Class Note 1978
Issue
“It is a small tent and yet there are those who love it.” Those were the words of the group of ’78s, spouses, kids and friends who endured the downpours at the Dartmouth football victory over Columbia during Homecoming Weekend. Kudos to Michael “Jake” Jacobson, who not only promoted a great ’78 mini-reunion but also got the tent and refreshments in place. As David Dietze noted, “That big urn of hot cider helped offset the sheets of cold rain throughout the day!” Other attendees included Steve Adnopoz, Celia Chen, Carol Hillman Van Dyke, Elissa von Heill Hylton, Tom Johansen, Charlie Kreter, Mike Pittenger, Cotton Smith, Will Yancy and many others.
Also in attendance was Anne Bagamery, who after many years in France recently took dual-citizenship status. In her own words, “It feels great to be French. Not only can I now work in any of the 27 European Union countries, I feel it is my patriotic duty to eat croissants, own a dog, wear black and gesticulate wildly when I speak: all things I do anyway!”
There was a great ’78 turnout for the Yale game in New Haven as well. In addition to all the usual New York/New Jersey/Connecticut suspects, there were sightings of rarely seen West Coast classmates Dave Eisele and Nick Stonnington, who are both doing well.
Maggie Fellner Hunt, Pete Renner and Whit Johnson participated, along with alums from many other classes, at a fall fundraising effort in Boston for Annie McLane Kuster’s run for New Hampshire’s 2nd U.S. Congressional District seat in 2010.
Rob Gifford has been living in Newton, Massachusetts, for the past 23 years with his wife, Claire Sokoloff, and children Ben ’10, Alison (19) and Danny (15). After many years as a real estate investment advisor Rob had recently retired and was considering a future in local politics when the phone rang. He is now president and CEO of AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., a division with more than $24 billion in commercial properties across the world and more than 300 staff. Like the rest of AIG this business unit is going through a major restructuring and divestment process. Bill has put his political plans on hold while he tackles his new responsibilities.
Will Yancey and Bill Bender and their families got together this summer. Will writes: “We revealed some of our LSA experiences such as sleeping under the bridge by Notre Dame Cathedral and other midnight escapades with Parisian police. Our wives were digging deeper for more secrets, but some of those are locked in the granite of our muscles and our brains. The five children ranging in age from 4 to 18 entertained themselves with electronic and combat games that we do not understand, while the parents commiserated on the challenges of paying for quarter-million-dollar college educations.” Bill and Will shared their experiences earning Ph.D.s (economics and accounting, respectively) and now working as independent consultants (solar energy and auditing, respectively).
—Dave Hov, 7840 Virginia Oaks Drive, Gainesville, VA 20155; (571) 261-3580; davidhov@comcast.net
Jan - Feb 2010
“It is a small tent and yet there are those who love it.” Those were the words of the group of ’78s, spouses, kids and friends who endured the downpours at the Dartmouth football victory over Columbia during Homecoming Weekend. Kudos to Michael “Jake” Jacobson, who not only promoted a great ’78 mini-reunion but also got the tent and refreshments in place. As David Dietze noted, “That big urn of hot cider helped offset the sheets of cold rain throughout the day!” Other attendees included Steve Adnopoz, Celia Chen, Carol Hillman Van Dyke, Elissa von Heill Hylton, Tom Johansen, Charlie Kreter, Mike Pittenger, Cotton Smith, Will Yancy and many others.
Also in attendance was Anne Bagamery, who after many years in France recently took dual-citizenship status. In her own words, “It feels great to be French. Not only can I now work in any of the 27 European Union countries, I feel it is my patriotic duty to eat croissants, own a dog, wear black and gesticulate wildly when I speak: all things I do anyway!”
There was a great ’78 turnout for the Yale game in New Haven as well. In addition to all the usual New York/New Jersey/Connecticut suspects, there were sightings of rarely seen West Coast classmates Dave Eisele and Nick Stonnington, who are both doing well.
Maggie Fellner Hunt, Pete Renner and Whit Johnson participated, along with alums from many other classes, at a fall fundraising effort in Boston for Annie McLane Kuster’s run for New Hampshire’s 2nd U.S. Congressional District seat in 2010.
Rob Gifford has been living in Newton, Massachusetts, for the past 23 years with his wife, Claire Sokoloff, and children Ben ’10, Alison (19) and Danny (15). After many years as a real estate investment advisor Rob had recently retired and was considering a future in local politics when the phone rang. He is now president and CEO of AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp., a division with more than $24 billion in commercial properties across the world and more than 300 staff. Like the rest of AIG this business unit is going through a major restructuring and divestment process. Bill has put his political plans on hold while he tackles his new responsibilities.
Will Yancey and Bill Bender and their families got together this summer. Will writes: “We revealed some of our LSA experiences such as sleeping under the bridge by Notre Dame Cathedral and other midnight escapades with Parisian police. Our wives were digging deeper for more secrets, but some of those are locked in the granite of our muscles and our brains. The five children ranging in age from 4 to 18 entertained themselves with electronic and combat games that we do not understand, while the parents commiserated on the challenges of paying for quarter-million-dollar college educations.” Bill and Will shared their experiences earning Ph.D.s (economics and accounting, respectively) and now working as independent consultants (solar energy and auditing, respectively).
—Dave Hov, 7840 Virginia Oaks Drive, Gainesville, VA 20155; (571) 261-3580; davidhov@comcast.net