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sonal visit to Henry B. Shepard of West Newton, an uncle of the nation's first successful astronaut." As noted in the Herald: "It was a great thing, and it will bring back confidence to the U.S. We deeply needed a mental lift,' he said. Like their hero nephew, Shepard and his wife Frances tucked away breakfast before facing the ordeal ahead. For Shepard, the touchiest moment on TV was not the actual launching, but the confusion that existed immediately after the landing in the Atlantic when the announcer could not determine whether the astronaut was inside or outside the capsule. The uncle also recollected taking a mighty deep breath when he heard the big orange parachute had opened. A successful sales executive and a M.I.T. graduate, Shepard is hardly a superstitious person. Yet he readily admits to having his fingers crossed figuratively at least, and 'I wanted to pretend this was just an ordinary day - until it was all over.'"
 Best wishes from the whole Class of 1916 to Ed Weissbach and his new bride. Here's the way the announcement read; " Mr. and Mrs. John Bridge announced the marriage of their sister, Elizabeth Crosby Bridge, to The Reverend Edward Weissbach on Tuesday the first of august nineteen hundred and sixty-one, First Church Unitarian, Cambridge, Mass." Note too; "At home after the first of September, 73 Wheatland Street, Somerville, Mass." ... And now that the 45th Reunion is over we can look forward to the 46th next June. Snapshots of the 45th have been received from Phil Baker, Steve Brophy, and Len Stone. All of them will be used for mounting on the bulletin board at the 46th. Copies of other snapshots taken at Osterville will be welcome additions. Try to keep us informed on all sorts of things that can b included in the Class Noted: whom you've seen, where you've been, what you're doing or going to do, what the children and grandchildren are doing, a bit oh philosophy, etc., etc. Best wishes for a good Thanksgiving with those you want to be with. - Harold F. Dodge, Secretary, 96 Briarcliff Road, Mountain Lakes, N.J. 

'17 
Join the procession of 1917'ers to the 45th Reunion of the class at Snow Inn, Harwichport, Cape Cod, next June - and give your classmates a preview of your present activities through the Class Notes in the meantime. 
 We hope that the generous response of Tom Meloy's request for notes from the southeastern part of the U.S. may be repeated elsewhere. First on the list is a note for Bill Mehaffey: "We have been spending our winters in Beaufort, S.C., since retirement. Here I have had the pleasure of seeing Dutch duPont and Russell King Robinson on different occasions. Peter Ash of the Class of 1919 has a cottage down here, and we have had many hunting trips together as well as many family bridge sessions. After retirement from the Navy as a caption, due to a bit of ticker trouble in 1949, I went with a consulting engineering firm in Baltimore, Md., for about five years, when I was again forced to retire because of illness. Since then, my wife and I have spent our summers in the mountains new Fayetteville, Pa., known as Caledonia State Forest. We have five children with one great-grandchild which, I understand, makes me a great-grandfather. I find that I will have some responsibility in connection therewith." 
 Walter Medding writes: "As for what I am doing now, the answer is very little. Since I retire from the Army in 1953, I have lived in the fast-growing community of Springfield, Va., and much time has been taken up in puttering about place, fighting crab grass, Japanese beetles, etc. This selection was fortunate as I am close to Fort Belvoir with its excellent hospital, whose facilities I have had to use several times, beginning with a coronary occlusion three years ago, so my activities are somewhat limited. My wife and I roam around quire a bit visiting our for children and ten grandchildren. We spent two and-a-half months with one daughter in France and often see another whose husband is stationed at Fort Belvoir. One son is now in Germany, and the other is at Fort Steward, Ga. These visits, plus reunions of my W. W. II regiments and American Legion post activities, all add up to rather full days." 
 Duncan MacRae states: "Two years ago I celebrated my 50th year as a member of the American Chemical Society by attending its Boston meeting. While there, I had most pleasant visits with our classmate, Jim Beattie, and with Dr. Miles Sherrill, '99. Jim was good enough to give me a copy of his lecture notes for his class in thermodynamics. What he doesn't know about the subject, and equations of state, must be quite negligible. Dr. Sherrill invited me out to dinner at his apartment in Brookline, and we talked about friends who were at the Institute 50 years ago, when I first came there as an assistant in theoretical chemistry. It was the next year after that I taught inorganic chemistry under the supervision of Talbot, Blanchard, and Phelan, and met many of the members of the Class of 1917 for the first time. I am at present living quietly and happily here in the country about five miles from Route 1 and Route 40 and about 20 miles north of Baltimore. Eight years ago, I retired from the government service at the Army Chemical Center. Since then, I have, off and on, taught some extension coursed for the University of Maryland at the Army Chemical Center and have been induced to take on several unpaid jobs. The latest of these is a member of the Harford County Metropolitan Commission. It is now providing water and sewer facilities for the town of Edgewood and is about to have engineers publish a comprehensive plan for such facilities for the whole county. I read the 1917 Class Notes in The Tech Review and even enjoy the jokes." (First, and only fan mail acknowledgement.) 
 Charles Venable writes: "For the record, my business life has been fairly simple. On leaving the Research Laboratory of Applied Chemistry at M.I.T. in 1922, I went to the American Viscose Company to head up their research and development activities; 34 years later, October 1, 1956, I retired, this being mandatory at age 65 with this company. Actually, I was relieved of all administrative duties about one year earlier, so I had the welcome experience of 'tapering off.' Since then, I have followed several lines of professional activities of interest to me, including promotion of science teaching in local high schools, establishment of a group of retire scientist willing to donate part of their time and experience to the public welfare, etc. Mrs. Venable and I have traveled quite extensively in the U.S.A and abroad. It has been rather happy experience in retirement, and I feel that I have been fortunate. My class at M.I.T. was officially 1917, although I was in the graduate school there from 1913. My undergraduate days were at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. I have always had a tremendous respect for M.I.T and the terrific role it has played in U.S. and world affairs." 
Here is a word from Justin Basch: I have not written for the Class Notes for at least five or ten years, but I have been pleased to read all the opinions that are proffered for, and against, retirement. As one of the younger members of the class, my retirement is not due until this fall. Our company's retirement advisory committee has just given me a year's reprieve, and two more years after that are possible if health withstands the rigors of today's business. At present, I function as vice-president of marketing for Oakite Products, Inc., a firm that is in the chemical specialty business with some emphasis on detergents. We have a married daughter and four grandchildren in Manila, where the son-in-law labors for the U.S. Information Service. Most of you may know that this department is crusading for bigger and better democracies in southeast Asia. My son is doing chemical research work at the Department of Agriculture in Philadelphia. If we are still both capable of physical navigation, we shall look forward to attending our 45th Reunion." 
 Dexter Tutein writes: "Tom's letter reached me here at my sister's in Baltimore, after being forwarded from Palma de Mallorca, a Spanish Island in the Mediterranean from which I boarded the S.S. Independence on March 5. The Independence was cruising in the Mediterranean and stopped at Genoa, Naples, Cannes, Casablanca and Funchal Madeira, arriving in N.Y.C. March 20. I arrived in Rotterdam on the New Amsterdam the previous Sept. 26, bought a Volkswagen in Paris and toured Europe in the rain for three months: French Chateau country, French Riviera, Vienna, Munich, Wiesbaden, Baden-Baden, Ruhr, Rome, Naples, Florence, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, and back to Barcelona and ferry on December 2 to Palma where I live for three months. Sunny and warm and the least expensive place in Europe; first class hotels $4.00-$4.50 per day. best regard from a Beach Comber." 
 Dud Bell's comments on the life of a 
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