STEPPING UP

TrinityPawlingMichaelBurnsChristianSundahl

Competition is fierce among Trinity-Pawling alumni, especially when it comes to the 25th Reunion.

This year, the Reunion co-chairs for the Class of 1991, Michael Burns and Christian Sundahl, set out to beat the Class of 1990’s 25th Reunion attendance record. Rising to the challenge, Burns and Sundahl not only reconnected with former classmates, but found a new way to step up for Trinity-Pawling.

Discussing their Reunion strategy, Burns shared “Tommy Seitz ‘90 and Pat Cooke ‘90 challenged Chris and me to beat their 25th Reunion numbers. We were fortunate enough to be on their class page to see the progress, antics, challenges and hype leading up to their 25th Reunion” which helped Burns and Sundahl devise a plan. Challenge accepted.

Burns and Sundahl created a Facebook page and extended an invitation to alumni in class years that overlapped with the Class of ‘91’s time on campus. To execute their strategy and to reach more people, Burns and Sundahl recruited classmates to make phone calls encouraging guys to attend their 25th Reunion.

“Look, we are all busy with family, work, and sports, but when you contact guys you haven’t talked to in 10 to 20 years, it’s fantastic. Even if they are not able to come, the phone call is worth it to get them involved with the School. Some guys say at first they can’t come, a week later they call and say ‘I can come Friday or only Saturday or both. Can I bring my family? Your son is 13, mine is 14. Maybe they can hang out there during the football game.’ I have renewed friendships with some guys and enhanced them in other cases” Burns noted.

Their efforts paid off. Although they did not outnumber the guys who showed up for ‘90’s Reunion, they did receive the William W. Dunbar Bowl for having the class with the largest number of members registered for Reunion & Homecoming Weekend 2016. The same award the Class of 1990 won the previous year. Burns and Sundahl took this as a victory. But now, they have their sights set on a new goal.

“The Class of ‘90 helped us out big time. Now we have challenged ‘92. You have to call guys out by name, so I challenged Ryan Schell and Matt Deely. They gladly accepted. I dared them to beat us. Next year, I will be at Reunion and I would like to award them with the William W. Dunbar Bowl. Just like stepping up, we pass the School on to the next class for safe keeping.”

Class of ‘92, it’s your turn!

Reunion photos are here.