CL ASS N OT E S
updates and pleas for Reporter notes, these are great channels through which to keep in touch with classmates. Again, the more the merrier! We’d love to see as many members of our class as possible in 2024, and that (for now) concludes this PSA! So, about last weekend … this issue of Class Notes is dedicated to Reunion, so read on! At Reunion, the alcohol still flows like a ’95 Cave party, with “alt bev” available as well. It was an absolutely gorgeous day on Saturday, which made being back on campus even more spectacular! I personally enjoyed riding on the golf carts driven by current Trin students, even if we did learn on one that our driver was born in 1999. Here’s a snippet of that convo: Trin student: “What year did you graduate?” Us: “1999!” Trin student: “Oh, I was born in 1999!” Us: huge gulp of the beers we had in hand, followed by a decision to visit The Tap! I think I am in a glorious state of denial because I certainly do not feel like any of that math is even possible. As for The Tap, it’s still there, it’s still the same … and it’s still not the View! Nonetheless, we were back and ready to party like it’s 1999 (couldn’t resist—RIP, Prince), and it was great to revisit the second best bar near campus. I, my husband, Mike (who really had no idea what he had signed up for, poor guy), along with Allison Lanzetta Martaniuk, Emma Uehlein Hanratty, Karyn Meyer Johnson, Juli Bogdanski Katrancha, Beth Bronzino and Bob Deegan, Bill Mahoney, Andy Torrant, and Eric Crawford, enjoyed a few pitchers and possibly a celebratory round of fireball shots. The current owner was tending bar on Friday night, and we learned that he purchased The Tap in 1999, meaning he has owned it for 20 years. Again, the math! Upon departing, there was much talk about getting jojos from the gas station led by Bob Deegan. I mean, it is a logical conclusion to the evening when departing The Tap, however, that was ultimately denied by Beth Deegan, and we ended the night with Campus Pizzas back at our Crescent Street digs. Probably a wise decision. We would have opted for Breto’s, and Beth still remembers the phone number, but sadly, Breto’s is no longer. So, let’s talk a bit more about the Crescent Street housing. Unbelievable! Though I personally prefer the character of the older Long Walk abodes, it was tough not to be blown away by this newer “neighborhood” of housing. They tore down Anadama and built many of these threestory town houses. Ours had a full kitchen—with stainless steel appliances I might add—a living area, dining area, bedroom, bathroom, and full washer and dryer on the first floor, followed by two floors of four bedrooms plus one bathroom on each of the upper two floors. Seriously, you almost don’t even need flip-flops for the shower! (FYI, I wore mine because, well, it’s the correct adult move when revisiting college showers.) Seriously, though, these new “dorms” are
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exactly the type of thing that cause alumni to start sentences with “When we were at Trinity …,” and this particular sentence ends with “… the ‘dorms’ did not look like this! We had roommates, we bunked beds to make room for desks, and walked a mile down the hallway in flip-flips and robes—with shower caddies in hand—to the bathroom.” Cut to the “Party Barn” for another such sentence that goes something like this: “When we were at Trinity, this was called the Party Barn. We had parties here—big ones—and at the end of the night, the organizers of said party would sweep beer into drains on the sides of the room as part of the cleanup!” Today, the kids call this Vernon Social. It has been subdivided into multiple sections and has more of a coffeehouse vibe. Kinda cool but decidedly not the same. Beer drains? I think those have been decommissioned and for sure not discussed. I suppose in practical news, this space is probably much more useful during the other 162 hours of the week. #rippartybarn On Saturday, a number of additional classmates showed up for the festivities. There was a parade, an awards ceremony, and lunch, followed by a spectacular nap on the quad for me. I literally fell asleep ’neath the elms! Christina Spilios Farren read the memorial for our class, and Allison led our class in the alumni parade. Later, we had a class photo taken before our class dinner, which was on the Main Quad. Kevin Colket received the award for the traveling the farthest to attend Reunion, joining us all the way from Hong Kong! Bill Mahoney was reelected as class president and, if you hadn’t guessed already, I will remain class secretary for another five years, which will make 20 years of writing to you via The Reporter … again, the damned math! Stay tuned for an email coming soon with links to the two pages mentioned above and more details about who we saw at the 20th Reunion. Additional updates from our classmates are coming in the next Reporter issue. For now, I have reached my word limit. Be well and hope to see you in June 2024! All the best, Alyssa From the Alumni Office: Nick Ortner has been quite busy since graduating and wanted to share what he is up to! He is the founder and CEO of The Tapping Solution, a Connecticutbased company with a mission to bring into the mainstream a simple, natural healing method known as emotional freedom techniques (EFT) or “tapping.” Nick’s goal is to empower people to create healthy, stress-free lives through his books, films, CDs, online events, app, and speaking engagements. He is The New York Times best-selling author of The Tapping Solution: A Revolutionary System for Stress-Free Living and The Tapping Solution for Pain Relief: A Step-byStep Guide to Reducing and Eliminating Chronic Pain. Nick also is the author of The Tapping
Solution for Parents, Children, and Teens; The Tapping Solution for Manifesting Your Greatest Self; The Big Book of Hugs; and My Magic Breath. He created and produced the documentary The Tapping Solution, which follows 10 people who used tapping to overcome significant challenges, including chronic back pain, fibromyalgia, insomnia, and more. Nick also has produced online programs that teach ways to apply tapping to anything limiting a person’s life or health. He is an active board member of the National Institute of Integrative Healthcare and Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement.
REUNION • JUNE 4 –7, 2020 Class Secretary: Virginia W. Lacefield, 3504 Tates Creek Rd., Lexington, KY 40517-2601; virginia. lacefield.2000@trincoll.edu Greetings, fellow ’00ers! Hope you all had fun summers! I have three short updates for you this issue. Johanna Tighe Traven reports that after five years overseas in Ukraine and Romania, she relocated to Pittsburgh with husband Peter and daughter Margot. She recently visited Marjorie Smith Donovan and her family in the Philadelphia area and keeps in regular touch with her Trinity roommates. She’s also looking forward to our 20th Reunion next summer, as am I! (Mark your calendars now!) Sharon Werner and family also relocated recently, moving to the suburbs of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, after 17 years in NYC. She says it’s “quite the change from Manhattan, but we love our new home and town.” She also mentioned that she saw Matthew Wong quite a bit last spring when they served as members of the groom’s party in a mutual friend’s wedding in Richmond, Virginia, and that good times were had by all! In closing, Sarah Nethercote Hart dropped me a line to ask if I reported on the birth of her son Francisco Escobedo back in 2017. Since I missed that delightful news, we’ll wish him a happy second birthday instead! Sarah just celebrated her fifth anniversary at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where she is director of development, and her sixth wedding anniversary with husband Chris. They live in Milton, Massachusetts, with Francisco and his older siblings, Sophia, 15, Nico, 13, and Julian, 10. That’s all the news for now. Send me your updates at virgquest@gmail.com or via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and have a lovely winter season! Till next time!
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Class Secretary: Susanna Kise, 1301 Richmond Ave., Apt. 370, Houston, TX 77006-5494; susanna.kise.2001@ trincoll.edu • Class Agents: Jay P. Civetti Jr., Ann W. Grasing, David K. Kieve, Matthew J. Schiller • /groups/TrinityCollegeClassof2001
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