Sports Trivia Winner Congratulations to Wilmot North ’30, the winner of the <strong>Taft</strong> Bulletin Sports Trivia Contest. Mr. North was the first respondent to identify correctly the three Indian tribes after which the intramural clubs were named: Senecas, Mohawks, and Cayugas. <strong>The</strong> groups, known as the Triangle Clubs, replaced the earlier Reds and Blues created in 1922, and were themselves replaced in the fall of 1930 by the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma clubs, “which embraced the entire student body.” <strong>The</strong> Triangle Club competitions awarded points for the winners in intramural baseball, hockey, football, soccer, basketball, and track contests (with some boxing and cross country) as well as points for Scholarship and Deportment. Medals were also awarded, and the winning club was traditionally treated to a special steak dinner in the dining room, served by members of the other clubs. Interestingly, students who worked for the Alumni Bulletin garnered an extra five points each for their team! Letters to the Editor TIME wasn’t on his side I have received today and perused with interest the 75th anniversary edition of the <strong>Taft</strong> Bulletin. You have done a wonderful job of capturing the spirit and texture of the publication over the years. I am particularly interested in your references to my grandfather, Robert L. Johnson ’14, in both the March 1924 and October 1954 issues. Johnson family history always has held that my grandfather “helped” Henry Luce, his Yale classmate, “found” Time, but there is no reference to him in anything published by Time. I believe they had a falling-out early on. But family pride says that without my grandfather selling advertising in the upstart magazine, it would never have made it. —Robert L. Johnson III P’96 Houston, Texas Photos of Youth Much time has passed since my sons Charles ’65 and Wells ’67 graduated from <strong>Taft</strong>, and I was particularly pleased to see Wells’ picture in the library on page 11 and again his picture on the ranch on page 12. I am thankful that I can see again how youthful Wells was when these pictures were taken. —Charles Jacobson, Jr. P’65, ’67 Manchester, Connecticut Correction: In the fall issue we incorrectly identified Cheves Smythe as a member of the Class of 1960. He is a member of the Class of 1942. Our apologies. Kudos on Crisis Hearty, hearty congratulations on that superb 75th anniversary issue of the <strong>Taft</strong> Bulletin. Great from cover to cover, starting with that magnificent front cover photograph with all the essentials of communication from a cup of coffee to a computer, with <strong>Taft</strong> printed matter in between. Thanks for all the space allotted to ’33, including the Dexter Blake family <strong>The</strong>n and Now. What a job Hank Becton does for us as class secretary! But to me the prize piece was “<strong>The</strong> World in Crisis” by Ambassador Frank Wisner. So glad you ran that as I think it is as good an overview of the present world situation—and the place of the US in it all— as I have yet encountered. I am making photocopies for our non-<strong>Taft</strong> children and some others including Curt’s [Buttenheim ’36] daughter Lisa, who is stationed with the UN in Geneva, and Jennifer [’84] in case the Bulletin doesn’t reach her in Moscow. p.s. Also nice to see Geg’s [’40] letter to the editor! —Donald V. Buttenheim ’33 Lenox, Massachusetts Like Father Like Son I very much enjoyed your 75th anniversary edition of the Alumni Bulletin. I offer one correction and one suggestion. On page 28, you show a photograph of new boy sons, etc., dated the fall of 1968. Not so—this photo was taken in the fall of 1967. Source: my clouded memory and the 1968 yearbook, which verifies (to name a couple) Bermingham and Wheeler as lower mids, ’71. I know that the unforgettable Caulkins ’70 was there for two years at least, and he never made it to senior! On page 41 Charles Yonkers ’58 mentions receiving an article by one of Cruikshank’s daughters. I spent my Thanksgiving vacation lower mid year with Scott McMullen ’70, Cruikshank’s grandson. Scott’s mom’s name was Janet McCawley (at the time), and they lived in the town of Fairfield. As I recall we had Thanksgiving dinner with the retired (and intimidating) schoolmaster at his house on Breakneck Hill in Middlebury [CT]. Recollections of a time when the headmaster lived in the school building proper might be interesting—not to say frightening. My uncle Rawson Foreman ’58 tells of a classmate who, infuriated that Cruikshank’s dorm inspection police had removed a centerfold poster from his room, confronted the headmaster in his office. After listening to the boy’s protestations of theft, invasion of privacy, and so forth, Cruikshank calmly and deliberately flipped him a quarter—the cost of the magazine. Thanks again for an interesting issue. —Bob Foreman ’70 New York, NY Ed Note: <strong>The</strong> article by Janet Cruikshank McCawley that Charlie Yonkers mentions in the Class of 1958 notes [someone is a thorough reader!] was originally entitled “View from the Third Floor” and appeared last year in the Social Register Observer. Our agreement with the Observer is that we would wait one year before publishing it in the <strong>Taft</strong> Bulletin, so look for it in a later issue this year. While your issues of the Bulletin are always interesting, entertaining, and instructive, your fall issue was exceptional. I appreciate all the work you did in getting everything together! As you may have guessed by now, I was particularly interested in the reference to the Fall 1970 issue that contained an article written by my son Bob ’70. Presaged by that article and his drama society work at <strong>Taft</strong>, Bob has devoted his life to the saving, preservation, and restoration of movie palaces and also to the operation of theatres of more recent vintage; I am extremely proud of him and his work! That makes it much harder to admit that I do not have a copy of his Bulletin article and to request that, if possible, you send me a photographic copy. Thank you very much for this and for your continuing good works for our <strong>School</strong>. —Bob Foreman ’44 Lawrenceville, Georgia We welcome Letters to the Editor relating to the content of the magazine. Letters may be edited for length, clarity, and content, and are published at the editor’s discretion. Send correspondence to: Julie Reiff, Editor • <strong>Taft</strong> Bulletin • 110 Woodbury Road • Watertown, CT 06795 or to: reiffj@taft.pvt.k12.ct.us
S P O T L I G H T <strong>The</strong>y Call Her Dr. Mary Wash-Your-Hands A First-Time Volunteer Finds War and Fulfillment in the Company of Burmese Refugees By Sarah Hare Photographs by Timothy Hellum <strong>Taft</strong> Bulletin 3
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