After 54 very long years the class of 1961 has finally reached the top of the mountain. During the past Class Officers Weekend in Hanover, our class was presented with the ultimate prize for an outstanding class: Class of the Year Award for 2015. Not only had our small class never before achieved that honor, we had never before even achieved a runner-up for the Class of the Year Award. Our only prior accolades as a class had been a few special mentions, primarily for specific class projects or tasks originated and implemented successfully by a relatively few classmates. Our small class should be very proud that we have now, after 54 years, achieved an award as an entire class, an award that we could not have won without the broad continuing efforts of and participation by many classmates during an extended period of time.

Although there are several individual classmates who could be mentioned as being instrumental to the achievement of the Class of the Year Award, to mention some and leave out others would undoubtedly obscure the efforts of the class as an ongoing entity through the decades. During that time period we have had many outstanding generals, vital lieutenants and dedicated sergeants. However, that said, every successful army must have an outstanding leader during the time of a critical battle and that general during the 2015 fiscal year was our current class president, Denny Denniston, assisted most ably by all of the current class officers. The ultimate heroes, however, were still the 600-plus current and deceased classmates of the class of 1961, without whose dedication to the class and efforts on behalf of the class this award could never have been achieved. We can all celebrate together at our 55th reunion in June.

Thank you, Rick Reed (and your daughter), for assisting me in reaching George W. Lundeen, the sculptor we engaged to produce the life-size statue of Robert Frost that our class donated to the College nearly 20 years ago. I communicated with George on a few occasions, which included discussions about our 55th reunion project to hold a College-wide art contest to select the best artistic representation of the Robert Frost statue in any of the four disciplines of studio art encompassed within the studio arts department at Dartmouth. I have discussed with George his becoming a supporter of the art contest in several different possible areas or a participant at the Frost statue rededication. He has agreed and is currently considering which of these he feels comfortable with from a time, location and involvement perspective.

The on-campus class mini-reunion in October was a big success, thanks primarily to the organizational efforts of Maynard Wheeler, class on-campus mini-reunion chair. Forty-two people attended, including 25 classmates. The highlight of the weekend was the class dinner held on Saturday evening, with the guest speaker being the recipient of one of our class’ annual stipends to sponsor undergraduate students in the areas of academics, athletics and the arts. This triple-A program was first begun by Pete Bleyler during his term as class president.

—Victor S. Rich, 94 Dove Hill Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030; (516) 446-3977; richwind13@gmail.com