1966

28 Beckwith Drive Windsor, CT 06095

It's hard not to lead this column with the following item. Back in October, when many of us were gawking at foliage, cheering at football games ('shmen, beware of campus cops!), or squeezing a final 18 out of the Indian Summer, Albert Jones was getting into the used pachyderm business. The Boston Globe tells all. "Al Jones loves animals. And he loved Benson's Animal Farm. Yesterday, he did something about both. At the auction of animals and equipment at the recently closed park and zoo, Jones bought himself a three-year-old elephant, named Tanya, for $14,500. The purchase is the culmination of a love affair with pachyderms that began at Benson's 37 years ago and the fulfillment of a dream for the insurance consultant.'I was in the elephant house, and slipped under the gate, grabbed the big old elephant by the leg. I still remember her name, it was Betsy. They had to peel me off.' "The article goes on to say how Al plans to use the elephant in an effort to revive the park. It appears to be a "longshot." But, as Jones says, "Hey, stranger things have happened. And if it falls through, that's ok, too. I intend to keep the elephant. It is a dream come true." I couldn't get hold of Al for some update and background on this story. It sounds like it may have some real interesting wrinkles to it. What one does in Hanover with a threeyear-old elephant, I don't know. Crosscountry skiing seems out. Downhill? On a T-bar, doubtful. It might cause a stir at the Tuck bike races at Green Key. Then again, it might not. Same with the freshmen dining hall in Thayer. Would elephants in Thayer get rid of the dogs? Probably not. Will it be a good year for elephants in New Hampshire? Who knows.

Talked to Dave Johnson recently. To be truthful, I was looking for a good subject, and Dave's phone number was in the same area code as mine. Dave lives in West Hartford, Conn. He runs his own business, a consulting firm, Intramix, Inc., that researches community needs. He works at home, mostly, where he shares digs with his wife, Hera, and Rebekah, ten, Mariah, six, Alexander, four, and Isaac, five months. "Mostly family names," says Dave. His company works out plans for counties and cities to upgrade services in different areas. They had just finished a study of New London County. The plan tries to address needs in the areas of substance abuse, family planning, health care, teenage pregnancy, all sorts of human needs and programs. Dave involves local people on committees that will be able to implement suggestions upon completion of his study. "The New London one was our sixth. Danbury was our first. Orange County was in between. I called it 'bizarreland.' Don Graves notwithstanding." (Don's wife, Margot, apparently was not all that fond of Orange County either, and was hoping to move back east.) Dave explained that he had taken all the "mushy courses" while in Hanover, went for a city-planningtype career first, then went back for an M.B.A., but had not wanted to do the Citibank route. "I was interested in social change, community analysis, and needs of growing areas." He and family had moved from Philly to Hartford about eight years ago. And they like it. An interesting and little-known fact about Dave and his family: Dave's wife's last name is Cohn-Haft. When the kids arrived, there were already hyphens in the name. Two would have been a little much. So Dave and Hera researched the families for a maiden name that had been dropped, came up with McAllister, and that's the name of their kids! "So many of their friends come from split families, they think everyone has a couple of names. Not to worry," says Dave.

I'll leave with that thought. Not to worry.