Class Note 1950. Doug and Meredith Smith celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary April 10 at the Clarke Cookhouse in Newport, Rhode Island, where they had their first date in June 1975. They sat at the same table overlooking Bannister’s Wharf. “It was magical,” says Doug. “We celebrated again the following night in nearby Westerly with family too numerous to mention.” I received a note from Joanne Harris, remembering her time with George and her dad and wishing that back then Dartmouth took women. She recalls chatting with Ted Geisel, class of 1925 (author of The Cat in the Hat), and former U.S. secretary of labor Robert Reich ’68, and she treasures the beautiful pewter Delta Kappa Epsilon mug from her dad. She sent me a picture of George chatting with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and comments of a shared Swiss heritage with my Janot. (I still have the banjo that Georgie sold me way back when.)
My note from Jilly Harned starts with a description of grandchild Emma’s wedding as an “all-hands-on deck” affair and that “love was palpable.” Jilly adds, “Grief does not end but merely transforms into new expressions. The good news is that although it is painful it is still a form of love. … At 87 I am giving up driving not because I had to but because it makes sense, and I have become more organized and less frenetic!” “Rusty” Rodriquez (Jacques Harlow’s widow) reports that she has taken delivery on a baby grand piano. I hope that doesn’t mean she has forsaken the Golden Tones of the “Fluke” I sent her way years ago. I believe there is going to be a mini-reunion in the fall, tied in with a football game. I expect daughter Rebecca and I will partake. I’m sure Joel Leavitt and Veda will join us and, of course, president Doug Smith and Meredith in nearby Enfield will be on hand. Date and time to come.
—Tom “Smiley” Ruggles, Timothy Wheeler House, 110 Walden St., Concord, MA 01742; (978) 369 5879; smileytmr229@gmail.com