1977

1977

CLASS NOTES

Dartmouth ’77’s 45th June reunion in Hanover was a resounding success. More than 200 classmates and guests convened to reconnect and celebrate each other and our College. The festivities kicked off Thursday at Cathy and Pete Volanakis’ Occom Ridge home featuring a wide selection from True North Ales provided by Jill Eilertson Rogers ’78, Gary Rogers, and Rory Laughna (who passed away just before reunion), complemented by an array of fine wines from Kim and Mac Taylor. Afterwards we flocked to the class tent to enj oy piles of pizza and subs sponsored by Bill Donovan’s family.

Friday lunch on scenic Tuck Mall was wicked awesome barbecue coincidently provided by Wicked Awesome BBQ. Following lunch, class president Dee Dee Simpson convened the class meeting, and a slate of new class officers was elected, headed by incoming president Jim Guth. Incoming officers and executive committee members are listed on the class website at 1977.dartmouth.org. A moving memorial service, conducted by Ann Muenzer Beams and codesigned by Nancy Bird Pellegrini, was held outside Rollins Chapel, honoring and remembering each of the 54 classmates who have died.

Saturday afternoon included a tour of the Hood Museum with chats by learned “docents” George Shackelford, Pam Perkins, Max Anderson, Robert Dance, and Jean Rosston. Saturday evening culminated in a chilly but festive dinner on the lawn of President Phil Hanlon and Gail Gentes, including a respectful but fun roast of Phil and Gail by Ted Lapres and Chuck Dana followed by Phil’s dead solid perfect rebuttal. The next big ’77 event is celebration of our 70th birthdays in August 2025 in Santa Fe, New Mexico (exact dates TBD), and we hope you all plan to attend.

The class thanks the very agile and creative reunion committee led by Leslie Embs Bradford, including Chuck Dana, Ted Lapres, Amy Cholnoky, Bill Replogle, Liz Kadin, Pam Perkins, and A.P. Duffy, for two years of party planning while chaos reigned. Dee Dee Simpson and other outgoing officers are also thanked with enthusiasm.

Special thanks and appreciation are extended to treasurer Rory Laughna, who departed this earth prematurely on June 13. He loved this class, and we loved him right back. Some parting words from Tom Barnico’s masterful eulogy follow. “People loved his good humor and winning way. I can still hear him saying to the 20-year-old me: Ah, T., I don’t think that’s a good idea....’ A close friend wrote: ‘Strong as a lion, but gentle as a lamb.’ His teammates elected him president of the Dartmouth rugby club. This was no minor office on a campus where contact sports were a requirement for graduation. His fraternity classmates loved him like the brother he was. They were 22 young men from across the country who came together at Dartmouth in 1973. And 50 years on, here we are together again, to see off the first of us to go. When the great team in the sky made its first draft pick, it picked our best.” Nineteen of Rory’s Theta Delta Chi brothers plus seven other alumni attended his sendoff.

—A.P. Duffy, 66 Sawiders Drive, Wilt07i, CT 06897; (203) 979-2234; apduffy@optonline.net

A.P. Duffy