Special thanks to Jay Matson for serving as guest columnist for this issue!


“For the first time in several years I made it back to Hanover for Winter Carnival. I went to read in Sanborn Library for the first time ever, stuffed full of a Lou’s cruller, and promptly fell asleep! All these years later and I’m still discovering wonderful nooks and crannies of campus that I failed to find when we were students.


“Since missing our most recent reunion I have been trying to find time to see folks whenever I can. During a trip through the Bay Area in the spring of 2013 my family stopped by to visit with Sundar Rajan and family. His boys and my girls are rapidly approaching adulthood, which highlights just how long ago that day was when we met during sophomore summer (and how old we are now!). I caught up with Neel Chatterjee over breakfast at some restaurant with really good muffins (or some sort of pastry, I forget exactly what). Neel continues to kick butt doing intellectual property litigation out in Silicon Valley. We also met up with Cathy McKnight Naaman’s family—together we discovered an interesting museum about the life of Walt Disney. Cathy’s clan recently moved to Texas.


“Back in the Washington, D.C., area, we frequently see Jim Hermes and family, though not as often as we would like. Jim missed his calling: Instead of government relations he should be a chef because every time I eat at his house I come away feeling like it was four star. I saw Sue Shankman—or ‘Rabbi Sue,’ as she’s often called now—at her oldest daughter’s bat mitzvah recently. Maggie Lord flew in from the West Coast for the event. Sue and Maggie were roommates in my undergraduate advising group. It’s safe to say neither of them has aged a day since I first met them in the halls of the River Cluster!


“During the holidays a year ago we celebrated with Mitch Epner and family. While his day job is practicing law and his wife, Mary, works in the fashion industry, it has been fun to see both of them bring their expertise to discussions on CNBC and other channels through the years. During the holidays this year we stole a few days to play golf, walk on the beach and shop at the outlets in the Outer Banks with Ann (Rosamond) and Tom ‘Fin’ Repczynski. We squeezed it in just before the deep freeze that’s been around most of this winter!


“Serendipity also plays a role in meeting classmates. I routinely run into George Price, as he and I coach or cheer for our respective children on the soccer fields and basketball courts of Montgomery County, Maryland. And just a few weeks ago I ran into Priscilla Huff commuting on the Metro, which is not easy to do since her life as a reporter often takes her on the road to exotic places (or faraway places at least!). I took for granted that I would cross paths with Mark Elliot, who was here in the D.C. area for a while with Capital One, but then he up and moved to Brooklyn (for which I will never forgive him)!


“Notwithstanding Facebook’s flaws, I also have a chance to stay in touch virtually with lots of other classmates—too many to mention! I’m looking forward to catching up with more people in person in 2014!”


—Sara Burbine Potter, 108 Hillcrest Road, Fairfield, CT 06824; sara_burbine@yahoo.com