With the advent of spring in Philadelphia, I am seeing more green along the banks of the Schuylkill River than at any point since the evening of January 12. That’s the night when our iconic Boathouse Row was lit up on “Greenlighting Night” to celebrate Dartmouth’s 250th birthday. While soaking up the beauty of the lights, I realized that several tall buildings in Center City were also awash in green. This was so much bigger than expected; my Dartmouth pride swelled! The spell was broken when a stranger walked up and said, “Don’t you love it when the whole city dresses up in green on the night before an Eagles playoff game? I think this is the first time they extended the lights all the way to Boathouse Row.”

Was I dreaming? I remember walking down a red carpet into a contemporary art museum somewhere in the Berkshires, Massachusetts. I arrived in a bus that included Paul Salafia, Lanny Vickery, Rob Ruocco, Mark Alperin, Chuck Blades, Rick Gemberling, Craig Lambdin, Earl Grossman, Bruce Reeves, and Chris Browne. During the course of the night I also spent time with Paul Elmlinger, Barksdale Penick, Emily Lisberger Vitale, and Bob Brown. There were performance artists dressed as famous rock stars and as much food and drink as we could handle. After dinner a wall opened up to reveal Rock & Roll Hall-of-Famer Chrissy Hynde and The Pretenders on a small private stage. Chrissy was so close I could touch her. And she never sounded better. Our thanks go to Hans Morris and his wife, Kate, for hosting a truly-unforgettable-and-certifiably-real 60th birthday celebration. Are there any plans to host a similar party for number 61?

Allen Chen ’79 and Bob Keefer ’79 independently identified the classmates grouped in October’s column as stalwart members of Phi Tau. From our class I heard nothing but crickets. Hello? You can’t win if you don’t play! So here’s another chance to win. What’s the common thread that ties this group of classmates together: Jenni Prigge Buhl, Kaj Christenson, Jane Deskin, Steve Elder, Mark Fagan, Monica Williams Knox, Dennis Murphy, Virginia Taylor Picci, Douglas Reichert, Donald Skantze, Tom Vieth, and Stuart West.

The first reader to send an email with the correct answer will win a gift certificate. We will close with another tribute to the stages of life, presented in limerick form.

Being young is a gift. Yes, indeed!

Grace and beauty like Rollins or Reed

With the onset of age

We now face the stage

When like frat row it all goes to seed.

—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