Dear Classmates,
The Class of 1965 Executive Committee held a very productive meeting in the current 5-year term at Bill Webster’s
place on the waterfront near Old Saybrook on Monday afternoon July 10th. I was pleased that sixteen classmates attended,
some of whom had not been participants in the ExComm heretofore. The group would have been larger but for several late cancellations
due to emergent business or illnesses. Some classmates who I had not seen since graduation were there such as Jim
Hamilton, Stu Keiller, and Doug Leitch. It was great to see everyone, and the day
passed altogether too quickly. Bill and Sue Webster once again outdid themselves with hospitality in their
home, on the golf course, and of course provided another delightful day of warm, clear weather.
There is much to report from that meeting, which I’d like just to summarize here for you, leaving details from
the Minutes to be posted elsewhere on the web-site. The focus of the ExComm is to raise issues, consider options, and shape
proposals for resolution at the larger Class Meeting to be held in October at Pierce’s Inn during our Mini-Reunion.
It is less formal, a bit less-structured, and far less time-constrained than our in-Hanover full-Class meetings, but we did
manage to get a lot done, thanks to the contributions, preparations, and participation of all.
Here are some highlights of what we have achieved and directions in which the Class is headed:
1. PERFORMANCE: We achieved 50% participation (our goal)
right on the nose for the annual Alumni Fund drive, and we greatly exceeded our financial objective, thanks to all of you,
and particularly to Jim Griffiths and his team. We have increased the number of participants in The
Bartlett Tower Society, which is comprised of those who have included Dartmouth College in some way as a beneficiary
in estate planning. Bill Webster has been heading that up, and Doug Leitch is helping, since
that is his role at the College.
2. PROJECTS: We completed underwriting four years worth of
Class of 1965 Scholarships, thanks to the leadership of Hank Amon as President, Steve Fowler
as Treasurer, and the contributions of many since this was all funded from the Class Treasury... Jim Hamilton
is heading up a committee to examine specific options for publishing and disseminating some of the voluminous works of Professor
Herb West as part of our long-time backing of special and rare books at Dartmouth... Mike Gonnerman and a
group are looking at other new options for class projects that we can get behind during the next few years.
3. TREASURY: The Class Treasury is in great shape thanks to
excellent stewardship by Bob Murphy. Class dues were up, for which I thank all of you, we have fulfilled
our obligations to the Scholarship Fund, and should be accumulating a substantial surplus annually which we will put to good
use on various projects and activities.
4. GETTING TOGETHER: Lots of action here. Rather than
a long run-on paragraph, I’ll put this one in bullets:
• October 2006: Bob McConnaughey has again put together a fine agenda for
our annual Fall Mini-Reunion in Hanover, which this year coincides with an earlier Homecoming (prime foliage!) and features
a game against Holy Cross. So plan on being on the Hanover plain for the weekend of October 13-15th. Many are planning to
stay over through Monday, so if you can, do so. If we get enough Bob will put together some sort of Sunday afternoon and Monday
AM class activity.
• January 2007: Bob Blake has locked in the next out-of-Hanover Mini-Reunion
for DisneyWorld on the weekend of January 26-29, 2007, with an option to stay longer for those who want to. We’ll be
staying right on the grounds of Disneyworld at the Shades of Green Hotel, which also happens to be right at the Palm and Magnolia
Golf Courses (site of the Funai Classic, an October PGA Tour stop). Only $111 per room per night, and the rooms are large
enough to accommodate larger families – you might even think of including grandchildren for this one! Robbie
Robinson and Donn Barclay have kindly volunteered to serve as on-scene coordinators. We haven’t
had an OOH Mini in Florida heretofore so hopefully this not only will be one that non-Floridians won’t want to miss
(you can’t beat the price, location, and activities!) and we’ll also be able to see most of our 22 classmates
who live year-round in Florida. Bob will be getting out details soon – We are holding a bloc of rooms but we have to
confirm by the end of November, so make plans now to join us.
• March 2007: The 5th annual CarniVAIL will be held in Vail, Colorado next year from
March 1st thru the 5th. Watch for more from Steve Waterhouse on that one.
• May 2007: A new OOH idea has emerged that hopefully will begin in 2007: a Classmates
Stag-only Golf Weekend to be held in various locales around the country. The 1st one most likely will be held in Scottsdale,
Arizona in early May 2007. Dick Lochridge and Tucky Mays are working out the details and
will get out the word as plans and dates firm up. We expect future ones (one a year if the idea kicks in) to be held
in places like Oregon, Michigan, Maine, and somewhere in the Carolinas. If you have other venues you think we should visit,
let us know.
• October 2007: The annual in-Hanover Mini–Reunion will be October 19-21st for
NEXT year (not this one).
• May 2008: Finally, in terms of firmed-up planning, the ExComm approvedWashington DC
as the venue for our collective 65th birthday party bash to be held in early May of 2008. Bob Blake is lining
up an on-scene coordination team to start moving forward with detail on that one. Our 55th birthday party in DC was a huge
success and we hope for the biggest ever Mini-Reunion for our 65th.
• 2009: Bob also is investigating several “way-out” ideas for this year’s
Mini: London/Oxford, Scotland, or a cruise of some sort are all possibilities.
5. COMMUNICATIONS: John Sottile set
as a goal simply to have “the best” website of any Dartmouth class, and he has achieved that goal and more so:
in my opinion we have one of the quality websites of any class, anywhere. If you have not checked out any of our Class of
1965 websites, definitely make a point of doing so by logging onto ANY ONE of the four interconnected sites:
www.BigGreen65.com,
www.DartmouthWinterCarniVAIL.com,
www.BetterThanBaker.com, or
www.sotr.net, and enjoy. (I know, if you are reading this on the website it doesn’t make sense, but we co-post what goes into the
Newsletter).
Roger Hansen has regular gotten out excellent columns in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine on class
news, and
Carl Boe is preparing another Class Newsletter, where our goal is to get out three or four per
year.
6. THE COLLEGE: Hank Amon attended the most
recent Alumni Council meeting on behalf of our Class (his full report can be found in the Newsletter and on the web-site).
At the ExComm meeting Hank summarized developments and the controversial issues entailed, concluding that what is most important
is that each Classmate carefully review the proposed changes to the Alumni Constitution, which he personally endorses (you
should be receiving it in the mail soon), and then vote whichever way you feel appropriate.
That’s about it for now. Thanks for taking the time to read through this, thanks for being active
on behalf of our great Class, and I look forward to seeing you all at one or more of our many opportunities to get together
and have fun and do some good in the future.
“Kenny Mac”
