Class Note 1985
Have you wondered how traditions begin, especially some of Dartmouth’s? In this year celebrating the College’s sestercentennial, I was with a group of alumni from our graduation decade through the early 2000s. We were discussing the Winter Carnival Occom Pond plunge and the Homecoming bonfire. Several of the younger alums expressed outrage that the freshmen class run around the bonfire was transformed into more of a one-way jog. They were equally surprised when those of us from the 1980s commented that we had never actually undertaken a bonfire run. “What? But it is a Dartmouth tradition!” No one from before the class of 1988 had ever run around the bonfire, and yet alums of the class of 1992 proudly recounted undertaking this freshmen year run “lest the old traditions fail!” Anyone out there who actually knows when either of these so-called time-honored “traditions” began, give a rouse and let us know.
Dartmouth recognized the Valentine’s Day tradition with a tribute to Dartmouth couples. We actually have several classmate couples, including Sally Crane Goggin and Mark Goggin, Frances Gmur Osman and Andy Osman, Debbie Willing Carson and Dan Carson, Katie Harris Robbins and Kris Robbins, Mimi Reilly Eldridge and George Eldridge, Holly Andersen and Doug Hirsch, Amy Durno Harned and Peter Harned, Cindy Bergman MacManus and John MacManus.No doubt, there are more. Featured in this article were Pam Lower Bass and Barry Bass. With side-by-side photos from their days on the Hanover Plain and an equally timeless, yet more recent, pic from an overseas adventure, Pam and Barry shared their tale of meeting on a language study abroad trip to Mainz, Germany (presumably our sophomore year). Weaving their way through their undergraduate years, including meeting up (literally) with each other on graduation as the two lines came together in the processional, they married in 1988. Fast-forward to today—they are living in Potomac, Maryland, with three grown kids, having both pursued long careers in commercial real estate. More recently each has pivoted to the next phase professionally, in which, notably, Barry is currently CFO of Holistic Industries, the first medicinal cannabis cultivation center to open in D.C. Barry will be overseeing the extracurricular activities for our next reunion.
In case this column does not make it clear, news is thin. I have pulled out our 1985 Aegis—quite the walk down memory lane—in case there is little to report next column. I will randomly select a classmate to feature or I might resort to applauding our Cleveland-based lawyer classmate Jeff Healy, who continues, annually, to receive the honor of being named one of the best lawyers in America. I have been listening to the Serial Season 3 podcasts on ordinary cases in the justice system in Cleveland (trust me, nothing “ordinary” about any of them), so I have had Cleveland on my mind. Jeff does not practice criminal law but he deserves a rouse for practicing law in Cuyahoga County.
Send news. All the best to all of you!
—Leslie A. Davis Dahl, 83 Pecksland Road, Greenwich, CT 06831; (203) 552-0070; dahlleslie@yahoo.com; John MacManus, 188 Ringwood Road, Rosemont, PA 19010; (610) 525-4541; slampong@aol.com
