By now, more than half of us have reached our milestone 50th birthday. In honor of this special year the next few Class Notes columns will feature news about how we have marked this occasion.


Meg Ramsden celebrated her 50th birthday last fall by running the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hero Half-Marathon with her daughter, Margaret ’15. She had just turned 21, so milestones for both. It was a fantastic day in honor of a great cause. Jen (Kitchel) Reining had an excellent 50th. Her daughters made her a Swedish princess cake with a skull on it and spray painted “Happy Birthday Mom” on the dog. They also had Nepalese take out—yummy!


Pam Haering had an amazing month-long series of celebrations that gave her the opportunity to connect with many dear friends! She wrote: “In February my husband, Randy, threw me a surprise party at a local L.A. nightclub and hired The English Beat to play a few sets! I had some dear schoolmates in attendance, including Ellen Procter Wilson, Jennifer Lane Hamlin, Clare Killeen, Allison Oberman Exall, Andy Youmans, Sharon Holland, Lynne Tenhoopen Lear ’86, Ed Lear ’83 and John Brady ’86! A second celebration took place on the ski slopes of Park City, Utah, where we had an all-women’s gathering. Dartmouth friends in attendance included Natalie Wilensky ’86, Lynn Mahoney Easterling, Jennifer Tisdel Schorsch and Wendy Chronister. Truly a birthday to remember! I hope everyone has the opportunity to celebrate their half century in a way that is perfect for them.”


Chris Baker is happily married and living in San Francisco with two wonderful kids. He is an avid surfer and is convinced that he was accepted to Dartmouth only because he wrote an essay about surfing and the surfer quota for the class of ’87 hadn’t yet been filled. Chris writes: “I still surf all the time. Sometimes with other Dartmouth alums such as Mike Litter ’94. As long as I can still surf and make it out to the waves before Mike, I don’t worry about my age. Tracking my surfing days has helped me feel better about time passing. I surfed 123 days in 2013 and 102 in 2014.” Around the time of his 50th birthday in January Chris was surfing in cold San Francisco. He also shared a photo of surfing in warmer Fiji. He is planning to go to the Maldives in August; might be space available if any ’87s want to join in.


Please save the date of Homecoming Weekend, October 9-10, and plan to join us in Hanover for a big 50th birthday party celebration. The festivities will begin with the Dartmouth Night Parade Friday. A class dinner is planned for Saturday. Book your hotel soon. Visit http://alumni.dartmouth.edu/visitingcampus/uppervalleylodging for lodging ideas.


Keep the news coming!


—Lisa Pabich Damon, 2124 Ashwood Ave., Nashville, TN 37212; lisa.damon.87@alum.dartmouth.org; Allison Bleyler McDonald, 43 Hop Brook Road, Amherst, MA 01002; allisonmcd@gmail.com