Class Note 1972
Issue
July-August 2022
Dear ’72s, when you read this, we will have celebrated our 50th reunion. I will report on that in the September/October column.
As I write this, I am back in Naples, Florida. I flew up to Vermont a couple of weeks ago to drive to N.Y.C., where I participated in my 45th reunion from Fordham Law. I spent almost a week in N.Y.C. On April 19 we drove in a snow blizzard from Montpelier to Burlington, Vermont, and waited on our plane for hours as the planes were getting de-iced and trying to take off. We finally made it. We missed our connecting flight in Charlotte, North Carolina, but we got back to Naples and no snow. I was reminded about a conversation I overheard on my way to Thayer Hall one night in early April after we returned from our first spring break. Marty Cain, from the Baltimore area, was telling someone in a loud voice that he was leaving Hanover and not returning until there was no snow on the ground. He had experienced enough snow and he didn’t need to be trudging through snow in April, when it was supposed to be spring. There’s a saying in Vermont that the first day of spring is not necessarily the first spring day. I think Marty probably left but I can’t verify that.
On March 16, Gary and Gin Shanley hosted a group of us at their Naples home for drinks and then dinner at their lovely beach club on Pelican Bay. Joining the group were Bob King and spouse, Elizabeth Donovan, Dave and Fran Friend, Gary “Dico” and Laura Dicovitsky, and Barb and I. We shared many stories of our times in Hanover, discussed the draft situation, and, of course, talked about families and careers. With my aging eyes, I thought everyone looked good and were in good spirits. Dico further relayed that he attended an event in Florida put on by Bruce Ling ’73 at which fellow ’72s Vic Stibolt and Dave Hetzel were in attendance.
I have heard from Dick White, who has put together a substantial work of genealogy of the White and Wallace families, reaching back to the Mayflower. A relatively simple document, “The Mayflower Compact,” laid a foundation of self-governance with collective concern and individual responsibility that has served as a guiding light for our civilization for hundreds of years. I asked Dick if he could bring me a copy of his work.
Jack Manning reported that Wayne Young has made great progress recovering from complicated back surgery and announced a streamed Dartmouth baseball game that was the earliest game ever played in Hanover. I guess our snowball fights didn’t qualify as baseball games. Let’s give a rouse for Wayne, who represents the best of our vaunted student-athlete tradition.
I want to share something that Dean Brewster wrote to Greg “Yads” Yadley on March 8, prompted by Yads’ outreach concerning Dean Brewster’s potential participation in a discussion of coeducation at Dartmouth during our reunion. Dean Brewster wrote: “Nearly 52 years ago on November 18, 1970, my son, Abraham, was born at Dartmouth. I was sitting in my study at 23 Choate Road by myself pondering my new responsibilities when there was a knock on my front door. I was half expecting to hear news of some serious problem on campus but, instead, there stood Greg Yadley with a group of first-year students who had heard about the birth of Abe and reported that they had teamed together to buy Abe a $25 U.S. Treasury Series E Bond to be used, as needed, for Abe’s education. I could never cash that bond and it still sits on my desk as a reminder of one of the key events, which all of us share, for our love of Dartmouth. This expression of affection by Dartmouth students was a major confirmation for me that I was in the right place.” Dean Brewster didn’t report that Greg led the group in singing “Men of Dartmouth,” but I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.
That is the stuff of which Dartmouth men were made 50 years ago!
Lest the old traditions fail.
—Sheldon Prentice, 2311 Tradition Way, #102, Naples, FL 34105; shelprentice72@gmail.com
As I write this, I am back in Naples, Florida. I flew up to Vermont a couple of weeks ago to drive to N.Y.C., where I participated in my 45th reunion from Fordham Law. I spent almost a week in N.Y.C. On April 19 we drove in a snow blizzard from Montpelier to Burlington, Vermont, and waited on our plane for hours as the planes were getting de-iced and trying to take off. We finally made it. We missed our connecting flight in Charlotte, North Carolina, but we got back to Naples and no snow. I was reminded about a conversation I overheard on my way to Thayer Hall one night in early April after we returned from our first spring break. Marty Cain, from the Baltimore area, was telling someone in a loud voice that he was leaving Hanover and not returning until there was no snow on the ground. He had experienced enough snow and he didn’t need to be trudging through snow in April, when it was supposed to be spring. There’s a saying in Vermont that the first day of spring is not necessarily the first spring day. I think Marty probably left but I can’t verify that.
On March 16, Gary and Gin Shanley hosted a group of us at their Naples home for drinks and then dinner at their lovely beach club on Pelican Bay. Joining the group were Bob King and spouse, Elizabeth Donovan, Dave and Fran Friend, Gary “Dico” and Laura Dicovitsky, and Barb and I. We shared many stories of our times in Hanover, discussed the draft situation, and, of course, talked about families and careers. With my aging eyes, I thought everyone looked good and were in good spirits. Dico further relayed that he attended an event in Florida put on by Bruce Ling ’73 at which fellow ’72s Vic Stibolt and Dave Hetzel were in attendance.
I have heard from Dick White, who has put together a substantial work of genealogy of the White and Wallace families, reaching back to the Mayflower. A relatively simple document, “The Mayflower Compact,” laid a foundation of self-governance with collective concern and individual responsibility that has served as a guiding light for our civilization for hundreds of years. I asked Dick if he could bring me a copy of his work.
Jack Manning reported that Wayne Young has made great progress recovering from complicated back surgery and announced a streamed Dartmouth baseball game that was the earliest game ever played in Hanover. I guess our snowball fights didn’t qualify as baseball games. Let’s give a rouse for Wayne, who represents the best of our vaunted student-athlete tradition.
I want to share something that Dean Brewster wrote to Greg “Yads” Yadley on March 8, prompted by Yads’ outreach concerning Dean Brewster’s potential participation in a discussion of coeducation at Dartmouth during our reunion. Dean Brewster wrote: “Nearly 52 years ago on November 18, 1970, my son, Abraham, was born at Dartmouth. I was sitting in my study at 23 Choate Road by myself pondering my new responsibilities when there was a knock on my front door. I was half expecting to hear news of some serious problem on campus but, instead, there stood Greg Yadley with a group of first-year students who had heard about the birth of Abe and reported that they had teamed together to buy Abe a $25 U.S. Treasury Series E Bond to be used, as needed, for Abe’s education. I could never cash that bond and it still sits on my desk as a reminder of one of the key events, which all of us share, for our love of Dartmouth. This expression of affection by Dartmouth students was a major confirmation for me that I was in the right place.” Dean Brewster didn’t report that Greg led the group in singing “Men of Dartmouth,” but I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.
That is the stuff of which Dartmouth men were made 50 years ago!
Lest the old traditions fail.
—Sheldon Prentice, 2311 Tradition Way, #102, Naples, FL 34105; shelprentice72@gmail.com