More than sixty alumni, parents, and friends gathered at nine tables from Mill Valley to San Jose, San Francisco to Sonoma for Dinner with Six+ Polar Bears.* “The conversation was heavily Bowdoin-centric, which was great and several people shared memorable stories about long-time Bowdoin cross country coach (Pete Slovenski) – including a competition to see who could best recall some of his favorite sayings and the way they were delivered,” noted Tom Davis P’05, P’20, a San Francisco host. Mary Inman ’90, who hosted with her husband David Fogler ’90, echoed that it was a great night exchanging favorite Bowdoin memories from a range of graduating classes of 1990 to 2014.  “Talk of the Meddiebempsters, Outing Club trips, the Common Hour, and favorite student-produced shows from the Bowdoin Cable Access Network were the highlights.”

“Dinner was a reminder of what a close community Bowdoin is—put ten relative strangers with different stories around a table and we’re all transported back to college orientation. What fun!”  So said Rich Maggiotto ’96 who, with his spouse Tara Boland Maggiotto ’97, hosted one of the dinners in San Francisco.

The only regret was that no one remembered to take photos. As host Nina Frank ’83 noted, “We were having so much fun, we just forgot!”

Our thanks to everyone who attended, and special thanks to the hosts, including: Nina Frank ’83, P’16; Nellie ’08 and Alistair Thornton; The Kim Family: Jin-Sun ’07, Jin-Kyung ’10, and Paul and Joyce Kim P’07, P’10 ; Tara Boland-Maggiotto ’97 and Rich Maggiotto ’96; Tommy Davis ’05 and Tom Davis P’05, P’20; Mary Inman ’90 and David Fogler ’90; Richard ’73 and Ramona Raybin; Alice Liddell Rooke ’99 and Jay Rooke ’99; and Martha Ryan ’84.

* The name of the popular Bowdoin tradition “Dinner with Six Strangers” was changed to “Dinner with Six+ Polar Bears” because, as one guest pointed out, when are Polar Bears strangers?