Greetings, ’88s! With our next reunion coming up in June 2024, I plan to continue to fill this column with stories our classmates have shared with me about what they love about Dartmouth, even 35 years (gulp!) after we graduated. You will not be surprised to learn that a great number of the “what I love most about Dartmouth” stories focus on bonds with our fellow classmates, relationships that have stood the test of time. Dana Beard shared that she has taken an annual camping trip with fellow ’88s for the last nine years, but this year they switched gears and took a bicycling trip along the Velodyssey in Bordeaux, France. In addition to Dana, the group included Jeni Anderson, Steve Gutmann, Pam Kislak, Catherine Rainey, and Kristen Steck. Dana sums it up perfectly when she writes: “Having been ‘mates’ for almost 40 years, through thick and thin, we are blessed to have one another, our extended families, and our formidable Dartmouth ’88 community.” Michelle Stowe Ong shared similar sentiments, writing, “I love traveling the world and connecting with Dartmouth ’88s. I have been through so much the past few years, as we all have, and am most thankful for Dartmouth friends, new and old, that have held me up! I am starting to spend more time in Northern California and have reached out to Julie Pelkan and Kate Lilienthal, among others.” Michelle also saw Patrick Rutty on a trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, in May. With both of her daughters now married, Michelle says she is thinking about her next chapter and is planning to return to Peru to teach in a clinic, volunteer, and possibly lead adult volunteer trips there. Brent Frei too has spent time recently with great ’88 friends, letting me know he had a terrific “quick mini-reunion” this summer with Eben Frankenberg, Tom Kollmorgen, and Andy Russell in Seattle, where they enjoyed boating and relaxing by the pool. Speaking of mini-reunions, I was thrilled to have two of my own in July. I met Robin Kass for a wonderful weekend at the Jersey Shore, a midpoint of sorts between her home in Florida and mine in Connecticut, and I also caught up with Lisa Bransten on a trip to San Francisco, where she lives. Lisa continues her work as director of partnerships at the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and she has just been named to the board of advisors of the Hood Museum at Dartmouth. Congratulations! And I am pleased to end this column by extending an additional note of hearty congratulations to Damon Singletary, who just concluded a run playing Walter Lee Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at the New Rep Theatre in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Please write me with your news and updates and especially your stories about what you love most about Dartmouth, which I will continue to share in the months leading to our next reunion.

—Tory Woodin Chavey, 128 Steele Road, West Hartford, CT 06119; dartmouth88classnotes@gmail.com