1996

It’s hard to believe that a couple of months have already passed since so many of us returned to Hanover for what was a brief but wonderful reunion! Stories of the weekend are still trickling in (be forewarned!), but I have also heard a few wonderful reasons for why many classmates were not able to join us for our dual-decade celebration.

One ’96 with a legitimate “excuse” for be- ing unable to attend was my fellow Atlantan John McEwan. John and his wife, Mary, a graduate of Centre College in Kentucky, were expecting the newest member of their family and were attend- ing a family wedding that weekend. They then welcomed their third son on August 24, when William “Pierce” McEwan came into the world. He joins older brothers Jack and David in what the now father-of-three describes as his “crazy, growing family.” John also said all is well with life in Atlanta, where he is the chief financial officer of Peoplenet, a workforce management technol- ogy company.

I also heard from Jamie Hansen, who had not one, but two great reasons for her inability to make the trek up to Hanover this year! Appar- ently she missed our class reunion because her twin daughters, Grace and Annabelle, were born on April 16. According to their very proud mom’s report, both young ladies are “healthy and happy and I am ecstatic!” We’ll give our newest parents a pass on this year’s reunion, but we’ll all expect to see them and three very lively 6-year olds at our 25th reunion in 2021! In the meanwhile, congrats all around and enjoy every moment!

Another classmate having a particularly busy summer was our own Brandon del Pozo. As many of us know, Brandon has dutifully served as an officer within the New York Police Department for the past 18 years since graduation—rising up from patrolman to the role of deputy inspector (and amassing three master’s degrees and begin- ning a doctorate program along the way!). His law enforcement career is about to take him due north—to the Green Mountain State—as Brandon was just confirmed by the city council of Burling- ton, Vermont, as its newest police chief. He will start his tenure there effective September 1. The area has long been of special significance to his entire family, which regularly visits the area; in fact, he and his wife, Sarah, returned to Burlington for their first wedding anniversary. The couple and sons Zane (7) and Rex (3) will now be writ- ing a new chapter in their lives as they adjust to a new, permanent home in Burlington and Brandon adjusts to his new role. Congrats, Chief del Pozo!

As far as those able to attend reunion, Sharon Karlsberg relayed a few mini-reunions that oc- curred while everyone was in town. She and her husband, Craig Sakowitz ’93, gathered with fellow glee clubbers for impromptu concerts on the steps of Dartmouth Hall. Included in that gleeful gather- ing were Kim Koontz Haring, Miranda Barrows Siano and husband Matt Siano ’95, Alison Moll ’95, Kaja Schuppert ’95, Julie Wells ’95, Diana Ricci ’94, Andrew Plumridge ’94, Megan Mitchell ’94, Daisy Alpert ’95, Justin Wells ’95, Jennifer Lien ’95, Matt Zevod ’94, Tony Lipp ’93, Laura Broughton ’95 and others. There was also a gathering at the Casque & Gauntlet “castle” when Sharon, Tom Caputo, Lara Burgel and Leslie Jennings joined multiple ’94s and ’95s for a round-table reunion. According to Sharon, both venues provided wonderful, smaller- scale opportunities to reconnect with close friends across the spectrum of 20th reunion classes.

1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org