Five years of planning, promotion and fundraising suddenly became glorious reality the night of June 7, during a lingering rainstorm, in a field house we never knew, on a campus we never really left.
Our 50th reunion officially opened at Leverone and time stopped, if only for a few days, for the record 298 classmates and 258 guests, their presence aided by tireless efforts of reunion chair Tom Jester, volunteer chair Tom Perry and their committees.
Time stopped for Jim Friedman, who shot a 71 days before; for Arnie Katz with Honey and twins Jason and Jenn; for Steve and Joan Swirsky; for Hank Rogers, with an eye on the Bruins; for Delta Kappa Epsilon brother and retired physiatrist Mike Jarvis; for Jim Dial from San Francisco; for Dick and Annie Hauptmann of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Paris, France; for Howard Culver from La Quinta, California; and for Jamie Weisman, architect from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, whose personal story at our class meeting made us reflect on our own lives.
From the moment reunion book editor Ed Mazer reached the top of Moosilauke with classmates on Thursday to the final days of sports, tours, seminars and fun on Monday and Tuesday, we all became exhilarated time travelers.
In between we held the class meeting where head agent Bob Bysshe announced $3.1 million raised for the 50th, and treasurer Bill Russell and secretary Harry Zlokower were recognized by president Larry Bailey for their long tenure; a moving memorial service led by the Rev. Richard Morgan and Ken Kvistad; class and family photos in front of Dartmouth Hall; lunch keynoted by Ken Novack; seminars on aging; dinner with awards; speeches and dancing to a 1960s retro band; and a unified presence at Commencement ceremonies, where Lou Gerstner and Bill King received honorary degrees
Some of us graduated at different times but all shared the bond of having convened as freshman, recalled John Rose, who was seated with me in one of our first class meetings in fall 1959. Many of those same classmates were together again Saturday night along the river, where Bruce Baggaley and Bill Subin led the dedication of the Phil Fisher shell in memory of deceased ’63 oarsmen with contributions from dozens of ’63s.
Soaring Pine committee members Sam Cabot, Dave Schaefer, Mike Prince and Harry Zlokower presented awards for Bruce Berman, Tom McInerny, Jim Page, Geoff Northnagle and Bill Subin.
Emcee Paul Binder provided snippets of the early 1960s while Steve Macht and others did memorable introductions of Dean Thad Seymour, who brought the house down with witty, well-documented stories of the good old days.
Our cultural achievements did not go unnoticed. Bill Lamb mounted an amazing show of art by ’63s and spouses that ran continuously on a big screen in Brace Commons, class authors sold and signed books and the Dartmouth Glee Club performed, inviting ’63 ex-glee clubbers to join in for a grand finale.
The party ended but memories continue, sustained by online chatter, photos, memorabilia and our monumental book, Her Spell on Us Remains.
—Harry Zlokower, 60 Madison Ave., Suite 1010, New York, NY 10010; (212) 447-9292; harry@zlokower.com
