Class Note 1983
Issue
August—back-to-school time. I remember arriving in Hanover my freshman year with my dad (class of ’51) a day before my freshman trip. Being from California, I had long, blonde hair and I was wearing platform shoes with wrap-around pants. The year 1979 was the height of preppy, and it didn’t take me long to figure out why! Bean boots, widewhale cords, Fair Isle sweaters, button-down shirts and brown hair replaced my California style. It got pretty darn cold pretty fast in Hanover. Our first soccer game was played in the snow! I tried to get in touch with some of the ’83 soccer players. I heard from Dave Hartzell: “I am living in suburban Philadelphia near where I grew up, after spending 10 years in New York City and Baltimore. Still doing investment banking but rarely admit it to anybody. I am currently doing restructurings for business services companies, which seems to be the only game in town these days. More importantly, family life is great. I am happily married to my wife, Christine, who ‘retired’ from the pharmaceutical industry to run our household many years ago. I have two daughters, Victoria (15) and Katie (11), who keep me in line. Victoria plays soccer for her school team and Katie plays travel for Lower Merion Soccer Club. My playing days have long been over except for scrimmages in our back yard. On the Dartmouth front I had a great time at 25th reunion, as did my family. Victoria particularly enjoyed playing water pong, so I guess it runs in the genes. I still stay in touch with several classmates and enjoyed a mini AD reunion in Florida last year with Kevin Connolly and Reed Webster.”
Ric Bucher also wrote: “I’m now a jack-of-all-trades covering the NBA for ESPN, basketball having always been a close second to soccer for me. I’m a senior writer with the magazine, sideline reporter for telecasts, in-studio TV analyst, dot-com columnist—if it’s a medium through which something can be said about the NBA, I’m probably on it. A touch of arthritis from knee surgery the winter of my freshman year has finally caught up with me. It doesn’t bother me surfing, so that has become my new passion; fortunately, we live in Half Moon Bay [California] with nearly a dozen different breaks within a 40-minute drive. Rather than risk a knee replacement in a couple of years I’ve retired from anything involving a ball other than playing one-on-one with my kids in the back yard.”
The only woman I heard from was my partner in crime, Amy Haigh Fassett. Amy’s in Walpole, Massachusetts, and just sent her oldest two kids off to college: Sarah to Elon in North Carolina and Spencer to Gettysburg. Their third, Emma, is in eighth grade. Amy has spent many years working as an instructional aide for severe special needs students at the middle school level. Amy wishes she could still play, but she has had multiple leg surgeries and has finally hung up her cleats. “My youngest, Emma, still plays and it is a pleasure to sit on the sidelines and watch the game for a change although sometimes I have to work hard to keep my mouth shut!”
And me, well, I still try to play in a coed recreational league in my town of Portola Valley, California, but have noticed I’m a bit slower and not so good with that ball. It’s still fun though, and in a recent game I played against a 19-year-old Dartmouth sophomore. That was depressing! Happy fall! Forever green!
—Maren Christensen, 166 Sausal Drive, Portola Valley, CA 94028; (650) 529-2396; marenjc@yahoo.com
Nov - Dec 2010
August—back-to-school time. I remember arriving in Hanover my freshman year with my dad (class of ’51) a day before my freshman trip. Being from California, I had long, blonde hair and I was wearing platform shoes with wrap-around pants. The year 1979 was the height of preppy, and it didn’t take me long to figure out why! Bean boots, widewhale cords, Fair Isle sweaters, button-down shirts and brown hair replaced my California style. It got pretty darn cold pretty fast in Hanover. Our first soccer game was played in the snow! I tried to get in touch with some of the ’83 soccer players. I heard from Dave Hartzell: “I am living in suburban Philadelphia near where I grew up, after spending 10 years in New York City and Baltimore. Still doing investment banking but rarely admit it to anybody. I am currently doing restructurings for business services companies, which seems to be the only game in town these days. More importantly, family life is great. I am happily married to my wife, Christine, who ‘retired’ from the pharmaceutical industry to run our household many years ago. I have two daughters, Victoria (15) and Katie (11), who keep me in line. Victoria plays soccer for her school team and Katie plays travel for Lower Merion Soccer Club. My playing days have long been over except for scrimmages in our back yard. On the Dartmouth front I had a great time at 25th reunion, as did my family. Victoria particularly enjoyed playing water pong, so I guess it runs in the genes. I still stay in touch with several classmates and enjoyed a mini AD reunion in Florida last year with Kevin Connolly and Reed Webster.”
Ric Bucher also wrote: “I’m now a jack-of-all-trades covering the NBA for ESPN, basketball having always been a close second to soccer for me. I’m a senior writer with the magazine, sideline reporter for telecasts, in-studio TV analyst, dot-com columnist—if it’s a medium through which something can be said about the NBA, I’m probably on it. A touch of arthritis from knee surgery the winter of my freshman year has finally caught up with me. It doesn’t bother me surfing, so that has become my new passion; fortunately, we live in Half Moon Bay [California] with nearly a dozen different breaks within a 40-minute drive. Rather than risk a knee replacement in a couple of years I’ve retired from anything involving a ball other than playing one-on-one with my kids in the back yard.”
The only woman I heard from was my partner in crime, Amy Haigh Fassett. Amy’s in Walpole, Massachusetts, and just sent her oldest two kids off to college: Sarah to Elon in North Carolina and Spencer to Gettysburg. Their third, Emma, is in eighth grade. Amy has spent many years working as an instructional aide for severe special needs students at the middle school level. Amy wishes she could still play, but she has had multiple leg surgeries and has finally hung up her cleats. “My youngest, Emma, still plays and it is a pleasure to sit on the sidelines and watch the game for a change although sometimes I have to work hard to keep my mouth shut!”
And me, well, I still try to play in a coed recreational league in my town of Portola Valley, California, but have noticed I’m a bit slower and not so good with that ball. It’s still fun though, and in a recent game I played against a 19-year-old Dartmouth sophomore. That was depressing! Happy fall! Forever green!
—Maren Christensen, 166 Sausal Drive, Portola Valley, CA 94028; (650) 529-2396; marenjc@yahoo.com