Class Note 1980
Issue
May - Jun 2018
The pendulum is swinging back around. In the years immediately after graduation, we saw a lot of each other. Once we became busy with our lives, we cut back: fewer visits, smaller circles. But now that we have more time, we are finding each other again.
I had a lot of fun with Paul Salafia in the early 1980s when Paul was an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn and I was a salesman for IBM in New York. The party ended when Paul and his fiancée slogged off into the wilderness like Mr. and Mrs. Yukon Jack for less stressful lives as parents and lawyers in New Hampshire. I soon flitted off to LA. Are there flights between LAX and Manchester? Is there even phone service? But after many years of infrequent communication, we’re both on the circuit again. We are back in regular contact. And lots of other old friends are reaching out again too.
There’s a tradition I embrace whenever I can. For 35 years a group of Dartmouth alums has met for dinner and drinks in Manhattan on the night before Christmas Eve. Representing our class this year were event originator-organizer Hans Morris, Rob Ruocco, Mark Alperin, Chuck Wheelock, Craig Lambdin and surprise guest Jim Loftus. Some of us hadn’t seen Jim for several years. Jim still practices anesthesiology in New Jersey and like a few others to begrudge has defied the aging process. Is there any better way to rekindle friendships than to bring gifts? Jim gave each of us a bottle of hot sauce: Professor Phardtpounder’s Colon Cleaner. Doctor recommended, no doubt. And my family agrees it tastes better than Brenda’s Bootie Burner, Red Rectum Hot Sauce or any of those off-brands.
What is the common thread that ties together this group of classmates: Susan Ball, Catrina Cash Corey, Joan Clements Francis, Caroline Coggeshall, Meg Coughlin LePage, Debo Hart Goth, Sabrina King, Gretchen Kruysman, Amy Ladd, Debbie Leggat, Kim McConaughy Vletas, Cathy McGrath, Judy Reardon, Cheryll Watson, Kate Wiley Laud?
The first reader to send me an email with the correct answer will win a gift certificate. Keep in mind that winning this gift certificate may be the only obstacle between you and a life of eternal bliss.
This magazine will arrive at about the same time as our 60th birthday reunion in Arizona. And what fun the event was/is/will be! Whose arm did Rob Speidel twist to score that truckload of peyote buttons? And who can forget the look on Larry Fitzgerald’s face when Janine Fate Avner broke out that dance move with the Gila monster!
We will close with a tribute to past and future reunions, presented in limerick form.
A gathering among the saguaro in Scottsdale.
Not there? Don’t feel sorrow!
Just give it a go
At our big seven-oh
What’s the hurry? You still have tomorrow!
—Frank Fesnak, 242 River Road, Gladwyne, PA 19035; (408) 859-9652; ffesnak@gmail.com; Wade Herring, P.O. Box 9848, Savannah, GA 31412, (912) 944-1639; wherring@huntermaclean.com; Rob Daisley, 3201 W. Knights Ave., Tampa, FL 33611; (813) 300-7954; robdaisley@me.com
I had a lot of fun with Paul Salafia in the early 1980s when Paul was an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn and I was a salesman for IBM in New York. The party ended when Paul and his fiancée slogged off into the wilderness like Mr. and Mrs. Yukon Jack for less stressful lives as parents and lawyers in New Hampshire. I soon flitted off to LA. Are there flights between LAX and Manchester? Is there even phone service? But after many years of infrequent communication, we’re both on the circuit again. We are back in regular contact. And lots of other old friends are reaching out again too.
There’s a tradition I embrace whenever I can. For 35 years a group of Dartmouth alums has met for dinner and drinks in Manhattan on the night before Christmas Eve. Representing our class this year were event originator-organizer Hans Morris, Rob Ruocco, Mark Alperin, Chuck Wheelock, Craig Lambdin and surprise guest Jim Loftus. Some of us hadn’t seen Jim for several years. Jim still practices anesthesiology in New Jersey and like a few others to begrudge has defied the aging process. Is there any better way to rekindle friendships than to bring gifts? Jim gave each of us a bottle of hot sauce: Professor Phardtpounder’s Colon Cleaner. Doctor recommended, no doubt. And my family agrees it tastes better than Brenda’s Bootie Burner, Red Rectum Hot Sauce or any of those off-brands.
What is the common thread that ties together this group of classmates: Susan Ball, Catrina Cash Corey, Joan Clements Francis, Caroline Coggeshall, Meg Coughlin LePage, Debo Hart Goth, Sabrina King, Gretchen Kruysman, Amy Ladd, Debbie Leggat, Kim McConaughy Vletas, Cathy McGrath, Judy Reardon, Cheryll Watson, Kate Wiley Laud?
The first reader to send me an email with the correct answer will win a gift certificate. Keep in mind that winning this gift certificate may be the only obstacle between you and a life of eternal bliss.
This magazine will arrive at about the same time as our 60th birthday reunion in Arizona. And what fun the event was/is/will be! Whose arm did Rob Speidel twist to score that truckload of peyote buttons? And who can forget the look on Larry Fitzgerald’s face when Janine Fate Avner broke out that dance move with the Gila monster!
We will close with a tribute to past and future reunions, presented in limerick form.
A gathering among the saguaro in Scottsdale.
Not there? Don’t feel sorrow!
Just give it a go
At our big seven-oh
What’s the hurry? You still have tomorrow!
—Frank Fesnak, 242 River Road, Gladwyne, PA 19035; (408) 859-9652; ffesnak@gmail.com; Wade Herring, P.O. Box 9848, Savannah, GA 31412, (912) 944-1639; wherring@huntermaclean.com; Rob Daisley, 3201 W. Knights Ave., Tampa, FL 33611; (813) 300-7954; robdaisley@me.com