I received news from Lisa Snyder about her September birthday. “I celebrated my 50th by getting together for an overnight with friends on Cape Cod. We had glorious summer weather, so we enjoyed hanging out at the beach, playing lawn games and swimming. The signature cocktail was hard cider in cans and we had a yummy catered dinner with carrot cake for dessert. Other Dartmouth alums in attendance were Lars Harvey, Ann Suchoza McDonough (my freshman year roommate and still my bestie), dear husband Jeff Foster ’88 and father-in-law King Foster ’55 (who graciously let us all invade his house for the event).”

A trio of classmates shared about their December birthday celebrations. Drew Shagrin recalled that “My 40th birthday party 10 years ago was on a barge on the Seine: amazing views of the Eiffel Tower, a salsa band for dancing, Cuban cuisine, not a bad recipe for a lot of fun. For my 50th I preferred a low-key weekend away with my wife and kids, filled with laughter and warmth. Professionally, I recently sold Mamanana, the fashion e-boutique I launched just before my 40th birthday. As for my next professional adventure, I’m still not sure what it’ll be. Classmates seen this year were George Bingham (who passed through Paris in January) and Alex Cuthbert (who passed through in September). The terrorist attacks here in November were very disturbing—I knew one of the victims, a mother in the class of one of my kids—but no place is safe from terror attacks in today’s world, as the Riverside attack showed just a few weeks later. So come to Paris and give a shout if you do.”

Laura Gasser celebrated her December 10 birthday by taking the day off from work and spending it with her husband: “After Marc and I dropped off our two boys at the school bus we went for a run in Golden Gate Park, ate sushi in Sausalito and hiked in the Marin headlands, with a payoff of 360-degree views of the ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge, the city and the hills. I saw my first coyote, which couldn’t get away from us fast enough. It was also wonderful to get all the emails, calls, texts, Facebook birthday wishes and flower deliveries from my family, plus cake and champagne (of course).” Laura kept celebrating all month—a blowout dinner celebration with a good friend who also turned 50 in December, a lunch out with work buddies and to top it all off, a trip to Mexico (sans kids!) for five days. What fun!

Allison McDonald celebrated at the end of December in Hanover. She joined her family (no kids!) for a 50th birthday dinner at Pine at the Hanover Inn. She enjoyed a massage the next day with her sister and mom, who turned 75 last August.

There are a few of us left who will turn 50 in 2016. We would love to hear more news about birthday celebrations or anything else!

Save the date: class of 1987 30th reunion Thursday-Sunday, June 15-18, 2017.

—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