1975

Heard through a mutual friend that Henry Zanetti and his wife earlier this year had a baby girl they've named Raphaela. Just shows in more than one way that life begins at 50. Just a couple of years ago Henry dove for the first time into the waters of married life and now he's in the flow of early parenthood. Plenty of time to prepare for the "white water rapids" of living with a teenager. Henry is the head of the U.S. Customs Service at JFK International Airport, which is excellent preparation for raising teens.

Vandy Van Wagener, almost 50, is the new chief executive officer of dbDoctor Inc., a leading provider and pioneer of state-of-the-art database monitoring and assessment services. Headquartered in Superior, Colorado, dbDoctor recently developed for Oracle a database management system called Health Watch. Vandy has a Tuck M.B.A. and is a veteran marketing manager of Procter & Gamble in Asia, a former CEO of Denver-based In fobeat, and a director advisor to Internet "start-ups" and mature companies.

In June I saw executive producer Barry Groves Proof, now playing on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City.Proo/won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and a Pulitzer Prize for its script. It successfully debuted in 2000 at the Manhattan Theatre Club, where Barry is executive director. Did I see actor Jim Metzler in the front row of the audience that night?

Our condolences go to Bill Graulty, whose father William W. Graulty '46 died in May. Bill is a member of the public relations firm of Mintz and Hoke in Avon, Connecticut, and lives with wife LeVaun in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Pilobolus Dance Company's Davenen production at the Joyce Theater in New York City received great reviews from The New York Times. Michael Tracy is one of Piloboluss four artistic directors, including two other Dartmouth alums, Bobby Barnett '72 and Jonathan Wolken '71.

Charles Box at age 50 concluded three terms as the mayor of his hometown Rockford, Illinois. He served 12 years and is described by the local press as "quiet, serious and straightforward," a "black man whose staunchest political support came from the white establishment" and "a liberal who kept the lid on city taxes." The public, the press and the politically powerful all applauded Charles for his low-key but highly effective management style that led Rockford through urban revitalization, public school turmoil, a Superfund settlement and cultural revival.

Bob Raynolds, not 50 until 2002, enrolled his son Will '04 at Dartmouth last fall and began a geological expedition to Kailas, the mythic and sacred Tibetan mountain. Bob reports that Kailas, considered to be "the very navel of the universe by Bhuddists and Hindus alike," is the pyramidal apex of the Transhimalayan Range and the source of Asia's major rivers. His travelogue is too rich to summarize in a single paragraph and so I will provide excerpts as space permits over several columns. Bob works at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and lives with wife Mary in Longmont, Colorado.

Share your mountain-top experiences with classmates as well as accounts of your "special places" at Dartmouth.

27 Manor Drive, Glenmont, NY12077-3326; rconwayj@nycap.rr.com