Class Note 1995

As I write this column, 2015 is coming to a close and I am enjoying seeing all of our classmates’ photos of family and friends on Facebook celebrating the holiday season. Whether Adam Lipson and Alexander (Sasha) King playing polo, Alex Nikas’ family playing a front foyer brass quartet that would do the Dartmouth wind symphony proud or Tamara Busch’s beautiful new baby girl, Tatiana Lushear (congratulations, Tammy!), it is great to see that ’95s are out there embracing life and having fun.

By the time you read this column it will be spring, the time of mud season and finals in Hanover, when Dartmouth students are counting the days to spring break. I asked classmates to share their favorite spring break memories on Facebook (mine include post-foreign study program travels in Paris and an amazing Chamber Singers tour to Spain.) For Cynthia Kelmenson it was the “rugby tour to England!” and for Malika Ra, “floating in the turquoise waters of Turks and Caicos, paddle boarding and being able to see stingrays below this past spring.” Alexandra (Lesk) Love writes: “Gleek (a.k.a. Glee Club) tour, but not the part where I had to get stitches in Georgia and that medical bill ruined my credit rating for seven years.” Yikes!

Now let’s have fun off Facebook and find time to get together face to face! April 4 marks the 95th day of the year and it’s a great excuse to reconnect. Kisha (Teaney) Weiser,Alexandrawould especially like to connect with you, both for the 95th day and as an early April 5 birthday present!) We’ve made it a tradition in Boston to gather for a mini-reunion dinner somewhere—stay tuned to our Facebook group for more details—and if you’d be interested in reaching out to one classmate or to a whole region’s worth for a 95th day of the year celebration, contact me, our class mini-reunion chair Tara Gulla or our president Jen Hee and we will help you make that happen.

Unfortunately, I end this column with news of another classmate’s passing. The bells of Baker Library toll for Matthew J. Fornari, who died last fall and is survived by his wife, Kim, and their beloved dog, Angel. You will be missed, Matt.

—Kaja (Schuppert) Fickes, 2 Bishops Lane, Hingham, MA 02043; kaja.k.fickes.95@dartmouth.edu