Greetings of the season, fellow ’70s. I am still trying to adjust to the two-month delay between my writing and your reading this column. Today I’m looking at peak foliage in Concord knowing that I’ll likely have to shovel my way to the mailbox to pick up this edition of the DAM.


In my last offering I acknowledged recently elected class officers and inadvertently overlooked some important members of our class executive committee, specifically Gary Miller, webmaster; Steve Fox, newsletter editor; Star Johnson and Wayne Osmond, mini-reunion chairmen; and Tex Morgan, 45th reunion chairman.


Class Officers Weekend in early October drew the following classmates to the Hanover Plain for two days of workshops and strategizing (some of it done in the back room at Murphy’s tavern): Jeff Demerath, Bill Wilson, Wayne Bardsley, Denny Brown and Gary Miller. If you haven’t already, you will soon hear directly from Demerath soliciting your input on how the 1970 executive committee can best serve the interests of our classmates.


While in Hanover last June I had a chance to reconnect with freshman roommate John Stern and his wife, Sherri. Following graduation John returned home to Fargo, North Dakota, and joined the family firm, Strauss Clothing, a men’s haberdashery. John and his brother are now fourth-generation stewards at Strauss, recognized as North Dakota’s oldest family-owned retail business. Like most retailers, the current economic climate and the growth of online retailing have challenged John, but he is upbeat, noting that Strauss is still in business unlike some of their former competitors. It should also be noted that John has developed a pretty good golf game (at least better than mine).


I recently received an e-mail from Bill “Smitty” Darter accompanied by a three-page attachment titled, “Ramblings of an Accidental Bureaucrat,” written on the occasion of his retirement from 39 years of government service. He begins, “It all started 40 years ago when I decided to march down a different sort of aisle in Costa Rica, instead of with my fellow ’70s at Dartmouth,” referring to his marriage to Vera Dobles Yzaguirrez. After failing his draft physical, a series of somewhat random events led Bill to a career in logistics management with postings in Utah, Ohio, New Mexico, Georgia and Washington, D.C., all the while plotting a return to Costa Rica. He closes with this insight: “One day last month I realized I had been making a mistake in counting how long I had to go to max out (retirement benefits), and it was going to be longer than I had been thinking of. People say that you will know when it is time to retire, and I did.” Amen.


Let’s face it folks, that is the next big life passage for most of us. I’d love to hear from anyone willing to share how they have dealt, or are dealing, with the subject of retirement.


On that note I leave you with best wishes for good health and good fortune in 2011.


—Bill Wilson, 85 Blueberry Lane, Concord, MA 01742; wilson8689@aol.com