Class of '79 NewsletterFall 1999 Greetings to the Class of 1979
... and yours truly, the
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Greetings, (holiday, millennial, or otherwise) to my fellow and sister '79s as the end of the century approaches. I'm going to Disney World with Bill and the kids to ring in the next thousand years. We made the reservations back in '93 or so and, though it may not be everyone's style, we're looking forward to a memorable week. Please send in any news, including interesting millennium tales, on the green postcard (or the online form). That will make our job easier in January! Speaking of our jobs, no one has come forward to take over the role of Newsletter Editor. Come on, rally, and step up for your class. It's only a four-year term (until the 25th reunion in 2004) and you will certainly feel reconnected with Dartmouth.
Sue's Market Watch: I received an interesting postcard from Bob Leach '77. He enclosed an article from the Wall Street Journal featuring our own Richard Pender, Bob's fraternity brother and roommate at HPF. Rich (penderr@hhmi.org) picked the top-performing stock in one phase of a WSJ contest. In the contest, the short-term performance of stocks selected by professional advisors is compared to that of stocks chosen by flinging darts at the financial pages. At the time, Rich was Senior Vice President of Sentinel Advisors in Montpelier, VT. He is now affiliated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland, where he is managing director of equities for that "philanthropic organization dedicated to support of biomedical research." Anyway, the stock Rich picked was B.F. Goodrich, which gained 7.7% over a six-month period earlier this year. (Other less-skilled "experts" brought the analysts' average down to a loss of 12.9%. The dart-selected stocks gained an average of 9%. But since Rich picked a winner, he was allowed to stay in the game, so he went with Mattel for the next six-month period. The stock is now down about 30%, but there are four months to go. May be a good time to get in. If we all bought a few shares and Rich is correct, we could finance our 25th reunion gifts to Dartmouth, as well as the trip to Hanover, and then some. I'm sure you have all held on to those zero-coupon bonds that I suggested you buy back in '95, after the 15th reunion. Of course I didn't buy any, but I am very long Beanie Babies. I bet that the return could beat any bond yield, if I put Garcia, Chops or Kiwi up on E-Bay.
Tim Craig: Finally decided to enter the grown-up world (before I'm eligible for Social Security) and bought a house in Maplewood, NJ last May. Still married to Therese Ojibway '78 (ten years) and enjoying life with son Clinton (8_, like the movie). Working as VP Legal and Business Affairs for Hallmark Entertainment. Look forward to seeing classmates in 2000.
Patrick Quinn and Stacy Smith Quinn: We have settled in Santa Fe to raise our two children, Danny (6) and Brigid(3). Pat is a gastroenterologist in private practice after "burning out" of academics after only three years teaching at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Stacy retired from the law after more than ten years of litigation practice and is now a full-time Mom. She recently completed writing a catalogue for an exhibit at a local art gallery -- returning to her Art History roots.
David Fitch: Hi y'all! In the fullness of time... I finally was awarded tenure this year at NYU, with a teaching award to boot (not "to boot" the verb, of course), Both family and laboratory have grown and matured -- the twins (John and John) (you're not serious?? --ed.) are finishing junior high, and Aurora is preparing to enter nursing school. My incredible wife May runs her own Mother Goose Day care as well as us, two big jobs. Our lab is gradually uncovering the mysteries of how multicellular forms change over evolutionary time, and we're producing some nice papers at an appropriately geological rate. At the turn of the millennium, we Fitches go to Berlin for a few months to recapitulate Language Study Abroad (well, actually to do Worm Systematics) and try to keep ahead of the Y2K bugs. Check out our web site: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/fitch.
Jim Eden: My wife Wendy gave birth to Brooke Elizabeth on May 6, 1999 -- 8 lbs 8 oz. I also have two previous children, Kristina (14) and Jimmy (10). I'm currently flying Captain for Delta Airlines on the MD-88. I retired from the Naval Reserves as a Commander in June of 1996.
Blythe M. Bethel: Greetings after nearly 20 years! Life continues to be good. We have a beautiful 8 year old daughter, Abby, who is in third grade. I still can't figure out her blonde hair, and anticipate we'll be on the cover of People magazine someday with another "switched at birth" story! We have just moved into my husband's project in downtown Columbus. His company purchased a block downtown and is renovating the 1860s buildings. I love it and I'm even surprised at how easy the transition from the 'burbs has been. Hope to see you in 2000!
Richard Sinkoff: Richard's business card reveals that he is a Supervisor of Environmental Assessment for the Port of Oakland.
John Currier provides us with an update on reunion activities: Phil and Beth Odence hosted our mini-reunion in Hanover at Homecoming, October 23rd. A cold rain chased the festivities indoors to the warm glow of Phil's special chili. On hand were Phil (jetted in the previous evening from London, just to host the event), Burr Gray (jetted in from DC for the meeting), Barbara Wiese Ross, Bill Mitchell, Charlie Carr, Eleanor Shannon, Michael Geilich, Jeff Greene, Jim Eden, and Dave Klinges. A class meeting was blended into a reunion brainstorming session. A host of other reunion committee members couldn't make the trip to Hanover for homecoming weekend, but the fruits of their collective efforts are key to making our class splash successfully into the 21st century with our 21st reunion. The theme of conversation at the meeting was that, as a class, we ought to take the cyber-bull by the virtual horns and lead the College into more effective with alums and among alums. We decided that, during this reunion year, we're going to focus on "reconnecting" our class members with each other. Our class is proposing to the College that we create an electronic "yearbook" as part of our web page where everyone could contribute a blurb about what he/she is up to and hopefully an updated photo. WE WANT 100% PARTICIPATION and a chance to reconnect with the class of '79. Can we do it!? Our record for building a 100-tier bonfire still stands tall, so why not? The first step in this effort is to update addresses and expand our list of email contacts. We currently have email addresses for only about one third of the class. Please email a one-liner to Barbara Wiese Ross at barbara.w.ross@valley.net so we will have your email address. If you are really organized, go ahead and write a few paragraphs for our "yearbook." If you'd like to send hard copy, submissions can be mailed to Barbara Wiese Ross, PO. Box 1062, Norwich, VT 05055. Our electronic "reunion," which should become a reality right about the time that the ball drops in Times Square, will segue into our 21st reunion -- our last "tri-class" reunion with the '80s and '81s. The dates are Friday, June 16 through Sunday, June 18, so mark them now. There are a lot of events and activities in the works to make this a memorable reunion for the whole family: trips to Moosilauke, tri-class dinner at the Bema, a little evening entertainment by Jerry Jeff Walker, Storr's Pond picnic, great new opportunities for family recreation on campus and beyond, golf tourney, kids' programs each day, '79 class dinner by the river, with talks by English Prof. Donald Pease and our own Regina Barreca '79, followed by music and dancing. Here's a list of classmates to contact if you're willing to help out with some aspect of the reunion. These are some of the folks who jumped on board early to get the ball rolling. Any and all of us can use your input and your help to make our reunion a success!
and now, a word from our Class of '79 President: Dear Classmates, Reconnection: One word for this year - "reconnect." We ask that 100% of the illustrious Class of '79 reconnect between now and the Reunion. Sounds impossible, but we ask that each and every one of you do at least one of the following things over these next nine months: (1) attend the Reunion on June 16-18; (2) send a quick note with photo to Barbara Wiese Ross at barbara.w.ross@valley.net (PO Box 1062, Norwich, VT 05055) who will collect info for an electronic yearbook, (3) send info on your life to the Class Secretaries or Newsletter editors, or (4) send the Dartmouth Alumni Relations Office a viable email address (or activate your Dartmouth email address and have it forward stuff to you). Naturally, we prefer the first option. You cannot buy your way out of this "reconnection" requirement. (Actually, now that I think of it, we probably could strike a deal.) Remember, a carefully-trained "Reconnect" SWAT team is being assembled to track down any recalcitrants, so get out ahead of the curve. Collection of Class Info: We are also in the process of obtaining copies from the College Archives of all the Class Newsletters and Alumni Magazine '79 columns to date. This vast body of somewhat inaccurate nickname-intensive information will be useful in generating vaguely distorted biographies of classmates when the time comes. This way, when the Alzheimer's kicks in on both our parts, we'll have a written record of what we used to call you. Annual Fruitcake Awards: So maybe it's not quite "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Nonetheless, the distribution of the annual Vermont fruitcakes is eagerly anticipated in certain circles. This year, we recognize the following:
Dues Pitch: Although we are still among the top classes in terms of percentage of classmates that pay dues (50%), we had bit of a drop last year from our usual 55+% participation rate. Our dues continue to be among the lowest of any class (compare our $25 to the '77s' $40), so that has to be some kind of weird incentive. We need your support this year in particular as we start to get ready for the Reunion. As you start ot write the check, think of President Wright's thank-you note on our Class support of the Dartmouth Bound program. Fundraising Pitch: Very Important. The simple fact is that the College counts heavily on the Reunion classes in particular. Others before us have answered the challenge of raising their usual gift 3-5 times the amount for the reunion year, and so should we. Hey, you knew the deal on being an alum when you accepted Dean Manuel's invitation back in 1975. Our hope is to try to get your pledges in earlier than usual this year. To provide you with a little extra incentive, the Class will raffle off three Dartmouth chairs (value approximately $150/chair) to classmates that make a pledge by January 31, 2000. The drawings will be made Saturday night of the Reunion. What suspense! So give Hanover a call now (800.228.1769). The rest of us need to continue the momentum created by about 30 classmates who have gotten us to the $700,000 level of pledges. Solicitation of New Officers: Of course, I mean solicitation in the best sense of the word, but by now, I and my hardworking fellow officers are willing to do whatever it takes. Please give some thought to taking on an official title. Almost all of the various class responsibilities can be shared, so I recommend you contact a fellow '79, have a good dinner with several bottles of wine, and send me an email (burr.gray@alum.dartmouth.org) or call me (703.607.2740 (w)). (Do not confuse this number with the remarkably similar number of the French Foreign Legion.) By the way, I'm also looking for someone to head the Nominating Committee. Thanks for reading this. Burr Gray
and now, a word from our College President: DARTMOUTH COLLEGE THE PRESIDENT September 14, 1999 Mr. P. Burton Gray Dear Mr. Gray: I am pleased to extend my thanks to the Class of 1979 for your generous gift to Dartmouth Bound. This program continues to be an important resource as we encourage students from diverse backgrounds to consider applying to Dartmouth. Bringing them to campus is a valuable step in our recruiting process, and I appreciate your ongoing help. Students from different life experiences strengthen the educational experience of all our students. That is why Dartmouth is committed to a needs-blind admission policy and why the College works hard to cast a broad net for admissions. Through Dartmouth Bound, the Class of 1979 is a partner in these efforts. Thank you for making such a a valuable contribution to your alma mater. As your 20th reunion approaches, I am sure I will have plenty of opportunities to express my gratitude to your classmates. Susan and I look forward to meeting may from the class of '79 next June. Your support means a lot to Dartmouth. Thank you. Sincerely, |