Class Note 1957

“Honoring our Past, Inspiring our Future” is the theme of Dartmouth’s 250th-year celebration. Let’s do a bit of the same for our class.

A newly unearthed copy of our 1957 Commencement Program shows that our senior year was Dartmouth’s 187th. Commencement marshals were Tom Donahoe, Peter Barnes, and Wayne Kakela. Our senior executive committee consisted of Duncan Barnes, Frank Bruni, Garvey Clark, David Clements, Kent Crane, Jim Dalton, Skip Kerr, Dick Leavitt, Bob Macdonald, Ed Matthews, and Chuck Schroeder. Class speakers at the Bema that day were Bob Smith with the address to the College, Don Cowlbeck reciting the class poem, Gordon Bjork delivering the class oration, John Colenback presenting the Sachem oration, and Dick Schramm with the address to the Old Pine. All that leading up to the valedictory address by Lloyd Weinreb.

This anniversary year’s focus on the past causes all of us to look back. Classmates are remembering old times rather than reporting current activities. Not so strange when you consider our past is so much longer than our future. Let’s spend just a moment on a few reflections….

John Lange worked as a brakeman on the Mount Washington Cog Railway in 1954 and then served his time at the U.S. Treasury, where he was a director managing the foreign exchange reserves of the United States. Rod Hinkle and Bob Mowbray joined the Peace Corps in 1961, Rod leaving his job teaching civics at Newton High School and Bob following three years active duty in the Marine Corps. Howie Howland and Jim Taylor, both past presidents of the Dartmouth Club of Cape Cod, recalled the importance and dedication of treasurer John Citron’s 23 years of service. Hannie Mason hosted ’57s Jack Stempel, Bruce Bernstein, Larry Blades and Jay Greene at the Iowa caucus in 2008 when Obama came out of nowhere to upset Hillary.

President Hanlon says “our 250th is as much about our future as it is about our past.” Sixty-two years ago Professor Rosenstock-Huessy told us our present is the insistence of the future upon our past. What do you think? How are we doing?

—John W. Cusick, 105 Island Plantation Terrace, Vero Beach, FL 32963; (772)231-1248; johnwcusick@aol.com