I can think of no better way to open our column in the new year than with a direct plug from reunion communications chair Jeff Weitzman: “It has been more than five long years since the start of 2020—or maybe it just seems that way. But 2021 brings hope and (drumroll, please) our 35th reunion! What better way to recognize that spending time with old friends is an essential part of our lives than to plan to join us (along with the classes of 1986 and 1987) June 17-20 for our 35th reunion? True, there is uncertainty about what our world will look like this June, but your reunion committee is going full speed. Full speed is, in fact, the theme of our 35th: ‘Class of ’85 in Overdrive.’ We’re in our prime, friends, and we’re firing on all cylinders (spinning on all coils, for you electric car drivers)—at work, at play, and in our communities. We are planning a spectacular three days to feed your head and your heart like never before: panels and storytelling sessions with classmates, alongside a full slate of interesting lectures led by Dartmouth professors; entertainment ranging from big all-class parties on the Green to late-night tunes and quiet conversations at our class tent. Stay on top of all the reunion news through our website, www.dartmouth85.com. Now get it in gear and start reaching out to your classmates and commit to meeting them at reunion.”

Classmates making news these days include Dr. Joyce Sackey,who has been nominated by the Alumni Association for the vacant alumni-nominated seat on the College’s board of trustees in 2021. Give a rouse! Among many other accomplishments, Joyce is currently associate provost and chief diversity officer for the Tufts University Health Sciences Schools. Laura Abrahamsen is director of the Bixby Memorial Library in Francestown, New Hampshire. In addition to building the collection, Laura ensures the library provides essential technologies—internet, printers, and scanners—for public use. Gayle Gilman was a featured panelist on a Dartmouth Alumnae Entrepreneurs forum last September, sharing her experience funding, operating, and growing her own company (Snarled Entertainment), where she is focused on building content brands across multiple platforms. And check out the virtual “topping off” ceremony for the Irving Institute for Energy and Society that livestreamed last October! At 19:06 minutes you will Zoom with Marcy Sitnik Reed, executive vice president for National Grid. You more recently “saw” Marcy in a heartwarming Dartmouth roommate reunion photo from September at Eleni Daskalakis Henkel’s Connecticut house with Kathy Reilly Gross and Becky Blake Osborne. This time Marcy extolls praise for liberal arts engineers: “Whether you are a poet or a deep scientist…all of those perspectives and brains are what we need to not only fix a problem, but to reimagine more and more solutions.” Go, Marcy (great plug for Dartmouth and Thayer!).

Until our next column update, send us your news—we will print it here.

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