New Year’s greetings, fellow ’70s. The past year was a busy one for many of us, but probably no classmate was busier than Bob Groves, who, as director of the U.S. Census Bureau, was responsible for tracking down all 308,745,538 inhabitants of this great country. The decennial count was finished on time and under budget, no small feat for a government bureaucracy. Macro numbers were released in December to facilitate congressional reapportionment, and key analyses continue to be published during the first quarter of 2011. After graduating from Dartmouth summa cum laude Bob, a self described “data geek,” earned his master’s and doctorate in statistics and sociology at the University of Michigan, where he has spent most of his academic career on the faculty.


The class of 1970 is well represented on both coasts of our neighbor to the north, where two guys not included in Groves’ count have made news recently. Fred Fountain was inducted into the Order of Canada at an investiture ceremony last June about the time of our 40th reunion. The Order of Canada recognizes and honors “a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.” After Dartmouth Fred returned home to Nova Scotia and earned a law degree at Dalhousie University. In addition to being a practicing attorney he has been president and CEO of the investment management firm Great Eastern Corp. Ltd. since 1985. Fred’s record of community service at both the local and national levels is truly impressive.


On Canada’s west coast Gordon Campbell stepped down as Premier of British Columbia in November 2010 after nearly a decade in that position. Gordon has long been active in politics serving on the Vancouver City Council and as mayor of that city from 1986 to 1993 and is recognized as a leading force behind Vancouver’s winning bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics.


From the San Mateo (California) Times comes word that “T.J. Rodgers will get to realize his dream of trying to make the world’s best pinot noir on the chilly Pacific slopes of the Santa Cruz mountains.” The county board of supervisors recently approved a permit for T.J. to expand his Clos de la Tech winery from 2,500 to 13,000 cases a year. Note to Thurman John—if a few of those cases end up at our 45th reunion that would be a good thing. T.J. and his wife, Valeta, recently opened the Half Moon Bay Wine and Cheese Co., a retail operation in the city of the same name.


Denny Brown, in an e-mail to members of our class executive committee, shared his feelings on what it’s like to work at Dartmouth under the new administration. The text is too long to include here but let me boil his thoughts down to one word—“fun.” I hope Steve Fox will post the unabridged version in an upcoming newsletter.


That’s all for now folks. Enjoy the rest of your winter and send news so I don’t have to start making things up.


—Bill Wilson, 85 Blueberry Lane, Concord, MA 01742; wilson8689@aol.com