The Bell Ringer Award recognizes exceptional service to Hamilton, its alumni and the community over the course of the recipient's lifetime. It was presented to Duncan Cutter by Bill Yeomans, president of the Hamilton Alumni Association.
Following graduation from Hamilton in 1929, Palmer Cutter and his brother, Walter, joined their father as partners in the family business, which dealt in domestic and industrial coals and home heating oil.
Palmer Cutter served Hamilton and his class for nearly 70 years. During World War II he chaired a committee that saw Hamilton's fraternities through difficult times. In the decades thereafter he was a tireless volunteer for the Annual Fund, leading his class to 100 percent participation for 11 years in a row.
A one-time vice president of the Society of Alumni, an active member of the Alumni Council, and a trustee and alumni treasurer of his Alpha Delta Phi fraternity chapter, Palm Cutter played a pivotal role in keeping the class of 1929 connected with and devoted to the college.
He also served as a director for the Utica Municipal Golf Commission for several years, In 1944 he was made a trustee of the Faxton Street Home for elderly women, and elected president of its board in 1961. He continued in that office, helping to merge with two similar Utica institutions to create a new facility.
In addition to the presentation of the special award, the Reunion Weekend celebration at Hamilton included special class dinners and receptions, athletic contests, classes, meetings with the college president, a parade and the annual Alumni Service of Remembrance. Approximately 2,000 alumni and their families participated in the weekend.
