1987

Hanover was experiencing its post-Commencement lull. The classroom buildings were silent, and Baker Lawn bore the unnaturally straight lines left by row after row of folding chairs. Getting a hotel room or a dinner reservation anywhere closer than Boston was possible again.

Then, just as peace was trying to reestablish itself on the Dartmouth campus, groups of alumni began to appear from all directions. They moved into dormitories that they used to deride. They wore (or tried to fit into) green clothing that they hadn't tried on in a while. They put on name tags and still called each other by the wrong names. They laughed about things that they hadn't thought of in years. They confused Alumni Hall with Alumni Gym and remembered that the Bema was "somewhere out in the trees." They told tall tales to their spouses unless their spouses happened to be classmates of theirs. Ah, yes, it was time for reunions!

Our class, of course, was among the hoard that turned the campus into a reminiscence festival. In fact, we made up quite a large portion of that hoard. The class of 1987 set an alltime attendance record for a Dartmouth Fifth Reunion, with over 400 people on hand.

While on the topic of breaking records, I'll add that our class donated the largest amount ever given to the Alumni Fund by a fifth reunion class. We handed President Freedman a check for over $100,000 at the final class dinner, but we forced him to sign it over to the College before he left the room. At that same dinner, Class Dean Alex McCormick gave a thoughtful speech asking for understanding as the College continues to change.

And change it will. A few things looked different this visit. About a third of the Green has been consumed by a construction project to replace a section of the steam pipe that supplies the campus with that clanking noise in all of the radiators. The banks in town have all changed their names, a new Chinese restaurant offers free delivery on campus, and a Ben and Jerry's ice cream store sits perilously close to C&A Pizza. Talk about a double whammy!

Over a weekend of dinners, riverside barbecues, hikes, parties, and hanging out around the well-touted beer truck, we did conduct a bit of business by electing new class officers. Congratulations to President Ginny WiseWilkins, Treasurer Betsy Wall Rutherford, and Secretary Meghan Crone Ramsden.

Wait! A new class secretary? That's right, folks, with this column I am signing off after five years of telling tales about you. I want to thank everyone who has written with class news or tolerated the occasional inaccuracy. (I prefer the term "factually disadvantaged report.")

I'll take this chance to give a quick update on my own activities. I was married on May 2 to Devon Buckels in Denver, and we are busy settling into our new home and getting used to the"new owners phenomenon," in which most of a house's major appliances wait to break down in unison as a kind of bizarre greeting to the new residents. This mechanical Solidarity movement is, we hope, on its last legs.

My final request (sniff) is that you continue to support your class secretary and this magazine. I know you're out there I can hear your lips moving!

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