By Aaron Goldhamer, Natalie Newcom Ralston, and Ben Skeen
Members of the Colorado Academy Class of 1999 gathered over Memorial Day weekend to celebrate our 20th Reunion. Around 30 members of our class gathered to reminisce, share stories, and catch up on the last two decades. We enjoyed old yearbooks and our Senior slideshow, which Scott Hills was kind enough to digitize (thanks for keeping those slides for all these years, Scott!).
The festivities began Friday at CA for Giant Relay Day, tours of campus, and a farewell celebration for Mrs. Jordan during the Alumni-Faculty Party on the Welborn lawn. Even though the alumni team came in last in the Giant Relay (despite the best efforts of Natalie Newcom Ralston who ran the three-legged race on behalf of our class), ’99 alums marveled over the updates to campus, including the new Athletic Center, the updated Welborn House and Ponzio Arts Center. We especially enjoyed a surprise set of songs for Mrs. Jordan and catching up with many of our favorite teachers.
On Saturday afternoon, alumni and their families got together for a barbeque at the home of Aaron Goldhamer. Mr. Suter stopped by, and many of his former tennis players enjoyed seeing him and sharing stories from their days on the court. Many music videos from the late twentieth century were played, and the remarkable prevailing fashions of the time were remarked upon.
On Saturday evening, alumni and their partners/spouses enjoyed each other’s company and a great view of downtown from the roof of Amato’s Ale House in the Highlands. Because our class won the Reunion Giving Participation Challenge, everyone enjoyed a drink on CA. Many thanks to the 45 percent of classmates who made a gift to The CA Fund or in honor of Cindy Jordan! Laura Icenogle brought her 1988 and 1999 yearbooks, and classmates enjoyed looking at our First Grade photos and going through each Senior page and all of our “Most Likelies.” It was celebration filled with lots of laughter and fun recollections of the ‘90s.
The weekend wrapped up with brunch for alumni and their families at the home of Natalie Newcom Ralston. Lifers and classmates who started at CA in Lower School enjoyed catching up with Dr. Fitz, and we were delighted to have Mr. Hammer join us, too. Thanks to everyone who attended—Mike Abeyta, Matt Babin, Tara Bardeen, Eli Campbell, Adam Chanzit, Trevor Chapin, Ross Chotin, Greg Connor, Coral Biscardi D’Alessandro, Kristin Todd Freitag, Shelbi Simpson Galeria, Aaron Goldhamer, Laura Heiserman, Scott Hills, Jeff Hollis, Alex Hoover, Hannah Trierweiler Hudson, Laura Icenogle, Leah Berger Jensen, Alison Carr Kochenberger, Erin Siegel Peikin, Natalie Newcom Ralston, Danielle Rifkin, Bennett Ritvo, Dan Roller, Melissa Nelson Rummel, Kit Sawyer, Pezhman Shoureshi, Ben Skeen, Annie Turner, and Leigh Blandford Van De Walker. We look forward to seeing you at our next reunion (or perhaps sooner at Leah Berger Jensen’s brewery in New Orleans!)
