1988

Only five months until we celebrate (or, perhaps, concede) five years out! Here are some reminders as you think I ahead to June.

• First, pay your class dues. (You should have gotten the letter long ago; root around in your desk just in case.) Your dues finance the events we'll enjoy; the more dues, the more enjoyment.

• Second, book those transportation and lodging plans, if you haven't already. If you're coming from far away, consider flying into Manchester, N.H., which has many more flights these days than it did when we were students, and which saves you all the hassles of Logan. You can rent a car in Manchester or get a connecting flight to Hanover.

• Third, personalize your reunion. Drop a card to your freshman-trip mates, fellow UGA group members, study group or lab partners, teammates, roommates, fellow cast members, whoever matters to you. Let them know how much you're looking forward to seeing them again, catching up on things, looking forward and backward together. You might convince someone who's ambivalent about attending to come back after all.

• Fourth, think about firing off a check now to the Alumni Fund. The pressure is on us, having already been named the Class of the Year before even having a reunion, to set a new standard for the five-year gift. Let's meet the challenge.

If you have questions or thoughts about Reunion, feel free to call Reunion Chair Meredith Whalen at home (603) 795-4243 or at work (603) 646-3162. If Meredith doesn't have the answer, which is highly unlikely, she's sure to know someone who does.

Something to anticipate about Reunion is meeting all the new '88 spouses and fiances. Here are four '88 couples with, oddly enough, Harvard ties—perhaps it's something in the Cambridge water. John Replogle is engaged to one Kristin Gatchel, and they plan to wed after John's June graduation from Harvard Business School. Sarah Hoit, also studying at Harvard Business, married Burke Whitman last June; he's a banker with Morgan Stanley. Anne-Marie Weldon married John Keane, who is doubly Crimson with an undergrad and a business degree, last December. And, finally, Merck publicist Ken Keen is engaged to Britain's own Fiona Hill. They met in Harvard's Eastern European Studies program, where she is now employed. No date yet for the wedding of the '88 with the fewest letters in his name.

People without Harvard connections get married, too. Texas Law graduate KajalRejaie, for instance, married Columbia business student Stephen Vicinelli last August at her home in Houston. Kathy Shaw married John Collins in Mystic, Conn., back in October.

There's more to this class than Reunion and weddings, but you need to let your classmates know about it. Write soon and tell us about your good days, your bad days, and your going-half-mad days.

1413 Autumn Lane, Knoxville, TN 37912