Letters
Snow day memories
Responding to your note on the back cover of the latest edition of The Trinity Reporter. One of my most vivid memories from my time at Trinity occurred in December 1984. I was a freshman living on the quad (Cook), and we had the first snow of winter. The snow started around dusk. It wasn’t heavy, but it was a steady snow. Growing up in Massachusetts, it was perfectly normal. However, one of my roommates, Matt Martin, was from Bakersfield, California, and to my amazement, he had never seen snow before. 
Matt was a big kid, maybe 6’3”, and his face lit up like an 8-year-old at a birthday party. He ran outside and laid on the quad making snow angels and laughing with pure joy. At the time, I thought he was nuts. But you couldn’t help feel some of the same joy and appreciate mother nature and the beauty of the quad during winter. That was over 40 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.
Richard Hickling ’88
Springfield, Massachusetts
Who could ever forget the blizzard back in February 1978? That Monday morning, it felt like snow; by noon we were in total whiteout conditions. The world was silent and at a standstill. Governor Ella Grasso closed every road in Connecticut for three days, so the food selection in Mather Hall kept growing smaller. Classes were canceled, and we all had lots of idle time to play in the waist-deep snow. How many poor unsuspecting individuals were clobbered by avalanches off the rooftops while navigating the Long Walk? I couldn’t have been the only one.
Ken Kraus ’79
Peacham, Vermont
Remembering running
It’s heartening to learn that a healthy Trinity tradition has persisted [fall 2024 “Around Hartford”] like the Bantam harriers’ Old Wethersfield loop (Ridge and Wells Roads, Main and State Streets, Hartford and Wethersfield Avenues, Brown Street to Maple to Broad). That was nine miles, 10 if Coach (and mathematics professor) Ralph Walde had us start and finish at the cannons for a time trial. Cross country co-captains Danny Howe ’78 and Jon Sendor ’78 introduced us freshmen to the loop, and perhaps they or Mike Lestz ’68 can date its origins.
Running in Hartford was a revelation for freshmen from wealthier, less urban communities, especially if your only view of campus was the College guidebook’s photo of the tree-lined 50-yard path between the President’s House and Summit Street. Hartford Public grad Danny Howe started us Behind the Rocks with a foray down Flatbush to New Park Avenue. We also ran along the very sunny Brainard Airport dike with its river views until they secured it more firmly and the seven-mile Humane Society loop, which required some fence bending on Jordan Lane but offers spectacular views westward over the Newington quarry.
In the mid-’80s, Paul Deslandes ’87 led a trend toward shorter runs, to my consternation as coach, highlighted by tours of the Elizabeth Park Rose Garden and downtown. I learned during an Old Wethersfield run with the women one Sunday morning that they endure more abuse from drivers than men imagine. There was also lap running in the newly surfaced field house cage during inclement weather, more than I liked on the premise that Finland’s Olympic medalists and our NESCAC peers farther north didn’t spend December to April inside.
On the other hand, increasing access to Trinity’s vans in the late ’80s made rare visits to the woods of West Hartford’s reservoirs more routine. Given the College’s location compared with its peers, they’re essential to persuading recruits that running at Trinity isn’t all concrete and cemeteries, however scenic Bushnell Park and Cedar Hill (burial site of Trinity’s founder) are.
Steve Klots ’84 still hasn’t forgiven me for leading him on a surprisingly long and rainy jaunt around Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford after his first cross country season, but such was the risk of trusting a senior in the time before Mapquest and Google/Apple Maps.
Alexander Magoun ’81
Princeton, New Jersey
‘Fine’ in the fall
I’ve just finished reading The Trinity Reporter, which I enjoyed very much. The cover was particularly fine!
Jacques Hopkins ’52
Lyme, New Hampshire
Underground lowdown
I happened to read the piece you had in the latest Trinity magazine about the coffeehouse [fall 2024 “Trinity Treasure”]. You mentioned that it is thought that the origins were in the 1980s.
Go back to the late 1960s. Kirk “Chief” Kubicek and some friends got the College to give them space in the “Old Cave,” which was under the faculty dining hall at the time. Chief . . . was (and is) still playing in bands, still an Episcopal priest, and still very into music, and coffeehouses were just coming in at the time.
I worked with [him] a number of times in the coffeehouse, which had a good following. It was particularly popular with non-fraternity people, I believe, as there wasn’t much to do on campus at the time (plus, Trinity had just discovered that women went to college and decided to let a few in, so that was also involved!). I believe one of the nights I worked, Richie Havens came in to sing. Most of the acts were local people, some were students.
Bill Searle ’70
Enfield, Connecticut
Kirk “Chief” Kubicek ’72 wrote to Bill:
OK, the best I can come up with:
Gasoline (later known as Outerspace) played in there several times in the 1969–70 school year.
An improv group led by Chip Keyes, Steve Charleston, and others called The Portable Circus also did multiple shows there, also ’69–’70.
I have nailed down that November 1, 1968, there was a performance in the Old Cave Cafe with members of Gasoline, which later became The Outerspace Band. And I recall playing slide guitar with them down there before becoming the drummer in fall of 1969. Andy Mitchell played with John Moses, John Koehler, Dave Robinson, and possibly others on November 1.
Hope this helps. As I queried people on this, memories were hazy at best, though we all remember performing down there.
Kirk Kubicek Sr. ’72
Sykesville, MD
I worked [in the Underground] from second semester freshman year through graduation. I was personnel manager my junior year, and inventory manager my senior year. When I first started, we sold cigarettes! I don’t know exactly when students got access, but it started as a smokers’ lounge on campus. After a few years, they started selling coffee as well, which scaled up into the fancy coffee shop it is today. [After some trying times financially,] I am very proud of our young resilience that allowed the coffee shop to continue to grow. When I was last back on campus, it looked better than ever, with new art, familiar vibes, and wonderful staff. Every year I am so proud that the next wave of leadership continues to bring the Underground forward, especially from how far it has come since my time.
Colleen Sweeney ’18
Medford, Massachusetts
Editor’s note: The fall 2024 issue’s back-cover photo of several 1984 grads elicited numerous responses with identifications. Thanks to Gillian Fenton ’84 and C. Duncan Yetman Jr. ’84 for sharing that they recognized Barbara Guttman ’84, left, and Ramona Stilley Carlow ’84, center. Carlow confirmed she’s in the photo and noted, “Seems like a lifetime ago—such a wonderful place to spend my college years!” Eleanor Kerr ’81 spotted Laura Austin ’84 between Ramona and the graduate on the far right, although I wasn’t able to confirm with Laura.
Get in touch! The Trinity Reporter welcomes letters related to items published in recent issues. Please send remarks to the editor at [email protected] or Sonya Storch Adams, Office of Communications and Marketing, Trinity College, 300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106.
