Last fall Alexandria Peary was appointed poet laureate of New Hampshire and gave a TEDx talk, “How Mindfulness Can Transform the Way You Write,” which is available on YouTube. After graduating from Colby, Alex earned M.F.A.s from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a Ph.D. in composition from the University of New Hampshire. She is the author of six books, including Prolific Moment: Theory and Practice of Mindfulness for Writing (Routledge 2018) and The Water Draft (Spuyten Duyvil 2019). * In October David Leavy and his wife, Katie, threw an epic “100th Birthday Party” to celebrate their combined 50th birthdays. Susanna and Curt Beckwith, David Cody, Jen and Josh Cummings, Michelle and Aaron Davis, Maile and Wylie Dufresne, Mike Keller, Steve Neuhauser, Beth and Mike Rosenblum ’93, Suzanne and Arthur Steinert, Anika (Smith ’94) and Torin Taylor, and Laurence Constable and I—along with many more of their friends—joined the festivities at the Monkey Bar in New York City. There’s little better than a Colby mini-reunion that stretches into the wee hours of the morning and is filled with catching up, music, and laughter. To think that we all met more than 30 years ago! * Bob Gramling writes: “George Linge, Mike Gorra, and I did the ‘Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim’ Grand Canyon hike in November while [wearing Colby hats] to celebrate our 50th birthdays. It was an amazing weekend together with lots of stories. 48 hours, 45 miles, 20,000 feet elevation change—and no injuries!” * In January Amanda Bishop Becker, Kristin Nixon Donahue, Kate Kane, Lizzie Frado Mazzola, Bess Moss St. Lawrence, and Jessica D’Ercole Stanton got together in Boston to celebrate their 50th birthdays. Another festive mini-reunion! * Alice Johnson Handwerk is the new director of philanthropy and communications at Breakthrough Manchester at the Derryfield School in New Hampshire. Breakthrough is a dual-mission program that launches promising Manchester middle school students, particularly those with limited opportunities, on the path to college while inspiring high school and college students to pursue careers in education. “After having worked in the philanthropy office at Derryfield for many years, it has been great to get to learn more about Breakthrough, get to know the students and teaching fellows, and see their great potential. The bonus is that I’m on Derryfield’s campus, where my two daughters attend school.” * In March I joined Colby’s Alumni Council, which works to foster connections between alumni and the College. The council meets on the Hill in March and October. We held discussions in our five small groups, heard a presentation from the Admissions Office, took a tour of the amazing 350,000-square-foot athletic complex scheduled to open in August (the largest project in Colby’s history), engaged with students at the Mary Low Coffeehouse (way more upscale than when we were there), hit the Marchese Blue Light Pub, then hightailed it to Big G’s for some sandwiches (Zonker Harris). I can’t wait to go back this fall. * Many thanks to Daniel Connolly and Sarah Hamilton Barringer for connecting us via “Colby Mules Virtual Happy Hours” on Zoom this spring during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was great to be together online and share time with each other. Stay well, everyone, and please be in touch!