My debut as your new class secretary begins with this issue of the column. I had the pleasure of attending our reunion this summer and enjoyed reconnecting with fellow classmates. While sitting quietly in our class tent drinking coffee and listening in our class meeting, Bill Wilson announced that he was ready to turn over the reins of class secretary. Hearing this, my dear wife, Debbie, spoke up and said, “Gary would love to be Bill’s replacement.”

Since I’ve been our class webmaster since our 25th reunion and newsletter editor for at least the last 10 years, I agreed to consolidate my duties under the banner of class secretary. Vice president of class communications, as suggested by Bill, is far too grand a title.

On behalf of the entire class I thank Bill for the past six years. I’ve enjoyed reading his columns. I will endeavor to maintain the high standard set by him and our previous class scribes.

Peter Wilcox shared that he and his wife, Bridget, sailed to and from southeast Alaska for the first time this summer on their 36-foot petroleum-free, wooden motorsailer, Ama Natura. They were joined for a week each by Bill Ream and his wife, Barbara, and John Jennings ’74. They had a sailing, wilderness and wildlife, fishing, and Native cultural blast.

Fortunately, he saved the one really big wave and bad-weather, open-ocean crossing for when neither of our Dartmouth friends was on board. Bill was the first person Peter met as a new freshman. John and he became acquainted in Portland, Oregon, many years ago and have both worked and played together for many years now.

In October Jim Nacthwey was honored by the Princess of Asturias Foundation, which conferred the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities 2016 to him.

Tim Welch, our representative to the Alumni Council, shares that he and his wife, Carol, spent the month of October in Florence, Italy, being joined from time-to-time by family and friends—lots of friends appear when you have space available to them in such a great place.

He retired from more than 33 years in the commercial real estate industry in 2013, though he continues to provide consulting services when a project intrigues him and he has kept more than busy enough with that kind of work. He confesses to not being really good at retirement. He had a career he enjoyed immensely, being involved with personalities and projects ranging from Trump and Trump Tower in the early 1980s to the Japanese and other international investors through the rest of his career in New York City and across the country. He and Carol have been in New Canaan, Connecticut, for 27 years and regularly get together with Don Bigda ’69, and Jim Sullivan ’73 and their much better halves.

I look forward to sharing notes from our class as secretary during the four-year run-up to our 50th reunion. Keep those cards and letters coming.

—Gary Miller, 7 East Hill Road, Canton, CT 06019; william.g.miller.jr.70@dartmouth.edu