I am sad to report the death of another classmate this year. Josh Kennard passed away on February 26 after a long illness. Josh lived in New York for several years following graduation, and returned home to Concord, New Hampshire, to care for his ailing parents, Robert ’48, Tu’49, who died in 2003, and Ann, who died in 2015. Josh was known for his devotion to his dogs and love of the outdoors, fishing, skiing, photography, and reading. Josh’s first-year roommate, Mark Abruzzese, recalled Josh was “an adventurous and playful soul who I am very sorry to have lost. A few years back we had a lively exchange on the socials regarding my recent foray into music, of which he was very supportive.” On Facebook, Jen (Hill) Leineweber and Meredith (Epstein) Goodman pictured Josh “wearing a well-loved baseball hat with a big smile on his face,” and Pamela Signorello remembered Josh with “vivid fondness.”

An obituary will appear on the magazine’s website, and those who wish are welcome to post remembrances of Josh. May his memory be a blessing.

More than 30 ’97s joined a Zoom mini-reunion on March 25 to chat, answer Dartmouth trivia questions, and learn a lot about wine. Lauren Hirshfield Belden and husband Nate Belden own Belden Barns, a 20-acre vineyard in Santa Rosa, California, where they live with children Olivia and Milo. Those who wished ordered in advance the 2018 Estate Gruner Veltliner and the 2019 Estate Pinot Noir, which were equally fantastic in different ways and did not last long in this house. Lauren and Nate taught us the four s’s of tasting: swirl it, see it, smell it, sip it. Trivia winners were treated to ’97 Yetis.

The ’97s participating included Gretchen Lanka Allen, Ingrid (Brody) Bateman, Blaire (Osgood) Bernard, Carolyn (Abruzzo) Campion, Jeff Cerny, Erin Dawkins, Lynn (Thacher) Dengel, Carolyn (Wolff) Dorros, Chris Dorros, Jennifer (Pollina) Echlov, Russell Echlov, Matt Ellis, Bryan Farrow, Susan (Saalman) Feury, Patricia Frausto, Georgina Garcia-Soiffer, Kirsten Gelsdorf, Meredith (Epstein) Goodman, Amy Henry, Kris Jadd, Miranda Johnson, Jamey Lipscomb, Lindsey Noecker, Steve Ripp, Deb (Uchtmann) Ronco, Pamela Signorello, Karin (Kelley) Sloan, Lynne (Campbell) Soutter, Danielle (Benware) Thompson, Jenn Tudder Walus, and Paige (Kambas) Wolfe.

Congratulations toMark Abruzzese, whose full-length eponymous LP, Deviant Folk, comes out on May 21. The singles “Hell Yeah” and “8,192” have already dropped. Mark said he started getting into folk and bluegrass music on Dartmouth earth science trips with Judd Goldberg, Travis Horton ’96, Steve Shultz ’98, and Matt Rothe ’98. The album features 12 vocal-forward folk and bluegrass songs Mark wrote with “a hot backing band of Berklee millennials.” Check it out on any streaming service or purchase the CD at deviantfolk.com.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone.

—Jason Casell, 10106 Balmforth Lane, Houston, TX 77096; jhcasell@gmail.com