More than a dozen ’97s joined a Zoom mini-reunion on October 28 to chat and learn a lot about chocolate. Kim Hack ’79, founder of Cocoa + Co. in Chicago, led us through a lively discussion. Those who wished ordered in advance four different dark chocolate bars, each intensely flavored in different ways. My personal favorite was the Ranger Mayan Chocolate Bar, which included ancho chile, sea salt, cayenne, and nutmeg. We also sampled some amazing bars from Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. We learned that a daily diet including 16 to 100 grams of dark chocolate with more than 70-percent cacao can have great health benefits such as lowering blood pressure and improving mood and executive functioning.

Class of ’97s participating included Rebecca (Siegel) Baron, Camille (Masini) Barreto, Tony Field, Meredith (Epstein) Goodman, Taja-Nia Henderson, Miranda Johnson, Abby Klingbeil, Lindsey Noecker, Christina (Hallenbeck) Rogers, Lynne (Campbell) Soutter, Danielle (Benware) Thompson, Jenn (Tudder) Walus, and Dave Zipkin.

Preparations are underway for what promises to be an amazing 25th reunion June 16-19. Look for emails with more information and check out the ’97 class website at dartmouth97.org.

Take care, everyone.

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