Remembering ’59

I am watching the maintenance crew get the campus ready for Commencement. Another year is winding down and next weekend – alumni weekend – the Class of 1959 will celebrate its 50th Reunion.

I’m going to be having dinner with them at the Headmaster’s house. Skip Howard and John Conkling will be with me. I got to thinking about other faculty who were here in ’59 wondering if I could entice a few more to come back. Alas, most have gone to a better place. I counted 14 faculty and staff who have passed away not to mention a number of classmates (20 that I can count). I’m still around because I was 12 when I started.

The Class of ’59 dedicated their yearbook to Dave Rice. The dedication notes some lines from Tao-Te Ching one of which speaks volumes: “He who may die but not perish has longevity.” I can still see Rice running around with his scissors, cutting off neckties 3 inches below the knot.

My mind turned to trying to remember some nice things about the Class of ’59 but either there were not any or memory fails me. Anyway it would be out of character for me to make nice. I’ll leave you with a few remembrances.

25 members of the class participated in theater and under the direction of Bob Smart and Sumner Hawley they produced “A Mid Summer Night’s Dream” and “Twelfth Night.” They were good—if not they were speared with Smart’s umbrella.

There were 60 voices in the Glee Club under the direction of T. Holmes Moore, you ask, why so many? -- Failure to participate results in expulsion. The Glee Club actually made a TV appearance on Channel 6 in Maine.

In ’59 we also had an 18 voice choir made up of the most unlikely angels including Radcliffe, Richardson, Cottrell and Atwood.

I don’t remember much about the athletic teams. Varsity football under Joe Gauld and quarterbacked by Gordon Plumb went 6-1.

I made my debut as a basketball coach. Fred Smith appointed me to fill a last minute vacancy. I told him I never played basketball and hadn’t ever watched a game. He told me to get a book – “How to Coach Basketball.”

Chris Parlanti was goaltender for the hockey team but I can’t remember if we were swimming in the pond or digging up the asphalt in the parking lot. We played hockey in some strange places.

I remember mysterious thunder heard only in Randall Hall (God bless its ancient bones). Skip Howard and I are still looking for the people who amused themselves by rolling the barrels down the stairs.

Some individuals come to mind – well actually quite a few but space is limited.

Rob Crum – drove my wife to distraction by periodically sabotaging the vacuum cleaner.

We couldn’t find a football helmet big enough to fit Carmine Parisi. From his room above, he nearly collapsed the ceiling in our Randall apartment (God bless its bathroom off the main corridor).

Eric Philippi couldn’t pass my algebra class but now he manages what little money I have.

Don Wehde ran the radio station and gave me many sleepless nights monitoring the programs for indelicate content.

Bobby Swartz who did all sorts of mathematical problems in his head occasionally took over teaching my calculus class and did a better job. He wrote the AP calculus exam in 12 lines but he couldn’t sing worth a damn.

Roger Fawcett ran a clandestine outdoor drinking café at the cemetery under the guise of a literary society known as the Emerson Club. I announced the meeting at lunch time.

Salvador Alcaine gets credit for the line I best remember. In Preston Hall (God bless its renovation) Sal would run naked from the shower to his room. Bob Smart chastised him with the words “Sal I sometimes have female guests and they do not want to see you naked.” To which Sal replied “How do you know sir, maybe they like.”

Hope to see you all on campus for Reunion Weekend 2009 – May 29-31.

Lou