Whether you adhere to traditions or find them maddening, you’ll probably agree that Dartmouth has many, as do some of our classmates. Shortly after graduating, a group of our classmates established a tradition of getting together regularly for dinner and a movie. Among the regulars were Bob Gray, Bob Dinan, Barb Dinan, Bob Blum, Caryn “C.C.” Ginsberg, Walter Foster, Anne Marie Healey,and James McKim (yes, an eclectic crowd). With family and work commitments and relocations, the get-togethers became less frequent through the years, but the group still keeps in touch and the friendships endure. Anne Marie Healey and James McKim got together with Bob Gray in Reading, Massachusetts, shortly after Bob’s mother, Sandra, passed away last month. Bob works at the family company, Cushman & Marden. Anne Marie is project manager of the project on race and gender in science and medicine at the Harvard University Hutchins Center. She and her husband live in Somerville, Massachusetts, and recently became empty-nesters when their son, Liam, left for college in Georgia. After a stint at Hewlett Packard, James McKim is advising startups on organizational development and infrastructure. He and his wife live in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Similarly, after Dan Scherman accepted a position with financial advisors Waddell & Reed in Kansas City, Kansas, two years ago, he and Art Blackman began hosting micro-reunions for ’83s at Art’s home in Mission Hills, Kansas. According to Dan, a strong affinity for premium cigars and fine wine is a plus, but any “son of a gun for beer” is okay too. Likewise, Elliot Stultz and Dina Baker Smallman meet in Palm Springs, California, each October for a long weekend of mid-century modern, swapping the granite of New Hampshire for the desert sun. Closer to the “lone pine above her,” James McKim enjoyed two micro-miniature reunions when he had coffee recently with John Flanders. John is chief of operations at the N.H. Community Loan Fund and on the forefront of business startup programs. He too will become an empty-nester in the spring. Hours later, James ran into Rob Hirschfeld, also an empty-nester (see a pattern?). As the 10th bishop of the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire, Rob has been ensuring the church is a welcoming place. Bob Goldman reports that his traditions include inviting Dartmouth friends to all his weddings and initiating ongoing friendships at reunions with classmates he hasn’t met before. Bob says he can’t wait until his next wedding! Following a long tradition of accomplishment and leadership among Dartmouth alums, Karen Toulon recently received the Gwen Ifill Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation. Karen is a senior editor on Bloomberg’s talent, diversity, standards, and training team and a former New York bureau chief. She was honored for developing and promoting the broadcast skills of Bloomberg journalists and researchers around the world while helping to diversify Bloomberg’s global lineup. Congratulations, Karen! Take a moment to submit your traditions. Let us share them with our classmates, lest the old traditions fail.

—Shanta Sullivan, 1541 North Sierra Bonita Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046; shantaesullivan@gmail.com; Elliot Stultz, 421 West Melrose St., #8A, Chicago, IL 60657; elliotstultz@yahoo.com