1979

Remember the big snowstorm of 1978 ? Dartmouth canceled classes for a day or two and we were jumping off Alpha Chi's roof into snow drifts. John (whoa, no bimbos) Benson and his 4-wheel drive Blazer triumphantly pulled a toboggan laden with a couple of kegs down Webster Avenue. Well, we've been having that kind of snow fall here on the East Coast. I bumped into my new Simsbury neighbor, Steve Franklin, and his son Kevin at the local sledding venue. Franks is an area manager for General Re in Hartford, a job for which Bones Gate trained him well. He says that with all the business lunches and client entertainment that is required, he needs his weekends to sober up.

As I write this column, it's Valentine's Day. So I thought that I would check in on some of our more famous class of '79 sweetheart couples. It seemed like MarkHorton and Megan Topping were engaged by the time I got back from my freshman trip so I called up Hooper to see how the handsome couple was celebrating Valentine's Day. Well, apparently there were no big, romantic plans since Megan had delivered their third son back at the end of November and Mark was still at work avoiding diaper duty. Mark is doing his architecture thing out in San Francisco at, coincidentally, a firm named after him (he claims that he married into the firm but we know he's just a stud at drawing). Mark proudly laid claim to the fact that they don't own a VCR and that these days one beer will do him in for the night (some things never change). Megan keeps her kids in new shoes by supplementing the family income with her own jet leasing business. Maybe you West Coasters can get a deal on transportation for our next Reunion.

Class of '79 sweethearts Laura Powers and Brian Swiggett (who were engaged by Homecoming our freshman year if I recall) are raising three little ski bums, with Brian running some manufacturers consulting firm. Inseparable '79s Laura Hartshorn and Walter Elliott moved from the Atlanta area to southern California where Walter is a principal in a law practice (I can see taking Walter out of the South, but I just can't see taking the South out of Walter). And, of course, Kim Donovan and Joe Henley are busy raising two future PGA Tour members. When Joe isn't hitting balls, he's marketing them and other golf-related items to duffers like me, and Kim is donating some of her time to teaching young children. Did I miss any other '79 couples?

I heard that Owen Dempsey has started his own biotech company called Endogen that supplies labs with some kind of sterile culture media, presumably to grow mung and other byproducts of a fraternity basement. Owen is living in Harvard territory and is expecting his second child on the Fourth of July. Dr. Lincoln Cleveland is doing his George Clooney impersonation as an ER doctor at Astoria General Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. I gather Line commutes from Manhattan but enjoys four-day weekends every week (of course, he doesn't sleep the other three days).

Any Valentine's column would be incomplete without word from everyone's sweetheart (and I mean that fondly), CindaFernald. I called Cinda out of the clear blue at her law practice in Seattle to get some advice on coaching my squirt ice hockey team and was sadly informed that she had hung up her blades. Cinda's conspicuous absence from reunions was due to her being on a six-month LSA program in Spain (she called it a sabbatical). Cinda's husband pined for her from their home on an island outside of Seattle and kept busy with his pediatric medical practice. Happy landings everyone.

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OwenDempsey startedhis own bio techcompany,presumably togrow mung andother byproductsa fraternitybasement. JIM WASZ '79