Two alumni from the TASIS Postgraduate (PG) Class of 1966, Cindy Crabtree and Class Agent Ned Lynch, spent over a year rallying their classmates for a momentous 60th-anniversary reunion, and a dedicated group answered the call. Attendees included Polly MacDougall Oliver, Sidney Walker, Robin Leech, Kneely Taylor, and Elisabeth Crawford, along with guest Betsy Schultz from the Class of 1966. The festivities kicked off even before arrival in Lugano with the announcement of a PG ’66 class gift drive in honor of their class’s 60th and the school’s 70th anniversaries. This spirited cohort, known for celebrating milestone anniversaries in tandem with TASIS, chose to hold their reunion during the weekend of the 70th-anniversary celebration. The reunion dinner on Thursday, August 20, was marked by a dramatic rainstorm, but the intrepid group, drenched from their walk from Hotel Walter, descended into a grotto in Lugano’s center. There, they warmed up with wine, laughter, and warm embraces. Director of Alumni Relations Michelle Arslanian Naroyan had planned surprises, including a folder of original analog photographs gifted by Cindy Crabtree from her 1960s visit to Villa Negroni with her father, photojournalist Eddy Van Der Veen. The photos sparked nostalgic commentary about the Italian Classroom, boys’ dormitories, and candlelit dinners with real tablecloths. The meal featured Ticinese specialties like risotto and polenta, and a second surprise—a 60th-anniversary cake—initially misspelled as “Class of 1996” but quickly corrected to “1966” and enjoyed with applause.
On Friday, August 21, the PG ’66 group was joined by dozens of alumni from all class years who had returned for the 70th-anniversary celebrations on campus. Elisabeth Crawford, who reprised her role as Mrs. Fleming in the musical MCF: What a Life!, wished to tour Villa Negroni in Vezia—the campus for the PG program and Fleming College in the 1960s. Since Cindy Crabtree and others had missed the all-60s reunion in September 2024, a Negroni tour was added to their schedule for Monday, August 24, which also happened to be Elisabeth’s birthday. Alumni from Fleming College and the TASIS High School program joined, including John Pritzlaff III ’72, Cindy Engisch Lisner HS ’71, and former teacher Theo Brenner. The tour was practically led by the alumni themselves, with Sidney Walker and Elisabeth Crawford—roommates in 1966—reuniting in their old dorm room and recreating photos from the 1960s. Elisabeth shared her reflections after the tour, and Cindy Crabtree offered heartfelt words: “If our lives are a tapestry... then TASIS would take up the heart of my work... TASIS changed that! I received illumination. We would study The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, and then we would go down and see The Last Supper in Milan. This kind of learning...engaged with action...made learning exciting. It birthed in me a curious mind.” The PG ’66 class remains close to each other and to TASIS, and the school thanks them and all alumni who returned for the 70th anniversary. Future reunions include an All-Class Reunion at the Yale Club in New York on November 20, and in 2027, all-class reunions in Los Angeles, Houston, and Istanbul.
