1989

It was a cool, crisp September morning as I made my way across the Green to the Rockefeller Center. It catapulted me back 20 years to those first September mornings when we crossed the campus as freshmen. Has it really been two decades? I was taking a break from the frenetic pace of life for Class Officers Weekenda quick trip down memory lane for me and a look at the future for the class of 1989. We made a strong showing. Seven class officers turned up in Hanover. Laura Fitch Mattson, Ellie Mahoney Loughlin, Kristen Daly Schneider, Jennifer Downs O'Shaughnessy, Tom Beecher, Chris Pollard and myself. Fun was had by all and I'll share a few important items. First, check out the 1989 class Web site at www.dartmouth.org/classes/89/index. htm. Chris Pollard has been working hard to make it interesting and user friendly. And you can even pay your class dues online. We're also still trying to get everyone's e-mail addresses to put us all in better touch, so forward yours on if you haven't already. Send your address to dartmouthclassof89 @yahoo.com. Also, we now have a Concerned Classmates Fund. Do you know an '89 going through a rough time, such as an illness? We can provide the funds to send them a small gift to show that we're thinking of them. Finally, there is also a bit of money available for mini-reunions, so if you're planning to hold one (something slightly larger than you and three friends drinking beer in your basement), let us know.

In other news, Laurie Sammis Whitehead had a daughter, Kelby, who joins her brother, Slater. According to Laura Fitch Mattson, Laurie and her husband, Peter, live in Sun Valley, Idaho, where she runs the Sun Valley Magazine. Laura says that Laurie modestly tells people that she works at the magazine, but in fact she's the editor-in-chief and the publisher—meaning she owns the maga- zine. In April she received her fifth national award in the five years that she's owned the magazine. Laura says she received the award in person in Los Angeles (a lathe Academy Awards), complete with spotlight searching her out of the crowd, up to the podium to accept the'award and offer a speech of thanks. The magazine looks beautiful and even has an entertaining Web site!

Hurricane Katrina had me wondering how our classmates have fared. Kim and Neil Abramson spent two months out of their New Orleans home, along with their 21/2-year-old son, Parrish. Kim says they were very lucky and their house and family were spared the worst of the damage that ravaged 80 percent of their city. When I talked to her in late October they had just moved back into their home and she described the sad sight of the ripped roofs and huge downed oak trees. They spent some of their exile in Baton Rouge and ran into fellow New Orleanean Chesley Adler,also displaced by the storm. Kim reported that Chesley was also back in the city; I'll try to have an update on her in the next column.

5912 Aberdeen Road, Bethesda, MD 20817; Jennifer.avellino.89@alum.davtmouth.org