Class Note 1991

Heartfelt greetings from the inside of my home, where I am spending far too much time due to Covid-19. I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and that you have been able to weather this unprecedented time emotionally, financially, and in good health.

Geoff Bronner reached out to send an update from Hanover. He works in information technology, which is beyond “essential” these days, and was instrumental in helping manage the campus switch to online learning. He also reported that spouse Kristy Bronner is working remotely at Dartmouth-Hitchcock researching the very important issue of hospital bed utilization in the United States during the pandemic. He closed with a wish I’d like to echo: “Let’s hope for a vaccine in time for our 30th reunion next June.”

Stephanie Rouzee Pendleton has a weekly very important meeting via Zoom with Bari Anhalt Erlichson, Tracey Rous Hoke, Paula Girouard O’Sullivan, Audrey Price DiMarzo, Karin Markey Jonas, Suzie King Kornblum, and Melissa Robbins Mahr. They “discuss critical current events, including what cocktail Ina Garten recommends in these troubled times, along with how we are coping with everything else.”

Alex Kapp has been keeping busy with episodes of “Coronavirus Isolation” on YouTube. She and her buddy Tricia O’Kelly are making viewers laugh out loud with shenanigans that range from visiting an old storage unit (and running down the car battery because they played music the entire time) to dealing with fruit flies that might be attracted to the scent of wine.

Megan Brimijoin Vaules let me know how she and her husband, Will ’89 (both physicians, she’s an obstetrician/gynecologist and he’s a primary care doctor), are handling the pandemic. “We are safe so far, trying to do as much telemedicine from home as possible, but I am heading into four nights in a row in the hospital at the end of this week, which is scary to think about.” Son Charlie is heading to Dartmouth this fall, daughter Becca is a rising junior at Bates, and son Alec is a Dartmouth ’20 “with no baseball season and no senior spring and possibly no graduation. We love having them here but hate that they have to be here away from school and friends.” She heard from Terry Cheon (also an obstetrician/gynecologist) that she was safe in N.Y.C., “and one of our favorite nights so far was a Dartmouth mini dinner party over Zoom with former Glee Club friends Tom Hong and wife Alix, Becca and John Kornet ’90, Jen Jacobs and Clayton Gates ’90, and all their families. We tried to all make the same thing for dinner (within reason, as it was early in quarantine and we didn’t all have access to fully stocked grocery stores) and had a great visit!”

Jonathan Perry has been teaching high school English and American studies in Keene, New Hampshire, since graduation. He wrote that “teaching remotely has been a challenge, but it is one to which the vast majority of teachers and students have risen admirably.” He shared a timely message that he posted on his Facebook page about educators and how the pandemic is helping to change the perception of those in his chosen profession. “In many ways,” he wrote, “educators and schools are the steering wheel to society’s car. No one spends much money on it. No one pays much attention to it. It isn’t glamorous or exciting. However, try driving the car without one.” Teaching right now is a daunting task, so thank you, Jonathan (and all of our 1991 teachers), for everything you do!

Thanks for your news. Keep in touch!

—Deb Karazin Owens, 166 Colonial Drive, Fairfield, CT 06824; djowens@optonline.net