river rafting and hiking. It would be wonderful to host other classmates. Contact me at 719-395-3500. [hope this made more sense—and the cybergremlins have deceased - Ed.]         Back to Top


Jon Sperling just can’t quite seem to retire from the Foreign Service. [August 31] “I’m here in the US of A for another day then off to Kinshasa DROC for 2.5 weeks of work. Again I fell off the leisure wagon, but am trying mightily to climb back on. I'm upgrading my place in Greenport, LI, in the hope of spending more time there. With one daughter here and one in NYC I'd like to move back and forth a bit more. Had a great reunion of the Russell Sage crowd at Dave Skuce's ranch in north california over Memorial Day. Frierson, Dale, Corbus, Brignano, Wood, Bull, Skuce and I, as well as several spouses, had a great time...Come and visit if it gets too cold up there.”

Dick Spencer reports [Oct. 6]: “Jake Haertl and Shirley Durbin are spending the weekend with me and Nancy Meng. Jake visited his sister in New Bedford, MA and his daughter, Jean, in Framingham, MA. This afternoon we all got together with Ron & Joan Wybranowski at Burton's Grill in North Andover. A good time was had by all especially since Ron hasn't seen Jake for well over ten years.
Right now Jake isn't using his email account as his PC is broken. He doesn't like using email anyway so he's not in a hurry to get a new one.
PS - showed Jake and Shirley my backyard garden including the mint leaves. I didn't make any mint juleps, so we settled for some Martinis made by Nancy. Not bad!”


Peripatetic Al Rozycki found himself on the left coast back in September, so stopped in to visit “Clam” Kirst & Wendy. “Had a GREAT visit with Mike and Wendy Kirst in Palo Alto. He is so excited about his work as President of the California Board of Education (for the 2nd time) and with his grant from the Gates foundation. First time I've met Wendy—great combination.”



Grass doth not grow on a busy . . . (LtoR): Michael W. Kirst PhD, Alan A. Rozycki, MD          Back to Top

Christmas Pudding
Out there on the left coast, David Birney lets no grass grow ‘neath his thespian hooves, and announces the upcoming annual yuletide extravaganza “A Christmas Pudding” at the Westwood Presbyterian Church, LA area: “Dec. 1st. To open the season. I think this is the 18th year. A new script and show each year. Two have been published. This year Truman Capote, Joan Acocella, Brendan Gill, Frederich Buechner, Mary Oliver, Ogden Nash, Stewart MacLean, Phillis McGinley, Alice Low, Stephen Leacock and Sir Thomas Mallory.
Yet Christmas comes in the morning. Well, why anything? Why do we? Come every year sure as the solstice to carol these antiquities that if you listened to the words would break your heart.
Silence, darkness, Jesus, angels. Better, I suppose to sing than to listen.
John Updike


"8" The Play
Back in September, Birney was featured in the 2012 Productions’ performance of “8” The Play. FYI: On election day 2008, Proposition 8 re-wrote the California state constitution to ban marriage for gay and lesbian citizens. In response, two couples, Sandy Stier & Kristin Perry and Jeff Zarrillo & Paul Katami, filed suit against Proposition 8 in Federal Court. Representing them were Ted Olson and David Boies, most famous for representing the opposing sides in Bush v. Gore.
Olson and Boies argued in favor of broadcasting the trial live, and Republican-appointed Chief Judge Vaughn Walker agreed. But the opponents of marriage equality filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, which blocked plans to broadcast the proceedings. Thus, the nation has been denied access to the live testimony of Sandy & Kristin and Jeff & Paul … until today.
What followed were twelve days of testimony in January of 2010, drawing crowds that spilled into overflow rooms, as well as many millions more who followed every moment online.
These are the words, the witnesses, the testimony and the trial that the proponents of Proposition 8 fought so hard to keep from public view.
The play begins on June 16, 2010, at the closing arguments of Perry v. Schwarzenegger



Merely your usual all-star cast . . .          Back to Top


’61 photogs have submitted a bounty of splendid pix for your edification [below]:


Al Rozycki: along Kancamagus Highway [10/7] - Piglet goes with us and we send a note back to our grandchildren from him. Gets their attention better than old fuddy-duddy grandparents!


Pete Bleyler: [10/27] the Frost statue taken from the top of Bartlett Tower.

The Tower is open today, and there are 88 steps to the top!
Last night I lined up for the Dartmouth Night parade, thinking that I’d be the only ‘61 around. But, there was Bob Shearer and wife Peggy Ann, holding the ‘61 sign. As we started are walk up Lebanon Street, we were suddenly joined by Don & Ellen O’Neill, and Rog & Sandy McArt. Warmest night I can ever remember for this occasion, and you didn’t need to get close to the bonfire to stay warm.


Roz: Thought you'd get a kick out of this - en route FL to VT [10/17].



Chuck Dayton [10/28]: Had a great 3 days with Wybo down here in the Smokeys,
shooting waterfalls, fall foliage, streams. I learned a lot.



Old Phi Gam roomies meet in Centralia, WA (LtoR): Joe Zinn, tc.

Ken DeHaven: We had a truly great experience visiting the Galapagos Islands earlier this month [October] on a Lindblad-National Geographic cruise aboard the Endeavour. Six hundred miles off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific, it is a truly unique place in the world


(LtoR): Jean DeHaven, clockmaker Ken. (front:) Old fella, new friend. . .          Back to Top


Obits
Unfortunately, at this advanced age, we are bound to learn sad news of the passing of classmates. Chip Serrell alerted us that Bob Vincent had slipped away on September 12 in Greenwich, CT, from complications related to treatment for cancer. “Boss Tweed” was a singular member of the intrepid Theta Delt crew, joining us in ’57 from Brentwood School where he was an all-around jock, having participated in football, rugby, hockey, swimming, and track. In Hanover he confined his activities mostly to campus organizations. Bob went on to Columbia Law and retired as a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He was a past director and board chairman of Barclays Bank of New York, and once served as a trustee of Choate Rosemary Hall School. A life well lived.


Dick Welty died August 11 in Marietta, GA, of complications related to Parkinson's disease. Born in New York City, he grew up in Larchmont, and at Dartmouth he was a member of Alpha Theta and The Injunaires. Dick worked in commercial insurance with Aetna and Kemper, and earned his CPCU designation, serving as the society's Georgia Chapter President in 1991. He sang in many local choirs, was a paid soloist, and for many years sang second tenor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Yes, gents, it is hitting too close to home.

Golf Report
On a lighter note, Dick Noel posts: “Last Saturday (October 27, 2012), I accomplished a lifetime golf goal of shooting my age—actually shooting one shot better than my age. At age 74, I birdied 3 of the last 5 holes at my Brattleboro Country Club course to shoot a solid 73. I have done some good things in my golf life, like being Senior Club Champion at my home course, and I have had 3 holes-in-one, but shooting better than one's age tops them all by a large margin. It is done by very few golfers. Also, my round was played in very tough wet conditions on a cold damp day with hurricane Sandy on the way. The 150 pole markers had been pulled out and the traps were not raked.
Enough bragging—just wanted you to know that in my retirement I could do more than just make up stand-up comedy routines for our reunion "Passages" sessions.
Hope the monthly lunches are still going well. Hope sometime soon that I can make one.”


Guess we ought to call it a wrap. We’ll close with Steinberg’s classic rendition of the world map—without water lapping up New York streets from the hurricane surge . . . [how he missed the Peoples Republic of Hawayah is a mystery - perhaps he couldn’t see through the LA smog... ed.]

 

Aloha,
tc

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