As we approach our 70th and last formal class reunion, it is difficult to grasp that it was 74 years ago that we gathered on the Green for the first time to begin our great Dartmouth College adventure, the memories of which are still emblazoned in our heads as if they occurred yesterday. Gone are the freshman beanies, the duckboards, wet down, the tug of war, the football rush and hums, Davis Hockey Rink, and Freshman Commons. In their stead are the dynamics of coeducation, the Dartmouth Plan, the Hop, The Black Family Arts Building, new dormitories, the Hood, and many other new and improved buildings and facilities. And yet, so many years later, Dartmouth evokes a certain comfort as one roams the beautiful campus untarnished by the years—in fact, even more beautiful today. There abounds the same sense of belonging coupled with the energy of the place that made it such a wonderful experience then. We absorbed the strength of the New England winters and the joy of learning from caring professors and from our peers. We matured and were inspired to think and to learn. Four years later we left this place with the hope and energy of youth, with President Eisenhower’s words encouraging us to go forward: “Don’t be a crocodile and lie in the sun. Make each day count.” Now, 70 years later, as we look back, we take in the broad breadth of our classmates’ activities and experiences, the stuff accomplished and the examples we set, and we hope that we have made use of the bounties offered to us and have fulfilled our promise. We continue to contribute—each in his own way—and look forward to seeing friends made before most of the readers of these notes were even born. We who are here to partake in this important reunion pay homage to Dartmouth by our presence, we hope, and by the way we have comported through those many years.

Once again, I am saddened to report the loss of our dear classmates and offer our condolences to the families of John Cernius, Albert Krause, William Burns, Ed Parsons, William Brown, H. Elton Clarke, and Sherwood Salitsky.

—Mark H. Smoller, 401 Lake Shore Road, Putnam Valley, NY 10579; (834) 603-5066; dartmark@gmail.com