1997

Hi everyone! Welcome to my last Class Notes column. I'm happy to report that Jason Casell and Kristen (Croker) Fiordalis will be taking over as co-class secretaries. Jason will be writing the column and Kristen will be working on content for our Web site, www.1997.us. Thanks for your commitment Jason and Kristen!

I'm writing from Seattle, where David Zipkin and I moved in August. Davids working for Microsoft and I'm freelancing for the Seattle Times and looking for a full-time writing position. On to news from our classmates:

Congratulations to Adam Nelson, who won the world championship in the shot put in Helsinki, Finland, on August 6.

Congrats also to Michelle Lundeen Pennie, who gave birth to twin boys Christopher and Thomas on March 19. Dad is John Pennie, a University of Florida alum. Michelle recently graduated from Emory Medical School and this year is doing research with the dermatology department. The family of four lives in Atlanta now but may move next year.

A new baby also makes four for Catherine (MacDonald) Christian's family. On June 14 she gave birth to a girl, Isabelle Phillips Christian, who already was sleeping through the night at six weeks. Catherine and her husband, Tony, are in the midst of a major remodel of their home in Walnut Creek, about 30 minutes east of San Francisco. Catherine is director of retail facilities for Peet's Coffee & Tea, a Berkeley-based specially coffee company.

On July 1 Andrea (Hill) Packard gave birth to a girl, Samantha Nichols Packard. She was a robust 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 211/2 inches long. Andreas son, Cameron, will be 2 in September. Andrea proudly noted to her fellow alumni swimmers that she managed a 2,000-yard swim workout on the morning that both her children were bom - flip turns and all! Andrea and her husband Russ recently bought land in North Carolina and plan to build a house and move there next spring.

I'm happy to report a recent '97-'97 wedding. Kelsey Rinella and Beth Marston were married August 7 in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Dartmouth folks in attendance were Christine Chung '99 with boyfriend Galen Brown '01, Rebecca Fyatkevich '00, Chris Marston '65 (Beth's uncle) and professors Mary Lou Guerinot and Rob McClung.

They now live in Rochester, New York, where

Beth recently started her third year of a four-year residency in adult internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Rochester's Strong Memorial Hospital. Kelsey finished his coursework toward a joint Ph.D. in philosophy and cognitive science at Indiana University, Bloomington, and is working on his dissertation.

I'll end my last column with a note from a classmate who's really left his mark on the world. Dickon Verey reported that the school in Cambodia he's raised money to build recently was completed. The whole center is scheduled to be dedicated on November 5. In June the school's students voted to name the center Ptea Ponleur Vichea, or House of Light and Knowledge. Dickon has spent a large part of the last several years in Cambodia working on this project. If you'd like more information,you can reach Dickon at hdverey@hotmail.com. Best wishes to everyone. Abby Klingbeil

I am very excited to take over the Class Notes column from Abby. Please send me your news. I look forward to hearing from everyone.

250 W. 50th St., Apt 12R, New York,NY 10019, jcasell@aol.com