1981

All the common signs of our class hitting the "middle ages" in seniority are here! Remember when we first graduated? You could turn quickly to the end of the Class Notes section of the Alumni Magazine for our class column. As the years went by we moved forward a few pages as we aged, which was acceptable. The last issue of the Alumni Magazine found the Class Notes running from page 66 through page 98.1 have bad news foryou guys and gals—we were on page 81 (closer to the front than the back). That's the first sign. As we like to say in the Alumni Relations Office, your class is not getting "older," it is "maturing." Let's face it, you must be old (I mean mature) when you have classmates accomplished enough to make the cover of the magazine such as Doug Tyson in the Nov/Dec 2002 issue. Another sign is seeing classmates drop a child off at Dartmouth and realizing it's not for summer camp, but rather freshman orientation, as Dave and Leslie Shula did lastyear. I vow to continue fighting the aging process every step of the way. I've actually invested in the exercise bike and treadmill to reverse that gravity pull and have no problem allowing a bottle of chemicals determine my hair color each month! I'm sure many of us will consider taking advantage of Rick's plastic surgery skills before our 25th reunion.

Continuing this train of thought, we've heard from Brian Reidy who has retired from the Navy. He's not sitting around enjoying the life of rest and relaxation, however, as he reports: "While a lot of you are sending your children out the door to college and such, I'm playing stay at home dad to 10- month-old triplets Jessie Lee, Tim and Sarah. That's one of the reasons I'm responding by email. Finding the time to actually pack the kids up and go to the post office is easier said than done, but I'm loving every minute of it"!

One classmate that might be able to carpool with Brian is Stan Smith. He updated us on the current events in his household, "In case I didn't mention his birth last year: My wife Julie and I are the proud parents of a baby boy, Benjamin, who turns 1 this week. His big sister Jennifer, is 5. In March my third book of solve-it-yourself minimysteries will be in the bookstores. Its title is FiveMinute Mini-Mysteries, and the publisher is Sterling Publishing. The previous books in the series are Five-Minute Whodunits and Five-MinuteCrimebusters. I've also written a nonfiction book, The Sacred Rules of Management, which has been translated into Mandarin Chinese. Too bad I can only read English! My day job is municipal treasurer for a small town in eastern Massachusetts."

Another classmate responding to our volunteerism query was Mitch Arion. Mitch has been president of the Caroline County Humane Society for the past five years and informed us: "We recently raised funds to build a new animal shelter which accepts over 1,200 unwanted dogs and cats every year. We also provide animal control services for the county. Pets up for adoption can be found on a web link to our society located in Ridgely, Maryland, through www.petfinder. com."

In addition, Mitch is a coach in a kids' recreational hockey league.

Rick and I wish all of you a very peaceful and happy upcoming holiday season with your families and friends. Don't forget to send us lots of holiday cards with updates that are fit to print!

10 Quail Drive, Etna, NH03750-4405; lynne.gaudet@dartmouth.edu;197 8th St., #626, Charlestown, MA02129-4233; ricks@lcix.net;