1989

Our classmate artist Mateo Romero continues to receive significant recognition for his work. This time the Southwestern Association forlndian Arts has chosen one of his paintings as the image for its 2008 Indian Market poster. Indian Market is a huge annual event held each August in Santa Fe, New Mexico, featuring the sale of fine art by Native American artists. The poster will show Mateo's Deer Dancer Series, a mixed media painting, and the original will be auctioned at the Indian Market Gala. Mateo says, "Deer Dancer Series depicts a collision between realism and abstraction. It symbolizes spiritual and metaphysical activity. I have recreated the ritualistic Deer Dance through my art so that the viewer may experience commonality with Pueblo people." The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts says, "Romero's mixed-media paintings are truly exquisite. The abstract impressionistic background typical of his work shows bold use of color, fine brushwork and expert technique, while the foreground images—transferred from photographs—seem to hover ethereally above the surface of the canvas." Mateo will have about a dozen other pieces on display at his booth at Indian Market, which he will share with his wife, Melissa Talachy, an acclaimed potter.

Ned Ward writes from Redondo Beach, California, where he lives with his wife Noriko (Smith '88) and their daughters Maia, 7, and Saya, 2. Ned says he's now doing new business development at his longtime employer Mattel, which he says includes turning their properties into TV shows and movies. He previously worked on the Pixar Cars toy line and recently helped Mattel acquire the license rights to the Toy Story franchise, which goes through the Toy Story 3 movie in June of 2010. Ned says, "I also get to work across all our marketing and design groups in all the categories with Disney and Pixar to ensure everyone plays well in the sandbox. Marketing toys is definitely a blast." In his free time he plays in a band, aptly named The Toys.

Michael Grebe sent a brief note from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he practices corporate law with Quarles and Brady. He and his wife, Kelly, recently had their fourth son, Essex, born in January. He joins his big brothers Tripp, 7, Bridger, 6, and Griffin, 2. Michael jokes that the boys "all look good in green, which means, based on current tuition levels, that I need to wrap up this message and get back to billable work."

Jody and Dave Kramer welcomed their third child on January 12. Caitlyn Leigh joins big brother Justin, who is 9, and big sister Caroline, who is 6. The Kramers live in Los Altos Hills, California, in the Bay Area.

What do Kris Jones, Candace Locklear, Laurie Wingate, Damien Jordan, Erik Murphy, Tammy Krutchkoff, Anne Moellering and Dennis Morgan have in common? They all have their own pages on Facebook, along with about 30 other members of the Dartmouth class of 1989 group on Facebook. It's fun to see what old friends are doing and even what they look like in their pictures. And, of course, don't forget to check out our official class Web site, www.dartmouth89.org.

Finally, the countdown has begun. One year to go until our 20th reunion. For those of you who plan ahead, run to your calendars and write down Friday-Sunday, June 19-21, 2009.

5912 Aberdeen Road, Bethesda MD 20817; Javellno@mac.com