1979

1979

Mini-reunion co-chairs Carl Briscoe and Phil Odence have a not-to-bemissed 60th birthday party planned for us during Homecoming weekend in Hanover, including a Thursday, October 5, overnight class fellowship retreat at the new Moosilauke Ravine Lodge (for those who can get away a day early) and a Saturday night dinner. Please join us at this milestone celebration. For inspiration, here are more takes on turning 60.

Carol Kurtz Bates: “I am trying to stay young with hard work and outdoor adventures. On my 60th birthday weekend we got one step closer to our goal of ascending the high points ofthe lower 48 states with a lovely climb up Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. The following weekend we braved Tuckerman Ravine for the first time and climbed a third of the way into the bowl. Though I don’t recall hearing of Tuckerman while at Dartmouth, I doubt I would have been courageous enough to climb the whole wall if I had! We’ve been heli skiing annually for the last five years in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains and hope to pull off a hut-to-hut ski trip in Colorado next year. After climbing all of NewHampshire’s 4,000-foot peaks with our kids, David and I have been working onwinter ascents ofthe same mountains by ourselves. My greatest birthday inspiration was meeting a 102-year-old scientist who looks not a day over 70, won six swimming gold medals in her 90s and works out with a personal trainer twice a week. Enter my new role model!”

Bill McGee: “Although reflection is a necessary part of aging, I look at 60 as a milestone that should primarily be spent looking ahead at how we can shape and influence the rest of our lives. We all have much to be thankful for, with the bonds and friendships formed almost 40 years ago in Hanover at the top of my list. Going forward I want to strengthen those bonds and assure that the legacy of important friendships is an enduring lesson I continue to impart to my children. On a personal note, I went to Dartmouth primarily to be in the North woods; from my suburban perspective I might as well have been headed to the Yukon. For the past year, and I hope for many more to come, I plan to spend more time on the trail—so far so good!”

Mark Tomalonis: “Turning 60 was a lot easier for me than previous milestone birthdays. Now I have a much clearer path toward retirement, perhaps in five to seven years. My daughter, Erin ’14, is on her own in Manhattan working in the retail fashion industry. Kathy, my wife, has tolerated me (and has purchased my underwear) for more than 38 years. We recently moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. We continue to run our ‘boutique’ Internet business from this new location, but we have replaced hectic San Francisco Bay Area traffic with daily walks on the beach. I am grateful that all my current life challenges are ‘first-world problems.’ ”

—Stanley Weil, 15 Peck Road, Mt. Kisco, NY 10549; (917) 428-0852; stanno79@gmail.com; John Currier, 82 Carpenter St., Norwich, VT 05055; (802) 649-2577; john.h.currier@dartmouth.edu