Class Note 1976
Reunion approaches! Online registration has gone live and the more than 70 classmates lassoed into volunteering await your June 15-18 participation! Should be a fun and restorative four-day weekend, beginning with tent greetings, a welcome party at Martha and Jim Beattie’s on Thursday night; incredible weekend menus planned by Dick Prentice, Todd Mosenthal and Neil Van Dyke; 30 tent greeters (a.k.a. bear huggers or, in the case of the demure King Poor, hand shakers). Recent greeter recruits are Fred Jaccarino, Bill Hutchinson, my Cape Cod buddy Ben Ayres, Joe Jasinski, Cesar Munoz,and the ever-inspiring Rev. Emily Geoghegan, who will also help Cindy Shannon and Melanie Renchner Kaminetsky with our class memorial service.
Your responses via postcard proved we are well on our way to breaking all 40th reunion attendance records. Let’s do it! Best of all, several who have never been to a reunion will return, thanks to the efforts of our registration and recruitment team: Lynne Brooks, Nick Aponte and John Sherman. Come one, come all. We are all in!
We’ve prepared a range of ways to connect with friends new and old beginning with Friday hikes, bikes, golf and a fun class lunch, followed by an afternoon all-star panel you won’t want to miss. Our class has won a National Book Award, a Pulitzer Prize, 15 Emmy awards, a Super Bowl and a World Series (and during reunion I say we all get to claim the victory). Our award winners will be on hand for a light-hearted and brilliantly M.C.’ed roundtable discussion: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Awards.”
Saturday includes great offerings from the College, including teacher talks, President Hanlon’s address, fireworks and an ice cream party. We’ll have lunch on Baker lawn with the youngsters of ’77 and ’78 and an afternoon animation fest of 40 years of our country’s best cartoons from Hanna-Barbera to Warner Bros. to Disney—all honoring the work of Tom Ruegger, who is responsible for 14 of the 15 Emmys our class is claiming. (Brilliant choreographer Jamey Hampton danced his way to our 15th.)
Most important, there will be lots of tent time for talking, eating and reconnecting. Those who are still rocking out will enjoy the playlist choices of Tom Souza, Marty Doyle and Cathy Joyce Brennan as well as some other musical surprises we have planned. Thank heavens Parker “Speedy” MacDonell is coming back.
Rich Nichols made us all proud on 60 Minutes representing the U.S. women’s national soccer team in its battle for equal pay. We remember him as a two-time NCAA Division I All-American and member of the U.S. track and field team. Turns out he’s an even more daunting competitor in the legal arena of sports.
We mourn the loss of radiant classmate Judy Yablong. Any encounter with that warm, enthusiastic soul made you feel better about your day, yourself and your world. Please see the obituary at dartmouthalumnimagazine.com.
—Sara Hoagland Hunter, 72 Mount Vernon St., Unit 4B, Boston, MA 02108; sarahunter76@gmail.com
