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The crowds keep growing for the Dartmouth Night parade as it has become one of the biggest events of the fall in the Upper Valley. People are 8 to 10 feet deep along each side of the parade route. We had a good contingent for this year's parade, as your classmates were preceded by our class banner and upside down placard (since we're the only living class that can get away with that.) The Dartmouth Night festivities were followed by a wonderful reception at Charlotte and Mike Gazzaniga's home in Sharon, Vt., two interchanges up I-89 from White River Junction. The soup, as usual, was superb (and welcome, even though the night was warm), and the rest of the delicious spread was accompanied by dozens of conversation circles, as classmates renewed friendships.

Our Saturday brunch attracted dozens of students from the Fayerweathers, the dorm cluster we sponsor each year, and a chance to meet members of all four undergraduate classes. Following Dartmouth's heart-stoppingly close victory over Yale, classmates were ready for the post-game keg at the Frost statue. A big contingent made it up there, including folks like Tony Oestreicher, who was unable to get to anything else.

The statue now has a plaque recognizing our contribution, through the continuing efforts of Mike Murphy and Art Kelton, both of whom were present. We noticed with pride a constant stream of people from other classes making the hike up Observatory Hill to view the statue and have their pictures taken. Everyone from all classes is of course invited to do the same thing. You'll find it is worth the walk.

Dinner at the Sumner Mansion down the river in Hartland offered another leisurely opportunity to talk with classmates. It was followed by a talk by Head Football Coach John Lyons, who began with explanations of three plays -- Yale's two fake punts, and the game's final play as time ran out with Yale near the goal line. His key message: the Ivy League is once again near parity, with every club able to win on any given Saturday.

The weekend concluded with brunch at Pete and Ruth Bleyler's home in Lyme north of Hanover, which featured a live jazz band and a wide variety of food offerings, as well as an uncommonly warm mid-October day that made it comfortable enough to eat outside on their deck.

Among the long-distance attendees were Mike and Helene Murphy up from Florida, Elaine and Art Kelton, in from Vail, Colo., Bob and Kathleen Wendell, from Saint Simons Island, Ga., Jim and Carol Baum, from Morris, Ill.

Brief news clips: Tony Oestreicher has gotten out of the advertising business -- which he says is a young man's game -- and now is a technical writer with AT&T in New Jersey. Jim Baum reported Paul Kaplan is still in Nepal, where he runs a restaurant and a couple of shops. Mike Jenkin reported he is now running a health system of two hospitals and 160 doctors. More next month.



Robert Conn

Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Medical Center Boulevard
Winston-Salem NC 27157-1015
Rconn@wfubmc.edu

Note:  This column is limited to 500 words at the request of the Alumni Magazine.