1968

First, the good news. More than 140 classmates enjoyed a glorious 20th Reunion! The bad news is that we have to wait five years for our next major get-together!

At our class meeting on Saturday morning, Reverend Greg Marshall led a special memorial tribute to 22 classmates. Later that morning, President Freedman held a stimulating and informative session with alumni, and Dr. Stan Rosenberg and his research team updated '67s, '68s, and '69s on their "Vietnam-era" study. The team's research continues to probe the effects of the Vietnam conflict on our days at Dartmouth and on our life choices.

The picnic at Storr's Pond was everything you would have expected: lots of fun in the sun! We shifted to a more serene setting, 'neath the trees surrounding the Dartmouth Outing Club House, for our class dinner on Saturday evening. Bob Reich, our toast master, was as masterful as ever. All-time favorite math professor Bill Sleznick regaled the audience with his memories of our class, and he offered his thoughts on changing times at the College. Gary Hobin received a Dartmouth chair for having traveled the farthest to the reunion from his post at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, no less!

Outgoing class president Joe Grasso (congratulations and thanks from all of us, Joe!) announced the class officers who will lead us forward to our 25th. Jim Tonkovich, from his perch as associate director of development at Dartmouth, will serve as president. His vice president is David Peck, director of capital projects at Children's Hospital in Boston and lead organizer extraordinaire of our 20th Reunion. Mark"Skip" Waterhouse, a real estate developer with Garnet Development Group Inc. in Hartford, will continue to lead us toward even loftier fund-raising goals. As Yogi claims, "It ain't over 'til it's over"; but for now, Mark reports that the class of 1968 is within sight of setting a new 20th Reunion Alumni Fund record. What an incredible effort Mark and his teams have put forth on behalf of the College! Ron Weiss, an attorney with Bulkley, Richardson & Gelinas in Longmeadow, Mass., will continue to be the keeper of our class purse. JohnPilling, a principal architect with August Associates in Boston, and Parker Beverage, dean of admissions and financial aid at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, will try their best to chronicle the news and events of our class, as newsletter editor and secretary, respectively. I must admit that I am already in awe of Dave Loring and BobBlock for the fine jobs they have done as my predecessors.

Finally, the task of getting many of us together again real soon falls to John Engelman, our mini-reunion chairman. John has already set September 17 as the date of our next mini. We shall hear more on this from John, at home in Hanover, but it is not too early now to mark your calendars and plan to join other '68s in watching a Big Green victory over Penn.

More tidbits from the 20th in the next issue.

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