’69/’19 Class Connections
February 2019 Report
From Dona Heller and Norman Jacobs
On January 12, a group of ’69s hosted over 80 ’19s at the Fourth Annual ’69/’19 Trivia Night, which was a smashing success. The popularity of this event is due, in large part, to Rick Willets and Paul Tuhus (huge kudos to them), who skillfully created and delivered another clever and wonderfully interesting set of trivia questions (both general and Dartmouth trivia). The atmosphere was very warm, congenial, and humorous, even though some of the ’19s clearly take their Trivia competition very seriously. Some of the ’19s even wrote us enthusiastic thank-you emails (see example below). In the four years that we have been hosting Trivia Night, over 150 ’19s have attended. At the January event, we were fortunate to have most of the usual core crew of Trivia Night ’69s: Mark and Ann Bankoff, Phil Bush, Greg and Nancy Lau, John and Sue Leavitt, Rick Willets, Dona Heller, Norman Jacobs, and Paul Tuhus. (Unfortunately, trivia maven Peter Elias—on last year’s winning team—was unable to make it to Hanover that evening because of his aunt's 100th birthday. We missed you, Peter!)
Here is an excerpt from one of the thank-you emails that we received from the ’19s:
The ‘69/‘19 Class Connections program has been a valuable part of my Dartmouth experience ever since my first days stepping on campus. I still remember receiving my Dartmouth mug from a ‘69 during matriculation! The class of ‘69 has always been there to support me and my fellow classmates over the past four years. From professional help with career panels to the popular and fun annual trivia nights, it’s always great to see their friendly faces and feel a true connection to those who were once in my shoes at Dartmouth. It’s also great to know that they’re cheering me on and are more than happy to do all they can to help me reach my goals. Thank you class of ‘69 for all that you do!
Hope to see you soon!
Ryan Monasch
As the ’19s begin the Spring Term of their final year at the College, we have two programs planned. On April 4, we will present a panel discussion on The Nuts and Bolts of Life After Dartmouth, including practical advice on a variety of life-in-the-big-world issues that most likely will confront the newly minted Dartmouth alums as they venture out into the world beyond Hanover. Some of the possible discussion topics include renting an apartment (especially in difficult housing markets such as NYC), signing an employment agreement (with non-competition clauses), leasing/buying a car, paying off any student loans, funding a 401(k) plan, getting renter’s insurance, getting into the savings/investment habit, budgeting, choosing/living with an apartment mate, preventive health care, and maintaining contact with the Dartmouth alumni network. If you have any suggestions for additional topics, we will be glad to receive them.
Additionally for this Spring Term: We have been approached by some ’19s who asked us to consider hosting some small, informal dinners so they can better get to know some ‘69s. We very much like this idea and currently are mobilizing to make that happen, at the DOC House on Occom Pond.
Finally, our 50th Reunion schedule includes a Class Connections BBQ luncheon with the ’19s on Friday, June 7. Other than that, we have not planned to host any activities with the ’19s during their Senior Week that leads up to graduation. We figure that the ’19s will be very busy spending that last week with each other, and we don’t want to compete or interfere with that.