Class Note 1976
Issue
May-June 2024
Hello ’76ers. Your class officers hope you acknowledged Kipp Barker’semail about Project Reconnect: “During the coming months 28 classmates will reach out to those we’ve lost touch with through the years. Our intent is to reconnect to fellow classmates with whom we share a common bond.” There’s a video to watch and it gave me chills just seeing all the friends in it with ties back to our college times.
Kipp writes: “This class project is not a solicitation for donations. We miss you and want to get back in touch. I would personally love to get your feedback about what we are doing, so feel free to contact me at kippbarker@yahoo.com or call me at 425-219-0971.” This effort is aimed at our 50th reunion, which everyone wants to make sure is a record-breaking success, just as we ’76ers were in September 1972.
As many of us slow down, John Glover, as he often did on the squash court, is speeding up. John, who has long experience in the high-end spirits sector, late last year founded Avalon Spirits Corp. based in Miami. A distilled spirits marketing and sales company, it quickly acquired TSS Brands, owners of Whiskey Row Bourbon. Avalon’s goal is to acquire and build an elite portfolio of super premium spirits brands. John, Avalon’s CEO, was chief operating officer of Castle Brands until it was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2019.
President and adopted classmate Sian Leah Beilock continued to show the leadership we’re coming to expect from her in the first year of her administration by making Dartmouth the first Ivy to reinstate the admissions requirement of SAT or ACT tests. These were dropped or made optional at most colleges and universities during Covid. But Dartmouth researchers found that data showed these tests could advantage students who might not think to include them in their application. National media took note.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, saw a class mini-reunion in February, with powder lovers Jim Naylor, Bruce York, Bud Stacy, Scott Simons, Eric Copenhaver, and Rick Hill getting the best of the mountains for a week. Kudos to Sharon Ali for serving her term as Alumni Council member from our class. We will have elected a successor in March, and we can all hope our next class representative brings as much wisdom and experience as Sharon did.
We’ve all benefitted reading Sara Hoagland Hunter’sClass Notes through the years, and now we can enjoy her take on marriage: Married Days: Stories From Home Series. As critiqued by Wellesley Books: “In this comic, comforting sequel to her well-loved Stories from Home: Dover Days, the author tackles the challenges and triumphs of courtship and marriage. Hop on this relationship roller coaster ride through a near-disastrous blind date, a horrifying ‘meet the parents’ moment, a string of domestic disasters, and the white-knuckle twists and turns of family life.”
Ciao for now. Please remember Jim Burns’ newsletter. Send news of yourself or classmates to steve@stevebellcommunications.com.
—Steve Bell, 15 Harbour Pointe, Buffalo, NY 14202; steve@stevebellcommunications.com
Kipp writes: “This class project is not a solicitation for donations. We miss you and want to get back in touch. I would personally love to get your feedback about what we are doing, so feel free to contact me at kippbarker@yahoo.com or call me at 425-219-0971.” This effort is aimed at our 50th reunion, which everyone wants to make sure is a record-breaking success, just as we ’76ers were in September 1972.
As many of us slow down, John Glover, as he often did on the squash court, is speeding up. John, who has long experience in the high-end spirits sector, late last year founded Avalon Spirits Corp. based in Miami. A distilled spirits marketing and sales company, it quickly acquired TSS Brands, owners of Whiskey Row Bourbon. Avalon’s goal is to acquire and build an elite portfolio of super premium spirits brands. John, Avalon’s CEO, was chief operating officer of Castle Brands until it was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2019.
President and adopted classmate Sian Leah Beilock continued to show the leadership we’re coming to expect from her in the first year of her administration by making Dartmouth the first Ivy to reinstate the admissions requirement of SAT or ACT tests. These were dropped or made optional at most colleges and universities during Covid. But Dartmouth researchers found that data showed these tests could advantage students who might not think to include them in their application. National media took note.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, saw a class mini-reunion in February, with powder lovers Jim Naylor, Bruce York, Bud Stacy, Scott Simons, Eric Copenhaver, and Rick Hill getting the best of the mountains for a week. Kudos to Sharon Ali for serving her term as Alumni Council member from our class. We will have elected a successor in March, and we can all hope our next class representative brings as much wisdom and experience as Sharon did.
We’ve all benefitted reading Sara Hoagland Hunter’sClass Notes through the years, and now we can enjoy her take on marriage: Married Days: Stories From Home Series. As critiqued by Wellesley Books: “In this comic, comforting sequel to her well-loved Stories from Home: Dover Days, the author tackles the challenges and triumphs of courtship and marriage. Hop on this relationship roller coaster ride through a near-disastrous blind date, a horrifying ‘meet the parents’ moment, a string of domestic disasters, and the white-knuckle twists and turns of family life.”
Ciao for now. Please remember Jim Burns’ newsletter. Send news of yourself or classmates to steve@stevebellcommunications.com.
—Steve Bell, 15 Harbour Pointe, Buffalo, NY 14202; steve@stevebellcommunications.com