FALL 2021 59 CLASS NOTES So great to see the Bantam community growing! That’s it for this time. Don’t forget to join the Trinity College Class of 1988 Facebook page. Hope to hear from you this fall for the winter edition! Stay tuned! 1989 Class Secretary: Andrew P. Walker, 242 Kent Place Blvd., Summit, NJ 07901-1219; andrew. [email protected] • Class Agents: Jason Manske, Louise McCarthy, Bill Monaghan • /groups/trincoll89 Among the prompts for news for this edi- tion was asking about how the pandemic influenced a major life change. While I’d previously reported that Josh Bewlay ’s expe- rience locked down in Vermont instigated a permanent relocation there from Tuxedo Park, New York, he provides an update that they’re very much enjoying all the hiking and biking, as well as the 80-plus-percent vaccination rate there. Donna Haghighat writes to say that she and husband Chris Dickinson traveled to Utah in early May to watch their son Will grad - uate college and to hike some of the area’s beautiful parks. They then spent Memorial Day at Todd Gillespie ’s on Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey. She added, “Chris helped spearhead the active search for a new ED for Cinestudio.” Well done, Chris! Kate Roy Sullivan sent greetings from Boston, where she continues her inde- pendent clinical psychology practice. She added, “Two weeks ago saw my son James graduate ’neath the elms!” Congratulations, Kate and James, you Bants, and to all the Class of ’21 grads who were able to have an in-person ceremony in May. Heeding the call for news from academia prompted an update from Susan Hangen . She has served as the dean of humanities and global studies at Ramapo College of New Jersey since 2017. She lives in N.Y.C., and her daughter will attend Macalester College in the fall. Writes Judy Sandford , “I am one of those people who has not submitted anything in quite some time. I think the last time I wrote in 2014, I had moved to Boston to help my parents move into a retirement community. And I worked for three years at Cone Communications leading sustainabil - ity reporting. Once my folks were settled, I moved back to the New York area, this time in Irvington, New York.” Judy and partner Scott have been in Irvington for three years, and she’s once again with Addison, a boutique consulting agency, where she is managing director of the ESG communications group. Judy added, “One thing I accomplished during the pandemic was becoming a climate reality leader with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project thanks to a virtual global training. I often see classmates Kelly Keating , Nancy Barry ’88, Michelle Boudreau ’88, and Barbara Caldarone ’88, sometimes for art crawls in Chelsea.” Rob Cummings checks in for the first time in a while, too. “I recently started work - ing as director of technology for a start-up virtual and hybrid events company called BeyondLive. It is based in Silicon Valley, but in keeping with the virtual nature of the busi- ness, I work out of my home office in South Salem, New York. My lovely wife, Ciorsdan Conran , is our town’s planning administrator. Our three boys are weathering the COVID storm pretty well. Our youngest (Sawyer) is in 10th grade and is interested in architecture. Our middle guy (Orion) is majoring in com- puter science at Binghamton University. Our oldest (Griffin) is a recent biomedical engi- neering graduate and joined Abbott Labs last year. We recently have seen fellow Class of ’89ers S amantha Koster , Jen Kehl , Liz Osterhus , Katie Sherr Blanque , Emily Blumenfeld , Victoria Arthaud , and Matt Maginniss .” Jenn Sussman lives in Prospect, Connecticut, with her partner, Wes; her 22-year-old son, Eli; her 23-year-old daughter, Ruth, who came home to regroup after earn- ing a B.A. in psychology from the University of Maine at Farmington; and Wes’s 8-year-old daughter. “As full as our house is, it’s great to have our kids close, especially in this time of necessary distance from family and friends.” She’s been at UConn Health, where she’s a research associate in the Department of Public Health Sciences, having been with the UConn system going on 30 years. “I’ve had the honor of coordinating the DMHAS Center for Prevention Evaluation and Statistics (CPES) at UConn Health, a statewide data and evaluation resource center that supports Connecticut’s behavioral health efforts.” She has spent quality time in person with Gina Letellier and virtually with Dana Skinger Farr . “These visits have served as an important reminder of just how precious friendship is.” Lydia Babbitt writes, “I just celebrated my 26th year at O&G Industries, a fami- ly-owned construction services firm based in Connecticut. I still celebrate being wife to Conrad Sienkiewicz and mom to our incredi- bly beautiful and talented daughter, Caroline, every single day.” Lydia continues to enter - tain local audiences with theatrical perfor - mances, adding intriguingly, “and have man- aged to keep my clothes on while doing so since my role in Calendar Girls in the spring of 2017.” Her other pursuits include shooting muzzle-loading artillery, lay preaching at her home parish of Trinity Episcopal Church, and hiking with her husband and their dog, Sirius Black, in the woods near their home. Continuing to enjoy life in retirement, Sean Dougherty was elected this year to the Board of Directors of the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy (sperdvac.com), a California-based group dedicated to his beloved hobby of collecting old-time radio programs. Andrew Warren reported his pandemic- related news. “It was definitely an intense pandemic year the last 12–15 months. Aidance Scientific, which I co-founded with a friend about 17 years ago, had some real highs and lows.” Sadly, Andrew also reported that he lost an incredible matriarchal aunt and later her son during this time, but he had some good news as well. “We were very blessed to make it to Israel this past winter for my oldest son’s wedding despite the many travel restrictions and challenges. The couple found each other during the dark days of COVID Top to bottom: Sean Preiss ’88 and Doug Curtis ’88 (aka The Flyover Brothers) chair a mini-Class of ’88 reunion at The Ooltewah Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in June 2021. • Kristin Bennett ’89 reaches the summit of Mount Everest in May 2021. • Donna Haghighat ’89 and Chris Dickinson ’89 hike in Utah in May 2021.