Class Note 1977
Issue
November-December 2026
Class Note 1977. Penning this piece a year post our Santa Fe, New Mexico, 70th birthday bash (75 classmates, 155 total attendees!), it’s time to get you fired up for our 50th in Hanover June 10-13.
Our goal is 500 ’77s back on campus in June. Are you in? Led by our calmly adept dear leader Jim Guth and his crack executive committee, ’77 momentum will peak in June, with key performance indicators (KPIs) skyrocketing according to KPI “Kween” Nancy Vespoli, so let’s review the facts, folks, and get ready to rumble!
Peter Mills continuously updates our website dar7mou7h.com with the latest reunion info, including housing options. You should book hotel rooms now for Thursday, June 10-Sunday, June 13. In addition to local hotels, there will be dorm rooms for Friday and Saturday nights only (avail to book early next year), but no dorms available for Thursday.
Speaking of dorms, Russo Hall has opened! We will be able to (carefully) ogle its magnificence during reunion weekend. Tom and Gina, whose generosity is exceeded only by their good ’77 looks, also just endowed the Tribal Sovereignty Institute’s executive director position. Right on, Russos! Speaking of Gina, reunion arts programming (think Hood, Hop, etc.) is being expertly organized by Gina, the inimitable George Shackelford, Jami Powell, and others.
Also, “77 Reconnecting,” led by Carol Muller and her prolific programs committee, has engaged hundreds of us in more than 15 fascinating Zooms, with more leading up to June’s reunion, and they are planning the reunion weekend programs. Barry Harwick, Ted Lapres, Tim Michalak, and Wes Chapman are leading outdoor activities, while Steve Pitschke and Ken Witte have raised their hands (and bids) to organize a bridge tourney in the tent. One wonders if there will be takers for a rumored euchre-cribbage symposium run by Bobby Huggard, Michael Walsh, Peter Bernhard, and Bill Donovan (from on high).
Meals and general planning by Dee Dee Simpson, Leslie Bradford (both Alumni Award winners this year!), and Nancy V. ensure we will be well fed and comfortable throughout.
Ultimate fun and joy has been created by reunion giving chairs Doug Ireland, Betsy Stueber, and Mark Harris as they have assembled a giving committee rivaling the multiverse for infectious energy, undeniable tractor beams, and superhero good abs. Their gravitational pull has teed up the class to fork over a whopper of a reunion gift to the College. You definitely want to be in on this historic gift they have convoked in all our names. We aspire to a 100-percent team effort from the class so channel your best inner-Russo and ping dougmireland@me.com today!
John Storella needs 21 more members to break the Bartlett Tower Society record. To join ping jrstorella@icloud.com. More than 350 ’77s have created pages in our BrightCrowd digital 50th reunion yearbook. Create yours now by contacting Edy Ullman at edy2ullman@comcast.net pronto and she will set you up!
Who do you want to see at reunion? Let us know!
—A.P. Duffy, 15 River Road, Gloucester, MA 01930; (203) 979-2234; apduffy77@gmail.com
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Our goal is 500 ’77s back on campus in June. Are you in? Led by our calmly adept dear leader Jim Guth and his crack executive committee, ’77 momentum will peak in June, with key performance indicators (KPIs) skyrocketing according to KPI “Kween” Nancy Vespoli, so let’s review the facts, folks, and get ready to rumble!
Peter Mills continuously updates our website dar7mou7h.com with the latest reunion info, including housing options. You should book hotel rooms now for Thursday, June 10-Sunday, June 13. In addition to local hotels, there will be dorm rooms for Friday and Saturday nights only (avail to book early next year), but no dorms available for Thursday.
Speaking of dorms, Russo Hall has opened! We will be able to (carefully) ogle its magnificence during reunion weekend. Tom and Gina, whose generosity is exceeded only by their good ’77 looks, also just endowed the Tribal Sovereignty Institute’s executive director position. Right on, Russos! Speaking of Gina, reunion arts programming (think Hood, Hop, etc.) is being expertly organized by Gina, the inimitable George Shackelford, Jami Powell, and others.
Also, “77 Reconnecting,” led by Carol Muller and her prolific programs committee, has engaged hundreds of us in more than 15 fascinating Zooms, with more leading up to June’s reunion, and they are planning the reunion weekend programs. Barry Harwick, Ted Lapres, Tim Michalak, and Wes Chapman are leading outdoor activities, while Steve Pitschke and Ken Witte have raised their hands (and bids) to organize a bridge tourney in the tent. One wonders if there will be takers for a rumored euchre-cribbage symposium run by Bobby Huggard, Michael Walsh, Peter Bernhard, and Bill Donovan (from on high).
Meals and general planning by Dee Dee Simpson, Leslie Bradford (both Alumni Award winners this year!), and Nancy V. ensure we will be well fed and comfortable throughout.
Ultimate fun and joy has been created by reunion giving chairs Doug Ireland, Betsy Stueber, and Mark Harris as they have assembled a giving committee rivaling the multiverse for infectious energy, undeniable tractor beams, and superhero good abs. Their gravitational pull has teed up the class to fork over a whopper of a reunion gift to the College. You definitely want to be in on this historic gift they have convoked in all our names. We aspire to a 100-percent team effort from the class so channel your best inner-Russo and ping dougmireland@me.com today!
John Storella needs 21 more members to break the Bartlett Tower Society record. To join ping jrstorella@icloud.com. More than 350 ’77s have created pages in our BrightCrowd digital 50th reunion yearbook. Create yours now by contacting Edy Ullman at edy2ullman@comcast.net pronto and she will set you up!
Who do you want to see at reunion? Let us know!
—A.P. Duffy, 15 River Road, Gloucester, MA 01930; (203) 979-2234; apduffy77@gmail.com