Phone calls with old friends are too few and far between these days, so I am especially grateful that Laura Korfmann and I were able to take time out from our work days to recap the fun we had at our 30th reunion and wax a bit nostalgic about Dartmouth in general. Laura and I have been friends since we lived on the same floor in the River Cluster freshman fall, and we forever will be “Korfmann” and “Gasser” to each other. Laura, her husband, Brian, and their three children (all of whom came to reunion) live in northern New Jersey in the town neighboring my hometown. An associate general counsel at Bessemer Trust in New York City, Laura is cheerful as always and said she “has no complaints.”

Diana (Headley) Saunders loves teaching fourth grade at the Wilmington Friends School in Delaware, where she has been for the past seven years. Her older daughter is a sophomore at Duke and her younger daughter will attend Colgate this fall. But probably the most exciting news is that, after being single since her daughters were toddlers, Diana is engaged! She met her fiancé online and will be married this summer. Congratulations to Diana!

In the online world, sports media website SBnation (www.sbnation.com) consulted our very own resident wine aficionado Meg Houston Maker and asked her to opine on whether NBA basketball star LeBron James has good taste in wine. In a November 2017 article, Meg and several other experts examined six wines James identified in an Instagram post and concluded—big surprise!—that the answer is yes. Meg described James’ selections as “exquisite and luxurious but not ostentatious” wines that “are made by people who are driven by a clear vision about what their wine, from their place, should be.” For more of Meg’s insights into wine and food, check out her always entertaining Facebook posts.

Scott Sodokoff, the proud father of Justin Sodokoff ’21, shared his thoughts on the similarities and differences between our Dartmouth experience in the 1980s and Justin’s experience now. Scott noted how Justin and his classmates are more collaborative and “work closer together than our generation did.” Based on his observations, Scott believes that “school is just harder today and the students have raised the bar on working hard and effectively managing time.” Still, some things do stay the same: “As ’87s we enjoyed the same incredible DOC trip experiences as matriculating ’21s. I get no sense from my son or his teammates and friends that anything has changed. Like many of us, after their final night of the trip at Moosilauke, which they first described as kind of ‘silly,’ they soon appreciated it as the powerful common bonding experience it is.” As Scott aptly expressed: “Dartmouth is a special place not bound by geography. It is a worldwide community with its heart in Hanover.” Look for a full account of Scott’s observations in a future class newsletter.

—Laura Gasser, 746 17th Ave., San Francisco, CA 94121; marcklaurag@aol.com