March 15 may mark the Ides of March, but Monday, March 16, begins a special countdown: 95 days to our 20th reunion. Let’s begin the countdown together! Take time that day to post those old college photos, reach out to a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, register for reunions and organize drinks or dinner in your area with classmates.


As you think about reunions, please consider two ’95 opportunities to support current students: the Dartmouth College Fund and our class project. Did you know our class has established a fund to provide stipends for the Rockefeller Center First Year Initiative? Students participating in this program complete an introductory public policy course and a summer fellowship in the public and nonprofit sectors in Washington, D.C. Back at Dartmouth, first-year fellows develop student-initiated and -directed public policy programming for Sophomore Summer. When you pay your class dues, you can support this initiative. The College fund touches all aspects of student life, and our class agents will be in touch about our plans for a class gift in honor of our reunion. Please show your pride and appreciation with your gifts! 


I appreciated seeing ’95s for festivities this holiday season in Walnut Creek, California. Kiyoe Hashimoto, Sara Wasserbauer and Jason Duty are all doing great. Kiyoe works at Stanford University, where she is assistant dean of admissions and works closely with the athletic department (she sported a beautiful NCAA championship ring from the women’s water polo team). Jason works in acoustical engineering at Charles M. Salter Associates Inc. and lives in El Sobrante, California, with his wife, Catrina, and their daughter, Jayla. Sara’s a fellow of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery and owns a hair transplant clinic in Walnut Creek (she welcomes Dartmouth consults if anyone is interested). Sara and her husband, Erik, live in Benicia, California with their sons, Eliot and Casimir, and daughter, Vivian.


Zobelda Gonzalez is also in the San Francisco area (I’m thinking we need to nickname the Bay Area “Dartmouth West” with all of our classmates who call it home). She welcomed her first child into the world last summer with her boyfriend, Scot. “Evangeline Maya Larsen Gonzalez was born August 3. Our little elf just celebrated her first Christmas.” Congratulations, Zobelda! 


Debbie Rosenbaum looks forward to time with a couple of ’95s later this year. Part of the self-titled SpaHogs, Alison Yobage, Melissa Trumbull Mitchell and Debbie will join friends at Kohler Spa for some rest and relaxation. Debbie reports that she is moving again! “We’re heading to St. Louis, Missouri, for the next—and, I hope, final!—step in my husband’s medical training. Jason and I now have two sons, Max (5) and Bowen (2). I left A.T. Kearney in February after almost 10 years for a sabbatical to focus on my family but I’m hoping to get back to work in St. Louis. I would love to hear from alumni in the area.”


Our gathering this June will also mark a change in the guard for our class leadership. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer. If you would be interested in helping our class stay connected by organizing mini-reunions, managing our class treasury, producing newsletters, writing this column, etc., contact Lou Spelios and throw your hat into the ring. Having volunteered in one way or another since graduation, I will say this is a rewarding way to stay connected to our class and the College. Give it some thought and reach out if you have questions (while you’re at it, I’ll be happy to take your news for our next column too!)


—Kaja (Schuppert) Fickes, 2 Bishops Lane, Hingham, MA 02043; kaja.k.fickes.95@dartmouth.edu