Features
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From the East Coast to the Far East: Jon Keenan’s Sabbatical Journey Joyce J. Kolligian Distinguished Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Jon Keenan’s most recent sabbatical focused on producing work for an exhibition in Japan before he returned to the UCLA chemistry laboratories and collaborated with Robert Singer, chief curator and head of the Japanese Art Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
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Human with a Difference: Giovanna Roy ’15 Makes a Splash Promoting Autism Awareness and the Protection of Sea Life As Mermaid Giovanna, Roy reminds children that even people with challenges have tremendous gifts.
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Following, and Fighting, Fate: Alumni Teach for America Marianne Kelly ’08 and John McCarthy ’11 are second-year teachers with Teach for America in Phoenix and Chicago. They teach with the discipline of warriors determined to win the battles of life and literacy, and with the energy of artists trying to fashion new futures and heroes.
Inside – Outside – Planetwide Inside On the Hill 2 In the Loop 3 In Class: Service Learning 4 Sally Shaw Veitch Track and Field Dedicated 6 Study Away Partnerships 8 Nursing Student to the Rescue 8 Data Driven 8 Conversations: Rachel Ensign ’06 9 Expanded Distance Education Options 10 Outside Wind Turbine Turns Heads Creative Thinkers Invited to The Electric Feast Professor Launches Global Course Josie Gardiner ’67: Dance, Fitness, and how Zumba® United Them Deb Field McGrath ’68 Retires In Sports Hall of Fame Sense of Place
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Planetwide In Research: A Changing Definition of Literacy 24 Portfolio 26 Junior Bernard Botchway’s Path to the International Stage 28 Connections News From Alumni Relations and Annual Giving
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Class Notes In Fond Memory In Memoriam From the Archives Epilogue
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On the Hill
The Path of Inquiry
W Dear Friends,
hy do I still teach? Why do I take the time to prepare for class, answer questions, grade papers?
would help me learn and would clarify my thoughts. I was right. I have never taught a class where I did not learn from my students.
When I entered higher education in 1985, I did not do it to become the president of a college but because I wanted to teach. I wanted to explore legal subjects and issues that fascinated me, and I wanted to do so in the context of sharing my knowledge and my own path of inquiry with students. I also wanted to be able to write about those issues, and I had confidence that teaching
It is an uplifting experience to see a student’s face light up with understanding. I still get goose bumps when someone has that “got it” moment. In a great class with lots of questions and participation, time stands still. There is a breakdown of the differences between people and a concentrated, shared focus on the topic. The total truly is greater than the sum of the parts.
Photo: Michael Seamans
Well, the last part is the hardest to answer because, as any teacher will tell you, grading is not fun. The other questions have simple answers. I still teach because I love it. It is meaningful to me to meet with students, discuss the subjects that intellectually stimulate me, and watch a
group of people become more expert on a topic.
President and Professor of Humanities Tom Galligan is chair this year of the New Hampshire Higher Education Commission and chair of the American Bar Association Accreditation Committee. During the fall semester, he taught GOV 301: The United States Constitution by special arrangement. Eight students met in his living room for three hours every Monday evening to learn about the Constitution and to analyze U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Constitution. 2
Colby-Sawyer College Magazine
As a college president, I tell people all the time that one of the purposes of college is to teach students to teach themselves for the rest of their lives. I teach because it is one of the ways I make that message genuine for myself. It is also how, as president, I show my dedication to lifelong learning.
who are working hard to succeed in college, in life and in a career while balancing leadership roles, athletics and interests, as well as some serious difficulties in their lives. Teaching helps me to understand our students’ lives better, and to understand our college better. The same is true concerning the faculty experience and perspective. When our faculty discusses our students, their strengths and their challenges, I have a greater appreciation because I teach. I also have a more sophisticated appreciation for the flow of the semester and the academic year. I know when it is a bad time to ask more of our students and when it is a bad time to ask more of our faculty. I am convinced that teaching makes me a better college president. And I am honest enough to know that I teach because I love it. Sincerely,
Without teaching, how could I say that I understood the perspective of the student at ColbySawyer? As president, I meet all kinds of students
Thomas C. Galligan Jr. President and Professor of Humanities
Photo: Michael Seamans
Courtesy Photo
The Colby-Sawyer Debate Society attended its first tournament at Boston University Sept. 27–28 and found victory. The Colby-Sawyer team of Katasi Masembe ’14, Menbere Wendimu ’14 and Winta Girmay Tekle ’14 went head-to-head against Columbia University for a tie and won against Smith College. Dartmouth College handed Colby-Sawyer a loss, but when the scores were tallied, Colby-Sawyer was cleared to the next round at Harvard University.
Photo: Michael Seamans
Photo: Michael Seamans
Colby-Sawyer graduated 25 Nursing students last May, and 24 of them passed the National Council Licensure Examination on the first try (the 25th was successful on the second try). Twenty are now employed at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center where they trained; the rest are getting to know hospitals in New Hampshire, Tennessee and New Jersey.
Colby-Sawyer rents six duplexes on Cottage Lane off Seamans Road that offer 60 single rooms to students who show campus leadership, maturity and a readiness for apartment-style living.
“Tomie dePaola: Then,” the first of two exhibitions at Colby-Sawyer that will celebrate the work of former faculty member and internationally renowned author and artist Tomie dePaola, opened Nov. 7 in the Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery. In fall 2014 “Now” will coincide with dePaola’s 80th birthday and highlight his career from 1975 to the present. Pictured with Tomie dePaola, L–R, are first-year students Lauren Larson, Miranda Terra, Tory Jo Bauer-Pisani, Zachary Melisi and Lea Taylor.
Photo: Greg Danilowski
Photo: Gil Talbot
Jinyang Li ’16 and Hoang Tu Phan ’16 danced to “Tango Per Noemi” in the fall dance show, “Turning Pointe.” More than 450 people turned out to see 19 dances choreographed by students and Adjunct Assistant Professor Laura Dunlop Shepherd.
A glorious moon hung over the mountains surrounding campus in October.
Spring 2014
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Service Learning: Up Close and Personal with Socioeconomic Inequality by Kathleen Farrell, Associate Professor, Social Sciences & Education
Service learning is an education method that integrates community service with academic coursework by focusing on critical, reflective thinking. While volunteer work tends to be extracurricular, and internships generally offer students hands-on experience in a field related to their major, service learning promotes scholarly learning and benefits local communities by addressing identified social problems. Though communities realize significant benefits, students do, too. Research shows that service learning has a positive impact on students’ academics and their sense of personal responsibility. It reduces stereotypes and contributes to stronger leadership, teamwork and communication skills.
My Pathway class, The Rich Get Richer and The Poor Get Poorer, was designed around the theme of socioeconomic inequality in the United States and contained a required service-learning component. During the first-year seminar, we read and discussed a wide range of general audience literature and popular culture texts that described the daily realities, ideologies and aspirations of people at various positions on the social class spectrum. Specifically, we worked to situate personal
experiences within larger social and historical contexts. In the sophomore seminar, we deepened our study with more advanced scholarly research studies. As we continued to explore how money and status, or lack thereof, shape peoples’ lives, students gained firsthand knowledge of how nonprofit organizations address the quest for financial security through their policies, practices and assigned service activities. Students researched agencies committed to helping economically
insecure people within a one-hour radius of campus. They contacted each organization to learn more about its mission and to determine if it needed assistance. The information became a community service database available to all Colby-Sawyer students who seek volunteer or service-learning opportunities. My students were allowed to complete their service with any agency on the list, and their choices resulted in three partner agencies. While working with the Kearsarge Lake Sunapee Community Food Pantry
Photo: Greg Danilowski
After reading the evidence and considering how best to coordinate a servicelearning project, I offered an opportunity to my sophomore Pathway students last spring that led to an unforgettable experience. Service learning promotes scholarly learning and benefits local communities. 4
Colby-Sawyer College Magazine
Photo: Greg Danilowski
Service learning has a positive impact on academic learning and sense of personal responsibility for students including Munaya Sa-eed ’15, Saran Savane ’15 and Megan McDermott ’15. in New London, students stocked the pantry and distributed food. At Friends of Forgotten Children in Concord, students helped with general grounds maintenance; organized a massive collection of donated toys, furniture and clothing; and were able to observe clients as they received assistance. Students who worked with the Mobile Mission Program at Rise Again Outreach in Loudon rode along on the donation bus that distributed toiletries, clothing and food to homeless shelters and struggling neighborhoods. They helped stock the buses, organize the
warehouse and match clients with products. When I assigned this project, I hoped that participating in service activities would help students gain a more practical understanding of course content and its connection to our region of the state. I was well aware of the belief that there are no poor people in New London and the surrounding area. Traveling to homeless shelters, talking to people working full-time but living in tents, and meeting families relieved to be given a loaf of bread and some canned goods demonstrated that poverty exists in our
communities. Jobs are not as plentiful as some people think, and not all employment offers a living wage. My students also learned that you cannot always tell someone’s financial status at a glance. “At Friends of Forgotten Children, I learned that you can’t judge a person by what they wear, how they act or where they live,” said Connor Delaney ’15. “Just because a person or family appears fine doesn’t mean they are.” Sarah Wiley ’15 distributed donated goods in disadvantaged neighborhoods. “My service-learning experience taught me that the smallest gestures can have a big impact,” she said. “A smile or a quick conversation may not change a person’s life, but it can turn their day around. No one is too small to make a difference.”
While these are just a couple examples of the learning that took place, students overwhelmingly agreed that meeting people and being introduced to these organizations were the best parts of the project. Final course evaluations confirmed that the service-learning component furthered their understanding of the course material, increased their likelihood of volunteering for a community agency in the future, and gave them a better sense of local social problems. Summarizing the course experience, one student wrote, “Everyone should take this course because it is eye opening. Many people have a broad knowledge about the rich and the poor, but this class actually allows students to learn the consequences of this gap.”
“A smile or a quick conversation may not change a person’s life, but it can turn their day around. No one is too small to make a difference.” — Sarah Wiley ’15 Spring 2014
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Colby-Sawyer Dedicates the Sally Shaw Veitch Track and Field by Michael Clark, Associate Director, Admissions
On Oct. 17 Colby-Sawyer students, faculty, staff and Board of Trustee members gathered to dedicate the Sally Shaw Veitch Track and Field and to rechristen the Kelsey Athletic Fields as the Kelsey Athletic Campus.
Photo: Greg Danilowski
Tom Csatari, chair of the Board of Trustees, thanked everyone who recognized the need for the athletic facility and supported that need with gifts of thoughtful input, financial resources and enthusiasm. The new field will be used by
“Sally Shaw Veitch is a Legend not only in the Colby-Sawyer community, but across the country and to all who know her generous spirit ... we are so appreciative of her support,” said Chair Tom Csatari. Colby-Sawyer soccer, field hockey and lacrosse teams, but its foundation was laid with the 1999 gift of the Kelsey Athletic Fields, which included a 6
Colby-Sawyer College Magazine
baseball field, a soccer field and the original grass field replaced by turf. Pat Kelsey, trustee emerita, founding member of the Chargers Club, member of the Legends Society, former athlete and physical education teacher at Colby-Sawyer, and her late husband, Robert, were instrumental in the conception and completion of the 30 acres of fields and supported the turf field project. “Though it took many inspired hearts to make today’s dedication a reality, there is one name that has been, and after today will always be, associated with this tremendous new resource for our students,” said Chair Csatari. “Sally Shaw Veitch is a Legend not only in the Colby-Sawyer community but across the country and to all who know her generous spirit ... we are so appreciative of her support.” Veitch is a member of the Board of Trustees, the Class of 1966 and the Legends Society. She is the general partner of Marca Associates, a privately held residential property management firm, and a member of
the board of Vail Valley Medical Center Health Services as well as the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colo. Colby-Sawyer knows Veitch as a loyal and supportive alumna who has returned to campus for reunions and President’s Alumni Advisory Council meetings. She has been a leadership donor to the Colby-Sawyer Fund for more than 20 years. Time and again, Veitch has stepped up to meet the college’s needs and to improve the campus and students’ educational and athletic experiences. When Chargers pound down the court to sink a basket, they run across a field house floor made possible in large part by her 2007 gift. When students take a seat in a new state-of-the-art theater someday to watch friends perform on stage, it will be because Veitch was an early lead donor in the campaign for the arts center. And when our athletes are able to train and compete outside this spring earlier than ever before, they will have Veitch, especially, to thank. These are extraordinary, transformative gifts with profound benefits for our students.
Every project needs a champion, and this project’s champion was former Director of Athletics Deb Field McGrath ’68. McGrath has always supported her college, but her gift to help fund the construction of the turf field and track surpassed them all. “This project has been the dream of so many alumni,” said McGrath. “It was a shared vision by alumni donors who made the dream take shape; the Advancement team and administration that committed to funding the project; and the input of coaches, current studentathletes and athletic department personnel who created a track and field for the future.” The new facility will transform the daily experience of student-athletes and invigorate the athletic and academic programs at the college. “For the first time ever, our track and field athletes will be able to practice all their events on campus on a daily basis. They no longer will have to be shuttled off campus to practice a few days each week,” said Lyndsay Bisaccio, coach of
Photo: Greg Danilowski
Time and again, Veitch has stepped up to meet the college’s needs and to improve the campus and students’ educational and athletic experiences. L–R: Chair of the Board of Trustees Tom Csatari; Former Director of Athletics Deb Field McGrath ’68; Co-Athletic Director and Women’s Basketball Coach George Martin; Trustee and Legend Sally Shaw Veitch ’66; Co-Athletic Director and Men’s Basketball Coach Bill Foti; Mascot, Hayden Bunnell ’15; Athlete Rebecca Hasham ’15; President of the Student Government Association Nick Ciarlante ’14; President of Colby-Sawyer College Thomas C. Galligan Jr. the cross country and track and field teams. “Our spring teams will be able to get out and practice on an actual field and not be confined to the Hogan Sports Center where both time and space are limited,” said CoAthletic Director and Women’s Basketball Coach George Martin. “Baseball Coach Jim Broughton will be able to take infield practice out here. Our coaches will be able to bring recruits and watch their eyes widen as they envision themselves competing as a Charger at this facility.” “It’s not just our teams that are going to benefit from the Veitch Track and Field; so will our students, faculty and staff,” said Coach Martin. “Our club teams will be able to play and practice here; our intramural program will be
able to offer new and exciting options as well. Anybody will be able to come down here to walk, stroll or run around this beautiful facility.” Co-Athletic Director and Men’s Basketball Coach Bill Foti pointed out that the facility supports student-athletes both on and off the field. “With a field that we can plow … we no longer have to travel off campus for a home game,” said Coach Foti. “Hopefully, someday we can have night games, which will eliminate class conflicts that our students may encounter. As much as this field supports our athletic mission, it also supports our academic mission. “The new facility supports outstanding studentathletes like Rebecca Hasham of Webster, N.H. —a second-year Nursing
student. I can envision a scenario where Rebecca no longer has to rush back to campus from a clinical rotation at DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center because practice can take place later in the day.” A two-sport athlete, Hasham competes in the shot put, discus and hammer throw for track and field, while playing defense and midfield for field hockey. She has been on the Dean’s List every semester, is an associate member of Alpha Chi, and holds a job on campus. She and her fellow athletes see the new facility as an opportunity to strive for greater success. “All of us know that the building of this facility would not have been possible without the support of many generous people. We are aware of the time, energy and cost,” said
Hasham at the dedication. “On behalf of my fellow athletes, I’d like to thank all of you who were able to make this a reality.” The advantages of a turf field are many. “What we won’t have to do is fertilize the grass or water the grass or cut the grass or worry about runoff from storms rushing those cuttings and chemicals into our waterways. Instead, the drainage under this field will release filtered rainwater over time, which will help prevent erosion and other damage to our home. This field is not just painted green, it is green,” said President Thomas C. Galligan Jr. “Good, clean, functional, comfortable, safe spaces make life better. Beautiful spaces inspire. Our students need and deserve beautiful spaces,” said President Galligan. “Great and beautiful spaces like our LEED-certified Windy Hill School, the renovated Ware Student Center, this athletic facility and the proposed Fine and Performing Arts Center will help Colby-Sawyer become an even greater college, which will provide an even better education for our students. Go Chargers!” Spring 2014
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New Partnership Adds to Study Away Options by Jillienne Marinelli ’14 Colby-Sawyer College has partnered with Florida Atlantic University (FAU) for a new domestic study away option. Colby-Sawyer will, in turn, welcome FAU students. “Florida Atlantic said they are interested in sending students to Colby-Sawyer
because Boca Raton is urban, diverse, and their students would be attracted to the opportunity to study in New England,” said Burton Kirkwood, academic dean at Colby-Sawyer College. Colby-Sawyer also partners with Harlaxton College in
England, Washington Internship Institute, The School for Field Studies, Academic Programs International, the American Institute of Foreign Study, the Center for International Studies, The Education Abroad Network, and the Council on International
Educational Exchange. Affiliation agreements with Plymouth State University and Springfield College in Springfield, Mass., assist qualified Colby-Sawyer graduates with admission into their master’s degree programs.
Nursing Student Helps Save a Four-Legged Hero by Jillienne Marinelli ’14 On Oct. 15 the Newport, N.H., Fire Department was called for a structural fire with a trapped victim. At the scene, EMT and Nursing student Michelle Upham ’15 realized the victim was a dog named Hero, whom she and her partner delivered to the emergency veterinarian.
Data Driven
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It turns out Hero had been saved before. In 2009 Army Specialist Justin Rollins rescued Hero in Afghanistan the day before Rollins was killed. When his family heard about their son’s death and the puppy
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that had been with him on his final night, they had to have the dog, which the Army tracked down. Hero gained national attention when “20/20” reported on the Rollins family. The show captured Hero just as a ray of light
shown down on her, and the image went viral. “We did it as a team,” said Upham of Hero’s second rescue. “I am proud to work with these people.”
Number of students who, on Nov. 15, participated in “A Night Without a Dorm” to support National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Organized by the Sociology Club and Campus Activities Board, the 12-hour event also collected donations for the Concord Cold Weather Shelter.
Number of stocks in the Suzanne ’66 and John Hammond Number of former U.S. presidents at the October wedding of Helen Student Managed Thorgalsen ’78 and Bonnie Clement, whose Maine wedding was witnessInvestment Fund. ed by former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara. Students don’t play computer games to make pretend investments—they Pounds of food that Enactus Number of Dasani® branded use real money. and Sodexo collected just in 60-gallon recycling bins at As of January, the time for Thanksgiving in its Colby-Sawyer thanks to a grant fund was worth first food drive of the 2013–14 made possible by Keep America $295,983. Read academic year on behalf of Beautiful, College and Recycling more at http:// the Kearsarge Lake Sunapee Coalition, and the Coca-Cola Colby-Sawyer cscm.ag/Big-Return. College Magazine Community Food Pantry. Foundation.
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Number of first-year students this fall; 30 percent come from N.H. Seventeen states (plus D.C. and Puerto Rico) and 18 countries are represented. The Class of 2017’s average GPA is 3.3.
conversations Rachel Ensign ’06
by Lauren Hygom ’13
Whether you are young or young at heart, Windy Hill School is a magical place filled with friendly faces and (sometimes) paint-covered children. The laboratory school is a lively environment where unforgettable stories unfold every day. Observing toddlers at play, Interim Director Rachel Ensign ’06 nods at one and asks, “See that boy pushing the dump truck? He learned to walk on the first day of school. He let go of his mom’s hand and walked across the whole room by himself, and then he turned around and blew her a kiss. It was amazing!” Though new to her director position at Windy Hill since the 2013 retirement of founding Director Janet Bliss, Ensign is no stranger to the place. Born and raised in Hanover, N.H., until her family moved to Hawaii when she was 13, Ensign returned to the state to attend Colby-Sawyer. She graduated with a B.S. in Child Development and a minor in Psychology and earned an M.S. in Language and Literacy from Wheelock College.
Q: What attracted you to Colby-Sawyer as a student?
Q: What is Windy Hill’s philosophy?
A: Colby-Sawyer has felt like home since day one. When I stepped onto campus, I felt like I was at home. I just felt I needed to be here. I’ve loved this campus and this community for more than a decade.
A: Windy Hill’s curriculum and educational philosophies are based on the work of many psychologists, including Piaget and Vygotsky. We also build a lot of our curriculum around research based on the success of the schools of Reggio Emilia in Italy, which advocate for a playbased, hands-on experiential learning process where the children are the protagonists of their own story, and they construct knowledge through interactions with valuable materials and with their peers. And by valuable material I don’t mean expensive—I mean interesting, meaningful materials.
Q: How does it feel to be the interim director of Windy Hill School? A: The transition from student to staff was quite seamless. I spent so much time at Windy Hill as a work-study student, and then I became a teacher after graduation. I stepped away to do my graduate work in Boston and then came right back. It’s such a special place. Q: What are your goals for Windy Hill? A: I have so many! One project we’re digging into this year as a staff is evaluating the topics of race, culture and identity, and how those things play out in the classroom. We are also taking a fresh look at all our communications.
So we are a group of doers. We dig into everything, and we believe that learning occurs best when the senses are awake and alive. We spend a lot of time outside and digging in the mud. We are very exploratory and encourage children to draw their own conclusions about things. All this, of course, is under the guidance of our staff. We have a lot of fun!
The LEED-certified Windy Hill School, founded in 1976, serves children 14 months to eight years old. Windy Hill is an integral part of the college, where Colby-Sawyer Child Development and Psychology students study and work alongside the teachers as well as participate in research initiatives.
Rachel Ensign ’06, interim director of Windy Hill School, could not stay away from the place she says has felt like home since day one.
Spring 2014
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Colby-Sawyer Expands Distance Education Options by Kellie M. Spinney, College Communications
Photo: Michael Seamans
During the past 20 years, distance education has gained popularity and respect among students who want more academic options. According to the tenth annual collaborative survey between the Babson Survey Research Group and the College
“Our online courses are designed, developed and taught to maximize the interactions between faculty members and other students,” said Dean Lisa Hayward. Board, 86.5 percent of higher educational institutions offer online courses, and 32 percent of all college students take 10
Colby-Sawyer College Magazine
at least one college-level course online. Projections favor continued growth in distance education enrollment, demonstrating that the modern educational experience is moving beyond college halls— today’s students want the flexibility to study and learn in any location, at any time of day. In response to this changing model, ColbySawyer hired Dean of Distance Education Lisa Hayward in spring 2013 to expand and promote the college’s distance education program that began in 2011 with online summer courses. Since her arrival, Dean Hayward has partnered with faculty and staff to develop three one-year online certificate programs. This January, the Business Administration department introduced online certificates in Human Resource Management and in Leadership. The Exercise Sport Science department introduced a Sport Coaching certificate. “Our online students enjoy the same high-quality private education that students on campus enjoy, with small class sizes and
courses led by the same faculty and staff who teach in our traditional classrooms,” said Dean Hayward. Designed for students of all ages and backgrounds, Colby-Sawyer’s online programs are targeted at those just starting their education and those who wish to transfer their academic credits, as well as professionals seeking to advance their careers. Online courses are also beneficial to on-campus students who wish to take classes at times convenient for them. Distance education students have access to the resources available to on-campus students: library services, tutoring, technical support, career development, academic advising, and internship opportunities. “Our online courses are very affordable. We are a private institution, but we’ve priced our courses to be competitive with other New Hampshire colleges and universities that offer distance education programs,” said Dean Hayward. “The fact is that distance education students enroll in pro-
grams with a name they recognize and at institutions that are close to home—even if they never intend to set foot on the campus.” Professor of Business Administration and Human Resource Management certificate instructor Beth Crockford, who earned her doctorate degree online while working full-time, believes that the Colby-Sawyer College online experience is a practical solution for today’s students. “Students can fit their education in between kids and work and travel,” said Professor Crawford. “An online experience can be just as satisfying as an on-campus experience because students work within their own time frame.” The college plans to expand its distance education program to include bachelor’s degrees in Accounting, Business Administration and Health Care Management in 2014 and Environmental Science in 2015. Visit Colby-Sawyer’s virtual campus at www.colbysawyer.edu/online.
Our Windy Hill’s Turbine Turns Heads by Jennifer White ’90, Director, Sustainability; Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies
Before renewable energy systems came to our windy hill, Colby-Sawyer had a vision to provide our students and members of the broader community with hands-on access to technologies that support a clean-energy economy and a sustainable future.
back into the main electrical system. The project has garnered broad interest—even more than our 127kW solar photovoltaic array that is one of the largest in the state. News of the turbine was picked up by media outlets as far away as Berlin, Germany.
When Andrew Chase ’13 helped develop a proposal for a residential-scale wind turbine and a small pole-mounted solar array, no one imagined that a year later the college would receive significant support from the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation. The grant funded demonstration-size wind and solar systems, the expansion of the organic permaculture garden, the construction of a student-designed and built freestanding sustainable classroom, and the endowment of several student internships.
Colby-Sawyer students are also impressed. “The first time I saw the wind turbine, I was amazed at the lengths that ColbySawyer will go to be more efficient and environmentally friendly,” said Public Health major Karina Belberska ’14. “I would love to see wind turbines all around campus.”
Colby-Sawyer’s first wind turbine was installed in front of the Susan Colgate Cleveland Library/Learning Center on July 13. The 50-foot-tall Skystream 3.7 is a residential-scale unit, and the power it generates (less than one-tenth of a percent of the college’s electricity needs) feeds
The wind turbine is a visible manifestation of Colby-Sawyer’s commitment to living sustainably. “On my frequent walks between Colgate Hall and the library, the turbine offers a reminder of the connection between the world of our scholarship and the earth,” said Associate Professor of Humanities Tom Kealy. “Too often we flip the light switch or turn on electronics without thinking about the how and the where of energy production and consumption. The turbine
invites us to look up and gain a different perspective on our daily tasks.” The college’s renewable energy systems have computer-based monitoring systems that allow the data to be used in classes. Data indicating
carbon reduction and return on investment of renewable resources in both the residential and commercial sectors help students understand the benefits, limitations and practical implications of a transition away from fossil fuels.
The 50-foot-tall wind turbine is a visible manifestation of Colby-Sawyer’s commitment to living sustainably.
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Creative Thinkers Invited to The Electric Feast by Alicia Rose Harris ’07, Counselor, Admissions
The site’s name hints at the electronic web through which those opinions spread, and since its launch last May, the site has had 80,000 unique hits. It has grown to include more than 70 writers who explore everything from movies and television to music, gaming and popular culture. About 85 percent of those contributors are Colby-Sawyer alumni. The site, according to Charles Moak ’12, encourages him to keep writing. “The Electric Feast isn’t about making money,” said Moak. “It grounds me because, left to my own devices, I would not write as often or as much. Everyone who writes for this site is a massive nerd with opinions, and on our site they have the freedom
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to speak them. It’s friendly and noncombative, which I don’t think you find so much on the Internet. Opinions have become a form of Internet war, but we try to keep it peaceful.” Megan Ruggiero ’10, an Electric Feast editor and contributor, worked with Tracey Austin, director of Alumni Relations, to create a panel session at the 2013 Alumni Fall Festival. The panel connected the site’s creators with current students to show the benefits of a multidisciplinary Colby-Sawyer education.
“Our staff wanted to return to Colby-Sawyer to show how minds from multiple disciplines can come together to form a creative hub where opinions, both common and outlandish, are encouraged and nourished,” said Ruggiero. “Our panel was beneficial for the ‘chefs’ of the Feast because we were able to recruit new writers to add extra flavor.” Sean Ahern ’09, who received his B.A. in Media Studies and is working toward a Ph.D. at SUNYBuffalo, oversees several columns on the website,
including the popular “This Album Saved My Life.” He finds joy in writing for the Feast. “I don’t think I would have been able to do The Electric Feast without the liberal arts education I received at Colby-Sawyer,” said Ahern. “It taught me how to be active in media making. It’s not just research; it’s an application in the real world. It can exist outside the classroom.” Interested writers are encouraged to email editor@electricfeast.com.
Photo: Greg Danilowski
Joe Delaney ’12 and two friends cooked up the website The Electric Feast because they craved more than what they saw on popular Internet media sites. The trio wanted to build a forum where creative thinkers could discuss media and writers could self-publish for a broad readership.
“Our staff wanted to return to Colby-Sawyer to show how minds from multiple disciplines can come together to form a creative hub where opinions, both common and outlandish, are encouraged and nourished,” said Megan Ruggiero ’10. L–R: Sean Ahern ’09, Annalisa Giglio ’12, Charles Moak ’12 and friend Mike McClury.
Professor Launches Globally Networked Course on Feminism and Technology by Anurup Upadhyay ’15
In fall 2013 Associate Professor of Humanities Melissa Meade helped launch a globally networked course on feminism and technology. FemTechNet is an organization that describes itself as “an activated network of scholars, artists and students who work on, with and at the borders of technology, science and feminism in a variety of fields including Science and Technology Studies, Media and Visual Studies, Art, Women’s, Queer, and Ethnic Studies.” Professor Meade was part of a team that developed a new model for online learning called a Distributive Open Collaborative Course (DOCC). Dialogues on Feminism and Technology, the first course of its kind, was taught at 16 institutions of higher education, including Colby-Sawyer, Brown University and Yale University. Professor Meade used the method of feminist rethinking about the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), where one person disseminates knowledge to everybody
else. “[That] is against the central tenets of feminism,” Professor Meade said. “[DOCC] is the idea that knowledge does not come from one person; it is more of a distributed system.” In a DOCC, faculty and students share ideas, resources and assignments as a feminist network. Although FemTechNet calls the course Dialogues on Feminism and Technology, each institution’s course takes on its own shape and theme. “My course at Colby-Sawyer— Gender, Technology and Culture—was in-person, closed to the public, and included more introductory work than some of the others,” said Professor Meade. “Still, ColbySawyer students learned alongside undergraduate and graduate students across the United States and Canada as they worked their way through this study of technology and culture.” The interactive dialogues were aided by a FemTechNet–produced video curriculum featuring pairs
of scholars and artists from around the world who think and reimagine technology through a feminist lens. “The idea is that every institution has the first couple of weeks for localized focus,” said Professor Meade. “In my class I assessed where students were coming into the conversation from and what they needed, and after that, we started to share the resources, watch the videos and steer dialogues forward.” As a common course element, Professor Meade’s class stormed Wikipedia. “There are a lot of women behind the scenes in science and technology who are left out of the history books,” she said. “The idea is to find and add them to existing articles or to create new articles in Wikipedia to establish a fair representation of women in dialogues of technology.” Students’ responses to the course were positive. “Once I showed them the shared platforms on the FemTechNet Commons,
Professor Melissa Meade was part of a team that developed a new model for online learning called a Distributive Open Collaborative Course. Tumblr and Facebook, they got excited,” said Professor Meade. “Although this was a 300-level course, I welcomed any interested student. It is important to have students from different places with different experiences in order to fully embrace the DOCC model.”
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Josie Gardiner ’67: Dance, Fitness, and how Zumba United Them ®
by Kelli Bogan, Colby-Sawyer College Archivist
Passion fills Josie Gardiner ’67 when she discusses her life’s work. “I love fitness, but dance is in my heart and soul,” said Gardiner.
attended the University of Colorado and worked for a year in the banking industry. Gardiner and her husband moved to Panama and then to Lima, Peru, where she had a
the urging of friends. It grew to 150 students in three months. Gardiner was at the forefront of the aerobics craze of the 1980s. In 1985 she joined Reebok’s development team, where she helped create Step Fitness and stability ball exercises. There she met her business partner, former Rockette Joy Prouty.
Photo: Michael Seamans
In 2002 Gardiner was named IDEA Instructor of the Year, and in 2005 she was named the American Council on Exercise Instructor of the Year.
Zumba®, according to Josie Gardiner ’67, is not about perfection—it is a way to have fun while getting fit in a nonjudgmental environment. The two have come together in unexpected ways for the former Boston Ballet dancer. Gardiner’s Liberal Arts degree from Colby Junior College allowed her to focus on what she loved— dance and theater. She 14
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baby. She took ballet classes to get back in shape and began teaching a dance fitness class that combined ballet barre work with athletic exercises. When she returned to the United States, she taught a similar class at
Gardiner found new purpose when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer nearly 16 years ago. After eight weeks of radiation, she was so weak she couldn’t even dry her hair. When Gardiner asked her doctor how to get fit again, he said that with her background, she probably knew better than he did. Gardiner wondered about those going through treatment without her experience, and her perspective changed: Fitness became about motivating people and getting them to move again.
In 2006 Gardiner and Prouty were at a convention when they heard “crazy wonderful music” coming from a booth for a new program called Zumba® Fitness. They observed a class, and that made Gardiner think that Zumba® could bring dance back to the fitness industry. She and Prouty recommended a program for the active older adult because “everyone wants to dance, no matter how old,” and they were asked to develop Zumba Gold® with Zumba® founder Beto Perez. Zumba®, according to Gardiner, is not about perfection—it is a way to have fun while getting fit in a nonjudgmental environment. Gardiner and Prouty went on to develop Zumba Gold® Toning, and she recently helped launch the Zumba Gold® Jumpstart program and Gold Boosts. The music still moves Gardiner at 67, and she has no plans to decrease her work as teacher or personal trainer in the Boston area. There are still people to motivate, including those who have not yet discovered they can dance.
Deb Field McGrath ’68 Retires After 27 Years of Service by Ryan Emerson, Director, Sports Information
McGrath remained with the Athletic Department through the fall semester to help facilitate completion of the new turf field and outdoor track project. “Deb McGrath has led our college athletic programs to a level of excellence and achievement the institution would never have dreamed possible when she assumed her role,” said Colby-Sawyer President Thomas C. Galligan Jr. “Deb’s devotion to her school, our student-athletes and her staff is incredible and inspirational. She has always understood that at Colby-Sawyer, studentathletes are exactly that, and she has worked to foster a program committed to excellence in the classroom as well as in
competition. Colby-Sawyer is proud of what Deb has accomplished.” McGrath, who began her tenure in 1986, played an integral role in the college’s transition to coeducation in 1989. She developed a systematic approach to the recruitment of student-athletes and served on the President’s Campus Planning Board in the development of three new playing fields, the Hogan Sports Center, and refurbished tennis courts. She also saw an increase from eight women’s teams to 10, along with eight men’s and one coed. In 2011, McGrath made a $50,000 commitment to help fund construction of the Sally Shaw Veitch Track and Field.
Charging Ahead In addition to being head coach of Colby-Sawyer Men’s Basketball for 21 years, Coach Foti has been the Athletic Department’s compliance officer. “I feel fortunate to have been mentored by Deb in my roles as a coach and associate athletic director,”
Photo: Greg Danilowski
Colby-Sawyer College Director of Athletics Deb Field McGrath ’68 retired in September after 27 years of service. Head Coach of Men’s Basketball Bill Foti and Head Coach of Women’s Basketball George Martin were appointed to share the responsibilities and serve as athletic directors in addition to handling their coaching duties.
Deb McGrath ’68, who began her tenure in 1986, played an integral role in the college’s transition to coeducation in 1989. said Coach Foti. “It’s a tremendous honor to follow her leadership and to work with George Martin to continue her legacy of excellence at Colby-Sawyer. Together, we are committed to providing our student-athletes with the highest quality experience.” Coach Martin, the department’s scheduling coordinator, has spent 19 seasons as head coach of the Women’s Basketball team. He also coached Women’s Volleyball from 1994 to 2000 and in 2008.
“I am honored and humbled by the trust placed in me as one of the directors of Athletics at Colby-Sawyer,” said Coach Martin. “Leading the department alongside my friend and colleague Bill Foti only adds to the excitement of my appointment. I am dedicated to providing a quality student-athlete experience that allows opportunities for success in a vibrant academic environment, and the ability to be fully engaged in the ColbySawyer community.”
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The Season in Sports 2013 Fall by Ryan Emerson
(9-9-3, 4-3-2, NAC) The men’s soccer team, picked to finish sixth in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), reached the postseason for the 18th time in 19 years. The Chargers also appeared in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament for the first time since their initial visit in 2007. The Chargers earned the fifth seed and fell to fourth-seed Norwich University 2-0.
Junior Alex Ortega (Milton, Vt.) led the Chargers with 13 goals and 29 points, the second highest singleseason totals in program history. Named to the AllNAC First Team, Ortega was the first Colby-Sawyer selection since 2007. He was second in the
Photo: John Quackenbos
Colby-Sawyer finished the season with a 9-9-3 overall record and 4-3-2 in the NAC. Their nine wins are the most since 2007, when the team also recorded nine victories. Earning the sixth seed in the conference tournament, they traveled to a quarterfinals contest against third-seed New England College for
the second straight season. The Chargers avenged last year’s playoff loss to the Pilgrims with a 2-1 triumph. In the semifinals, Colby-Sawyer upset second-seed Maine Maritime Academy with penalty kicks after no score in regulation and two overtime periods, reaching the championship game for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2002. The playoff run was halted by Thomas College, the preseason favorite, who protected their home field with a 4-1 win.
Junior Alex Ortega scored a team-high 13 goals and helped the men’s soccer team earn the program’s second trip to the ECAC. 16
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conference with nine goals and 19 points in conference games only. First-year student Rick Prindiville (Hooksett, N.H.) landed on the All-NAC Second Team for a defense that recorded three clean sheets in conference play and surrendered half the goals allowed last season. He added three goals, including one in conference play, as the game winner over Lyndon State. Junior Nick Austin (Westerly, R.I.) started all 21 games in net and recorded the fourth most saves in a season with 121.
Field Hockey (6-11, 1-8 NAC) The field hockey team saw its win total increase for the second straight season and double from the program’s first year in 2011. The Chargers went 6-11 overall, 1-8 in the conference, and outscored their opponents 19-1 in the six wins. Without senior leadership for the second straight season, the team finished strong with nine veteran juniors, nine sophomores
Photo: John Quackenbos
Men’s Soccer
Junior Jess Buckley scored a programrecord seven goals in 2013, including four game winners. and six first-year students. Junior Jess Buckley (Shrewsbury, Mass.) led the Chargers with a program-record seven goals, including four game winners, and finished the season with the second best single season total in program history with 15 points. Junior Nykki Stritzinger (Bel Air, Md.) was second on the team with four goals, including a pair of game winners. Sophomore Jodi Dumayne (Claremont, N.H.) recorded single season program bests in saves (168), wins (6), save percentage (.808) and goals against average (2.50). She ranked 19th in
Photo: Colby-Sawyer Athletics
the nation with 9.88 saves per game and 21st in save percentage.
Women’s Tennis
Colby-Sawyer won its second straight NEAC East Women’s Tennis title.
(10-4, 5-0 NEAC East)
Photo: John Quackenbos
The Chargers finished the year with a combined doubles record of 33-9 (.786) and a singles record
Senior Elizabeth Lincoln (Plymouth, Mass.) earned her second straight NEAC East Division Women’s Tennis Player of the Year award, along with a nod to the First Team and two for Player of the Week. Lincoln finished her three-year stretch with zero losses in
Senior Elizabeth Lincoln earned her second straight NEAC East Division Women’s Tennis Player of the Year award.
regular season conference play at first singles, going an impressive 18-0. Lincoln leads ColbySawyer’s all-time doubles wins list with 59. Sophomore Ashlyn Ramsay (Barkhamsted, Conn.) was named to the NEAC East Singles First Team with a 5-0 record at the number-two spot and was named NEAC East Tournament MVP.
Head Coach Barry Schoonmaker was voted Coach of the Year for leading the Chargers to their second straight perfect season in conference play, culminating in a second consecutive NEAC East Title.
Cross Country The men’s cross country team finished as runnersup for the second straight
Sophomore Charlotte Horton (South Hamilton, Mass.) was named to the NEAC East Singles First Team with a 4-0 record at the third flight. Lincoln and Ramsay combined to earn a spot on the All-Conference Doubles First Team, finishing the season unblemished as a pair in divisional play. Horton and junior partner Oxana Tkachenko (Lviv, Ukraine) also represented Colby-Sawyer on the First Team with a perfect record.
Photo: Richard Orr
The women’s tennis team earned its second straight North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) East Division title with a 5-0 win over Castleton. Picked as the repeat preseason favorite, the Chargers went undefeated through conference play for the second straight year. Colby-Sawyer will face the winner of the NEAC West Division in the spring with a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
of 55-25 (.688). They finished the fall season with an overall record of 10-4 and a conference record of 5-0. The team will resume play in the spring with a few matches prior to the NEAC Crossover Championship on May 4.
Junior Hayden Bunnell earned AllNAC First Team honors for the third straight season, leading the men’s cross country team to a runner-up finish at the NAC Championships. Spring 2014
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Hayden Bunnell topped 77 other competitors to win the Terrier Invitational at Thomas College.
The Chargers earned a third straight NAC Women’s Volleyball crown and sixth conference title overall. Senior Emily Davis (Colchester, Vt.) finished 15th for her second straight appearance on the Second Team.
The Chargers finished the season with a 22-11 overall record and achieved a third straight perfect record in NAC play.
Parker ended the year as the new record holder in the 5k and 6k. At the University of Southern Maine Invitational 5k, she crossed the finish line in 19:41.91. In the final race of the season at NCAA Regionals hosted by Southern Maine, Parker set the 6k record with a time of 23:43.35.
After earning a bye in the first round of the NAC Tournament, the Chargers swept Husson University 3-0 in the semifinals and finished with a 3-0 championship win over Maine Maritime.
Women’s Volleyball (22-11, 6-0 NAC)
The women’s cross country team finished third at the NAC Championship. Firstyear student Kylee Parker (Winterport, Maine) finished fourth to earn a spot on the All-NAC First Team. The 2011 Rookie of the Year, junior Caila Walker (Newington, N.H.), placed ninth and earned a nod to the Second Team for the second straight season. 18
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The women’s volleyball team won its third straight NAC Championship and sixth conference title overall. The Chargers won three Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships (1999, 2003, 2005) before moving to the NAC in 2011.
Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year. McBride, who was a three-time Player of the Week honoree, led the conference in hitting percentage (.571), kills per set (3.12) and total kills (53) while playing in four fewer sets than her next closest competitor.
Junior Jackie Keating (Marshfield, Mass.) was named NAC Tournament MVP for the second straight season. Seniors Emilee McBride (Strafford, N.H.) and Courtney O’Hara (Mystic, Conn.) earned All-Tournament Team accolades. The Chargers drew SUNY New Paltz in the program’s sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament. The 32-6 Hawks came away with a 3-0 win to end the season for Colby-Sawyer. Middle hitter McBride was selected as the 2013 NAC
Photo: John Quackenbos
Ben Bunnell had seven top-eight finishes during the season and set a new 5k record with a time of 16:16 at the New England College Mayflower Invitational.
Photo: Colby-Sawyer Athletics
season at the NAC Men’s Cross Country Championship. The team was led by junior Hayden Bunnell (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) who finished third and landed on the First Team for the third straight season. Sophomore Ben Bunnell (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) also was a First Team honoree with a seventh-place finish. First-year student Brandon Legendre (Waterford, Vt.) finished ninth and secured a spot on the All-NAC Second Team.
Senior Emilee McBride was named NAC Volleyball Player of the Year after leading the league in hitting percentage, kills per set and kills.
McBride, Le-Bruno, O’Hara and sophomore Laura Smolinski (Hebron, Conn.) all earned First Team accolades. O’Hara ranked in the top-10 in several categories including kills, kills per set, hitting percentage, aces and blocks. Smolinski led the conference with 183 assists and a 10.17 assist per set average.
Recording at least 20 wins in 10 of the last 11 seasons, Colby-Sawyer finished the season ranked 15th in the nation with 2.81 aces per set.
Women’s Soccer (19-4, 9-0 NAC) The women’s soccer team recorded its most successful season in school history with 19 wins and the program’s first conference championship.
Keating earned a nod to the All-NAC Second Team. She ranked third in hitting percentage behind teammates McBride and O’Hara. Keating also ranked fourth in kills per set and points.
The Chargers’ 17 shutouts ranked them fourth in the nation, while their shutout percentage (.739) tied them for fourth. The team also ranked 14th in the nation with .474 goals against average.
Senior Julia Yee (Quincy, Mass.) became the tenth Charger to record 1,000 career digs as she finished with 1,003.
The Chargers earned the top seed in the NAC Tournament for the second straight season after posting a perfect 9-0 record in conference play. The Chargers are unbeaten
in their last 18 regular season conference contests. Colby-Sawyer hosted eighth-seeded Thomas College in the quarterfinals and cruised to a 5-0 win. The team then hosted fifth-seed Husson and defeated the Eagles 1-0. In a rematch of last year’s championship contest against second-seed Castleton, the Chargers benefited from an own goal, the only score of the game, to win the program’s first conference title. Senior Stephanie Huntley (Woodbury, Conn.) was named
Sophomore Tallon Tomasi was named to the NSCAA All-New England Third Team after anchoring a defense that recorded the fourth most shutouts in the nation with 17.
Photo: John Quackenbos
Voted Coach of the Year by his peers for the third consecutive season, Head Coach Brett Sayer led the Chargers to a perfect 6-0 in NAC play and recorded his 100th career victory at the NAC Championship game.
Photo: John Quackenbos
Colby-Sawyer senior defensive specialist Ally Le-Bruno (Medfield, Mass.) was honored as the NAC Defensive Player of the Year for the third straight season. Le-Bruno ranked fifth in service aces per set (0.83) and digs per set (3.61). She exits Colby-Sawyer as the all-time leader in career digs with 2,577.
Senior Adrienne Bender was named to the NSCAA All-New England First Team and is Colby-Sawyer’s all-time leader in career goals with 44. Tournament MVP, while senior Lauren Bernard (Manchester, N.H.), senior Adrienne Bender (Wakefield, R.I.), junior Sarah Little (Scarborough, Maine), and sophomore Karley Hamilton (Bradford, Vt.) earned All-Tournament accolades. The Chargers entered the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history with 19 wins and the third most victories of any NCAA Tournament participant. The team traveled to second-ranked Montclair State and kept the Red Hawks scoreless for the first 83 minutes but fell 1-0 when the home team scored in the 84th
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Photo: Colby-Sawyer Athletics
The women’s soccer team recorded its most successful season with 19 wins and the program’s first conference championship.
minute. The Chargers’ dream season ended at 19-4. Bender, Little and sophomore Tallon Tomasi (Williston, Vt.) were named to the All-NAC First Team. Hamilton and Junior Michelle Upham (Chelsea, Vt.) were named to the Second Team. Bender, who earned her third straight nod to the NAC First Team, led the Chargers with 29 points on 12 goals and five assists in 2013. She ranked fifth in points and sixth in goals for conference games. Bender became the program’s all-time leader in career goals with 44. She collected 99 career points, which is third all-time, and holds three of the top five single season point totals in school history with 32 in 2011, 29 in 2012 and 29 in 2013.
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Earning her first All-NAC award, Tomasi’s defense surrendered only one goal during conference play. She added six goals and an assist throughout the year to give her the fifth most points (13) on the team. Bender and Tomasi were named National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division III Women’s Soccer All-New England and were the first to be honored by the NSCAA since Heather Barber ’99 in 1998. Bender landed on the First Team, while Tomasi earned a spot on the Third Team. Little ranked third on the team with 22 points on eight goals and six assists from the midfield position. She ranked in the top 10 in goals, assists and points in the conference. In addition to her offensive accolades, she aided the defense in preserving eight clean sheets in conference play.
Upham finished the season second on the team with 26 points on 12 goals and a pair of assists. She recorded the seventh most points and seventh most goals in a single season in program history. Upham ranked seventh and eighth in the conference for goals and points, respectively, in NAC games. Hamilton had the most successful goalie season in program history. She recorded Colby-Sawyer single-season records of 19 wins and 16 solo shutouts with another combined clean sheet. Her .49 career goals against average is the lowest in program history, and she ranks fourth in career wins. Hamilton ranked 12th in the nation with a .44 goals against average and 15th in save percentage
with .877. She led the league in shutouts, wins, save percentage, goals against and goals against average. Head Coach Meghan Medbery was honored by her peers as Coach of the Year for the second straight season after guiding the Chargers to a 9-0-0 mark in conference play and the top seed in the conference tournament. Follow the Chargers! http://CSCM.ag/CSCAthletics twitter.com/CSCAthletics www.colby-sawyerathletics.com
On the Wall: Athletes Inducted into Hall of Fame by Ryan Emerson
In October Colby-Sawyer College inducted basketball player Ashley (Bramwell) Arruda ’02, volleyball player Kathy (Couture) Bresciano ’06, alpine ski racer Chance Longley ’07, and the 1999 volleyball team as members of its Athletic Hall of Fame. Arruda, of Marshfield, Mass., was an instrumental player during one of the most successful stretches in the women’s basketball program. When not dominating on the block, Arruda showed she could step out and shoot the long ball. She was named to the New England Women’s Basketball Association (NEWBA) All-Star Second Team and played in the NEWBA Senior Classic. She was named twice to the All-Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) First Team and once to the Second Team. She remains the all-time leader in free throws (359) and, upon graduation, ranked second in points (1,354), fourth in rebounds (784) and fourth in field goals (475). Bresciano, of Turners Fall, Mass., was one of the most successful four-year volleyball players ever to
play at Colby-Sawyer. She helped lead the Chargers to a pair of CCC Championships and a program-best 30 wins in 2005. A force at the net, she was named CCC Rookie of the Year in 2002 and landed on the All-CCC First Team three times. At graduation, Bresciano was the program’s all-time leader in kills (1,507), attack attempts (3,769) and points (1,787). She also ranked second in kills per set (3.21), hitting percentage (.243) and points per set (3.80). Longley, of Stratton, Vt., was a four-year member of the alpine ski racing team. He earned six United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association (USCSA) All-American Awards, which was tied for most upon graduation and is currently second most. Longley owns a pair of top-10 finishes at the USCSA National Championships. As a senior, he placed fourth in the giant slalom at the Eastern Collegiate Ski Conference Regional Championships (ECSC), which helped propel the Chargers to the top spot in the team standings. He also added a fourth place in the giant
slalom at the ECSC Regionals in 2006 and was named Most Valuable Skier for the Chargers. The 1999 women’s volleyball team recorded a program-best 30 wins and went undefeated in the CCC. The team earned the program’s first conference title and first trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships. In the NCAA tournament, the Chargers earned a 3-0 win over Johnson & Wales to advance to the second round of the championships. Colby-Sawyer was also ranked nationally in service aces per set (3.06).
The 1999 team was composed of Kristin Anderson ’00, Amy Callahan ’02, Alison Calvarese ’00, Jillian Gragnano, ’00, Jazmine Greenlaw ’03, Sara Hammond ’01, Karen Kotopoulis ’02, Heather McMahon ’02, Megan Richardson ’03, Katrina Ryan ’01, Brie Stanley ’03, Tara Ward ’01, Melissa Weymouth ’00 and Kristen Wolslegel ’03. The team was led by Head Coach George Martin, Assistant Coach Mariann Hunter and student assistant George Sylvester ’00.
Back Row, L–R: Ashley (Bramwell) Arruda ’02, Kathy (Couture) Bresciano ’06, Jillian Gragnano ’00, Karen Kotopolus ’02, Tara Ward ’01, Amy Callahan ’02, Sara Hammond ’01, Heather McMahon ’02, Katrina Ryan ’01, Chance Longley ’07. Front Row, L–R: Kristin Anderson ’00, Megan Richardson ’03, Kristen Wolslegel ’03. Spring 2014
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Sense of Place Colby-Sawyer’s Haven from the World: The Susan Colgate Cleveland Library/Learning Center “A library is a place that is a repository of information and gives every citizen equal access to it … It’s a community space. It’s a place of safety, a haven from the world.” — Neil Gaiman, author Photo: Michael Seamans
A Changing Definition of Literacy by Semra Kilic-Bahi, Associate Professor, Natural Sciences
Quantitative literacy is a cultural field where language and quantitative constructs merge and are no longer one or the other. — Robert Orrill, historian
Literacy has been going through a paradigm shift since the beginning of the information age. The ability to comprehend instructions and perform routine procedures, including calculations, in a rote manner is no longer adequate for our global and technological society. We need to sift through quantitative information to make decisions in our social, political, economic and cultural lives. Whether comparing and choosing healthcare, retirement or financial plans, or 24
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weighing the benefits and risks of an investment option, a medical treatment plan or the economic and environmental impact of a decision, we must navigate quantitative information. The need to extend the definition of literacy first appeared in the 1959 report The Central Advisory Committee for Education in London, which described the term numeracy as “an ability to communicate with numbers requiring sophisticated reasoning
skills just as in traditional reading and writing literacies.” Since then, a new definition of literacy has emerged. In 1997 the College Board report Why Numbers Count: Quantitative Literacy for Tomorrow’s America introduced the notion of Quantitative Literacy (QL) as a necessary skill set in order for the public to fully participate as active citizens in society. Mathematician and QL expert Lynn Steen, Ph.D., emphasized in his 2001 report for the National Council on Education and the Disciplines that “quantitatively literate citizens need to know more than formulas and equations.” They need, he said, a “predisposition to look at the world through mathematical eyes, to see
the benefits (and risks) of thinking quantitatively about commonplace issues, and to approach complex problems with confidence in the value of careful reasoning. Quantitative literacy empowers people by giving them tools to think for themselves, to ask intelligent questions of experts, and to confront authority confidently. These are skills required to thrive in the modern world.” Current research and reporting has identified significant concerns among educators, policymakers and employers over the alarming gap between the quantitative needs of citizens and their ability to deal with quantitative information. Due to these increased concerns, the Mathematical Association of America reported that, over the last
decade, introductory mathematics curricula in colleges and universities have shifted toward an emphasis on quantitative literacy and reasoning. Former President of Harvard University Derek Bok argues in Our Underachieving Colleges that “numeracy is not something mastered in a single course. The ability to apply quantitative methods to real-world problems requires a facility and an insight and intuition that can be developed only through repeated practice. This quantitative material needs to permeate the curriculum, not only in the sciences but also in the social sciences and, in appropriate cases, in the humanities.” Since 2003 Colby-Sawyer has taken a leadership role at the national level in the implementation and dissemination of Quantitative Literacy and Reasoning (QLR) across curriculum initiatives. Efforts intensified in 2007
when the college received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to infuse QL across the curriculum. The project leaders, who represented a variety of disciplines, organized nine faculty development workshops at national and regional levels. Since the start of the QL initiative, ColbySawyer faculty have developed more than 50 class activities across 13 disciplines; half of them are peer reviewed and published at the Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College’s website and the remainder are posted at http://cscm. ag/quant-lit. Currently, Colby-Sawyer is conducting NSFsupported research in collaboration with Bowdoin College, Wellesley College, Southern Maine Community College, Central Washington University and Edmonds Community College to develop a QLRassessment instrument that can be used by institutions for a variety of
purposes. The instrument indicates that ColbySawyer must bring more intentional changes to the curriculum to improve students’ QLR skills at a significant level. The curriculum review process has developed a two-tiered plan. ColbySawyer is developing a QLR course requirement for all first-year students and will focus on how to strengthen students’ quantitative skills throughout their college studies, particularly in their majors. The college’s goal is to prepare students for challenges and opportunities presented by the changing needs of the global, knowledge-based workforce and for full participation in the society as informed citizens. This challenge is faced by many institutions across the nation, and the concerns are shared by many developed nations. The most recent study conducted in 2013 by the Office of Economic
Cooperation and Development reiterates these concerns surrounding the adult numeracy skills of many developed nations, including ours. In addition to preparing the workforce to compete in a knowledge-based global economy, experts agree that another pressing issue must be considered. “If individuals lack the ability to think numerically, they cannot participate fully in civic life,” said Dr. Steen in his report to the National Council on Education and the Disciplines. This, he contends, brings into question the very basis of government of, by and for the people.
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by Kate Seamans, College Communications and Mike Gregory, Assistant Director, Alumni Relations and Annual Giving
Colby-Sawyer’s 2013 “Fall Faculty Exhibition” in the Marian Graves Mugar Art Gallery featured sculpture by Professor Loretta S.W. Barnett, as well as a suite of 96 small drawings done in collaboration with Diane Stendahl ’80; oil paintings by Adjunct Professor Lucy Mink-Covello (whose work was also exhibited at Giampietro Gallery in New Haven, Conn., Jan. 24–Feb. 22); works in clay by Artist-in-Residence David Ernster; photography by Assistant Professor Nicholas Gaffney; figurative imagery by Adjunct Professor Douglas Harp; ceramics by Joyce J. Kolligian Distinguished Professor and Chair of Fine and Performing Arts Jon Keenan; sculpture and woodcut prints by Assistant Professor Mary Mead; paintings and mixed media by Adjunct Professor Julie Püttgen; diverse media
“Awake,” 2013, Lucy Mink-Covello. Oil on linen over panel.
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designs by Assistant Professor Hilary Walrod; and drawings and paintings by Associate Professor Bert Yarborough. Sally Williams Cook ’74 steps up to the plate again with How to Speak Baseball (Chronicle). Her third book and second collaboration with coauthor James Charlton and illustrator Ross MacDonald promises to teach you all about the colorful vernacular of our national pastime. A book review by Assistant Professor Suzanne Delle, “Understanding David Mamet and Albee in Performance,” was published in the New England Theatre Journal, Vol. 24. She also presented “Free, Adult, Uncensored: The Birth and Death of the American Federal Theatre” at the New England American Studies Association 2013 Conference in Mashantucket, Conn. Professor Delle took to the stage at Artists Collective Theatre in Nashua, N.H., for a performance of
“Venus in Fur” in October and “All New People” in July. Artist-in-Residence David Ernster was invited to participate in “Animals at The Fells.” He also participated in the juried exhibition held by The League of New Hampshire Craftsmen entitled “Living with Crafts,” where he was awarded Best in Show, and he participated in The League’s “Member’s Juried Exhibition.”
Assistant Professor of Humanities Rachel Fredericks wrote a commentary criticizing a key argument in a longer article by philosopher Dr. Mark Sagoff. Professor Fredericks analyzed the argument and attempted to clarify its normative upshot. Ethics, Policy & Environment, an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed
journal, published Sagoff’s article, Fredericks’s commentary and related commentaries in November. Assistant Professor of Humanities Mike Jauchen’s review of Dan BeachyQuick’s An Impenetrable Screen of Purest Sky was published in the Los Angeles Review of Books in September. He also reviewed Daniel Mueller’s Nights I Dreamed of Hubert Humphrey and Lucy Corin’s One Hundred Apocalypses and Other Apocalypses for www. TheRumpus.net. His review of Bennett Sims’s A Questionable Shape was published in The Collagist in July, the same month he became the monthly journal’s book review editor. Read his reviews at http://cscm.ag michael-jauchen, http://cscm.ag/purest-sky and http://cscm.ag/ issue-48. Assistant Professor of Natural Sciences Darius Kalvaitis was published as second author of “Using
Systematic Feedback and Reflection to Improve Adventure Education Teaching Skills” in the peer-reviewed Journal of Experiential Education. Director of Residential Education Mary McLaughlin’s essay “(Dis)ability is in the Eye of the Beholder” was published by The Huffington Post in October and explores autism and the question of who gets to decide what is considered a limitation and what is considered a strength. Read her essay at http:// cscm.ag/dis-ability. McLaughlin also had two pieces published in the fall issue and two in the winter issue of Thrive, a magazine for parents of children with special needs in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Assistant Professor Mary Mead’s print was one of 139 chosen from more than 2,900 international entries to be exhibited in the “Boston Printmakers 2013 North American Print Biennial” at Boston University. Last fall her work was in the exhibition “Take Two: Reimagining a Print from the Past” at the Silver Center for the Arts at Plymouth State University
in N.H., and in “Close Observations” at the Whistler House Museum in Lowell, Mass. Professor Mead was also invited to work with Master Printer Brandon Graving at Gravity Press Experimental Print Shop in the Berkshires; the resulting large-scale prints were shown in a solo exhibition at Boston’s Kingston Gallery in January.
“Head Series,” 2013, Mary Mead. Woodcut intaglio. “This is the story of marriages, divorces, dreams, and delusions—and all the lessons they bestow upon us.” So writes Martha Walsh Schaefer ’76 in her first book, Therapeutic Misadventures (Archway). This compelling memoir weaves together journal entries and letters to
document four turbulent years Schaefer and her thenhusband spent in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia in the late 1970s. Professor of Natural Sciences Ben Steele co-authored the research paper “Boldness and Stress Responsiveness as Drivers of Nest-Site Selection in a GroundNesting Bird,” published in the January issue of the journal Ethology. Assistant Professor of Natural Sciences Joshua G. Steffen was the coauthor of two published articles this year in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Genetics. Read them at http://cscm.ag/ noncoding and http:// cscm.ag/c-rubella. Assistant Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Hilary Walrod and Jennifer White ’90, director of sustainability and assistant professor of Environmental Studies, co-authored “Envisioning
and Visualizing Sustainability at Colby-Sawyer College,” published in August in Sustainability: The Journal of Record. “100: Head/Heart/Feet” is a feature-length documentary from the filmmaking team of Michael Mooney ’02 and William Peters ’06 that chronicles the efforts of Zachary Wieluns ’02 to run a 100-mile race. Learn more at http://cscm.ag/100hsf. The work of Associate Professor Bert Yarborough was included in the June book Contemporary Cape Cod Artists: Images of Land and Sea by Deborah Forman and shown at three Massachusetts galleries. His exhibitions “New Work” and “First Figures” were presented at artSTRAND, and he taught the workshop Monotype From the Figure at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Mass. Look for his work at McGowan Fine Arts in Concord, N.H., May 6–June 9, and the exhibition “Organic Matters” at the South Shore Center for the Arts in Cohasset, Mass., March–May.
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A Link Between the World and Those Who Suffer: Bernard Botchway’s Path to the International Stage by Eric Boyer, Associate Professor, Social Sciences and Education
In August 2013 Bernard Botchway ’15 of Ghana received a Resolution Project Fellowship at the Youth Assembly at the United Nations (U.N.) in New York City. The fellowship is presented to undergraduate social entrepreneurs for outstanding dedication to sustainable impact, innovation, teamwork, and a commitment to making a positive change and helping others. It provides seed money to launch the proposed resolution, mentorship, and access to a network of similarly minded change makers. Botchway’s proposed resolution focused on the integration of technology into the African classroom. It is built on the belief that if technological education begins at an early age, it will engender a generation
of students ready to compete in the international job market and create opportunities—not just fill vacancies.
An Optimistic Faith in Action Botchway has every reason to be a cynic. He is part of a generation of young Africans looking to build in the 21st century a future that moves beyond the broken promises of the 20th. In 1957 Ghana became the first African state to achieve independence from a colonial power. Kwameh Nkrumah, the first democratically elected leader of independent Ghana, promised to turn his country into a leader of a pan-African revolution that would unify and
develop the continent. His vision never materialized. Promises of democracy gave way to a one-party state and an eventual CIA-backed coup that removed Nkrumah from office. Plans for development faded in light of the realities of an international economic system that pushed Ghana to the economic periphery. Despite these reasons for cynicism and disengagement, Botchway developed a passion for politics built around an optimistic faith in the transformative power of collective action. Botchway’s belief in the power of politics and interest in the U.N. emerged at a young age. “When you grow up in a country like Ghana, you tend to see the effects of an organization like the United Nations, especially
when the people that come to immunize you are from UNICEF, or UNDP, or UNESCO,” said Botchway. Botchway’s mother was a nurse, and a shortage of nurses in the United Kingdom led to his family moving there when he was only six. Instead of his interest diminishing in the U.N., it grew as he traveled and began to experience the world. “In a place like Darfur, where a square meal a day is something you dream about, and you see that person in the blue vest approaching with one bag of yellow corn or a bag of millet to keep you alive, that is when you see the value of the contribution made by the U.N.,” said Botchway. For Botchway, the U.N. is important not just for the services it provides but
“We recognize that people should be brought up to certain minimum levels, but this demands a united, constructive effort.” — Bernard Botchway ’15
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Bernard Botchway ’15 received a Resolution Project Fellowship at the Youth Assembly at the United Nations. also for what it represents. Unlike the failed ideologies of the 20th century, which offered grand visions of the future but delivered little, the U.N. offers not another promise but a possibility. This possibility, hiding in plain sight, is revealed by the rather banal layout of the U.N. building in New York. “Conference rooms are everywhere,” Botchway said. “It is a place of energy, with different languages being spoken and delegates running from one subcommittee to the next.” The building is meant to facilitate networking and the sharing of ideas. The possibility of the U.N. is that conflict
can be resolved in a conference room instead of on a battlefield, that compromise can achieve more than conflict, and that political power can emerge from people sharing ideas and acting in concert. Above all, the U.N. is relevant because of what it makes possible for the world’s powerless. “We would like to believe that there is equality in every part of the world, but that is simply not the case,” said Botchway. “We recognize that people should be brought up to certain minimum levels,
but this demands a united, constructive effort. The United Nations is the platform upon which this work can take place. Such an institution playing this role gives people hope, and sometimes hope is key; it is the belief that someone is watching our back and that there is a link between the world and those who are suffering.” While at Colby-Sawyer, Botchway has served as a link between the ColbySawyer community and the U.N. He serves as the Greater New London Area coordinator for the UNICEF Campus Initiatives movement and recently joined the U.N.’s Inter-
national Youth Council. After leaving Colby-Sawyer, Botchway plans to study international law before working for the U.N. He recognizes that by serving the U.N., he will also serve the people of Ghana. Botchway’s ultimate dream is to return to Ghana as an elected official. It is clear to anyone who meets Botchway that he personifies the ColbySawyer mission of linking to the world. Like the U.N., Botchway is a force focused on forging connections between people, places and ideas.
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“Professor Keenan taught me how to see the arts in so many interesting and compelling ways and, most of all, pushed me to be nothing less than incredible. He has a vision of higher art and wants to share that vision with his students and peers.” — Mallory Hebert ’14
From the East Coast to the Far East: Jon Keenan’s Sabbatical Journey by Kellie M. Spinney, College Communications
Jon Keenan peered into his wood-fired anagama kiln as the star-filled September sky erupted with plumes of smoke. The hand-built kiln, modeled after the natural firing environment of sixteenth-century Japanese potters, was the centerpiece for the final night of the semi-annual ceramics firing at Professor Keenan’s home studio. Leading up to the firing, the kiln was carefully stacked with scores of raw pieces created by Professor Keenan, his colleague and friend Artist-in-Residence David Ernster, and Michael Bacote ’13. After the kiln’s
opening was sealed with fire brick, Professor Keenan and his crew increased the internal temperature until it reached 2,400° Fahrenheit, a peak heat to be sustained for 36 hours. “One might think it would not be a relaxing endeavor to stay up all night feeding the kiln,” said Professor Ernster, reflecting on the decade-long tradition. “But the experience has strengthened our friendship and focused our passion for what we do.” The final caffeine-injected night of firing was also Professor Keenan’s
birthday. For those in attendance, it was the perfect way to celebrate and share in his art and life’s passion. It was also an opportunity to spend time with him before he departed for Los Angeles, an important stop along his sabbatical journey. The Joyce J. Kolligian Distinguished Professor of Fine and Performing Arts and department chair, Jon Keenan came to Colby-Sawyer in 1990, and last fall was his second sabbatical. In 2005–2006 Professor Keenan spent several months as a visiting professor at UCLA’s Chemistry
Department and Exotic Materials Institute researching and developing protective surfaces for outdoor metal sculptures with Professor Ric Kaner, a world-renowned synthetic inorganic chemist. Professor Keenan’s top priority for his most recent sabbatical was uninterrupted time to produce studio work for exhibition before he returned to the UCLA chemistry laboratories. While in Los Angeles, Professor Keenan also collaborated with Robert Singer, chief curator and head of the Japanese Art Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Professor Keenan then made his way to Japan for an exhibition of his work in Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital and center of art and culture. “Having time to work on new pieces is important because it helps me to stay active and relevant in my field, and I’m grateful to have had this opportunity,” said Professor Keenan. “As faculty members, we have time during breaks and holidays to conduct research or create in our disciplines, but we also work on evaluations and course development or attend conferences and committee meetings. This time allows me to dig deeper and focus on new work for a longer period of time.”
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The Chemistry of Art
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In Los Angeles Professor Keenan renewed his partnership with Professor Kaner and worked alongside his team of undergraduates, graduate students and post-doctorate fellows on materialbased problems concerning flexible electronics. “Working in Ric’s laboratories provided me with an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of material science and to share expertise,” said Professor Keenan. “Plus,
preparation for ColbySawyer’s first integrated arts and sciences course, Chemistry in Art and Art in Chemistry. Co-taught and co-developed with Professor of Natural Sciences Cheryl Coolidge, the hands-on honors course was offered to students this spring. “My experience helped me prepare for the class,” said Professor Keenan. “I’m not a scientist. I’m an artist and art historian, but I appreciate the role of science in art and chemistry in ceramics. I need to understand how
One of the proudest moments of my life was in 1998, when Jon lectured on ceramics to a group of LACMA trustees. I stood in the back of the gallery bursting with pride as my former student dazzled them with his knowledge, charm and passion. I envy Jon’s students at Colby-Sawyer for having a teacher so knowledgeable, so kind and so giving. Of all my students, Jon Keenan is the stand-out success story in every respect, both as a teacher and as a person. I am proud and honored that I had the opportunity to teach him all those years ago in Kyoto. —Robert Singer, chief curator and head of Japanese Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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I had access to worldclass facilities at the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) and its thriving program at the interface of science and art.”
fire and heat and atmospheric conditions affect the chemistry of glazes and clay bodies that I use.”
Professor Keenan’s work in these academic settings also helped refresh his chemistry knowledge in
Professor Keenan’s longtime friend and mentor, Robert Singer, is also based in Los
Colby-Sawyer College Magazine
The History of Art
Angeles. The two met in 1980 when Professor Keenan was an undergraduate studying in Kyoto. Far from his home institution, Professor Keenan concentrated on ceramics and Asian studies under Singer’s tutelage. “He took us to temples and museums,” said Professor Keenan. “We did hands-on work and visited cultural treasures and historic sites. It was an amazing experience.” Thirty years later, the sensei-student dynamic has evolved to one of collaboration and joint research. Singer, the world’s foremost authority on Japanese art and founding curator of Japanese art at LACMA, has called upon Professor Keenan’s expertise many times. For the museum’s upcoming 25th anniversary of the Japanese Pavilion, Professor Keenan assisted with acquisitions, prepared for a Raku ceramics exhibition, and consulted on the installation of a traditional Japanese tea house. Professor Keenan also participated in a series of documentaries featuring Japanese art treasures in LACMA’s collection: “Cranes” by Maruyama Okyo, “The Night Festival at Tsushima Shrine,” and the recently discovered twelfthcentury wood sculpture “Bishamonten,” a 13-foottall “Buddhist Guardian King of the North.”
Collaborating with Singer at LACMA also provided an opportunity for Professor Keenan to reunite with the man who taught him the importance of studentteacher relationships, something he believes is part of the culture at Colby-Sawyer. “At ColbySawyer, professors have close relationships with students due to the small class sizes,” said Professor Keenan. “I try to encourage my students, advocate for them, and nurture their interests and creative scholarship. I keep in touch with a lot of students in the United States, Japan and elsewhere, and sometimes we work together on projects.” Graphic Design major Mallory Hebert, who graduated in February 2014, is among those students Professor Keenan has mentored at Colby-Sawyer. She credits him with broadening her view of the arts. “Professor Keenan taught me how to see the arts in so many interesting and compelling ways. Most of all, he pushed me to be nothing less than incredible. He has a vision of higher art and wants to share that vision with his students and peers,” said Hebert. “Professor Keenan also referred me to my first career opportunity with the creative team at Simon Pearce in Vermont and advised me throughout the interview process.”
“In India ceramics were more of a function of daily life rather than an art form. Pottery making in India hasn’t had the status it deserves. In Japan ceramics are viewed as fine art.” — Professor Jon Keenan
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I am grateful to call Jon Keenan a dear friend, as well as a fellow artist. I met the “pots” before I met the man, and I knew the minute I saw the subtle, yet elegant work that I must own pieces of it. So, I became a collector of Jon Keenan’s pots and vessels. I’ve found that it is not always the case that the artist and the work are one and the same. I’ve known and liked artists but have not been attracted to their work. And the opposite is true. I like the art but find the artist someone to avoid. This does not apply to Jon. He is one and the same with his work, an outstanding potter and a very fine person. He and his works have made my life richer. I have seen Jon’s interaction with students outside of class, and it is stunning to witness. The joy on their faces when they talk with him is evident. What an asset to Colby-Sawyer, to the world of pottery, and what a great friend. —Tomie dePaola, author and artist
On to Japan From Los Angeles, Professor Keenan returned home to pack, crate and ship 75 exhibition pieces for the final leg of his sabbatical journey to Japan, a place of great personal and professional significance for Professor Keenan. Professor Keenan’s connection with Asia began in his youth as the son of a U.S. diplomat. Born in France, Professor Keenan grew up in India, Pakistan, Thailand and Washington, D.C., but it was while living in New Delhi that he developed an interest in ceramics while watching potters use primitive hand-powered wooden wheels. “Those potters had a profound impression on my work and future,” said Professor Keenan. His experience as an undergraduate student at Doshisha University in Kyoto helped Professor Keenan develop a deeper understanding of the distinct contrast between ceramics as utilitarian pieces and as art. “In India ceramics were more of a function of daily life rather than an art form. Pottery making in India hasn’t had the status that it deserves,” he said. “In Japan ceramics are viewed as fine art.”
From his first days in Kyoto as a student, Professor Keenan’s relationship with the city of diverse ceramic tradition continued to evolve. In 1983 he returned to study art history and ceramics at the Kyoto Graduate School, and in 2009 he was a Fulbright Scholar in art and anthropology at Kyoto Seika University. Professor Keenan has returned to Japan about 30 times over the years for exhibitions, presentations, research and student recruitment for Colby-Sawyer. During this sabbatical in Kyoto, the ancient home of Japan’s imperial family, which he calls “a potter’s paradise,” Professor Keenan exhibited the new works he fired at his home studio. He was honored to have his work displayed in Kōsei-in Temple, a privately owned, protected cultural property usually closed to the public. Following his exhibition, Professor Keenan explored historic kiln and cultural sites, museums and temples to further develop his East Asian art history offerings and future liberaleducation courses. He also met with alumni and prospective Colby-Sawyer students living in the area.
Reenergized and Rejuvenated Associate Professor Bert Yarborough served as department chair in Professor Keenan’s absence and appreciates what a sabbatical experience can bring to the department. “In this case, Jon has forged alliances with great artists, teachers and curators in the U.S. and abroad, which adds depth to his own work and brings attention to ours,” said Professor Yarborough of his friend and colleague. “His knowledge of Asian and Japanese art history has proved to be invaluable to our curriculum and to our students’understanding of how art and artists have a significant role to play in defining a culture.” Returning to campus, Professor Keenan remained mindful of the present and hopeful for the future. “Thinking about what’s next is important,” he said. “But we can’t forget to be present along the way.” He is confident that the college, his department and his students will benefit from his experiences at UCLA, LACMA and abroad, but Professor Keenan believes that the future of the arts at ColbySawyer depends on the college’s plan to build a 60,000-square-foot arts center.
For more than a decade, Professor Keenan has fired his hand-built anagama kiln at his home studio in Elkins. “Our current arts center is antiquated, and our classes are spread throughout campus,” said Professor Keenan. “Our students, faculty, staff and greater community deserve a space that has modern amenities and proper ventilation, and a space where all the disciplines are united under one roof.” Building the new arts center is the college’s
top academic priority. Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative, the $21 million project includes classrooms, offices, exhibit space, a gallery, a 500-seat theater, a black-box theater, and studios for photography, print making, painting, drawing, graphic design, sculpture, ceramics, music and dance. “Art brings everyone together, and the center is an important investment
in the life and vitality of the campus,” said Professor Keenan. “People need to see the high quality of teaching and learning that is going on at Colby-Sawyer to understand we have something very special happening here. We have been fortunate to have generous donors who agree with the need for the proposed arts center, but we need more people to help us realize this critical initiative.”
With his sabbatical behind him, Professor Keenan has reignited the fire of his commitment to the college and is ready to help sculpt its future. “I have dedicated my career to ColbySawyer College and am committed to its success,” said Professor Keenan. “I feel reenergized and rejuvenated for my return to the classroom and the college community.”
“Art brings everyone together.” — Professor Jon Keenan Spring 2014
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Feature
Human with a Difference Giovanna Roy ’15 Makes a Splash Promoting Autism Awareness and the Protection of Sea Life
Photo: Michael Seamans
by Mary McLaughlin, Director, Residential Education
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Giovanna Roy is a junior at Colby-Sawyer College and a Media Studies major. She is a designer, a business owner, an advocate, a performer and a philanthropist.
children without autism, whom she calls neurotypical, to understand that “every fish in the sea, including someone with autism, has something to contribute.”
She is also a mermaid.
Mermaid Crowns originated from Roy’s love of sea creatures. “I’ve always loved mermaids and sea life,” she said. “When I was little, I would go to aquariums to see the animals and learn about how they look and interact.” She found the aquarium gift shops too commercial, though, and lacking objects natural enough for her tastes. “I wanted that imaginative feel,” she said. “Something that was more magical.”
As sole proprietor of her company, Mermaid Crowns, Roy designs and sells headpieces she describes as “handmade crown sculptures made of all things reminiscent of the sea: sea glass, pearls, fish netting, seashells, coral shards or beads, and other treasures.” She also makes appearances as Mermaid Giovanna to teach children about the importance of protecting sea life and to advocate for autism awareness. Roy has a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome, and her mission for autism awareness through Mermaid Crowns is threefold: to contribute financially to organizations that support autism awareness; to encourage children on the autism spectrum by letting them know that it is okay to be different; and to encourage
Unable to find what she wanted, Roy began designing her own mermaid crowns. Then, in 2010, her hobby took on new meaning. “During my junior year of high school, the BP oil spill happened,” she said. “I hated to see all those animals in distress. I wondered what I could do to help those animals
that I love so much and decided to take what I liked doing best—creating mermaid crowns—and make a business of it, with a portion of my proceeds going to sea life and to autism research and awareness.” Roy sees the mermaid as a perfect metaphor for a person with autism. “What I had always liked about mermaids,” she said, “is not only did I see them as powerful female figures who loved to swim among the sea animals I loved, but, like me with my autism, they are human with a difference.” Helping others understand that difference prompted Roy to move beyond designing crowns and create the persona of Mermaid Giovanna. Roy attends fairs and other events in a beautiful costume with a self-designed crown and bustier made complete by a silicone mermaid tail with a built-in monofin. As Mermaid Giovanna, Roy reminds children that even people with challenges have tremendous gifts. “If placed on land, mermaids can’t walk,” she
said. “But if they’re placed in water, in that environment that best plays to their skills, they can really succeed and show off the best of who they are.” The same is true for people with autism. Roy was diagnosed with autism when she was almost five years old but did not learn about her diagnosis until she was in third grade. “At that point, I felt ashamed and thought something was horribly wrong with me—that there was nothing good that would come out of that,” said Roy. “But I was wrong.” Roy’s perspective on her autism changed when she was invited to join a panel to speak to educators at her high school in Bedford, N.H. At first, she said, “I found that it was really hard for me to talk about it because, for the longest time, I would try to hide and do my best just to appear normal, or neurotypical.” The more she spoke, however, the more comfortable she became, largely because of the positive responses her audiences gave her.
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“Every fish in the sea, including someone with autism, has something to contribute.” Feature
— Giovanna Roy ’15
“As I was answering questions about how I learn best—what I find helpful in teachers and what kind of deficits, for lack of a better term, I have—people would come up to me, just so thrilled, to congratulate me. It surprised me,” said Roy. “One woman even said I changed her worldview of autism. It was really empowering.” Roy plans to continue designing crowns and developing the personas for the mermaids who wore them, since each crown comes with a unique mermaid adoption certificate. “The certificate explains the mermaid’s practices and propensities,” Roy said. “Each mermaid likes to do something a little different—they each have some kind of talent. They are as unique and varied as people.” She also hopes to continue developing the persona of Mermaid Giovanna. “I want to give people a different view of autism, in that it can be a gift in some aspects,” she said.
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Through their interactions with Mermaid Giovanna, she wants children to understand that, like mermaids, people with autism are strong and proud of who they are. “I see the mermaid as a strong figure who is not just some damsel in distress who needs to be saved,” she said. “Nor is she a figure that will just lure someone to tragedy.” Through her appearances as Mermaid Giovanna, Roy hopes to help people think more about autism acceptance and less about finding a cure. “I can’t be cured of my autism,” she said. “It’s encouraging, though, to know that people care about who I am and what I’m doing to increase autism awareness in a way that hasn’t been done before.” Roy has come to recognize the power she has as a person with autism to help change people’s thinking. She said that by meeting her, people have “the recognition of seeing me as more than just my disability and something that, in a way, has its benefits.” The individual
connections she makes— those conversations that help people see both her and her autism from a new perspective—are how she spreads awareness. “If you have that one person who benefits and wants to talk about it, then you have this chain of events that spreads to the public,” said Roy. “That’s where you see progress, rather than being so focused on a cure.” Roy has also developed and posted a PSA video on YouTube that she hopes will send a strong positive message to young people who have autism. “It is about encouraging kids and people with autism and letting them know that it’s okay to be different,” she said. “That you have value, even talent, that you have to love and appreciate. And I know that’s not easy.” On her Mermaid Crowns Facebook page, Roy wrote about meeting another young woman with Asperger’s Syndrome. “She told me that if she could make her autism disappear, she wouldn’t
because that’s part of who she is. That statement showed me how much she has grown to love and appreciate herself. I hope that as time goes on, many more people with autism will feel the same way.” “I think everyone celebrating who they are, autistic or not, is important,” said Roy. “That’s why reaching kids by being this persona —out of strength, out of confidence, out of being a person with a difference— is very encouraging.” With her inclusive message, there is no doubt that as Mermaid Giovanna, Roy is a strong role model for all children, autistic and neurotypical alike. The truth is, though, that her power as a role model is equally strong— and perhaps even more inspiring—when she sheds her fin, stands on two feet, and promotes awareness by celebrating her own differences every day in her life as Colby-Sawyer junior Giovanna Roy. Learn more about Mermaid Giovanna at www.mermaidcrowns.com.
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Photo: Michael Seamans
Feature Marianne Kelly ’08 is a secondgrade teacher in Phoenix. Photo: Michael Seamans
Following, and Fighting, Fate: Alumni Teach for America by Kate Seamans; reporting by Cristina Rutter and Michael Seamans
There is only one way to make it to your second year of teaching: survive the first. Those first 180 days can be a body-andsoul drowning, eye-opening marathon of chaos, inspiration and desperation—14 percent of all teachers in the United States leave the profession after just one year. Marianne Kelly ’08 and John McCarthy ’11 have come out the other side and are second-year teachers with Teach for America, a nonprofit organization and member of the AmeriCorps national service network. They teach with the discipline of warriors determined to win the battles of life and literacy, and with the energy of artists trying to fashion new futures
and heroes. They are not volunteers—they earn the same wages and benefits as other teachers at their schools—and they are earning their graduate degrees while they work.
16 million kids in lowincome communities— and its message that poverty is not fate—resonated with Kelly. After a lengthy process, TFA assigned her to a two-year
stint at an elementary school in west-central Phoenix where half the students are in English Learning Classes, and 100 percent receive free or reduced lunch.
A Serendipitous Meeting Kelly, a psychology major with black belts in karate and kung fu, was a oneon-one special education paraprofessional in New Hampshire and a waitress on the side to fund a master’s degree in education. One night a group of dinner guests at the restaurant where she worked turned out to be educators who introduced her to Teach for America. TFA’s mission to provide an excellent education for the
“I want my kids to learn about character, and I want them to be successful emotionally and academically.” — Marianne Kelly ’08
John McCarthy ’11 teaches in a Chicago charter school.
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Photo: Michael Seamans
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the hardest job I have ever done. I go home, I eat dinner, and then I do lesson plans. It never ends; I had no idea how much work goes into teaching.”
“In martial arts, you get beat up. You have to persevere. Last year was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I could have said it was too hard, but I stuck with it, just as I would in karate. I told Teach for America I would do this for two years, and I will,” said Marianne Kelly ’08. With her classroom experience and five weeks of training at the TFA Summer Institute, Kelly was confident heading into her classroom of 26 students. Teaching, however, turned out to be harder than anything she had ever attempted.
“I thought it would be pretty easy. I worked four years in special ed and I was like, I got this, you know?” said Kelly. “The whole first year I felt like I was underwater, though. I had tremendous support from Teach for America, which helped, but this is
Teachers Matter I had Associate Professor of Social Sciences and Education Anne Bewley for Helping Interactions, and she was just incredible. She was a practicing counselor and liked to hold class in Lethbridge Lodge, where we’d have cookies and engage in really meaningful discussions. I admired how she ran her class. She took me on a journey within myself, actually. That class was a major growth experience for me, and she was pivotal to my Colby-Sawyer experience. — Marianne Kelly ’08
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There were times she felt she could not do it, times when the bell rang in the morning and she was so nervous she did not want to open the door. “I was so scared and struggled at first with classroom management, but TFA provided a coach for onthe-spot training, and with her help, the rest of the year went pretty well,” said Kelly. She also learned firsthand about the barriers to getting a good education in the United States. “A teacher can do a lot, but if the administration and the state and federal governments don’t prioritize education, it won’t happen. I am conservative, but the education of our children is just not put first in this country,” said Kelly. “I used to think it was the teachers’ faults. They whine and complain; come on, they get the whole summer off. But there are so many things set up against these children, and it comes from home and the government. Our country would be different if we reduced class sizes and gave kids the interventions they need. A big
problem with my students is the inability to read at grade level. It affects their entire lives.” The rewards are not always immediate, and teachers know they will not reach every student, but when they do break through, the reward is enough to make them forget about the piles of grading and the obstacles that both they and their students face. Last year, one student really made Kelly want to pull her hair out. “He was a good boy, but he couldn’t sit still. One day we made something that needed to be baked, and when I asked him to go with me to the cafeteria, he told me some heartbreaking things about his home life that explained his behavior. “I got brave and called his mom. We were able to work together to help him do better in school. When I see him now, he runs up to me with big hugs, so I know I impacted him. That’s one of my goals: I want my kids to learn about character, and I want them to be successful emotionally and academically.” Character is important to Kelly, and she credits her martial arts background with building hers and helping her teach.
“Teaching is harder than getting your black belt. The kids do things that irritate you, but martial arts training has helped me remain calm. In martial arts you get beat up. You have to persevere. Last year was the hardest thing I have ever done, and I could have said it was too hard, but I stuck with it, just as I would in karate. I told Teach for America I would do this for two years, and I will.”
he spent days on its website, absorbed its mission and realized, even then, how much he had to learn about equal access to education. As a suburban kid growing up in Saugus, Mass., McCarthy had a clear vision of his future: He would go to school and
do well; then he would go to college. It was the order of things. That a child’s zip code could negatively affect his or her education and employment options was a new problem of fate for McCarthy to ponder. TFA destroyed his naiveté, and once aware of the academic hurdles lowincome children face,
McCarthy could not walk away. That is how he ended up as a special education teacher at a charter elementary school dedicated to the Latino community in Chicago. McCarthy’s students are hearing and vision impaired, on the autism spectrum, and learning
No Turning Back
There were, however, signs along the way that hinted education was in McCarthy’s future: He was a camp counselor, he worked with local schoolchildren as part of ColbySawyer’s mentoring program, was a substitute teacher during breaks, and after college he was a YMCA program director. Everywhere he turned, there were children who needed guidance and support. He began to wonder how he might become a teacher with his degree in Communication Studies and searched the Internet. He’d never heard of Teach for America, but
Photo: Michael Seamans
While Kelly knew she wanted to be a teacher, John McCarthy was immune to the idea for years: His parents and sister are all teachers, and he wanted to find his own identity.
“This is the hardest job I have ever done. I go home, I eat dinner, and then I do lesson plans. It never ends; I had no idea how much work goes into teaching,” said Kelly. Spring 2014
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“There’s such urgency for them to learn. They need to grow up politically engaged and conscious of the world they’re in and know how to be good citizens,” said John McCarthy ’11. disabled. They wear uniforms, are silent in the hallways, and most, as in Kelly’s class, receive free or reduced lunch.
A leader at Colby-Sawyer who had helped found a theater club and studied for a semester in Poland, McCarthy felt ready for the challenge of teaching,
“My vision is that every kid needs a hero … I want them to be able to advocate for themselves so that years from now, when their current heroes are no longer around, they will be able to continue on by being their own heroes.” — John McCarthy ’11
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but he soon realized he was far from prepared. “The first year goes by so fast that you hardly have time to think or reflect,” he said. “It was chaotic, and sometimes it felt like too much to handle. I just looked forward to my second year.” He wakes at 5:15 a.m. and does not return home till 10 p.m., after his graduate school classes. There is no time during the school day to plan for the next day, so he does that at night and on weekends. All the while, he wonders if his kids are safe and making good choices. “I work with students with disabilities, so my goal is their future. They are always on my mind,”
said McCarthy. “My goal is for them to be able to live the most independent lives they can. For some that’s going to mean going to college. For others, that’s going to mean living in their own apartment. They need to know how to count money. They need to know how to tell time. They just have to be able to read— it’s so important that they learn how to read at a level where they can navigate the world.”
Deeds Grow into Destiny With most TFA corps members recruited from Ivy League and elite liberal arts schools, McCarthy feels fortunate
The Best Part of Teaching to have stumbled across the organization. Thirty percent of teachers in the United States quit within their first two years, but both he and Kelly want to continue after they fulfill their TFA commitments. Where that will be is a mystery: McCarthy is keenly aware of the distance between Chicago and his family, and Kelly’s new husband is waiting for her in California. They will leave their Phoenix and Chicago schools with master’s degrees and benefits reaped from Teach for America: federal loan forbearance, interest
accrual payments, and education awards. Most important, they will leave with two years’ experience and visions for their futures in the classroom. Kelly, for example, has fallen in love with phonics and reading instruction and wants to become a reading specialist. McCarthy, following his family into education, is dedicated to using that same force to fight the fates many would assign his low-income and special-needs students. “There’s such urgency for them to learn. They need to grow up politically
Last year I had a student on the autism spectrum who rarely showed emotion and struggled to communicate. He worked with a paraprofessional who made sure he was on task and behaving. Toward the end of the year I came into my classroom and saw that he was crying. Considering his difficulty with understanding emotions, for him to cry was, well, I knew something pretty strange was going on. The paraprofessional had been with him for 20 minutes, and she couldn’t find out why he was upset. I started thinking about what I knew about the student and realized that maybe the end of the school year hadn’t been explained to him well enough for him to understand what was happening. I printed out a social story, which is basically a picture story that helps children with autism understand social cues. It was called The Last Day of School, and I sat him down at a table and said, “Jonathan, today is one of the last days of school, but you’re going to come back. Your teacher will still be here to visit, but you’ll have a new teacher. You can feel sad, but you should feel excited, too.” I showed him pictures of what “excited” can look like and within five minutes, he looked at me and said, “I’m excited.”
Photo: Cristina Rutter Photography & Multimedia
The paraprofessional was watching and afterward she said, “You have a connection with him.” And, you know, especially with a child who has a communication disability, you don’t hear that. You just don’t. That was a lightbulb moment; I was very happy and felt successful. When you get to know your students, they’re absolutely the best part of teaching. — John McCarthy ’11
McCarthy is dedicated to using education to fight the fates many would assign his low-income and special-needs students.
engaged and conscious of the world they’re in and know how to be good citizens,” said McCarthy. “My vision is that every kid needs a hero, whether parents or teachers or friends, but especially students with special needs. We spend time every day looking at heroes and what that word means. We spend time finding the heroes in them, too, because I want them
to be independent, and I want them to be their own heroes. I want them to be able to advocate for themselves so that years from now, when their current heroes are no longer around, they will be able to continue on by being their own heroes.”
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Connections
News from Alumni Relations and Annual Giving is working to make the dream of a new art facility on campus a reality.
Don’t Miss Alumni Fall Festival 2014 Colby-Sawyer’s annual Alumni Fall Festival will take place Oct. 10–12. Make plans now to join friends and classmates at Colby-Sawyer for a weekend of fun and reconnecting. Reunion celebrations will take place for the following classes: 1934, 1939, 1944, 1949, 1954, 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009.
Beyond Colby-Sawyer, JoAnn has served as board member and development committee member of the Seattle Children’s Home. She has also served her Edgewood, Wash., community as chair of the city’s Planning Commission.
Photo: Gil Talbot
Alumni Award Winners The annual alumni awards were presented during the 2013 Alumni Fall Festival Weekend in October.
served on her class reunion committees. Named New Hampshire’s NCCA Soccer Woman of the Year in 1998, KimLaura remains committed to and supportive of the Colby-Sawyer women’s soccer program and coordinates alumni activities.
at other institutions. We are grateful to those who accepted invitations: Trustee Emeritus Mel Shaftel at the Manhattan School of Music on Oct. 17; Aaron Snay ’01 at St. Anselm College on Oct. 18; and Meredith Buzzi ’03 at Kenyon College on Oct. 2.
Alumni Referral Program Do you know someone of any age who might enjoy attending Colby-Sawyer College? If so, we invite you to participate in our Alumni Referral Program. Email admissions@ colby-sawyer.edu to recommend family members, friends or students in your community.
Colby-Sawyer Party in a Box Are you planning a gettogether with Colby-Sawyer alumni? Let us know about your event and who will be there, and we will mail you a Colby-Sawyer Party in a Box with Colby-Sawyer napkins, cups and other party favors. All we ask in return is that you provide at least two weeks’ notice and that you send a photo of the event. For more information, please visit www.colby-sawyer.edu/ alumni/party.html.
Kim-Laura Boyle ’98
Photo: Gil Talbot
The Alumni Service Award went to JoAnn Franke Overfield ’68. JoAnn is a longtime volunteer and benefactor, has served on the Board of Trustees, and serves on our Arts Center Steering Committee, which
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Kim-Laura Boyle ’98 received the Young Alumni Achievement Award. KimLaura is a professor and academic coordinator of clinical education in the Physical Therapy Assistant Program at River Valley Community College. She is also co-chair of the Allied Health Department and co-chair of the clinical section of the New England Physical Therapist Assistant Consortium. She has taught as an adjunct faculty member at Colby-Sawyer and has
Join Us for a Colby-Sawyer Event in Your Area Alumni events are a great way to stay connected to Colby-Sawyer and to network with fellow alumni and friends who live nearby. Visit www.colbysawyer.edu/alumni/events for a complete listing. Inaugurations In recent months two alumni and a Trustee Emeritus represented President Thomas C. Galligan Jr. and ColbySawyer as official delegates to inaugural ceremonies
Connect with the Office of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving (800) 266-8253 alumni@colby-sawyer.edu www.facebook.com/ colbysawyeralumni www.twitter.com/ colbysawyer www.linkedin.com/ groups?gid=143715
The Grace of Gifts Shared: Connections
Legends Society Inducts Three Members by Jillienne Marinelli ’14
On Oct. 17 three members were inducted into the Legends Society: Sonja Carlson Davidow ’56 and her husband, William H. “Bill” Davidow; Alexander “Alex” Wenner, and The Beulah Kahler College Trust. The inductees were introduced in the company of Legends Sheridan S. Danforth, Sally Shaw Veitch ’66, Richard N. Thielen and Patricia A. Thornton ’56. Former trustee Sonja Davidow ’56 and husband Bill, a Dartmouth College alumnus, were inducted into the Society by President Thomas C.
Galligan Jr. “Bill has joined Sonja in supporting her college, and together they have consistently made Colby-Sawyer a philanthropic priority,” said President Galligan. The Davidows have directed their gift toward Colby-Sawyer’s highest academic priority: a new fine and performing arts center. Additionally, the couple has proposed funding to establish teaching chairs. “In making this gift you have provided for both the physical home for the art department and for the people who will inspire students in that building for generations to come,” said President Galligan. Board of Trustees Chair Tom Csatari welcomed Alex Wenner to the society. Wenner’s father, a scientist, used to visit New London every summer to participate in the Gordon Research Conference. Wenner accompanied his father and found a sense of home in New London. “Alex has chosen to generously support the college knowing that each gift has lasting impact,” said Chair Csatari. In addition to supporting
two endowed scholarship funds, Wenner has named the college as the beneficiary of 50 percent of his estate, making Wenner not only a loyal friend of Colby-Sawyer but also a valued partner in the college’s improvements to academics and facilities. The Beulah Kahler College Trust, established to support private liberal arts colleges, began its relationship with Colby-Sawyer College in 1999. Vice President for Advancement Elizabeth Cahill, who inducted the foundation into the Legends Society, credited it with funding faculty salaries, construction projects and student scholarships. “The college is grateful for the trust’s
confidence and investment,” said Vice President Cahill. “Even as trustees have changed and as trust management has moved between financial institutions, the college has been a regular beneficiary of grants from the fund. And now, with regular annual grants, giving from the trust has exceeded one million dollars.” These inductees have become a significant part of Colby-Sawyer’s history, and their gifts will carry the college into the future. As a permanent acknowledgment of their generosity, three new plaques hang on the Legends Wall in Colgate Hall, bringing the Legends Society to 50 members.
Photo: Greg Danilowski
Each year the Colby-Sawyer community gathers to celebrate its Legends. Legends Society members help the college realize new levels of excellence through extraordinary philanthropic gifts of $1 million or more. Legends provide funding for transformative campus improvements that benefit students, faculty, staff, alumni and the local community through academic development, scholarships, grants, renovation and expansion. Their generous support allows Colby-Sawyer to turn dreams into reality.
L–R: Major Gifts Officer Allison Faccone, Bill Davidow, Sonja Carlson Davidow ’56 and President Thomas C. Galligan Jr. Spring 2014
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Connections
Inspiring Independence and Academic Confidence Faculty Emerita Dorothy A. “Dot” Egan by Elizabeth Cahill, Vice President, Advancement
After graduating from Connecticut College and earning a master’s degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Egan taught in Massachusetts and Connecticut before coming to Colby Junior College in 1962. She was hired to teach English but welcomed opportunities to develop and test new courses. In 1976 she was appointed Dean of Studies. As Dean, Egan identified a challenge that shaped much of the rest of her career. She realized that the college had few ways to support students who needed extra help with study skills and academic performance, and she felt this service should be an integral part of a ColbySawyer education. 48
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In 1983 Egan stepped down as dean and took an overdue sabbatical year to engage in doctoral study. She returned ready to launch an on-campus peer tutoring center. Research had showed that students shy away from tutoring sessions because of implied inadequacy, so she knew Colby-Sawyer’s center would have to be a place students wanted to use. It had to incorporate all levels of study, and the agenda for each one-onone peer tutorial had to be determined by the tutee. She also knew that faculty would need to have confidence in the center based on well-trained tutors in order to recommend its services to students. In 1987, with Egan at the helm and a grant from the Cogswell Benevolent Trust in hand, ColbySawyer opened the Academic Development Center (ADC). It was an immediate success. “Dot’s idea was cutting edge at the time,” said Director of Learning Services and Coordinator of Writing
Services Caren BaldwinDiMeo, who oversees the ADC. From 10 tutors in the early days to 24 this year, the center now serves about 30 percent of the student body each year. Some of the growth happened quickly as the college’s enrollment increased. Baldwin-DiMeo would like to continue to expand tutor opportunities in math and science, further develop a writing center, and establish connections in new curriculum areas. “It’s time to evaluate why we are seeing so many students and how we can best support them,” said Baldwin-DiMeo. Although Egan retired from the college in 1996, she still believes in the peer tutoring program and its role in helping students achieve independence and confidence in mastering coursework. Reflecting on the growth and impact of the ADC, Egan said, “It’s wonderful to know that the things we thought of in the ’80s are still relevant and in practice. I can’t help but be proud of the program.” Egan continues to be
Photo: Michael Seamans
Growing up in Hartford, Conn., Dorothy “Dot” Egan knew she wanted to be a teacher. She never changed her mind, and Colby-Sawyer was the fortunate recipient of her thoughtful teaching and leadership for 34 years. Even in retirement, Egan advocates for students.
Although she retired from the college in 1996, Dorothy “Dot” Egan continues to be involved in the future of the Academic Development Center. involved in the ADC through the Egan Peer Tutors’ Fund, which she established in 2005 to provide support for tutor development and a peer tutor scholarship. Egan’s generous annual gifts make these initiatives possible, and she hopes that others will contribute to the fund so that one day it can be endowed. To learn more, contact Vice President for Advancement Elizabeth Cahill at ecahill@colby-sawyer.edu.
A Life Shared Connections
Bill and Sonja Davidow ’56 by Mike Gregory
“Both Bill and I are very interested in art,” said Sonja, a former trustee. They are thrilled about the new Fine and Performing Arts Center at ColbySawyer and have pledged to support the construction, as well as fund the Sonja C. Davidow ’56 Endowed Chair in the Fine and Performing Arts. “My grandfather was an artist,” she said. “I don’t think he did anything else but paint. That was his life, and I thought, what a wonderful thing to be able to do that and support his lifestyle, which many
artists can’t. Art, whether painting, photography, or whatever it happens to be, is very important, and we want to ensure that ColbySawyer students have the opportunity to study and practice art in a beautiful space.” In times of economic downturn, of course, there are always calls to defund art, which some consider unessential. Sonja and Bill do not subscribe to this view. “Get rid of everything that’s artistic, everything that pleases you, and see how happy you are,” said Bill. “And then you can become convinced that the things that add to the quality of life’s experiences are important.” As passionate as they are about the arts, the Davidows are equally dedicated to philanthropy. “We’re very hands on,” said Sonja. “We like to give money to areas that we feel will make a difference.” Bill agrees. “Sonja and I have always said when we do something philanthropically, we like to deal with institutions that have a well-defined focus on important issues and are excellent in executing those focuses,” he said. “We feel that Colby-Sawyer
meets those criteria, and so we’re enthusiastic about supporting the college.” Already members of the Heritage Society, the Davidows were inducted into Colby-Sawyer’s Legends Society in the fall. The society honors those benefactors whose generosity to the college totals $1 million or more. While they found the induction ceremony meaningful, the Davidows
do not engage in philanthropy for any honor that it bestows on them. “If it were completely private, we would be as happy as anything, because what really matters is how we feel about the effects of what we have done,” said Bill. He and Sonja hope their gift will inspire others to join them by investing in the success of Colby-Sawyer.
Photo: Greg Danilowski
Bill and Sonja Davidow ’56 have shared a life together since meeting in the mid-1950s, when Sonja earned her medical secretary degree at Colby Junior College and Bill was attending Dartmouth College’s engineering program. He went on to earn two master’s degrees and his Ph.D. at Stanford University. The couple settled in Woodside, Calif., where they raised two daughters, Carolyn and Rebecca. Sonja was a medical secretary at Stanford and then volunteered in the community while Bill forged a successful career in Silicon Valley.
Bill and Sonja Davidow have pledged their support to the construction of the new arts center, as well as funding the Sonja C. Davidow ’56 Endowed Chair in the Fine and Performing Arts. Spring 2014
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If your class does not have a class correspondent, please submit your news directly to the Alumni Office. Email: alumni@colby-sawyer.edu Online: www.colby-sawyer.edu/ alumni/classnotes.html Mail: 541 Main Street New London, NH 03257
1930–1941 We invite members of the classes of 1930–1941 to send their news and updates to the Alumni Office for inclusion in the next issue of Colby-Sawyer Magazine.
1942 Bobbie Boyd Bradley 865 Central Avenue Apt. I-203 Needham, MA 02492-1380 (781) 400-5249 bobbiebradley22@gmail.com
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1943 Peg Morse Tirrell PO Box 18 Lower Waterford, VT 05848 (802) 748-8538 dptirrell@juno.com I want to thank everyone at the Reunion for making my time there special. It was great to see how ColbySawyer has grown but still holds on to the traditions we all loved. Age is catching up with me and I’m no longer driving, but my daughter provides a lot of “taxi” service so I can shop, go to church, and continue to square and round dance. Joan Manda Mueller enjoys her time in the Miami area at the country club and volunteering. Joan Creesy Eriksson writes, “I am still living in Finland. My husband died in 1979 and I have been living in a senior house for 17 years. My son Andrew has an antiquarian book shop here in Helsinki and my daughter Jenny is a horsewoman who lives outside Stuttgart, Germany. She rode for Finland in the Olympics in 1980 in Korea.” Joan works for a charity organization, takes courses at an adult education institution, has a book circle, and makes the
coffee at her English church. She has 2 granddaughters. Shirley Mowry Reichenberg is in pretty good health and still driving. She was widowed 3.5 years ago and is still in the adjustment stage. Her oldest of 3 sons lives with her and is a big help. They are back to RI for the winter after summering at their home on an island in the middle of a lake in MA.
1944 Jeanne “Penny” Losey Bole 72 Old Village Road Shelburne, MA 01370 413-625-9730 djbole2012@gmail.com Dick and I, Penny Losey Bole, spent the winter in FL where we swim every day. We’re still involved with volunteer work— Salvation Army for Dick, the surgery department at the hospital for me. Ann Tilton Carpenter is happy in her hometown of Concord, NH. Her days are filled with playing bridge, lunches out, golf and bowling. Her grandson, Jesse Smith, qualified to play in the U.S. Open Golf Tournament in June, and her youngest grand-
daughter, Sarah Carpenter, is a senior at Colby-Sawyer! Jan Peters Gardiner is in a skilled nursing area in the retirement home where she and her husband, Dick, live. Their boys are supportive, but Jan feels cut off from her former friends and neighbors. Lila Latham Touhey is in a retirement home outside Albany, NY, but scoots up to Lake Champlain from June to Nov. Her travels with friends and family have taken her to many countries, but this summer she toured the national parks. Lila’s health is good—she still drives and walks—but she cannot play tennis anymore. Mary Jane Niedner Mason is happy living in a retirement home. Jane Titus George lives in PA where she is a real estate broker and a docent at the Philadelphia Zoo. Six years ago, she lost her youngest son. From TN, news of a couple who have been married 60 years— Margaret Kentfield Burkey and her husband, Oliver. They have 4 married sons and daughters-in-law, 12 grandsons (7 married) and 11 greats. Shirley Merz Bryant in NC serves on committees and enjoys shuffleboard, croquet, an
indoor heated pool and summers on Lake George. Her middle grandson, Ryan Taylor, plays for the Green Bay Packers! Cynthia Alexander Carlson and her husband left WI for 6 months in FL where they enjoy an active social life. Unfortunately, her husband has been suffering from macular degeneration. Martha Miller Hyatt is a widow now, but her family resides nearby. She lives in her own home and is involved with many activities. I chatted with Ann Norton Merrill, who plays bridge with Ann Tilton Carpenter almost every week. Shirley Tunison Eustis now lives in a continuing care community in Easton, MD, after 25 years in Annapolis. She had a fall, broke some bones and was in rehab for a month, only to have a series of other medical misfortunes. Shirley’s daughter, her husband and their 9-year-old son, Ben, live in NYC but like to explore the Adirondacks during the summer. Ben reads a lot and is an “advanced learner.” Shirley’s son and his wife live close to her in MD. Gloria Hirsch Flanzer got married in 1947 and had 3 children, John, Jane and Peter.
Gloria was a docent at the Art Institute in Chicago for 39 years but had to resign when her son, John, became ill and had to be near the Northwestern Hospital. He died last year, and her husband passed in 1992. Gloria then moved to Northfield, IL, and became a student at the Botanical Gardens, where a new world of art blossomed for her. She has 5 grandchildren scattered about, but they visit often.
1945 Ruth Anderson Padgett 2535 Ardath Road La Jolla, CA 92037 (858) 454-4623 ruthlajolla@aol.com Doris Peakes Kendall is busy with volunteer work, knitting and keeping tabs on family and her new great-grand via Skype. Suzi Curtis Smythe in New Bern, NC, walks and swims every week. She helps the children’s swimming program at the YMCA. She’s been on 2 historic train rides honoring the former PA Railroad, where her late husband used to work. She’s moving soon to MD
to be closer to her family. Nancy Dean Maynard had a great trip to Chicago with family to watch 4 grandkids compete in the marathon. She admitted to staying inside and watching on TV. Ruth Wilgus Rockwell lives in a retirement home with acres of gardens and places to walk. She was expecting family for a big Thanksgiving dinner. Shirley “Shal” Glidden Splaine is healthy, happy and busy. She sent lots of news of weddings, birthdays and garden parties. Her baby brother just turned 80! She’s having fun with her 1933 MG J2 going to shows. Leah Keever Cotton and hubby still live in Duxbury, MA, and go to their summer home in Nova Scotia. Elizabeth “Libby” Bryant Parker has 4 grandkids and 3 greats. She’s involved in her church, the GOP, DAR and the Windsor (CT) Historical Society. Martha Whitney Steers in Williamsburg, VA, is doing what most of the rest of us are: bridge, TV and reading. Balance is her biggest problem. She has a 15-year-old Australian Terrier and was looking forward to a family visit in Atlanta. Gloria Wells
McCreery is in Needham, MA, and has 4 daughters, 9 grands and 16 greatgrandchildren! Nancy Erickson Murphy and hubby, Cal, celebrated their 68th anniversary and are going strong at 88 and 95. They have 6 grands and 4 great-grands. Sad to note that they lost their firstborn at age 65. Our sympathies from all of us. Sue Needham Houston lives at Wake Robin in Shelburne, VT, and enjoys her son and his wife living nearby. She plays in the handbell choir and is painting up a storm. A big shout-out to Amy Potter Drummond ’00 and the Alumni Office for helping with this column. Without their help there would be no ’45 news.
1946 Ramona “Hoppy” Hopkins O’Brien 54 Texel Drive Springfield, MA 01108-2638 (413) 739-2071
1947 Correspondent Needed
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1948 Phyllis “Les” Harty Wells 6305 SW 37th Way Gainesville, FL 32608-5104 (352) 376-8475 lesmase@bellsouth.net Fran Wannerstrom Clark left right after Memorial Day 2013 on a tour of the Hudson Valley on Road Scholar’s “Historic Mansions on the Hudson River.” She then took a day trip to Boston with her museum group. In May Fran’s older daughter moved to Winter Park, FL, so they skipped their usual fall cruise. She and her daughter-in-law had just been in NYC to see the hit show “Kinky Boots.” In Sept. she spent a few days checking out her daughter’s new Winter Park home. In late Oct. Fran headed to Maine. Nancy “Hob” Hobkirk Pierson moved to VT for the summer months. Jim still works, so he only goes up weekends. Nancy paints while Jim golfs at the historic golf club not far from their farm. Jane Maynard Gibson’s granddaughter, Lindsay, is dating rising golfer Russell Henley. Lindsay and her roommate were visiting Jane in Ponte Vedra during the TPC. The girls spent a fun evening with another PGA golfer, Rory McElroy. Nini Hawthorne Maytag had another horrible summer with the fires near CO Springs. Then the rain
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came, and terrible floods added to the devastation. Sally Ackerman Frey had arthroscopic surgery on one of her knees in the summer of 2012. She’s been unable to walk without a walker or her pink-spotted cane. Sally had a bad fall in the spring and had to be hospitalized for a week. She was in a rehab center for a month but is back in her cheery home. Church is still her main activity, and her neighbors see that she gets there each Sunday. Roger Aldrich wrote that Nancy Dexter Aldrich would have loved to be at our Reunion, but she’s had some memory problems and is no longer able to drive. Roger has vision problems, so they have to depend on a driver. Their daughter and her husband continue to keep Polly’s Pancake Parlor a favorite breakfast restaurant in the Northeast. Anne Smith Jeffus has been “city bound” since 1991 because of chronic DVT and degenerative bone disease, and travel of any kind is out. Ann Wyllie Jarrett spent 10 days on the Olympic Peninsula and in Vancouver. I had a letter with photos from Missie Herrick Burman, the daughter of Jane “Jimi” Adams Darnell. Jimi died this past Mother’s Day of the rare disease pheochromocytoma. Because of her unusual health problem, she willed her body to the
UCSD medical school. For many years Jimi had 2 homes, one in La Jolla, CA, and one in Sanibel, FL. I am sorry to report that we lost more classmates in 2013: Phyllis McLoon passed away April 29, 2013, and Betsy Wyman Chase died on Mother’s Day 2013. Our class president, Bobbie Hamilton Hopkins, attended our 65th Reunion, as did Mary “Oggie” Ogden Sutcliffe and Marilyn Belding Hilly. They had a great experience being welcomed and celebrated along with an alumna of an even earlier class! Bobbie’s wish is that we would all return to campus and beautiful New London for our 70th in 2018. Rich, Bobbie’s beloved husband and life partner of 61 years passed away in mid-July. Bobbie’s deceased roommate Helen “Tommie” Thomas Lethbridge’s husband, Bud, a former CSC trustee, also passed away this summer. Over Reunion weekend, the Lethbridge family gathered and climbed Mt. Kearsarge to scatter the remains of both Tommie and Bud as a beautiful testament to them and to the college. Mary “Oggie” Ogden Sutcliffe and Marilyn Belding Hilly shared a room at the New London Inn. They sat at the president’s table; he was lots of fun dancing. Our class was awarded a silver
Revere Ware bowl for donating the most money of the Reunion classes. Jeanne “Woody” Woodruff Ramsey recently lost her son and her husband. Bobbie Schulz Watts finally resigned from all volunteer work, with the exception of the Green Mountain Club, which gave her an Honorary Life Membership. As for Mase and me, our Spanish home has been for sale for more than a year. We do have an interested couple who have been to see it 3 times. Our fingers are crossed!
1949 Liz Reynolds Matthews 5 Wildflower Lane Bedminster, NJ 07921-1729 (908) 234-9033 elimtth@aol.com Margot Hageman Smith The Lodge at Shelburne Bay Apt. 324 185 Pine Haven Shores Rd. Shelburne, VT 05482 (802) 864-5014 emes221@gmail.com Hello again, classmates! Our spring ’13 edition ran an interesting profile of Helen Casciani and her colorful career, and now we hear that she’s living in the Big Apple, enjoying concerts, theater and playing bridge. Helen met up at the Cornell Club with her roommate, Barbara Chernin Feldman, and Beth Bryant Camp ’92
Beth Bryant Camp ’92 (l) from the Colby-Sawyer Advancement Office enjoyed a recent visit with Helen Casciani and Barbara Chernin Feldman, where she shared the latest news from the college with the 1949 classmates.
from the Advancement Office, who updated the gals on all the wonderful progress the college is making, including plans for a new arts center. Pauline Dunn Lanata reaches Raemah Gooley Williams, Sally Jenkins Kimball and Mary Ann Hamilton frequently by phone, and is Jean Bryant Meyers’s friendly neighbor. Betsy Dorrance Daly lost her husband, Bill, in April 2012. On behalf of us all, deepest sympathy to you and yours. Betsy writes, “On the brighter side, I have 2 great-granddaughters, 2 granddaughters and a grandson. We still go to Lake Winnipesaukee for at least 3 weeks every summer. I play bridge, golf and belong to a book club.” She adds that a son runs the nearby insurance agency that Bill started in Savannah, GA. She has another son, Troy, in MA, and 2 more, in Sacramento, CA, and Seabrook, NH—
and a total of 7 grandchildren. Ann Wray Upchurch moved to an independent living apartment last Dec. Ann and her husband, Phil, who passed away 15 years ago, had 4 children (1 now deceased). They did some traveling “after the kids got out,” and since then she has visited all 7 continents. Shirley Winchenbaugh Raymond lost her husband, George, last April and is now in independent living in FL. She likes it and has 2 great-grandsons, a daughter nearby and a grandson in Sarasota. Her son, David, and his wife live in MD. Since she was 12, Shirley has spent summers at Cape Cod and has had some nice times with Priscilla Allen Walton and Jane Cluff Pickering, and keeps in touch with Jane Richardson Pearson ’50 MT and Bev Grant Dodge. Janet Sargent Russell ’49 MT has moved from Andover, MA, to a retirement
community in Topsham, ME, which is near her daughter on Orris Island. Janet has 8 grandchildren, including a granddaughter in the Coast Guard. Another transfer to independent living is me, Margot Hageman Smith, now at Shelburne Bay in VT, not far from daughter, Lorrie, and her husband, Jack. Lots of activities here to keep us busy. I’ve joined a current events discussion group, an arts group, where I continue my calligraphy hobby, and a book group—all in addition to my old book and calligraphy clubs. An Oct. reunion of 17 of Pat Smith Beach’s family included Gillian Reece Tully, her (then) 7-month-old greatgranddaughter. Pat Hammond enjoys retirement with “reading, taking a course or 2 in Dartmouth’s ILEAD Program and taking orders from Daisy, my dog.” Mimi Coffin Ragsdale still lives in Manhattan and makes time for extensive travel. This year she went on a Metropolitan Museum tour from Norway to the Baltic Sea. Most of Mimi’s summer was spent repairing Hurricane Sandy’s damage to her house in Mattapoisett, MA. She had scheduled a South African safari with her daughter for March. Audrey Bostwick has retired from teaching carriage driving at DE College. She decided to
retire from driving competition, too, but still drives her own 7 ponies, conducts driving clinics, gives lessons and consults. She writes, “A wonderful win at the Devon Horseshow will never be duplicated, so I thought it best to go out on top.” Audrey is active with The American Driving Society and enjoys trips offered by the Carriage Association of America.
1950 Katie Valliere-Denis Ouilette PO Box 841 Skowhegan, ME 04976-0841 (207) 474-5061 nanapa@beeline-online.net Pat Davis Hoffman moved from MA to Davidson, NC, 4 years ago to be near her son and his family. She recently heard from Jean Hubley Meyer, who keeps in touch with Betty Alden Parker, and often chats with Jean Bryant Meyer ’49. Her good friend Nancy Mudge Sycamore ’55 keeps in touch with lots of good news about her family. Betty Alden Parker is still amazingly active, writes Pat, with tennis, skiing, travel, family and friends. Pat reports that Lindy “Delina” Clapp Macfarland appreciates her senior residential living. Bobbie Bishop MacLean’s sons’ families took her whitewater rafting
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on the Kennebec on Labor Day weekend, and ziplining at Sunday River Ski Resort. She also went to Chicago for her nephew’s wedding. Jane Grayson Slover writes, “I didn’t go to Reunion, but I love to hear about everyone. I’m still active in church work, Meals on Wheels delivery, and going to book clubs and playing bridge. My youngest son, Tom, married for the first time at 45 and now has a baby boy. We plan to move next summer into a retirement home being built near us. George is slowing down, but we have no major problems as yet.” Maxine Morrison Hunter lives in Lake Forest, IL, and Boca Grande, FL. She has 2 married sons and 5 grandchildren who have graduated from college. She’s been married 61 years to the same husband! They’ve sponsored 4 students at Colby-Sawyer. Nancy Frost Smith’s grandson, Glenn, got married in Oct. in Horsham, PA. Nancy writes, “We were lucky to get there, as did all 19 members of our immediate family, including our 2 great-grandchildren— Evan, 16 months, and Amelia, 1 year. At the end of Sept. we went to Mort’s 65th reunion at Dartmouth. We just got back from a wonderful week in Barbados, where we celebrated our 63rd anniversary.” Nancy also writes that
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Jean Finley Doughty had found a program of the concert that Miss Barbiers directed and that we performed with Dartmouth College Glee Club. Finally, I received a book of Ann Bemis Day’s poetry, photos and writings, which was absolutely beautiful.
1951 Bobbie Green Davis 107 Columbia Avenue Swarthmore, PA 19081 (610) 543-6688 Elsie-Joan Martin Albergotti writes, “I have been so fortunate in my years since Colby—married to the same wonderful man 58 years, 8 children, 19 grandchildren and 2 great-grands. My husband is a retired physician, and we have traveled a good bit. We’re now in a wonderful retirement home. I belong to 3 book clubs, am happy and have good health.” Speaking of health, Elly Goodrich Jones says, “I am SO grateful that my old carcass still moves.” Recently her ‘mature’ hiking group walked 3 miles up Goingto-the-Sun Road in Glacier Park. Nancy Tobey Williams is learning to live with COPD. She’s able to stay at home and scoot around in her wheelchair. Her family—including her 3 kids, 3 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren —is scattered from CO
and IN to ME and Europe. Eleanor Merklen Cambrey and her sister, Virginia Merklen Hutchins ’53, took a trip to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial. Next year they hope to visit the Grand Canyon. Ann Harrison Hadley writes, “I miss old friends who are no longer with us, like my roommate, Barbara Ballin Brennan, and good friend Polly Barrett Adams. My husband and I continue to live in Naples, FL, for 6 months and at our CT cottage for 6 months. Pastimes now consist of bridge, reading and playing the piano (I no longer play the organ at church).” Barbara Easterbrooks Mailey doesn’t see Sally Conner Parry very often as she’s living in Beverly in a house for retired women. She does see Susan St. Clair Moore quite a lot because they walk their dogs together. “I enjoy my Golden, doing agility every Sunday with a few other dogs, learning the courses and just getting great exercise. I have been asked to compete in AKC Agility Trials but so far have not,” Ann writes. “Now the sad news is that we have lost another classmate, Barbara Nute Orr. She suffered for quite a few years with Alzheimer’s. Her wonderful husband brought her here to visit me a couple of times during this period. I will miss my friend ‘Nute,’
but I will never forget her.” Fran Black Rosborough has moved into a senior living facility since she can no longer drive. The kids and grandkids are in and out frequently—much more often than when she lived at the beach. Joan White Snively moved to a retirement community in Scarborough, ME, after 38 years in New London. Her daughter, Gail, and son, John, live within 45 minutes. Mary Jane Critchett Lane and Charlie celebrated their 62nd year of marriage. They have 6 children, 11 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. Son Ken owns a farm and runs a boarding stable as well as a farm store featuring his vegetables. Kathy works full-time for a travel company; Walter has his own cabinet business; Joellen is VP of a recruiting company; Susan is a baker for Wal-Mart; and Jeannie works for a publishing company. Mary Jane and Charlie still go to FL every winter for 3 months. Charlie was to get a new knee in Nov., and Mary Jane in the spring. Her passion is fine art painting, and Charlie’s is his gardens. Some sad news from Pat Day—her only grandchild, Bianca, died in Sept. Ellen Duane Stumpf has been Eucharistic Minister in her parish for 20 years, has been a coach and coordinator for a 3rd grade swim program for 18 years,
is coach and coordinator of the Blue Ridge Jr. Golf Program, and is a volunteer and coordinator for a special education program in reading for grades 1–3. Marge Bugbee Atherton’s grandson has sent in his application for early admission to Colby-Sawyer.
1952 Marilyn “Woodsie” Woods Entwistle 16 Cooks Mill Road Naples, ME 04055 (207) 693-3503 mainewoodsie1@ roadrunner.com After many years, Judy Chamberlain Nickerson had a delightful reunion with Janet Udall Schaefer. Janet is in the process of selling her Hancock, NH, house before moving to Peterborough, NH. Judy and Bob are in Orono, ME, near family, hoping for a future permanent move back to Cape Cod, but meanwhile they enjoy being able to take part in the lives of their 11 grandchildren and 4 greatgrandchildren. Mary Jane “Fritzie” Fritzinger Moeller spends weekends at her cabin in the Adirondacks near Lake George. During the week she visits nursing homes with her Therapy Lab and enjoys a Reading to the Kids program for local 2nd graders. Sae Bond Gilson and Ben take part in various community
(L–R) Elizabeth “Betty” Carlson Salomon ’52, Nancy “Shum” Shumway Adams ’52 and Marilyn “Woodsie” Woods Entwistle ’52 had a fun visit last summer.
activities. She spent 2 days with Noel Henriques Brakenhoff in RI, and the 2 of them had many laughs. Mary Lanius is traveling again, this time with the Denver Art Museum to China. Nat Clarke Jones is planning a regular get-together with HS friends. Her daughter Julie is producing websites for a jeweler in Gloucester. Sally Roesser Johnston ’55 MT lives just 2 apartments away from Mary Anne “M.A.” Lutz Mackin, and Joan Henley Matoon and Sue Roesser Putnam ’51 are there, too. Bev Bump loves her quiet life in Guatemala. After more than 60 years, Joyce Philibosian Stein and Nancy Swarzman Thomas had a reunion and lunch at Nancy’s husband’s golf club in Calabasas, CA. Nancy updated Joyce on her happy marriage that
produced 7 children. Betsey Borgerson Stevens of Cape Cod went on a trip to Africa with husband Don and daughter Lisa, and a trip to Belgium and the Netherlands. Nancy “Shum” Shumway Adams invited Betty Carlson Salomon and me for a fun visit last summer. Joanie Rablin Keppler has trained 2 of her show dogs to be therapy dogs. She’s working on her third Sheltie. Marny Scruton Green has found a new winter spot on Lido Key (Sarasota) with a lovely beach on the Gulf.
1953 Class Correspondent Needed Tricia Dobbs Montgomery and her husband, Jack, and Bobbi Johnston Rodgers and her husband, John, were aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam in Oct. They especially loved Dubrovnik, Croatia; Kotor, Monte-
negro; the village of Eze on the Riviera; and Barcelona, with its Gaudi-designed cathedral. Tricia lives in Denver, CO, and Bobbi lives in Blue Bell, PA. Nancy Ober Batchelder went to the Adirondacks in Aug. with daughter Sarah and granddaughter Ellie, 11. Ellie climbed her first mountain over 4,000 feet. Nancy turned 80, and her 3 kids threw a fabulous surprise party, then took her to Mountain Lake Lodge near Blacksburg, VA. Josh came from Portland, OR; Hannah from Wheeling, WV; and Sarah from Silver Spring, MD. Gordon McAllen Baker enjoys living at Kendal at Lexington, a continuing care retirement community, and still plays tennis. Gretchen Hoch White writes, “Our 60th Reunion was great—but there was only me there from our class! But nice friends from the other classes made for a lovely time. President Galligan’s
Tricia Dobbs Montgomery ’53 and her husband, Jack, (l) and Bobbi Johnston Rodgers ’53 and her husband, John, (r) enjoyed a trip aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam in Oct.
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speech on the state of the college was most interesting—you would all be so proud. You were certainly missed, so put the 65th on your calendar now!” Jane Pearl Dickinson fell and fractured 2 vertebrae. She also reports, “As you know, I have moved to FL permanently. I feel I must give up my job as class correspondent. I believe my 2 years at CJC were the greatest.”
1954 Jo-Anne Greene Cobban 9 Mayflower Drive Keene, NH 03431 (603) 352-5064 jjcobban@ne.rr.com Dorothy “Dottie” Colburn Holstine and Jon celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Nov. 2012 with their family. They continue to live in Alexandria, VA, and their 2 daughters live in the area. Dottie and Jon have 2 15-year-old granddaughters and 2 grandsons, ages 12 and 2.5. They also have a nephew living in Alexandria, and he has 2 daughters, 5 and 11, whom they see often. Dottie does some childcare, which keeps her active! She and Jon are active in their church and both sing in the choir. Jon teaches online for The American Military U. They had a trip
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Dorothy “Dottie” Colburn Holstine ’54 and her husband, Jon, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Williamsburg, Va.
planned to see Purdue in a basketball tournament in Orlando over Thanksgiving.
1955 Gretchen Davis Hammer 210 Winter Street St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 (802) 424-1221 gdh777@earthlink.net Nancy Mudge Sycamore and Hugh have enjoyed being part of the Pemigewasset Chorus in NH and the places they have traveled to perform. She, Marti Strauss Shoemaker and their husbands recently took a cruise on the St. Lawrence. Nancy has also been in touch with Nancy Morris Adams ’56, who relocated to ME. The winter found them going from NH to Chicago, Seattle and Denver to visit children and grandchildren before heading home for
the summer. In Aug. Irmeli “Mie” Ahomaki Kilburn went to her native Finland to visit her brother’s family. She reconnected with a close classmate and they traveled to Estonia. Marcia Symmes Harmon lost her companion of several years 1 year ago, from a sudden heart attack. On the bright side, her granddaughter Jennifer graduated from the U of CARedlands and is working in Falmouth, ME, not too far from Marcia. Marcia is in touch with Nancy Petke Silverstein and her family, who rented a summer house nearby. Rosie Carhart Keenan took her granddaughter, Sydney, for a hot air balloon ride in July for her 16th birthday. Sallie Johnson Elliott and her husband had a fabulous 3-day visit with Barbara Harmon Sawyer and her family while they vacationed in ME. Bobbie Jerault Coffin has a new great-grandson, Will Westcott, born last Aug. Congratulations! Bobbie and her husband recently moved to a retirement community in Peterborough, NH, just 8 miles from the Hancock Inn, which they once owned and passed on to their eldest son. In closing I want to thank each of you who wrote or called expressing deep sorrow upon learning of the death of Joyce Juskalian Kolligian. JJ was a great
leader of our class and always had a spring in her step and a smile on her face. We all appreciated her deep dedication to Colby, both while a student, and then for the remainder of her life. Thanks, JJ—thanks so much for everything.
1956 Nancy Hoyt Langbein 2 Appletree Drive Brunswick, ME 04011 (207) 729-3879 2012 was a year of travel for Gloria Wiley Hughart and Tom with a trip to Paris and Dordogne Province, then Turkey. Gloria and Tom returned a day before Hurricane Sandy left them without lights, heat and water for 8 days. Dick and Marcia Copenhaver Barrere stay busy with exercising and yoga. They were looking forward to the new season of the Metropolitan Opera at their local theater and listening to their Space Coast Symphony. Dick has been fighting kidney disease for 5 years. A new treatment is working well, and he continues pool exercises and his normal activities. Barbara Brown Barrett and Charlie became great-grandparents to Ian in the spring. Their eldest son is on active duty at Fort Belvoir, VA, in support of the Wounded
Warrior program. In late Aug. Joanie Potter Nelson ’54 and Frank opened their beautiful home in Harpswell, ME, to host a Colby-Sawyer gathering for about 50 alumni and friends. Classes from ’41 through ’17 were represented. President Galligan spoke about the financial challenges colleges face today but was positive when talking about our college and its future. President Galligan was accompanied by his wife, Susan, Beth Bryant Camp ’92, Peg Rogers Andrews ’85 and Glen Kerkian, director of development. I, Nancy Hoyt Langbein, see Nancy Morris Adams and Peter often when they are home, but they spend most of the summer at her ME house, and then off to CO to see Peter’s children, and Hanover, NH, to see Adelaide “Happy” Anthony Griffiths ’57 and Clark. Ed
and I spent a couple of enjoyable weekends last fall in New London to attend the Heritage Society luncheon and a scholar donor luncheon. We were very pleased to attend the induction of Sonja Carlson Davidow and Bill into the Legends Society, of which Pat Thornton is also a member.
1957 Jill Booth Macdonell 1303 8th Avenue Sacramento, CA 95818 (916) 446-3927 jillphotoart@yahoo.com Diane Shugrue Gallagher had fun at the Jersey Shore with the ’57 gals. In Feb. 2013, she went back to Mindelo, Cape Verde, the harbor town she lived in when she was a Peace Corps volunteer in the ’90s. She’s on a U.S. Cape
Colby-Sawyer Flashback: Professor Hilary Cleveland teaches a class of unidentified students in this photo. Are you one of these students, or do you know any of them? If so, please contact College Archivist Kelli Bogan at kbogan@colbysawyer.edu or (603) 526-3360.
Verde board, and they raised money to open a boys’ orphanage. In July she was in Malta and in Aug. was in Scotland, on the Scottish American Board. Diane recently sold her 620th book in 1 year. Ellen Fotter Jamison was in Nairobi in March and April of 2013 and plans to return this year. The big news there were the terrorist attacks on the Westgate Mall. I am sorry to report that Miriam Barndt-Webb passed away on April 17, 2013. Phyllis Goldfine Berenson writes, “In addition to my activities as a docent at the Taft Museum of Art, I am a volunteer in the Memories in the Making Art Program of the Alzheimer’s Association. I assist the director of the program at 2 different venues each week here in Cincinnati.” Joy Skaarup Evans and Bob live in a retirement community in FL 7 months of the year and spend 5 months up north where they have a home on a small lake in the foothills of the Adirondacks near their 3 children and their families. They have 11 grandchildren, all but 4 in college—2 in high school and 2 out in the working world.
1958 Cindy Grindrod van der Wyk 16444 Bolsa Chica Street SPC 97 Huntington Beach, CA 92649-2660 (714) 846-6742 cindy@colorthewind.info A note of apology to Judy Curtis ’58 for an error in the spring 2012 issue of ColbySawyer Magazine. Judy’s name was listed as Judy Curtis Zscheile, who is an alumna from the class of ’64. Georgia Heistand Snyder and her husband have been married 46 years and have lived in the same house in Wayne, PA, since 1968. They have a 43-yearold son and a 6-year-old granddaughter, who is a true delight. Georgia keeps busy with golf, bridge, needlepoint and a book group. She is also looking into playing pickle ball. Dibbie Spurr Appleton loves living in Portland, ME, having moved there to be close to 2 daughters and 5 grandchildren. Her son is in Seattle. Dibbie has been the class secretary for her high school for many years. She also edits 2 church newsletters each month and enjoys various other volunteer work. She is thankful for good health and sends best wishes to all. Judy Cameron Barwood wasn’t able to attend our 55th reunion, but she did make it to New London that Sunday to enjoy a
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brunch hosted by Connie Taylor Raven. Judy enjoyed reconnecting with Bert Anderson Massey, whom she had not seen since our graduation! Catee Gold Hubbard ’59 MT and her husband were also in attendance. The group enjoyed sharing memories about the good old days at Colby Junior. Judy looks forward to reconnecting with more classmates at our 60th. Nancy Wiesner Conkling’s niece, Debbie Bray Mitchell ’77/’79, took Nancy and her sister, Sue Wiesner Bray ’53, to NYC for Nancy’s 75th and Sue’s 80th birthdays. They enjoyed staying in Times Square and saw 3 musicals. In Sept. Nancy and her husband, John, flew to Athens and then on to the island of Skiathos, where John’s high school friend met them. They swam in the Aegean Sea, ate lots of wonderful food and then headed to the mainland and visited Meteora, where they walked to ancient monasteries; Delphi, where the oracle was said to hide out; and to Olympia, where they saw the ceremony and lighting of the Olympic Torch. In Athens they walked around the Parthenon. They flew to their friends’ home in Jerusalem and toured the Ancient City, saw some Dead Sea Scrolls, the Holocaust Museum, the Israeli museum, Masada and Ben Gurion’s college and burial place and
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desert home, and then to a Bedouin school and village. Their friend, Dr. Clinton Bailey, is the Bedouin expert of the world. “It was the trip of a lifetime,” Nancy reported. She and John skied Big Sky in Jan. and UT in Feb. with the 70+ ski club. Sandy Powell Durling and her husband, Art, live in Andover, MA, and have 3 grown children. Two of them live in MA, and the youngest son is in Burbank, CA. Their 6 grandchildren are active in sports. One grandchild has her master’s in social work, another is in college, and the other 4 are in middle school and high school. Sandy and Art have a condo on Wolfeboro Bay in NH, where they spend as much time as possible during the spring, summer and fall. Sandy has COPD, and they spend 3 months every winter in Palm Springs, CA, which makes her lungs happy. Meredith Chase Boren retired from full-time work in 2005 but was kept on as a consultant and will fully retire this year. Meredith enjoys volunteering and has served on the board of the U.S. Federation of Friends of Museums, the Vestry of her church, and the MD House of Garden Pilgrimmage, which provides funds for the restoration and preservation of historic sites. She is also beginning a 2-year term as chair of the Pilgrimmage,
which she enjoys. Nancy Carrell Sanborn keeps busy with her husband, 6 grandchildren, reading, quilting, bridge, choir and other church-related activities. She and her husband are preparing to celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary. Marcia Vieth Hoppes lost her husband, David, in Oct. 2012. I, Cindy Grindrod van der Wyk, obtained a license to serve as a sales agent for manufactured homes. I am on my 6th sale and have fun dealing with the personalities of the public. Meanwhile, through Color the Wind, I am about to sign on as an official supplier of flags, banners, and specialty items to Lake Havasu City merchants for the 2014 season. My children (Lewis, Lisa and Lori) all live nearby and are busy making their own fantastic memories. My grandson attends a small private college in Southern CA. My eldest granddaughter was recently married aboard a Carnival cruise ship, and we had a wonderful time during the 3-day cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. My other granddaughter is engaged to be married. I’ve had a significant other on the East Coast for the last 6 years, though I still miss my late husband, Leon, who passed away in 2003. You may think your adventures are not sufficiently significant to share with your Colby-Sawyer
Cindy Grindrod van der Wyk ’58.
classmates, but you will be more than pleasantly surprised that news of you is cherished by every one of your classmates. Please drop me a line!
1959 Marsha Halpin Johnson PO Box 265 Elkins, NH 03233-0265 (603) 526-4506 marnamhj@gmail.com Jane Bruns Lenher 9508 E Riggs Rd, Unit B228 Sun Lakes, AZ 85248-7548 (480) 883-1096 asburyjane@gmail.com In Nov. Catee Gold Hubbard and her husband were about to transition to their winter home in AZ from New London. She was looking forward to seeing many classmates at Reunion. Ginny Field Chu and husband, Ted, welcomed their 1st grandchild in June. Ryan was born to Jen and Chris Kaelin, and they live close enough that
Ginny can babysit one day a week. Ginny still works at the Nixon School as a clerk in the office. They live in Los Altos Hills, CA. In Sept. Judy Dexter Hoag and Sheila Emslie Carrassi met in Rockland, ME, for a 5-day windjammer cruise aboard the Stephen Taber. Kim Gordon Snyder would love to know if there are any classmates who live in the San Diego County area. Give her a call if you do. The last time she visited Colby was at the time of her daughter’s Dartmouth graduation in 1987. Priscilla Tufts Bartle and her husband have signed up for a retirement community in North Andover, MA. They celebrated their 50th anniversary in June with family on a cruise to Bermuda. Priscilla is active in a search committee for a new minister at church.
Barb Swanson Smith and Lyman are still on the hill in South Sutton, NH. This past summer they attended her high school reunion in Marblehead, MA, with Ellen Cook Barnes and Betsy Foss Dinsmore and her husband, Pete. Ann Hoar Floyd sold her company, Sandcastle Vacation Rentals, on Martha’s Vineyard in Dec. 2012 and is now helping daughter Leslie with her real estate company, Portfolio Real Estate. Ann volunteers, cares for 3 little granddaughters who live on Chappaquiddick, and plays with her husband. Sharley Janes Bryce saw Charlene “Charl” Wolcott Gray in Seattle for the first time in 53 years; they have children and grandchildren in the same schools. Sharley also stays in touch with Nancy Crane
Snedeker and Linda Buerk Matt, classmates from Buffalo. Louise Alford Dillon and husband, Jack, have lived in Sun City, Georgetown, TX, for 17 years and love it. Jack golfs, and she keeps busy with Daughters of the American Revolution activities, weekly Mahjongg, swimming, walking, writing and painting. Two kids and 5 grands live in Broomfield and Westminster, CO. Her eldest daughter works for Greg Norman in Palm Beach, FL. Susie Frank Hilton and Dick took a 4-week rail journey through Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary. Gale Hartung Baldwin is loving life on Nantucket. Sally Stevens Rood liked the idea that Mountain Day be geared to alums. Sally and Morgan went to Boothbay
1960 Patty Canby Colhoun PO Box 473 East Boothbay, ME 04544 (352) 751-1040 pccolhoun@gmail.com Charlotte Heyl McLaughlin spent time in Monterey, CA, for her roommate Julie Dornemann Steck’s daughter’s wedding in April 2013. Charlotte has been back in New London and reported that the campus is moving forward. She and her husband are now condo owners in Sun Valley, ID.
Members of The Monotones in 1960 included (front row, L–R) Lynn Perham Black ’60, Margie Embich Fortune ’60, Wendell “Wendy” Harter Dowd ’60, Brenda Hilton Bright ’60, Susie Frank Hilton ’60, (back row, L–R) Judy Higgins Brown ’60, Christie Carlson Dolan ’60, Sinclair Knudsen Bill ’60, Marcia Goodale MacDonald ’60, Charlotte Heyl McLaughlin ’60, Linda Read Stewart ’60 and Barbara “Barry” Skillman ’60.
Harbor in Oct. I, Patty Canby Colhoun, had to leave ME in mid-Aug. Knee surgery may be postponed permanently. I’ve been working with my reading therapy dog, Charlie, and 2 students at our charter school. Also, gardening, playing golf and hooking rugs keeps me busy. I went to Denver for Thanksgiving with my son, and to Versailles with my daughter.
1961 Susan Olney Datthyn 56 Pressey Court New London, NH 03257-1018 (603) 526-2283 susanolneydatthyn@ hotmail.com Susan Lawsing Dow and Peter ski and enjoy traveling. They’re proud of their 2 new grandchildren, born 5 weeks apart. Susan Heath Bint’s eldest grandson graduated from the U of MI with a degree in aerospace engineering. He has a job with Chrysler, designing cars of the future. The Bints travel to England every summer to visit Brian’s family. Recently, they cruised from Boston to Quebec. Martha Clark’s most recent trip was to Cuba in Nov. In the spring she visited the Baltic countries, Montana and the Basque Country (Spain and France). Nancy Hemmings Fuchs recently
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had lunch with Barbara Steinemann Crosby; Nancy writes, “Colby women double the tip!” Nancy Gay Hill’s children and grandchildren gathered for Thanksgiving in Santa Rosa, CA. Nancy spends lots of time with Rotary. Alicia Fellows Walker received a clean bill of health from ovarian cancer. Congratulations, Alicia! Diana Curren Bennett and her husband live on the Cape. A few years ago, she completed her doctoral degree in church history and continues with her pastoral calling by directing pastors and ministry leaders all over the country. Diana keeps busy with fly fishing, sailing and hiking, along with spending time with children and grandchildren. Sally Reynolds Carlin, husband, Phil, 2 of their children, and grandchildren ranging from 10 to 18 years old went on a trip to Africa last June. Other than that, they spend the winters in Naples, FL, and summers at Burt Lake, MI. They pass through Columbus, OH, and catch as many of the grandkids’ athletic events as they can. Sandy Trimble Enck and Spike sold their boat 3 years ago; Spike is now building and flying remote control planes. Sandy loves gardening and has been working for LL Bean in customer service for 15 years. They travel to St. Maarten in Jan. and April.
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1962 Gail Graham Lee 3980 Lakemont Drive Bonita Springs, FL 34134 (239) 947-3285 gailcracker@comcast.net Vicky Clarke Linville wrote in our 50th Reunion Memory Book that she and her husband were about to celebrate their 40th anniversary, and that, after many years in Rowayton, CT, they are now living fulltime in Weston, VT. They have 2 boys; 1 is an architect in Brooklyn, NY, and 1 owns and manages a flyfishing store in Key West, FL. Vicki’s career was in the ski business, including teaching skiing both in VT and in Austria and working at the 1964 Olympic winter games in Innsbruck, plus working as a salesperson at Abercrombie in NYC, a buyer of women’s skiwear for Saks, and a clothing stylist for a skiwear importing company. After marrying Jim, an Olympic sailor, she became a sales rep for the importing company until the kids came along when she was 38 and 40. Her first love is fly fishing, followed by downhill skiing, breeding and raising Labradors, organic gardening, hiking, snowshoeing, and playing in a steel drum band. They’ve raised more than $300,000 for charity by playing the drums and selling CDs. Vicki is also on the board of the Weston Playhouse
Theatre Company. Judy McPherson Marks has enjoyed a 45-year career with Princess House, a direct selling company in Taunton, MA. She’s been married for 49 years and has 2 children and 6 grandchildren. Three grandkids are in college; 3 are in high school. Their favorite activity is to attend the grandkids’ school and sporting events. They’re still living in the home they built 32 years ago on the farm where her husband grew up. They have traveled extensively. Joanne “Jody” Johnson Olson lives with her husband, Arnie, in north central WA on property they developed 17 years ago. Arnie is retired, and Jody is a teaching artist who keeps trying to retire. She has been a rostered teaching artist with the State Arts Commission for the past 9 years, has directed a summer arts program for 250+ local youngsters, is very involved in the arts in Okanagan and Methow Valleys, and her art camp donates time to community projects like murals and benefits. She and Arnie enjoy skiing, hiking, kayaking, swimming, golfing, logging, gardening and “buying local.” Margot “Mitzie” Fraker Wynkoop and Steve bought a condo overlooking Crystal Lake near Frankfort, MI. Marilyn Levin Sefchovich went to the Baltic States and Berlin with Ellen Feldman Strauss
and had the chance to visit her grandfather’s hometown near Vilnius when she visited Lithuania. She took all of her family to Boston and Cape Cod this past summer. At the time of this writing, Marilyn was traveling to Vienna with the American Beethoven Society, where she serves on the board of directors. She planned to visit her son in NJ on the way home. Marilyn’s daughter is in the process of opening a Pilates studio in Montclair, CA, and has been teaching Pilates at the San Francisco Ballet. As for yours truly, I went to an overnight mini-reunion with Jill Schofield Wainwright, Pat White Nash and Marcia Mayer Snyder to Germantown, NY, as guests of Anne Miller Reed ’63, whose beautiful home overlooks the Hudson River and the Catskills. We had a great time and did a lot of laughing and wine tasting. Dick and I arrived in FL for the winter and will hopefully stay put until spring.
1963 Donna Dederick Ward Meadowood Farm 557 Bennett Hill Road Shaftsbury, VT 0562-9214 (802) 442-2440 hungrytrout@comcast.net I actually made it to our 50th Reunion. The weather was nice, and the foliage
was wonderful. But that’s over, and I’m counting the days until we go south to Naples, FL. I plan to visit Gwen Warner Kade, a new Naples resident. After the holidays with my daughter and her family, we’re treating ourselves to 3 months in Islamorada, “fishing capital of the world.” Our 50th Reunion was attended by Sally Foote Anderson, Marty Idell Anderson, Marna Nielsen Blanchette, Derrick “Ricky” Vanderwaart Boulay, Lee Ware Bryan, Sandy Newbert Fitts, Pam Rich Marston, Lee Rademaker Meyer, Kathleen “Mona” Monahan, Jill Osterland Prescott, Patty Thomson Russell, Kathy Beck Smith, Kathy Fulenwider Strickland, Selden Womrath Sutton, Ann Nutter Thompson, Donna Dederick Ward and Martha Herndon Williamson. Bea Campbell Kempster had a fun time on Lake Winnipesaukee in July with family. Nancy Campbell Harris ’62 was kind enough to share her week in the cottages. Nancy stopped by Colby-Sawyer on her way south and couldn’t believe how much it has grown and changed. Bea spent Thanksgiving with Nancy and her kids. In Oct. Bea and her husband went to his Cornell reunion, later visiting her daughter and family in OH. In Nov.
her son was married in FL, and she was planning to go to an annual winter family reunion in Las Vegas. Frances “Lee” Montgomery has been winning ribbons with her dog, Lydia, in agility competitions! This past fall Lee had great fun on her first serious bike trip, a 5-day ride to Amherst, MA. Pam Rich Marston attended our 50th Reunion. Her roommate, Martha Herndon Williamson, came from FL. Pam says, “We saw many classmates over the course of the weekend and had a marvelous time remembering our college days and renewing friendships.” Sandy Newbert Fitts writes, “Marilyn ‘Mimi’ Zimmerman Hoff, Kathy Fulenwider Strickland, Virginia ‘Jill’ Osterland Prescott and I were blown away with the campus tour! So many wonderful changes have happened to our school. It was great to catch up with everyone and meet the new president and his wife. Their house hasn’t changed much, and they are very warm and welcoming.” Patty Thomson Russell had a terrific time at the Reunion. Julie Hodgson Broom ’64 was present, and she may have been scouting the festivities for her 50th Reunion next year. Patty’s husband, Bill, had a good time being the only Shepard husband, and he escorted them all weekend. Patty writes, “The
Martha Wardner Black ’63 (l) and Virginia Swain Baratta ’63 (r) enjoyed a nice visit.
college had planned a lot of informative programs and, of course, there were tours of the campus, which was mind boggling! The classes and options available to students couldn’t have been imagined when we were there.” After the Reunion, Patty and Bill went to Dartmouth and planned Thanksgiving for 30 people. Sue Gordon Venable’s newest grandchild was born this past summer and was named after her mother, who lives in New London and is still going strong. Three of her 4 children and all her grandchildren are now in New England, only about 1.5 hours away. Gwen Warner Kade and her husband left NYC, where she taught deaf students, to live in Zurich, Switzerland, for 7.5 years. Gwen was on the board of an American women’s organization and a representative in Switzerland for
the American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center. They moved to Naples, FL, in Jan. 2013 to be more involved with their 2 children and 2 grandchildren. Gwen’s husband, Eckart, loves his morning swims, and they both enjoy their daily bike rides. Marty Idell Anderson writes, “My husband and I had a wonderful time at our 50th Reunion this past fall. I had a chance to get reacquainted with a number of classmates. My husband found he had interests in common with several other husbands. We spent time with Sally Foote Anderson and her husband; Donna Dederick Ward and her husband; and Ann Nutter Thompson and her husband, among others. The campus felt the same but greatly expanded with new buildings, plans for new programs and buildings, and MEN.” Marty’s interest in technical theater led to PTA productions, helping her children’s school raise money for expanded programs. After raising 2 children (and now enjoying 5 grandchildren), she finally has time for her hobby of making dollhouse miniatures. Lee Rademaker Meyer attended Reunion and especially enjoyed being with her Shepard classmates. She and Derrick “Ricky” Vanderwaart Boulay were reunited after not seeing each
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other since graduation. Lee is retired and lives in the northern Shenandoah Valley of VA with her husband, Peter.
1964 Kathy Conathan Reardon 1040 General Lafayette Blvd. West Chester, PA 19382 (610) 738-4982 kathyr1230@aol.com It is hard to believe it will be 50 years since our graduation from Colby Junior College. There have been lots of exciting changes for the college in those 50 years, including a coed student body and school name. It would be wonderful if as many of us as possible were able to make it for Alumni Fall Festival and our 50th Reunion on Columbus Day weekend this year, so I encourage everyone to start planning. As we all know, that’s the peak of foliage for NH, and accommodations will fill up fast. Nancy Woodring Hansen is in Keene, NH, and her eldest daughter and family have also settled there. Her youngest child, Inga, moved back to Keene after living in CA for almost 20 years. She’s an editor of 2 medical/ beauty trade magazines. Another granddaughter, who also plans to move to Keene, will earn her Ph.D. in physical therapy from U of CT this spring. Nancy’s
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son Christian and his family live in N. Chelmsford, MA. Both Nancy and Roger are involved with nonprofits, family and their homes, both in Keene and on Cape Cod. Lee Norris Gray and Rick went on an Oceania Cruise to the Baltic this past Sept. They visited Copenhagen, Berlin, Gdansk, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm. Lee and Rick again spent the winter in FL. They had Thanksgiving in Savannah, where her youngest son and family have moved. Lee plans to get together with Cathy Wood Hallsworth, Ellen Terhune Schauff and Liz Ridley Mills later this spring. Some very sad news from Ellen Terhune Schauff: Her husband died in June after a long battle with Parkinson’s and dementia. She was living in Germany, where he was in care. She returned to New London to the home they built. Good luck, Ellen, in this new phase of your life. Julie Hodgson Broom returned for last year’s Fall Festival. She wrote, “I went primarily as a way of reconnecting with Lee Rademaker Meyer ’63, who was my Big Sister my freshman year, and Derrick “Ricky” Vanderwaart Boulay ’63, who was my idol. There were a number of wonderful activities planned for the 50th Reunion that I got to attend as an official tagalong. The most wondrous
part was how much Colby was in turn the same and very much changed. President Galligan was most impressive; he’s an excellent speaker who rekindled for me what I had so loved about Colby all those years ago. I plan to go back next year for my real 50th and want to encourage my classmates to attend as well.” Julie and her husband, Tony, started Thimble Islands Bed & Breakfast in their home more than 4 years ago when they were newlyweds. They make time for travel and visiting family, as well as weekly visits with her twin sister/classmate Joelle Hodgson Bentley in Stamford, CT. Julie and Tony became grandparents within a week of each other 2 years ago—a granddaughter for him, a grandson for Julie. A 2nd grandson was born in Sept., so visits to Chicago are a regular event. Alice Lawton Lehmann is still running, biking, swimming indoors and outdoors, plus cross country skiing. She’s very involved with her grandsons, ages 6 and 4, who live just a few miles away. She and Bill have a small “retirement business” in business development that they operate from their home in Concord, MA. They spend 5 weeks of the summer at their cabin on Sebago Lake in ME, and
this summer purchased paddle boards. Alice also enjoys 2 book groups. Laura Whittemore lives in Basalt, CO where she skis, hikes and bikes. Her daughter lives in Alberta, Canada, with 2 children, and her son lives in Providence, RI, with 4 children. Laura is executive director of the Brain Injury Hope Foundation, where she educates survivors, caregivers and medical professionals on traumatic brain injury. As a life coach and survivor herself, she uses her experiences to inspire hope in the brain injury recovery process. Ann Franklin Ewig’s husband, Tom, has sold part of his company this summer and will work for the new company for a year as a consultant. They had a wonderful trip to AK this past summer. Nancy Bland Wadhams and Dave have enjoyed 15 years of retirement. They spend mid-May to mid-Sept. on Bear Island on Lake Winnipesaukee. They have 5 grandsons ages 10 to 15 who live near them in the winter, and a 4-year-old granddaughter in the Boston area. They spend much time watching sports and guitar performances, and now ballet. They have a river cruise in France planned for summer, plus they will escape for a month to Sanibel Island, FL, in March. Diana “Dini” Tripp had a wild year with a
shoulder surgery, a beloved pet’s death and a flood, but she has been selling quite a few paintings and life is good. Joan Williams Laundon had spinal fusion surgery for stenosis, degenerative discs, listhesis and just about any other thing that age and leading an active life can cause to one’s back. She was cleared by the doctor for a trip to Maui in Jan. to celebrate her 70th. I know how Joan feels. I had bilateral knee surgery at the end of Oct. I am still recovering but know I’ll have a much more active life. Jack and I went on a cruise to Italy and Greece last spring with friends. In Aug. we rented a house in my hometown of Duxbury, MA, for the whole family. Son Tiger; his wife, Sarah; and my grandchildren Trevor, 5; Declan, 3; and Fiona, 2, came from Denver, along with my daughter, Janet, from Indianapolis. Hope to see many of you at our 50th!
1965 Chris Murray McKee 518 Burpee Hill Road New London, NH 03257 (603) 526-4226 ctmckee@tds.net Linda Ford Hodges Marcotte is happily retired from nursing and lives in FL. She and Chuck traveled in the South and West for 3
years off and on in a motor home looking for the ideal place away from the snow and cold of NH, and found a place called The Villages just south of Ocala, which has more than 100,000 people. Linda visits her girls and grandchildren as often as possible and has had a couple visits from Susan Thomas Maloney, who lives in Jupiter, FL. Tina Biggs Ferraro and Chris Murray McKee got together in Oct. when Tina was in town for a CSC Trustees meeting and started to make plans for our 50th Reunion. We would love to hear from everyone that they plan to join us in Oct. 2015. We have some special things in mind and welcome your input and enthusiasm! As I, Chris Mckee, write, I am in Costa Rica; we plan to visit Louisville, KY, for Thanksgiving, where our daughter, Rachel, and 3 granddaughters live. Our other 2 granddaughters live with their parents, son Ethan and Carolyn. Martha Mullendore Storey writes, “John and I are still in Williamstown consulting with nonprofit organizations, helping with their marketing and fundraising. With 10 grandchildren, 6 of whom are local, we see a lot of soccer and basketball games! Oldest is in India with NOLS, and next is a freshman at Middlebury.” Joan Rockwell is a landscape architect in Western
MA, and often works with her architect husband, Bill Austin. In 1999 they bought a 2-room schoolhouse in Colrain, MA, and converted it into offices. She has a daughter, Pia, who graduated from Smith and now lives in Concord, NH, with her husband and 3 children; a son, Nick, who graduated from CO College and lives in Portland, OR, with his wife and 2 children; and a wonderful stepdaughter and stepson. Joan and Bill are building a cabin on the coast of ME on land that has been in her family for more than 100 years. For the past 3 years they’ve been working with a Haitian/American nonprofit on the planning and design of an educational campus. One of their current projects is a ski lodge in Southern VT.
1966 Susan Weeks 3 Winona Circle Lebanon, NH 03766 (603) 448-6962 susan.e.weeks@hitchcock.org Hilde Body Clark writes, “My husband of 44 years and I are enjoying retirement in the East Bay of San Francisco, where 3 of our 5 grandchildren (ages 1 to 8 years) and 2 of our 3 grown children live. Fun for us these past 5 years has been finding ColbySawyer alum Beth Roland
Hunter ’70 and her husband, Phil, in our church! We still spend our summers in Pointe au Baril, Ontario, Canada, and enjoy traveling cross country by car, including stops near Denver to get our CO grandkids fix. We continue to add places to travel to our bucket list (mostly educational cruises or college-sponsored trips).” The last time Carlyn Cleaves Watts wrote with news, she said, was probably regarding her marriage in 1967 or the birth of her children. She now writes, “It’s hard to believe I am writing with news of the death of my husband. Martin died in May 2012, just shy of our 45th anniversary. Since we were living in our dream home (that Martin designed) on a lake here in western ME, it made sense to have my daughter, Jodi, her husband and their 5 children move in with me. I am surrounded by love and lots of activity, even though we all miss ‘Grampa’ every day. My son Darren and his wife live in NYC, and I look forward to a pre-Christmas visit with them in The Big Apple.” Kathie Kock Hewko is celebrating her 28th year as a realtor in Sonoma and Napa County, CA. Natalie Rice Ireland’s most exciting news this past year was the birth of a grandson. His mother was diagnosed with lymphoma
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2 years ago. Prior to treatment they were able to harvest some eggs, fertilize and freeze them. Nate is the result of those frozen embryos. Her son, his wife and their 2 children moved from Tucson to the Chicago area, so she doesn’t have them right around the corner anymore. Natalie is retired but goes into her former office occasionally to help out with a project. She’s busy with her garden, hiking, knitting, reading and going to Silver Sneakers exercise classes. She was looking forward to going to New Zealand in March. Susan Weeks works in neonatology at DHMC and sees many Colby-Sawyer students pass through the Intensive Care Nursery for training. Her hope is to retire by next spring so she can put more time into her perennial gardens and do more volunteering at The Fells on Lake Sunapee.
1967 Sis Hagen Kinney 32 Pine Ridge Loop Linville Land Harbor Newland, NC 28657-7917 (843) 607-7556 kinivan06@gmail.com Prudence Hostetter is selling her farm after being in FL for nearly 30 years. Her son is in 11th grade and will head to college in
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either Jacksonville, FL, or Aiken, SC. Deborah Brakeley is still in Vancouver, BC, and is pleased that at least some of her children and grandchildren are in the area. She’s in private practice as a counselor and collaborative divorce coach, though she’s started working parttime and pursuing creative and artistic endeavors such as what she majored in at Colby Junior. Dorcas Sheldon Adkins recently marked the birth of her 6th grandchild to daughter Sally and her husband, Patrick, in Gainesville, FL. Retirement for Dorcas is a mix of travel with and without family members along, with frequent visits to RI to see her parents, who still live in their own home with the help of a live-in caregiver. Dorcas’s mother (Shirley Webster Sheldon ’43) had a bad stroke in 2002 but is still painting wonderful watercolors. Meredith Jones and Edith Parker Posselt are still the best of friends nearly 46 years after leaving Colby Junior and Burpee Dorm. Anne Baynes Hall enjoyed the company of her sister Janet Baynes Benzie ’71 and niece Lora all summer. They arrived from England in June and returned after their nephew Tom’s (son of Dick Baynes ’76) wedding in Sept. Both Anne and Janet ushered for the New London Barn Playhouse, where Lora worked in the box office
and appeared in 2 of the shows. Anne volunteers for her church and in the Bishop’s office (Episcopal Diocese of NH) in the archives and as a receptionist. She also sends the Colby-Sawyer class agents their reports over the year and helps out the Alumni Relations and Development staff whenever she can. Joan Campbell Eliot stayed with Anne over Trustee weekend, which was full of activities and meetings for the Trustees. Anne also told me our classmate Bonnie McDonnell DuBrino passed away Sept. 16. Anne said she was glad Bonnie’s picture was in the last magazine. Marcia Bibens Tammeus and her husband celebrated their 50th high school graduations this past summer. Her family continues to grow; she and her husband now have 7 grandchildren, ages from under 1 year to 11, and her family lives nearby, except for her daughter who lives in Santa Fe, NM. Her husband, Bill, continues to write his daily blog, “Faith Matters,” and a biweekly column for the National Catholic Reporter as well as a monthly column for the Presbyterian Outlook. Marcia and Bill are busy with volunteer work; she’s the chair of the Friends of Johnson County Developmental Supports Board. Her eldest child is a
special-needs adult who receives services from JCDS. Marcia and Bill enjoy all that Kansas City has to offer, like great restaurants, theater and parks. Polly Whisnand Butler has 10 grandchildren, ages 4 to 16, who keep her busy when she’s not working full-time. She’s been in Naples, FL, for more than 40 years. Francie King goes to Boston U every day, where the billion-dollar campaign she’s part of is in full swing. She spends her evenings and weekends writing personal histories for families. Francie has written or edited 6 books. She and Robert live happily in Marblehead, MA. Sallie Macintosh reported that Jane Peterman died on Oct. 18 in Napa, CA. Jane had moved to Napa from MA to be closer to her sister Joanne Peterman Torre ’70, and had had health issues for several years, mostly due to complications from Type 2 diabetes. Sally says, “Jane never complained and fought hard ... loved life and took joy in every aspect of it. She was a teacher in Attleboro, for many years and was an excellent, dedicated educator whose students benefited from her enthusiasm and devotion and her good common sense, as well as her happy nature.” Allison Hosford went to a 5-day watercolor workshop at Shelburne Farms in VT last Aug. and
Meredith Jones ’67 Meredith Jones ’67, president and CEO of the Maine Community Foundation, is passionate about education and the empowering effect it can have for working women. Her passion stems from her own experience as a nontraditional student. After graduating from Colby Junior College, Jones raised a family before completing her B.S. in public administration at the University of Maine at Augusta. That degree, and the graduate studies that followed, led Jones into the nonprofit sector. Fourteen years ago she took a position at the Maine Community Foundation, and in 2009 became president. The foundation, created in 1983, is a public charity that focuses on improving the quality of life for all Maine residents. As president, Jones oversees an organization that has 26 staff members and $345 million in assets, and that distributes $18 million in grants every year. Within the broad scope of the foundation’s mission, Jones has staked out three areas of focus to help develop a thriving economy in Maine: to raise the educational and credential attainment levels of Maine citizens, to expand and deepen the leadership pool within the state, and to concentrate on downtown revitalization.
Courtesy Photo
has been obsessed with painting ever since. She writes, “The farm is still our life ... in the midst of butchering turkeys, and then we’ll swing right into opening our Choose & Cut Christmas Tree Farm.” She and a friend gave small farm and cooking-fromscratch workshops this past year. Jan Moore Canavan and Bob have lived in the western Sierra Nevada foothills for 23 years, and they share their home with 2 dogs, 3 horses, a kitty and 4 hens. They’re blessed to have both kids living and working locally; her daughter is a speech/language pathologist, and her son has a wood shop. Jan and Bob get to take care of their 2 grandkids every Tuesday. One of their dogs is certified with Therapy Dogs International and is part of the Title 1 program at local schools, where kids read 1-on-1 to dogs. She also was part of disaster relief this past summer, visiting the fire camp during the wildfire that burned 250,000 acres there. Beth Holloran Bourguignon spent the summer with family and friends at their cottage on Long Island, ME, in Casco Bay. Beth is still working as a director at the Needham, MA, Children’s Center, and her husband, Ty, has retired from full-time work and now manages a couple of accounting clients from home. Beth’s son has
Empowering Through Education
Meredith Jones ’67 is president of the Maine Community Foundation. to receive such an award. “I think it is an acknowledgment of women’s accomplishments,” said Jones. “Since I was a nontraditional student, it’s an acknowledgment that nontraditional students have every bit or as much of a hope or expectation that they can do things that traditional students can do.” Jones’s daughter Rebecca Yturregui ’94 attended Colby-Sawyer and is director of marketing and stewardship at Wellesley College. “Colby-Sawyer certainly was an institution that nurtured and supported the two of us,” said Jones. “I think it was a great launching point for two women who have had very successful careers.”
“You can’t have a community without an economy,” said Jones. “And you can’t have jobs without people having the knowledge and skills to take them. Shame on us if we don’t build a talent pool that is able to make changes that cul— Mike Gregory minate in a very vibrant downtown area and communities that will attract new people because there are things to do and Learn more about the important work Meredith Jones is doing at the good schools.” Maine Community Foundation at http://www.mainecf.org. In 2013 Jones received an honorary doctorate from UMA, becoming the first alumna in the university’s history
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moved back home from his Boston apartment to save money to buy. Her daughter and her husband live 20 miles away. Ruthie Hendrick Wentzel lives in Topsham, ME, and is trying to maintain her 30 acres. In 2012 her beloved husband of 35 years, Ken, passed away unexpectedly. Ruthie has found it difficult to move on, but she is starting to heal. We’re so sorry for your loss, Ruthie. She is very grateful to have her work as marketing manager at Drummond Woodsum, a Portland law firm with 60 lawyers. Her daughter Jennifer lives just minutes away with her husband and Ruthie’s 2 grandsons, Henry and Cal. Her other daughter, Eliza, lives with her family in Portland, OR, and Ruthie gets to see her 2 West Coast grandsons, Abe and Emil, a few times a year. She, Henry and Cal built a chicken coop and are learning to care for the chicks. Linde Keleher McNamara’s son and daughter-in-law live in NC with their daughters, Emma, 13, Lily, 11, and Grace, 9. Linde still owns her own real estate company, is raising money for the whales, and is on the Hanover Conservation Commission board. Daughter Diana is married and lives in Scotland but will move back to the States in 2014. Linde’s husband of
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1968 Correspondent Needed
1969 Correspondent Needed
1970 Jan Moore Canavan ’67 on her horse, Shine.
45 years, John, runs their real estate company. As for me, Sis Hagen Kinney, my husband, Bob, and I sold our house in mid-July in Summerville, SC, after being there for 15.5 years. I retired at the beginning of Aug., and we moved to our “summer cottage” in the NC mountains to spend the winter there. Middle son and daughter-in-law, Ted and Felicia, had their 3rd child in Oct. We’re making friends in our area and look forward to hiking, kayaking and exploring in the warmer months.
Gail Remick Hoage 64 Valley Road New Durham, NH 03855 (603) 859-3241 gail@michaelsschool.com Am hoping to get some great news from some great alumni ... hello, are you out there? Our little “alumni clan,” Susan Pomerantz, Beth Constantinides Meurlin, Val Turtle, Lynn Winchester, Karen Dunnett and I got together this summer for a week of fun on Lake Winnipesaukee at Deb Marcoux Deacetis’s cottage. Ann Felton Severance became a grandmother last year. Congratulations!
1971 Ellie Goodwin Cochran 58 Heather Street Manchester, NH 03104 (603) 626-5959 elliegc@myfairpoint.net
Linde Keleher MacNamara ’67 with her granddaughters Lily, Emma and Grace.
Jane Taylor Gallant fully retired a year ago in June. She worked for 37 years for the Laconia, NH, School District. Thirty-two of
those years were teaching grades K–4, and the last 5 were working for Laconia Adult Education and Laconia High School, where she helped more than 100 GED students. She keeps busy with a small website business. Jane’s youngest daughter, Samantha, got married Oct. 25 at Church Landing in Meredith, NH, to Benjamin Nock. Samantha’s sister, Deborah Gallant ’01, came from Kuwait for the wedding. Deborah is in her 2nd year teaching high school English at the American Creativity Academy, a K–12 school. After graduation from CSC, Dr. Debs, as she is called, earned her doctorate in creative writing from the U of St. Andrews, Scotland. Sara Gray Stockwell is in her 9th year as a volunteer for ME Adaptive Sports and Recreation. She’s certified as an adaptive ski instructor for blind and developmentally disabled students and an adaptive kayak instructor for all disabilities. Last year she was guiding a girl who was visually impaired, and her hearing-impaired brother joined them. As a result of not being able to communicate well with him, she’s now studying American Sign Language. This gives her time to enjoy her grandchildren and teach them to ski, kayak and paddle board.
1972 Linda Kelly Graves 880 Tannery Drive Wayne, PA 19087 (610) 688-0230 dikeroka@aol.com After Colby, Jodi Serling went to Ithaca College and majored in psychology and sociology; she received her BA in 1974. Her father died in 1975, and she decided to go to nursing school. She received an AA degree and got her RN license. She worked as a nurse in various fields from 1978 to 2011, when she retired. She’s married to Mike and has a 23-yearold son, Ryan, who lives in Los Angeles. Jodi works with animals, and one of her dogs is being trained as a therapy dog for Cornell Companions, a volunteer organization that works with nursing homes, hospice and the mentally challenged. Jodi keeps in touch with Nancy Neustadt Barcelo, who lives in Watertown, MA. Lydia Biddle Thomas has started a business in NYC called Power Thru The Clutter, LLC, which helps people improve their space and time management. Joanne Johnson Gaspar in Chicago and her husband went on a road trip through Canada and into New England last summer. Their travels took them through Hanover and to New London.
Joanne and her husband are retired and look forward to visiting friends in FL, GA and the Carolinas in Feb. Serena Alber Watson, who lives on Cape Cod, writes that after 40 years, she finally met up with Faye Hooker Keller for lunch last summer. Faye lives in Salt Lake City and was visiting her mother in ME. They are still looking to reconnect with M. Lee Sherman Wainwright. Nancy Gillen Kunis had a chance to see Joanne Hill Munyon while on vacation in Hilton Head. Patty Brown Kinnunen almost made the mini-reunion, and they apparently missed Maureen Thompson Coykendall by a week! As for me, Linda Kelly Graves, I work part-time at Lexington Eye Associates as an orthoptist/RN with Cammy Dorman Phillips ’82 and Ginny Carlson Karlsson ’76. I am grateful for 2 grandsons who keep me young on the weekends.
1973
Lorraine Carroll-Koehler ’74 MT and Martin Koehler were married in June 2012.
1974 Sue Brown Warner 48 Spring Street, Unit 7 Greenwich, CT 06830-6176 (203) 629-1454 warners@optonline.net Jackie Welsh enjoys her place in Kennebunk, ME. In the past 2 years she’s become more involved with CSC and now is our class agent. In that role she’s been in touch with many classmates and has had great fun catching up. Lorraine Carroll-Koehler writes, “I never had a boyfriend or a man my entire life. I felt that if I wasn’t in love with them,
Nancy Messing 908 Ponce de Leon Drive Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 (954) 779-7449 nrmessing@aol.com Lilly Heckman Cleveland ’73 (l) and Suzanne Wheeler McLymond ’74 MT (r) at the wedding of Lorraine Carroll-Koehler ’74 MT (center).
why go out with them? Then in 2010, in an ophthalmologist’s office, I fell in love and on June 23, 2012, I married Martin Koehler, a Harvard graduate. We are both retired and live in Cambridge, MA, and we still feel as though we are in the honeymoon stage.”
1975 Caryl Ellen Diengott 34 Hattie Lane Billerica, MA 01821 (978) 436-9998 cdiengott@verizon.net Jill McLaughlin Godfrey 19500 Framingham Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20879 (301) 926-7164 Jillgodfrey25@gmail.com Anne Winton Black is enjoying grandsons Flynn and Hayes Jansen and the newest addition, Patrick Black, who was born Sept. 3. Anne and her husband spend most of their time at their 2nd home in Narragansett, RI, where they boat, swim and fish. Anne still works at Avon Old Farm School as the associate director of development, and she remains a trustee of The Cobb School. Marlene Mustard Graf reports that her husband of 30 years, Walter, passed away Sept. 2, after a long battle with heart failure and diabetes. He had worked in his beloved gravel pit in
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Newbury, NH, until 2 days before he succumbed to congestive heart and kidney failure. Marlene and her husband purchased a home in Fountain Hills, AZ, in 2009, and she spends most of her time there. She also rents an apartment in Newbury Harbor, NH, during the summer where she is busy with the gravel pit, South Newbury Union Church, and family and friends. Marlene has a daughter and grandson in Palm City, FL, a son and 2 grandchildren in Sunapee, NH, and 3 children and 5 stepchildren in NH, NY and Switzerland. She is planning a trip to Switzerland for this coming summer. Marlene’s passions are golf and accounting. Paula Schilling Dhein and her husband, Rick, have been married 37 years and have a farm in Upper Bucks County, PA, where they have several horses. Their company employs about 35 folks. Their daughter is a manager in HR, and their son works at the family company. Paula and her husband keep in contact with Leslie Brown Bell, who lives in Wyomissing, PA. Leslie married attorney Tom Bell, and they have 3 adult children; 2 of them live in Washington, DC, and the other in Chicago. Sandy Comstock, Jill McLaughlin Godfrey, Marsha Meyer Hall and
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Nancy McIntire Zemlin had a brief reunion in Westport, CT. Marsha’s youngest son, Greg Hall, is enjoying his career back in MI, where Marsha and Steve hope to retire soon. Sandy Comstock enjoys her position as art director of the Portland Public Library. Her daughter Hallie is a junior in high school and is busy with tennis and sailing. Nancy’s eldest son, Zach, will graduate from Cornell Law School this spring, just like his dad, Ray. Son Ben enjoys living in Boston’s North End and pursuing his career. Jill McLaughlin Godfrey and husband Scott’s 4 children have graduated from college and enjoy their careers in academia, business and real estate. Jill and Scott live in Gaithersburg, MD. Janet Lochhead Sullivan and Dennis moved to Lake Winnipesaukee 5 years ago. Dennis works in Boston for Partners Healthcare. Janet works in Meredith in the business office of a healthcare facility. They’re now empty nesters with son Phillip, 26, working in the Hollywood film industry. Daughter Kimberly, 28, works in home healthcare and is mother to Zoe, age 4. If you have a chance to visit Colby-Sawyer, look down on the brick walkway, and you’ll see a brick that has been placed there in memory of our dear friend and classmate, Laurie
Ferguson. Please whisper a line from “Our Colby Song,” and tell her we miss her. We end this column with a fun note from Helen “Hells” Poummit Curhan: Left Colby and off to Colorado I went, Skiing and playing and studying, three years I spent. Next was NYC and I had me a ball. Worked there and loved it, but a degree in nutrition was really my call. Got a master’s in public health with nutrition emphasis in ’81. Met my future husband there, too, the time was totally fun. We lived 2 years in Maine as he started to train, Then 4 years in Boston and 2 sons later, we were off to California on a plane. We have been in Santa Barbara for 24 years so far. Two grown sons, tons of adventures, I thank my lucky star. Happy, still silly, and tons of energy, We bike, hike and in winter tons of ski. I will always think warmly of 1 Colby year. Love to all the friends, and I wish you all great, warm holiday cheer.
1976 Janet Spurr 52 Rowland Street Apartment 1 Marblehead, MA 01945 (781) 639-1008 Spurr1@msn.com In Feb. 2013 Natalie Macdonald Whelan and Pam Kinsella White traveled to India and met up with Sudha Malkani Shah in Mumbai. Sudha has published a novel and is quite famous in Mumbai! Dotty Clapp Hodgkins and her husband celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary in Sept. Richard “Dick” Baynes had a busy summer preparing for the wedding of one of their sons. Tom is a graduate of Johnson State College and Full Sail Academy and a technical engineer at Dartmouth College, and his new wife, Angelina Tagliatela Baynes ’08, is a station director at CATV in White River Junction. A week later Dick and Susan were off to the Outer Banks of NC for 2 weeks. On the way home they spent a few days north of Richmond, VA, with Ida Trusch, Dick’s graphics teacher at CSC in 1972–3. Susan’s eldest, son Barry Lewis ’07, got his master’s degree last year and is now working full-time as a mental health counselor and is in the doctoral program at Rivier U. Dick works in sales and does
In Feb. Pam Kinsella White ’76 and Natalie Macdonald Whelan ’76, traveled to India, where they caught up with Sudha Malkani Shah ’76 (center) in Mumbai.
woodworking. Dorothy “Dar” Rush Sullivan’s daughter Jackie got married on July 28, 2012, on Martha’s Vineyard, and her son Patrick got married May 19, 2013, in Boulder, CO. Dar and her husband spend about 6 months at their home in Aquinnah on Martha’s Vineyard, and the rest of the year they’re in Rochester, NY. Donna Bourque Mohan and her husband, Tom, visited Dar’s house on MV last summer.
1977 Wendi Braun 5 Carnegie Place Lexington, MA 02420 (781) 863-1502 Wendi_Braun@msn.com Hello to the Class of ’77! I was promoted to director of leadership development at Fresenius Medical Care, where I’ll work with our
leadership on talent management and executive coaching. My son graduates from college this year. Pam Carsley Ritchie is an income development staff partner for the American Cancer Society, where she coaches, guides and cheers on volunteers who hold overnight fundraising events. She writes, “This year had several moments of joy, but a special one would be the first ColbySawyer Relay for Life event. Two amazing students, Taylor Wright ’15 and Niki LaBelle ’15, along with staff member Julie Crisafi Lynch, reached out with interest, jumped in and never looked back. What an amazing event, successful in so many ways and touching the lives of hundreds. I couldn’t be more proud of them and am confident the April 2014 event will be even more fantastic.” Andy Clifton Harper just returned from a family reunion with her 3 sisters and their families in NH. Her dad joined the reunion, and her husband, Gary, visited him at his home in Westport. Last fall she and her husband took a 3-day cruise down the Yangtze River, where they saw the Three Gorges Dam, but the highlight was holding a 14-month-old panda at the Chengdu Panda Research and Breeding Center. They also visited family members in
Guanghzou who teach at the International School. Suzanne Voth Gorman lives in Nashville, TN, and hopes to find a publishing deal there. She was an extra on CBS’s Nashville a few times. She finished her second CD, Hold Me Still. Suzanne has written more than a dozen songs this year to pitch for TV and film, as well as to artists. She’s building her artist development business, Ultimate Artist Recording; one of her artists is signed and will come out with a major record label this year. She was on the stage at the 2013 Inspirational Country Music Awards, singing a few songs they wrote for the event. She also was a music supervisor for a TV show in Chicago and was asked to give lectures at Belmont U for college students interested in entering the music business. June Bascom writes, “The good news is I just reached the 5-year mark of being post-breast cancer treatment with no new or recurrence of cancer. I work out regularly doing CrossFit and feel great! My partner, Michael, and I are enjoying our 2nd season riding motorcycles.” Jen Taylor Rossel writes, “While most of my fellow alums are empty nesters or becoming grandparents, our 2 children are at home. Our eldest entered high school this year, and our youngest just started middle
school.” Jennifer is in her 16th year working 3 days a week as an occupational therapist at a regional school for children with autism, developmental delays and emotional issues.
1978 Jody Hambley Rubin PO Box 1943 New London, NH 03257 (603) 526-4517 jcooper323@aol.com Greetings from New London, NH! Janet Mahon Vincze was unable to attend the 35th Reunion in Oct. but got together with Margaret “Popper” Murphy Crossen, Carolyn Place Dickinson ’80 and Sue Eilertson Haber in Boston. The group celebrated Sue’s birthday and missed not having Debbie Wright Dyer, Louise “Weeze” Davidson O’Neil and Carla Schmelzer Meyers ’79 with them but made the best of it and had a blast. Cynthia Conner ’80 had dinner with one of her dearest friends, Adrian BarrettProll, in Weston, MA, last Oct. Adrian is married and has a son, and makes fun jewelry. Cynthia moved to Salt Lake City 20+ years ago to be the risk manager for an energy development company. Two years after she moved, she married and had children, and left her job. Her daughter is a
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sophomore at the U of Puget Sound, and her son is a high school junior. Cynthia has spent many years supporting UT nonprofits and is a past chair of the U of UT’s President’s Club and is founding chair of the U of UT’s Curie Club supporting women in science. Last summer she heard from Katie Vance just as she was leaving for Croatia and London. Cynthia and Suzanne Gallagher Adams also keep in touch. Cynthia has had the opportunity to get to know Allison Faccone, advancement officer at CSC, who fills her in on all the activities at Colby-Sawyer. Allison had a chance to see Cynthia’s father in FL, after which Cynthia’s father called Cynthia to reminisce about the special parent weekends. During a visit to Salt Lake City, Allison Faccone had lunch with Cynthia and Janet Haskell ’77, both of whom were on the board of the UT Museum of Natural History. Cynthia would love to reconnect with Joan Desmarais ’80. On June 29, 2013, here in New London, I married Tom Rubin, a high school friend I reconnected with 9 years ago at our 30th high school reunion in NY. My Heidelberg housemate Suzie Horrigan Campbell ’77 and her husband, Ron, were 2 of the 130 who attended the wedding and reception. Despite a very rainy June, we were
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Jody Hambley Rubin ’78 married Tom Rubin in June 2013. Suzanne Horrigan Campbell ’78 (far right) and her husband, Ron (far left), celebrated the occasion with the happy couple.
(L–R) Patricia Collins Duffey ’78, Cindy White Asadorian ’76, Maureen Bertone ’77 and Debbie Bray Mitchell ’77/’79 at a Burpee Dorm mini-reunion.
blessed with a beautiful sunny day. After a 12-day honeymoon in Italy, Tom is living in Houston on assignment as a project manager at Exxon-Mobil, and I am in New London. Tom and I also attended Suzie and Ron’s daughter Jessica’s wedding in North Conway, NH, last August.
1979 Debbie Bray Mitchell 17 Rope Ferry Road Hanover, NH 03755-1404 (603) 643-6536 dbraymitch@gmail.com
1980 Natalie “Lee” Hartwell Jackson 866 Audubon Drive Bradenton, FL 34209 (941) 730-2353 LifeGrd121@aol.com Mary Ellen Blatchford Walker is still at UVM College of Medicine working on more than 80 clinical trials. She’s traveled to Germany, Italy and Cape Cod with husband Dale, who served in the VT Air National Guard. They have 2 daughters: Kara, 26, and Erin, 28. Patricia Joy
(L–R) Janet Mahon Vincze ’78, Carolyn Place Dickinson ’80, Margaret Murphy Crossen ’78 and Sue Eilertson Haber ’78 enjoyed a get-together in Boston.
Debbie Bray Mitchell ’77/’79 and former Colby-Sawyer President Nick Muller.
Stewart visited Karen Griffiths Smith ’78 and her family in VT. They share a joy for singing in the Bel Canto choral group. She’s living in Dover, NH, and has a private practice in counseling for children and families in Amesbury, MA. Patricia mentioned that Kay Kendrick Reynolds started an Abbey Hall page on Facebook. Carolyn “Kim” Hamilton Schwartz has been living in Boxford for 18 years. Her son is a junior at U of DE, and her daughter is a junior in high
school. Kim is getting her yoga teacher certification and has seen Nancy Breen, Mary Beth Cosgrove, Virginia “Sis” Clark ’79, Marcia Brodhead, Alison Scarry and others. Alison Scarry is living in Amesbury, MA, and has been at Lawrence General Hospital for 27 years as the laboratory director. She shared that Nancy Breen is founder and director of the Hilton Winn Farm in Ogunquit, ME. Amy Tauchert is moving from Newburyport, MA, to Kensington, NH, with her partner of 8 years, Peter, to allow more family time with children and grandchildren. She’s worked for Timberland for 20 years. She still keeps in touch with Taylor Fox Thompson, Crisse MacFadyen and Mary Marengi. As for me, Natalie “Lee” Hartwell Jackson, I am loving life here in FL. My 4 daughters are out of college, 2 with a BS in health administration, another with her master’s and a doctorate. I enjoy working in the medical field as well. I always keep in touch with my roommate Jane Reed Fecto ’79—she’s doing well in Marlborough, NH.
1981 Pam Aigeltinger Lyons 436 Round Hill Road Saint Davids, PA 19087 (610) 989-0551
Colby-Sawyer Flashback: Do you recognize the dancers in the photo above? If so, please contact College Archivist Kelli Bogan at kbogan@colby-sawyer.edu or (603) 526-3360.
1982
1987
Correspondent Needed
Kym Printon Fischer 10 Gordon Road North Reading, MA 01864-2014 (978) 664-4048 mkjfischer@yahoo.com
1983 Gail Smart Scibelli 1 Seal Harbor Rd., Apt. 815 Winthrop, MA 02152-1026 (516) 767-5154 gscibell@organic.com
1984 Lisa Reon Barnes 1627 Ala Wai Blvd., Apt. 306 Honolulu, HI 96815 (978) 443-6816 lisarbarnes@hotmail.com
1985 Correspondent Needed
1986 Correspondent Needed
I am so excited to be the new class correspondent! It was great to hear from a couple classmates, but I would love to hear from many more. After 8 years of living in the Atlanta area, Brooke Bero moved back to New England in 2010. She’s busy traveling the world and recently visited her 50th country, Peru. While there, she completed a “lodge to lodge” hike over the 15,000-foot peak on the Salkantay Pass on her way to Machu Picchu. Sandra “Sofa” Couch-Kelly is in Portland, ME, and working part-time
in her private practice. She’s also president of the Junior League of Portland and co-leader of her 2 girls’ Girl Scout Troops. After studying sports science at CSC, Robin Rainie-Lobacz moved to FL, where she received her master’s degree in PA. She’s been living in CA for 10 years doing sports medicine for the Marines at Camp Pendleton. Robin and her husband, Kenzie, also own a boat brokerage business, selling and buying used boats for clients. Laura Hoffman Ely is a health coach specializing in cleanses, whole food nutrition and mindful living in Stonington, CT. Laura has been married to Rick Ely for 7 years and has Heather, 15, and Andrew, 17. She just completed a Half-Ironman in ME and is looking forward to some triathlons and thinking about doing a full Ironman. She touched base this year with Penny MacDonald Sirjane ’86 and Sharman Hayward ’88. As for me, Kym Printon Fischer, I’m back in the Boston area after living in FL, NYC and Atlanta. I’m a stay-at-home mom with 2 young children and am active with their school and outside activities. I’m on the PTO board and recently ran our school’s fundraising auction. I’m also busy being a room parent, CCD teacher and Brownie leader. Jack is 10
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Trout Fishing in America Joanne Candler Linehan ’86 The distance from Vero Beach, Fla., to Troy, Mont., is almost 3,000 miles, and more than 4,000 when you include a detour to New London, N.H. For Joanne Candler Linehan ’86, it was a journey 25 years in the making. After growing up in Vero Beach, she came to ColbySawyer as a Child Study major. When her boyfriend Tim Linehan headed to Montana and sent back reports about how wonderful the Rocky Mountains were, she followed him west. More than two decades later, Tim and Joanne are the husband-and-wife proprietors of Linehan Outfitting Company in their adopted state of Montana. “I’m fortunate to be in an industry and own a business that allows me to meet people from all walks of life every day,” said Joanne. Based in the
northwest corner of Montana, the Linehans specialize in fishing trips along the Kootenai and Clark Fork Rivers and hunting excursions in the Kootenai National Forest. Unlike better-known parts of the state, there the terrain features forested mountains and green valleys. Linehan Outfitting Company, founded in 1992, has built a stellar reputation. Tim serves as guide, and Joanne runs day-to-day operations. “As a smallbusiness owner, I have to wear many hats,” she said. “One minute I’m greeting guests; the next I’m mowing lawns, helping to pack out an elk, or setting guide schedules. I rarely know what I will be doing each day.” Joanne particularly enjoys cooking meals for their guests and has received much praise for her creative use of fresh, local food. In 2013 Tim was named Guide of the Year by fly-fishing powerhouse Orvis, the latest in a string of honors. “I love that my husband and I have created this business together and continue to be able to work together side-by-side,” said Joanne. “It’s not always easy, but it is rewarding in the end.”
Courtesy Photo
— Mike Gregory
Joanne Candler Linehan ’86 and husband Tim Linehan are proprietors of Linehan Outfitting Company in Montana.
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Learn more about Linehan Outfitting Company at http://www.fishmontana.com.
and loves all things related to sports (just like his dad); Bella is 8 and loves dance.
1988 Catherine Hood-Pittenger 117 Henry Clark Road Chapin, SC 29036 (803) 945-4449 wrappedjmj@bellsouth.net Lynne Walker lives in Lebanon, NH, with her 2 Maine Coon mixes, Lulu and Cosmo, and has a neuromuscular therapy practice in Norwich, VT. Prior to this, she was a graphic designer on both coasts and had her own design studio from 2000 to 2012. She’s been married and divorced and has been with the love of her life, Rick, for the past 2 years. Kathy Whalen and her daughter Tatum are thriving in Scituate, MA. Tatum is a U12 ski racer with the Franconia Ski Club out of Cannon Mountain. Kathy is the marketing manager for a nationwide ski retailer called Sun and Ski. She has a friend who just bought a house in New London, and Kathy gets to visit often! Lauren Forbes Mulvaney lives in southern Newport Beach, CA, with her husband, Brian, and their 4 daughters: Kylie, 18; Kendall, 17; and Katherine and Kennedy, 14. Kylie is a freshman at UC Berkeley. Kendall has committed to
playing soccer at U of Denver. Lauren and Brian are hoping that one if not both of the twins will make it to New England for college, close to family and friends. Lauren says the Class of ’88 has a nice network on Facebook, and 6 of them communicate regularly. Christina Pascual Colon lives on Long Island, NY. She was hit by Hurricanes Irene and Sandy. Christina’s daughters are very involved with soccer. Stephanie, 21, plays for Duquesne U and also helped the PR U-20 national team in the past World Cup with 2 goals. Thanks to her soccer involvement, Stephanie has visited China, England, Spain, Cuba and Haiti. Christina loves to tag along! Jackie, 15, also plays soccer; her JV team just won their high school championship after an undefeated season. Christina’s husband, Hector, is an Antilles Pirate. Christina still sails and enjoys photography. Gretchen Kolb Cauble credits her desire to become a preschool teacher/director to her experiences as a student teacher at Windy Hill. Gretchen says Janet Coggeshall Bliss ’71 was a true mentor and role model and wishes her all the best in retirement. This year Gretchen celebrates 25 years of owning and operating a private preschool in Chatham, MA.
Jennifer Hyora-Williams ’93, Suzanne Carlisle Stebenne ’89, Gretchen Kolb Cauble and I just returned from a visit to Colby-Sawyer. We gave ourselves a self-guided tour and were amazed by all the changes. The pool and sports center were awesome.
1989 Carrie Cherubino McGraw 311 Mountain Cloud Circle Highlands Ranch, CO 80126-2208 (720) 344-2612 mcgraw.carolyn@gmail.com Karen Roche Smith has opened her own business, Atlantic Healthcare Financial, which specializes in medical accounts receivables. Karen is married to Paul Smith, who works at Harvard U, and they have 2 children, Samantha in 5th grade and Steele in 1st. As for me, Carrie Cherubino McGraw, I’ve been a project administrator with Sports Authority for 2 years. I’ve been married for 12 years to Brian McGraw, and we have a son, Joseph, 9. I’ll teach him to ski this year at Copper Mountain.
(L–R) Jennifer Hyora-Williams ’93, Suzanne Carlisle Stebenne ’89 and Gretchen Kolb Cauble ’88 enjoyed a Colby-Sawyer mini-reunion during a recent visit to the college.
1990 Janette Robinson Harrington 13 Sherwood Road Hingham, MA 02043 (781) 749-2571 janetteharrington13@ gmail.com
1991 Gretchen Garceau-Kragh 315 Adams Street San Antonio, TX 78210 (210) 226-7079 shoeless94@hotmail.com
1992 Beth Bryant Camp PO Box 671 New London, NH 03257 (603) 526-2563 ecamp@colby-sawyer.edu Jenn Barrett Sawyer 57 Field Road Marstons Mills, MA 02648-2108 (508) 428-9766 jjmasawyer@comcast.net
Hello, Class of ’92, and thanks to those who sent their updates. Kelly Lynch Collins is doing email marketing for the Emerging Verticals business units at eBay. They’re doing a lot of propensity testing and segmentation of their buyer audience, so there’s never a dull moment. Amy Koskey Kurja is busy with the kids’ school activities and sports. They purchased ski passes to Cannon this year and would love to see any CSC alumni out on the mountain. Patty Fazio writes, “I’ve put my business degree to work in many ways, currently as a purchasing manager for a German-based manufacturing company here in the Sunapee region. In the last 12 years I’ve also been teaching motorcycle safety courses for the State of NH and Harley-Davidson. Kudos to Janet Coggeshall Bliss ’71 and Margaret
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Copeland, and the teachers at Windy Hill, as their influence has really benefited my students’ learning.” Patty has 2 sons in Boston; Ian graduated from Franklin Pierce U with a degree in anthropology. Sam spent 2 years traveling and is studying music electronics and jazz at the Berklee College of Music. Patty’s passion for art has finally found its niche in oil painting and design, and she has a small business recycling, reworking and reselling found objects and architectural salvaged pieces. Brenda Manus White is teaching at the Windy Hill School on campus. She and her husband, Dave, started a bread baking business called Blakeney’s Bakery out of their home, and they set up at the Contoocook Farmers Market. Brenda’s son Jay, 19, is in his 2nd year at Merrimack College studying athletic training and is a starting punter/ kicker on the football team. Daughter Sloane, 16, is a junior and looking at colleges to pursue a career in business.
1993 Dawn Hinckley 986 Briarcliff Drive Santa Maria, CA 93455-4152 (618) 719-7184 prettygyrl911s@juno.com
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1994
Street Chop Shop received the 2013 Hidden Jewel Award from the Phantom Gourmet! I see Kevin McGovern all the time, along with Chris Andriski. I also recently hung out with Sara Goodridge Cassinelli ’98 and Mark Cassinelli, Andrew Ferguson and Todd Miller ’93.”
Julie Camp 254 Mill Road Hampton, NH 03842 (603) 601-2322 camp_julie@hotmail.com Stacey Banks Nieman 8192 Settlers Way Nashville, TN 37221 (757) 416-1203 sniemana@gmail.com Dana Healy Commesso is busy with her 2 girls. Gianna was a 2013 New Year’s Day baby and arrived almost 2 months early! Dana continues to work on her doctorate and is teaching at UMass Boston. She is also the undergraduate/graduate program director in the exercise and health science program. Anthony Barbier and his family moved to CA several years ago after he started working for Apple as a product engineering manager on displays. He and his wife recently adopted Zola from Ethiopia. They fell in love with her while doing work with their church in Addis. They have 6 children now and are working on a foundation to promote water safety for children called The Little Prince Foundation in memory of their son, Elliot.
Chris “Koz” Kozlowski ’95 and Christen Wallingford Kozlowski ’96 with their sons, Dom and Gabe.
1996
1995
1997
Caroline Miriam Herz 20 East 35th Street Apartment 7H NY, NY 10016 (646) 387-8946 carolineherz@gmail.com
Correspondent Needed
Kerrigan Stone got married in Feb. 2013. Christopher “Koz” Kozlowski writes, “The boys are 5 and 7 and doing well in school. They’ve moved on from hockey and are now into horseback riding, like their mom. They both want to get into skiing/snowboarding this winter at Gunstock. Christen Wallingford Kozlowski ’96 is doing well, too; the real estate world is starting to come back for her. My new company, Flat Iron Catering Co., is doing great. We have weddings booked on most weekends next summer and just booked a rehearsal dinner for recent CSC alums. The Orchard
Correspondent Needed
1998 Jamie Gilbert Kelly 10-2 Countryside Lane Middletown, CT 06457 sportsmassage01@ hotmail.com Chris Quint 130 Granite Street Biddeford, ME 04005 (207) 232-6470 christopher.quint@gmail.com Jamie Gilbert Kelly has a new position at work investigating internal theft. She had a great time celebrating the 15th Reunion with a couple classmates. Recently Jamie visited Nashville with her husband, where she caught up with Sarah Lidstone. Jamie is enjoying being a mom to her 9-month-old son, Owen.
1999 Correspondent Needed
2000 Tara Schirm Campanella 1223 Mission Drive Lemoore, CA 93245-4726 (252) 626-4655 taracampanella@ hotmail.com Jen Prudden Montgomery 147 Grove Street Melrose, MA 02176 (978) 852-2601 jprudden@yahoo.com I, Jennifer Prudden Montgomery, teach 3rd grade in Andover, MA, and enjoy life with my husband; our 17-month-old, Davis; and chocolate lab, Hinckley. I got to see Jessica Dannecker Gullo, Zanna Campbell Blaney and Jenn Caron Small ’01 this summer when we got together to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Jess’s
daughter. I also ran into Katie Sykes Follis and her family. Chuck Gaede is enjoying life as a dad to daughter Madden. He’s started an online lumber business, Woodbrowser, with Matt Hagerty ’02 and Tim Ingraham ’03. Zanna Campbell Blaney has started a job as the dean of student services at Bedford (NH) High School. Katie Sykes Follis is enjoying life with kids Caroline and Carter, and works for Merial. Jessica Dannecker Gullo and her husband welcomed their 1st child, Lucia, on Oct. 4. They live outside Chicago. Kate Lovell is working at the Berklee College of Music as an assistant to the dean. I, Tara Schirm Campanella, am back to CA after a brief tour in Key West. My husband was promoted to master chief, and they relocated us right back to where we just moved from last summer. Before moving I took a
Celebrating their 15th reunion in October were Andrea Peuschel Reilly ’98, Jamie Gilbert Kelly ’98 and Kim-Laura Boyle ’98.
(L–R) Katy Grow Heider ’00, Shannon Goodfellow Sherman ’00, Sarah Lloyd O’Connell ’01, Carla Tornifoglio Breen ’00, Tara Strand Balunis ’00 and Kristin Ozana Doyle ’01 enjoyed a mini-reunion last summer.
quick trip to Boston; it had been 4 years since I’d been home. I got to meet up with Maryellen Skulski Mitrano and Dina Cannata ’99 for 2 days of fun. Then I drove from FL to CA with the kids. Jennifer Wallerstein McPhee ’01 writes, “I’m living in downtown Phoenix doing the stay-at-home mom thing with my son, Cash.” Her family back east planned to make the trek out to the desert for Thanksgiving, and they planned to spend Christmas in Australia with Ben’s family. Carla Tornifoglio Breen writes, “I had a mini-reunion in Sept. with Katy Grow Heider, Shannon Goodfellow Sherman, Sarah Lloyd O’Connell ’01, Tara Strand Balunis and Kristin Ozana Doyle ’01. I’m still in Norton, MA, with my husband; we celebrated our 3rd anniver-
sary on Nov. 6. I’m on medical leave as a nurse because I’ve been battling Stage 4 colon cancer since July. With any luck, I will be done with treatment in Feb., and they think I will be cancer free then.” We all send you many prayers and well wishes, Carla.
2001 Kim Morrison Miller 8113 Rhudy Place Raleigh, NC 27612 (919) 788-9336 morrisonkimberly@ hotmail.com A few of you have moved and grown your families. Congratulations! Scott Lavigne reports, “I’m living in Salem, MA, and working in Boston as an assistant vice president at AEW Capital Management. This past spring I completed my 1st Half-Ironman
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triathlon and got hooked, so I did 2 more. I ran into Mike Mooney ’02 at the Pineland Farms 50k trail run where he was filming Zak Wieluns ’02, and again in VT, where we both completed the Half Ironman. Now I’m gearing up for my 1st full Ironman in Lake Placid this July.” Heather Cole writes, “After driving around the U.S. the summer of 2012 visiting the national parks, during which I got to see Jenny Panther Dickerson ’02 and Jen Pesare, I relocated to Wapiti, WY. I work as a private tour guide in Yellowstone National Park and as a contributing member of a photography gallery in Cody, WY. This year on trips back to VT, I visited with Michael Derr ’02, Colin Anderson ’03 and their families.” Danica Letarte Medeiros and her family purchased a home in Reading, MA, in 2013. She often gets together with Susanne Day Teachout. Maranda
These alumnae enjoyed the opportunity to catch up last summer. Pictured are (L–R) Danica Letarte Medeiros ’01 with daughter Natalie, Susanne Day Teachout ’01 with daughter Sophie and son William, and Maranda Egerdahl Crockett ’01 with daughter Oceanna and son Payson.
Egerdahl Crockett stopped in Danica’s new house for lunch on her travels from MD to ME in Aug. Sarah Outten Horan lives in Northampton, MA, with her husband, Michael, and their 2 dogs. Brooke Morin Black, her husband and her 3-year-old son, Ethan, moved from CT to Charleston, SC, in May after the birth of their 2nd child, Harper, in March. Brooke teaches history and coaches lacrosse, just not full-time this year.
Heather Cole ’01 riding her horse, Chewy, with friends in Yellowstone National Park.
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2002 Nikki Fowler Martin 26 Pine Crest Drive Spofford, NH 03462 (603) 363-2011 nicole.martin3@gmail.com Cheryl Lecesse Richardson 429 Cabot Street Number 1L Beverly, MA 01915-3153 (978) 998-4886 cheryllecesse@gmail.com Debbie Panza Brenner and her husband, David, welcomed twins Matthew James and Katelyn Rose on Sept. 1, 2012. Debbie is working full-time at Second Start Alternative High School and lives in Concord, NH. Neill Ewing-Wegmann is a busy dad with a 4-year-old and a 9-year-old. He also paints in his studio and finds new ways to share his artwork in galleries and online. Kelsey Barberi LaPerle writes, “I hung up my roller derby skates earlier
this year after 3 fast-andfurious years. I then ran my 1st half-marathon in April and my 2nd in Oct. In July my husband and I spent 9 days in AK to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.” Mitchell Leet lives with his wife, Brittany, in Chesterfield, NH. They were married Nov. 3, 2012, at Stratton Mountain and welcomed 1st son, Levi Mitchell, on Nov. 1, 2013. For the past 10 years Mitch has been working in the family business selling exterior building products to New England, and in Jan. 2013 he took over the business. Brendan Carney and Jenny Buck Carney live in the Boston area with son Baxter, who enjoys sleeping with his skateboard and surfing on his boogie board. Brendan maintains a private practice in Newton and works at 2 satellite clinics, the Osher Clinical Center for Integrative Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and 360 Neuromuscular Therapy in Newton. Brendan’s enrolled in a specialty course of dry needling in Washington, D.C., which uses soft tissue manipulation to correct functional movement patterns and decrease musculoskeletal pain. Kevin Maccioli and Kelly Raiano Maccioli ’03 welcomed additions to the family on Sept. 1. Twins Nicholas and Juliette were 8.5 weeks early but
are doing well and have been home since early Oct. getting to know their big brother, Daniel. Pilar Bescos Brackett writes, “My family and I are in Methuen, MA. I continue to support children and families through a local early intervention program as a developmental educator. I work with 2 of my favorite alumnae, Kathryn Brett Gouveia and Nicole Sheppard DeGennaro ’03. My son, Evan, 4.5, is a budding author-illustrator and Sofia, 2.5, is a playful, dancing storyteller. I reconnected with Sara Hammond ’01 and Michele Favre ’03.” Amy Birner Peterson started a job as the marketing manager at Blake’s All Natural in Concord, NH, which makes organic and all-natural frozen meals sold nationally. Jacob Jarvela took a job in the creative department at New Chapter in Brattleboro, VT, a vitamin company in the natural market. Jacob; his wife, Elizabeth; and their son, Peter, relocated to Keene, NH, at the beginning of
“Tri-coastal” Neill Ewing-Wegmann ’02: Whimsical Art Belies Social Commentary Neill Ewing-Wegmann ’02 At first glance, the paintings of Neill Ewing-Wegmann ’02 are whimsical creations rendered in bold, psychedelic colors, populated with comical monkeys, robots and octopus. A closer look reveals details that undercut the whimsy: smoke billows from factory chimneys; backgrounds loom over foreground figures; unsettling gears and cogs suggest the mechanization of modern life. EwingWegmann has created a striking body of work in acrylic paint and marker on canvas and paper that is visually arresting and socially aware. Ewing-Wegmann majored in Graphic Design and is a designer at a printing company in Portland, Maine. The Maine native spent his formative years in California before returning home at the age of 12. He has also spent much time in his parents’ home state of Louisiana, and jokes that he is “rather tri-coastal.” This exposure to different environments has been influential. “A lot of my artwork is a commentary on industrialization, pollution, and getting used to these things as part of our landscape,” said Ewing-Wegmann. “I grew up in Los Angeles, and now here I am in Maine, and it’s pristine and beautiful. It is a major contrast, but still there are these
Neill Ewing-Wegmann ’02 creates art that is visually arresting and socially aware. factories and smokestacks, which are a big part of my work.” Ewing-Wegmann lives in Westbrook, near Portland’s thriving art scene. His work is frequently shown in local galleries and beyond. It has been featured in a social media marketing campaign by New Hampshire-based Stonyfield Farm. Classmate Amy Birner Peterson ’02, who works for the yogurt manufacturer, contacted Ewing-Wegmann, and he agreed to be the featured “Artist of the Day” on May 11, 2013. His artwork adorned Stonyfield’s Facebook page, allowing him to reach a sizable new audience and direct traffic to his own Facebook page. “It created a lot of excitement and buzz, as well as some legitimacy,” said the artist. “When people see a brand that’s very recognizable associated with an artist, that definitely gets their attention and provides a boost.” — Mike Gregory
Mitchell Leet ’02 and his wife, Brittany, on their Nov. 2, 2012, wedding day.
Learn more about Neill Ewing-Wegmann’s art at http://neillewingwegmann.com and https://www.facebook.com/neills.art. Spring 2014
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spent some time with Mark Miller ’02 this summer in ME. Krista Owens Soverino and her husband, Jason, welcomed a daughter on Sept. 22. The Soverino family is doing well.
2004 Mark Miller ’02 and his daughter, Cameron.
Jacob Jarvela ’02 with his wife, Elizabeth, and children Daphne and Peter during a trip to the apple orchard.
the year, and their daughter, Daphne, was born in March. Kimberley Snow is living in NJ; for the past year she’s been working for NJ Child Protective Services as a caseworker.
2003 Lisa Noyes Hardenbrook 18 Hampton Towne Estates Hampton, NH 03842 (603) 292-6964 litha81@hotmail.com
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These alumnae gathered for a baby shower in honor of Mechilia “Chile” Eng-Salazar ’01. (L–R) Sarah Price Tschorn ’02, Mechilia, Heidi Allen Goodrich ’01 and Stephanie Vickers Heddon ’02.
Eric Emery PO Box 8 Quechee, VT 05059 (603) 359-9844 e_rock04@hotmail.com
I want to thank everyone who visited Colby-Sawyer for Alumni Fall Festival. I saw many faces from the Class of ’03, and we certainly had a full group on the steps of Colgate for our class picture. I had a great time walking around campus with Natasha Deane O’Donnell, Kayde Czupryna Gower and our families. We ran into Liz Joseph, who just celebrated her 10-year mark as a high-risk labor and delivery/newborn nursery nurse at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. She and her husband also just bought their “forever home” in Hartford, VT, and are busy with daughter Charlotte. Jaz Kirchdorfer McCormick moved from Miami to Boca Raton, FL. She’s working on her doctorate in special education and is researching autism and related disorders. Jaz was able to make it up to the
Mary Lougee Lambert 65 Church Street Newport, NH 03773 (617) 688-3550 Mary.F.Lambert@gmail.com
mountain for the first alumni lacrosse game and also got to spend time with fellow alums Katie Louzek ’02, Erica Pockell, Kim Snow ’02, Rob Ryder, Eric Keskula and Tia Holt ’04, and her former teammates Jess Wilfert and Meredith Buzzi. Meredith Buzzi is now the winningest coach in Kenyon College women’s lacrosse history! Her team also won the first NCAC Championship for the program last season. Michelle Labrie Strand and Matt Strand visited with Mark Miller ’02, his wife, Eli, and their new daughter, Cameron, in Portland, ME. The Strand family also visits Brian Schrader ’04 and Becky Boardman Schrader ’06 often, as they live in Concord, NH. Matt and Michelle enjoy spending time with their daughter, Olivia, 4. They also
Sarah Crete writes that volleyball Head Coach Brett Sayer “proposed at the CSC volleyball home opener in Sept. The entire team orchestrated the proposal. Brett is the head
Matt Strand ’03, Michelle Labrie Strand ’03 and their daughter, Olivia, spent some time with Mark Miller ’02 in Maine.
volleyball coach and assistant sports information director.”
2005
Jenni Beaulieu Calvi moved to TX with her husband and kids, Dominic and Gunner (Gunner was born April 19, 2013). Jenni still keeps in touch with Liz Reinecker Campbell and her family. Gwen O’Neil Beaudet and Chris Beaudet bought a 1st house in Merrimack, NH. Jacob Meyer and Nicole Smart live in Pembroke, NH, with their 3 rescue fur kids. They celebrated their 10-year anniversary of dating in Nov., having met their junior year at Colby-Sawyer. Jacob works for Walgreens and Easter Seals of NH, and Nicole works from home as an independent contractor doing data entry. They’ve taken up motorcycle riding; Nicole drives a Can Am Spyder and Jacob, a Harley-Davidson. Becca Bailey Wright has 3 children and is back to work full-time. Cody O’Leary has moved to Brooklyn and started work as a frontoffice manager at the NY Hilton Midtown, NYC’s biggest hotel. Jen Haagensen graduated
Courtesy Photo
Monica Michaud Miller 184 Whitney Street Auburn, ME 0421 (207) 577-7372 michaud_monica@ hotmail.com Meredith Buzzi ’03 coaches lacrosse at Kenyon College.
Kenyon’s Winningest Coach Meredith Buzzi ’03 Meredith Buzzi ’03 has been the head coach of Kenyon College’s Women’s Lacrosse team since 2007. To say that her tenure in Ohio has been successful would be an understatement. During six full seasons coaching, she has compiled a record of 65-30, making her the winningest coach in the program’s 40-year history. Last season Buzzi guided her team to its first conference championship. For her efforts she was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the third time and the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year for the second. The Williston, Vt., native was a standout lacrosse player at Colby-Sawyer while majoring in Communication Studies. “I kind of stumbled into lacrosse in high school,” said Buzzi. “It turns out that I was good enough to be a college player, and now it’s given me everything in my life, from friendships to traveling all over the nation and the world. It’s a game that I just want to be part of and give back to, because it gave me everything I’ve got.”
Buzzi is particularly thankful to former Colby-Sawyer coach Jill Donovan for helping to guide her career, which involved more than simply recruiting her to play lacrosse. Four years after graduating, Buzzi was the assistant women’s lacrosse coach at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., when Donovan, the outgoing coach at Kenyon, contacted her. She asked if Buzzi was interested in moving to a coaching position. Buzzi leaped at the chance to follow in her former coach’s footsteps. Last season’s championship was particularly sweet for Buzzi. In their two previous appearances in the big game, Kenyon had faced Wooster and lost. “They had beaten us at their field and beaten us at our field,” said Buzzi. Facing their archrival again in the championship game, the coach and her staff inspired her players with a “heroes and villains” storyline. The third time proved to be the charm as the Kenyon women topped Wooster 14-9 and earned themselves a place in the NCAA Division III tournament. “Besides my graduation day from Colby-Sawyer, that was probably the best day of my life,” said Buzzi. — Mike Gregory Spring 2014
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Jen Haagensen ’05 graduates from medical school.
Alumni and friends enjoying a get-together at Wachusett BrewFest were (back row, L–R) Mike Savage, Tia Holt ’04, Dayna Selvitella Carignan ’04, Lauren Palma Katz ’04, Mike Carignan ’05 and daughter Annabelle, Tommy Nigreli and daughter Makenna, (middle row, L–R) Allison Huckabee Stenson ’04, Karen Salvo Nigreli ’04, (front row, L–R) Adam Katz and Tristan Stenson.
as well. She competed in her 2nd ING Hartford 5K in Oct., finishing 2 minutes ahead of last year. Ellen was again a member of the Penguin Plunge; this past year her team raised more than $3,000 for Special Olympics CT. Ellen’s biggest news is that she’ll be part of Team CT at the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games in NJ. Good luck, Ellen! Melissa Ricker is engaged to Gordon Krantz ’04. They
In September the Colby-Sawyer women’s volleyball team helped Coach Brett Sayer propose to Sarah Crete ’04. She said, “Yes.”
from medical school and will complete her intern year of residency at Hahnemann U Hospital in Philly. In July 2014 she’ll move to Baltimore to complete a residency training in neurology at the U of MD. Jen also got to meet her twin nieces, Charlotte
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and Aubrey Haagensen, in HI. Speaking of busy, Ellen Kirsch is no exception. In addition to the coaching certification she already has in track and field, she became a certified coach for Special Olympics bowling and is pursuing a bocce coach certification
Monica Michaud Miller ’05 and her husband, Chris Miller, on their July wedding day.
live in Peabody, MA. Melissa is a speech and language pathologist, and Gordon is a social worker. They traveled to HI and had an amazing time. Heidi Auclair Morway married Justin Morway on June 8, 2013. They live in Williston, VT, home of Morway’s Moving and Storage Company, which they own. I, Monica Michaud Miller, married Chris Miller on July 13, 2013, in Lewiston-Auburn, ME. We traveled to Las Vegas for our honeymoon for a week.
2006
Heidi Auclair Morway ’05 and Justin Morway on their June wedding day.
Doug Cote 11190 Lady Jane Loop Apartment 302 Manassas, VA 20109 (703) 751-0276 dcote@ american-frontiers.com
Ellen Kirsch ’05 (2nd from left) will be part of Team Connecticut at the 2014 Special Olympics Games in N.J. Nic DeZenzo ’08 wed Analiese DeZenzo on Aug. 10. Having some fun at the wedding were (L–R) Dan O’Brien ’08, Kevin Fleurie ’06, Steph Kimball ’08, Nic, Analiese, Ashley Grant Davis ’08, Tyler Davis ’08 and Toni Soto ’08.
Becca Bailey Wright ’05 and her family.
2007
2008
Stephanie Jaques Guzzo 23243 Rosewood Court Apartment 1025 California, MD 20619-4077 (603) 465-9580 stephanie.guzzo@gmail.com
Sarah Heaney Pelletier 3 Birch Lane Center Tuftonboro, NH 03816 (603) 930-5433 sh.heaney@gmail.com
Michael Murphy and Krystle Martin Murphy ’08 (bottom) pictured with their wedding party, which included bridesmaids (from the top) Jenna Jordan ’08, Kyla Cloak Small ’08 and Brittany Marcy ’08.
Class of ’08, I hope this finds you well. A big thank you to everyone who sent updates! Topher Dubay is doing well with his business, Red Stallion Media, an all-in-one creative video shop. They’ve recently done work for Keurig, Boston Market and Lindt Chocolate. This fall John Bosse competed in his 1st natural bodybuilding con-
test; he won 1st place in the Open Heavyweight Class at the Granite State Open NGA Pro Qualifier and took 2nd place in the Open Heavyweight Class at the 2013 INBA World Cup Pro Qualifier. Liz Knights is an RN in the Emergency Department at Concord Hospital. In the last year she has purchased a home and
Melissa Ferrigno Page 42 Wolf Road, Unit 1112 Lebanon, NH 03766 (603) 763-1018 ferrig015@hotmail.com Ashley Helen Rodkey 56 Meetinghouse Road Pelham, MA 01002 (413) 253-7867 rodkeyah@yahoo.com
adopted a puppy with her fiancé. Charlie Belvin started as a graphic designer at Progressive Specialty Glass in Plainville, CT. Kyle Koch Taylor teaches biology, health, wilderness skills, and anatomy and physiology at Midland School in Los Olivos, CA. Krystle Martin Murphy married Michael Murphy
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Celebrating the marriage of Erin Bancroft Downer ’09 and David Downer on August 3, 2013, are (L–R): Jackie Burnett ’10, Kelsey Schieren ’09, Chelsea Gill ’09, Stevi Valle ’09, Tom White ’09, Ellen Naughton ’09, Kayt Racz ’09, Shawn Kitchcart ’07, Emma Pasquale ’09, Erin, Kali Coleman ’09 and Kristen Romanko Read ’09.
on Sept. 14 in Enfield, NH. Her bridesmaids included Brittany Marcy, Kyla Cloak Small and Jenna Jordan. Heather Peabody Hardy gave birth to Charleigh Adelyn on July 15.
2009 Nicole Poelaert Costanzo 261 Forest Street Pembroke, MA 02359-3315 (339) 244-4473 npoelaert@yahoo.com
cystic fibrosis. She helped her Cycle for Life team and family raise more than $14,000 toward research, medical and education programs. Elizabeth Cressman has been teaching at Next Generation Children’s Centers and was nominated to participate in their Leadership Program! She’s enjoyed learning the ins and outs of early childhood administration. She
Elizabeth Mary Cressman 11 Worcester St., Apt. 8 Grafton, MA 01519-1560 (978) 828-4414 ecressman1986@yahoo.com This fall has been busy for the class of ’09—lots of bells ringing! But before we get into all the weddings: Nicole Poelaert Costanzo and her husband have been fundraising for
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Sara Devin ’09 (l) and Aly Good ’09 (r) attended the recent graduation ceremony of Erica Overfield from George Washington University.
Ryan Laperle and Miranda Roma Laperle ’09 tied the knot on July 6, 2013. Alumni at the celebration were (L–R) Lauren Campiglio ’10, Matt Cole ’11, Miranda, Jon Madge ’10, Ryan Laperle ’09, best man Al Axelsen ’09, Krystal Knowlton ’09, Julie Thurston ’09, Taylor Mango Therrien ’09, Heather Watts ’09 and Steve Rogers ’06.
also joined a rock climbing team. Jeanine Audet is attending UNC-Chapel Hill for a master’s in early childhood intervention and family support and spends time with Allison Allen at Tar Heels football games. Kristen Romanko Read married Ben Read on June 2 on Cape Cod. They were surrounded by CSC love and support from wedding party Megan White Woodacre ’10, Kim Shannon ’10 and Ellen Naughton. One of those was bride-to-be Erin Bancroft Downer, who married David Downer on Aug. 3, in Moretown, VT. Erin is a high school English teacher in northern VT, where they live. On Aug. 16, in Saratoga, NY, Lauren Wasiczko Lair married Wayne Lair with Devin Zylak ’10 as a bridesmaid and Kathryn Mirick in attendance. Ryan
Laperle and Miranda Roma Laperle tied the knot on July 6. They live in Bethel, ME, with their dog, Monty. Ryan is the head athletic trainer at Gould Academy and Miranda is a mental health counselor at Tri-County Mental Health Services. Chantalle Pelletier moved back to New London and accepted a position as a research
Kathryn Mirick ’09 (l) with Lauren Wasiczko Lair ’09 (r) at her Aug. wedding.
associate with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in their neuropsychiatry department. She does neuropsychological testing with clinical patients and works on neuroscience research at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
2010 Neil Mark May 1 Valley Street Derry, NH 03038 (603) 425-6727 neilmay10@gmail.com Megan Ruggiero joined Hasbro, Inc. as an associate publishing manager and is working with licensees including IDW Publishing; MerriamWebster; Scholastic; and Little, Brown and Company. She also writes for The Electric Feast, an
Kristen Romanko Read ’09 married Ben Read on June 2 on Cape Cod.
entertainment and pop culture website run by CSC alums. Danielle Bowen married Chris Huyler on Sept. 7. Linnea Williams ’11 married Andrew Stewart on Aug 7 and lives in Fort Bragg, NC. Amanda Jones Doucette married Brian Doucette ’09 on Sept. 20 at the Villa at Ridder Country Club in East Bridgewater, MA. Congratulations to all!
2011 Jaycee McCarthy 1220 W Roscoe Street 2nd Floor Chicago, IL 60657 jmccarthy.07@ my.colby-sawyer.edu Katie Murray lives in Burlington, VT, and works at Fletcher Allen Health Care as a clinical research coord-
Amanda Jones Doucette ’10 and Brian Doucette ’09 were married on Sept. 20. Alumni on hand for the celebration were (back row, L–R) Alex DeNuzzo ’10, Sarah Zirnkilton ’10, Genny Moore ’10, Ryan Murray ’09, Mark Nailor ’10, Max Johanson ’10, Shayln McEntire ’10, Trevor Davis ’08, Julia Steese ’09, (middle row, L–R) Liz Cotreau ’10, Michelle “Mickey” LaPan ’10, (front row, L–R) Brittany Mailman ’10, Kim Shannon ’10, Amanda and Brian. inator in adult oncology. She achieved her Clinical Research Certification through the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. Every day she gets to share a bit of hope with
her cancer patients by providing them opportunities for participation in research trials. Emily Dionne Foster finished a 2nd associate’s degree in business administration
The happy couple was surrounded by CSC love and support! Pictured are (standing, L–R) Kayt Racz ’09, Erin Bancroft ’09, Melissa Pillsbury ’09, Terri Duffy ’10, Genny Moore ’10, the bride and groom, Emma Pasquale ’09, Kali Coleman ’09, Megan White Woodacre ’10, Justin “Winslow” Woodacre ’10, Stevi Valle ’10, Chelsea Gill ’09, Tom White ’09, Sammi Lehr ’13, Shawn Kithcart ’07, Michelle Doody ’11, Coach Brett Sayer, (kneeling, L–R) Coach George Martin, Kim Shannon ’10, Ellen Naughton ’09 and Jackie Burnett ’10. Spring 2014
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Alumni participating in the annual alumni swim meet were (L–R) Ryan Martin ’10, DJ Poulin ’11, Nick Laurence ’09, Owen Worden ’12, Betsy Berkenbush ’08, Dave Mikita ’10, Hannah Fairbank ’13, Jim Montanari ’13, Allie Hesketh ’13, Emily Olson ’13, Mandy McCusker ’11, Rachel Murad ’13, Morgan Parker ’12, Sarah Listewnik Anzalone ’04 and Jessica Harris Mirabella ’04.
and management with a focus in hospitality. She was also married in Sept. Jill Dunn teaches 7th grade social studies at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School and coaches varsity rugby for the city. Sarah Lewis is an IT project manager for MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA, and is enrolled in an MS program in project and program management at Brandeis U. She’s living in Boston with Brittany Goodhouse and works at a restaurant called The Tip Tap Room in Beacon Hill as time allows.
2012 Courtney Pike 40 Terry Hill Road Fairlee, VT 05045 (802) 522-0711 pike.c@husky.neu.edu
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Kassandra Pike 1703 Route 5 Norwich, VT 05055 (802) 522-0158 kassandra.pike@gmail.com On Sept. 23 Alyssa Tamlyn-Hayden started a new job with Brandeis U in Waltham, MA, as a department coordinator for the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. Katy Brodeur is an RN at DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center in the Hematology Oncology Special Care Unit and cares for patients who receive bone marrow transplants. She writes, “I’ve become chemotherapy certified and enjoy seeing Colby-Sawyer future nurses all over the hospital.” Right after graduation, James Tobin started full-time with John Flatley
Company. James writes, “I interned with this firm and was fortunate enough to come onboard full-time after Colby-Sawyer. Big shout-out to Dr. Gregory Austin for stressing the importance of an internship—it really does pay off!” Since graduation James has traveled to NYC, Atlanta and L.A. He adds that the Alumni Weekends have been great.
2013 Maria Cimpean 85 Winchester St., Apt. 6 Brookline, MA 02446 mcimpean.09@ my.colby-sawyer.edu The Class of ’13 has been busy! Katiuscia Correia spent the summer visiting family in Brazil, after which she started a job as an OR
Linnea Williams ’11 and Andrew Stewart on their wedding day.
nurse in the Perioperative Department at DHMC. Morgan Provencher is an RN at Concord Hospital. Katie Broughall is a phlebotomist at DHMC, and in her spare time she rescues kittens. Jose Diarte Ortiz is a research assistant at Consumer’s Medical Resource, a medical decision support company in MA. When he’s not working with oncology patients, he’s taking graduate-level classes at UMass Boston. Alanah Bacon is a graduate trainee for JLT Park in Bermuda, her home country, and is working toward an associate’s degree in general insurance. Stephanie Larpenter is a sales agent in combined insurance. Jacob Tibenkana is a sales rep for a business in Framingham, MA. Pengxiang “Sean” Ding is pursuing
an MS in finance at Bentley U, while fellow business graduate Anh Nguyen is pursuing the same degree at U of Rochester. Kristen White is working in the logistics department at Abcam in Cambridge, MA. Congratulations to Morganne Sterl, who was promoted and relocated to Fairfax County, VA, to work with fire departments in the area as manager of Globe CARES, a cleaning and repair services company. Devin Wilkie works full-time at his former internship site, Steerforth Press, as a publishing assistant and manages everything from broadcast media relations to financial data. He also took trips to Cape Cod, MD and NYC, where he represented a client at the NY Comic-Con. Of course, he couldn’t stay away from CSC, where he reunited with friends and profes-
sors Craig Greenman and Ann Page Stecker. Christina Winnett is pursuing an MA in higher education administration at Boston College and working with first-year undergraduate students as a graduate assistant in residence life. Joshua Hardy works in video production for Concord Community TV. Victoria Hersey is involved in the film industry. She’s a member of the New England Chapter of Women in Film and participates in monthly networking nights in Boston. Between that, attending the NH Film Festival and writing an article about it for The Electric Feast, and working as an assistant video editor for MapleLoft, she found time to do a handful of freelance projects, be involved in the “100 Head/ Heart/Feet” documentary, attend a Germany vs. USA
If the answer was yes, say “I do” at Colby-Sawyer. www.colby-sawyer.edu/weddings
soccer match and edit a video of it for a blog, and, most recently, create a wedding video for Ye “Julia” Zhu ’12, who is now Julia Lam! Anne Sabean works at a children’s gym, where she teaches dance, gymnastics and basic sports skills to children ages 2 to 10. Lanxin Mi sends greetings from Pittsburgh, where she’s been working as a toddler teacher for Bright Horizons since Aug. Lauren Oberg enjoys working as a manufacturing technician for Olympus Biotech and says that Professor Thomas’s training served her well and really prepared her for the job. I, Maria Cimpean, am a technical research assistant in the Neurology Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and volunteer with Boston Inner City Outings.
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In Memoriam
In Fond Memory 1931 Elizabeth Grimes Smith—July 5, 2013 1932 Evelyn “Evie” Kelley—July 8, 2013 Barbara Wilson Lenox—April 29, 2012 1933 Harriette Sperry Leherissey—October 27, 2012 1934 Elizabeth “Libby” Tobey Erb—August 26, 2013 Rebecca Berry Cramer—December 14, 2011 Althea “Betty” Persons Archer—December 27, 2010
1942 Vera Prince—June 10, 2013 Audrey Rembe Sharpe—September 2, 2013 Jane Knowles Webb—November 1, 2013 Nancy Williams Hills—November 18, 2013 1943 Jean Thurman Ramsey—December 7, 2013
1936 Dorothy Wheeler Sanborn—June 29, 2013 Trude Brauner Rose—May 5, 2012 Genevieve Shaw Todd—January 25, 2012
1944 Phyllis Jones Collins—July 7, 2013 Jane Eddy Hutchinson—July 14, 2013 Anne Alpaugh Stone—August 9, 2013 Elizabeth Hale Robinson—August 15, 2013 Mary Helen Mitchell Williams—September 3, 2013 Jane Cowles Parmenter—December 7, 2013 Mary Percy Vaughan—December 24, 2013 Alice Rockwell Bridges—December 6, 2011
1937 Frances Sweet Gordon—March 4, 2011 Jeanne Miller Ewing—April 1, 2007 Dorothy Rosenfeld Dyer—January 10, 2004
1945 Jane “Pete” Peters Layton—April 30, 2013 Eileen ‘Lee’ Lutz White—June 6, 2013 Dorothy Johnson Thomas—October 10, 2013
1938 Margery FitzPatrick—May 19, 2013 Barbara Tracy Sandford—September 2, 2013 Janet Drabble—December 27, 2013
1946 Priscilla Edwards Nerbonne—August 6, 2013 Ruth Northridge Messer—September 3, 2013 Phyllis Birch—September 19, 2013
1939 Norma Nordlund Overbeck—December 19, 2013 Margaret McGahen Connors—November 10, 2011
1947 Marilyn “Marnie” Kachel Lorish—March 25, 2013 Natalie “Talie” Johnson Whitney—October 15, 2013 Barbara Rogerson Dean—October 15, 2007
1935 Frances Crosby Allen—June 21, 2013 Katharine Field Hinman—December 13, 2013 Miriam Roderick Grace—November 1, 1998
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1940 Marion Besse Tucy—June 14, 2013 Thelma Corey Daniels—November 5, 2013 Katrina Sibley Fogarty—November 18, 2013 Adele Chesley Young—May 5, 2011
Colby-Sawyer College Magazine
1948 Phyllis McLoon—April 29, 2013 Jane “Jimi” Adams Darnell—May 2013 Elizabeth Wyman Chase—May 15, 2013 Virginia “Ginny” Orr Welsh—November 3, 2013
1957 Dr. Miriam Barndt-Webb—April 17, 2013
1949 Margaret Starbird Yanik—July 14, 2013 Jacqueline Cricenti Kelly—August 17, 2013 Nancy Perry Fogwell—November 25, 2013 Ruth Bahn Strasenburgh—December 9, 2013
1959 Susan Sherburne—February 5, 2011
1950 Anne Komarek Mudge—August 23, 2013 Sarah Williams Froslid—October 6, 2004
1963 Roberta Enscoe Stremic—December 19, 2008
1951 Ann Cuddeback Redmond—September 10, 2013 Barbara Nute Orr—October 24, 2013 Dorothy Redfield Brooks—October 26, 2012 1952 Joan MacColl Brennan—June 29, 2013 Linda Middlebrook Allen—October 28, 2013 Anne Isom Kauffman—June 11, 2010 1953 Adrienne Liddell Rider—May 16, 2013 Ellen Barrows VanWinkle—August 7, 2013 Betty Lou ‘Betts’ Withington Wells—November 16, 2013 1954 Cynthia Ames Hill—September 27, 2013 1955 Elizabeth Ann Rintels—November 30, 2011 1956 Patricia Lowry Keeley— January 5, 2014 Deborah Sullivan—July 7, 2013 Judith Albert Kapelson—March 19, 2012
1958 Holly Hughes Angellino—November 16, 2013
1962 Beverly Brookfield Kinraide—July 27, 2013
1964 Linda C. Jacobson—September 5, 2013 Judith Wyer—November 15, 2013 Joan Murgatroyd Spiker—March 18, 2010 1967 Bonnie McDonnell DuBrino—September 16, 2013 Jane Peterman—October 18, 2013 1975 Cathy Sunde Duda—September 30, 2012 1978 Sylvia Bonnette—August 2, 2013 1981 Kerry Shortall Youngstrom—October 30, 2013 Former Faculty Roger Daum—June 26, 2013 Former Staff Gladys Brooks—December 5, 2013
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In Memoriam
Trustee Emeritus Richard A. “Dick” Whiting Sr. by Kate Seamans
T
rustee Emeritus Richard A. “Dick” Whiting Sr. passed away on Oct. 17 in Charlottesville, Va. He was 90. Dick served on the Colby-Sawyer College Board of Trustees from 1988 to 1997 and was a loyal supporter of the Colby-Sawyer Annual Fund and the college’s aspirations. Active outdoors and in the communities he called home, he participated in golf, tennis, bridge and enjoyed caring for his dogs.
As a trustee of ColbySawyer College, Dick served on the Board Organization Committee and the Buildings and Campus Planning Committee for his entire term, and he was chair of the Buildings and Campus Planning Committee from 1988 to 1992. He also served on the Executive Committee. “Dick was a man of integrity. He was loyal, thoughtful and had an analytical mind. When I needed him he was
always there,” said Peggy A. Stock, president of Colby-Sawyer College from 1986 to 1995. “He was also able to laugh at himself, a trait I admired. I also liked his willingness to try something new. I will miss him.” Dick was born in Cambridge, Mass., on Dec. 2, 1922. He graduated from Belmont High School in 1940 and from Dartmouth College in 1944. He competed in football and track in high school, and in track and cross country while at Dartmouth. Dick served in the infantry and military intelligence in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945 and again from 1950 to 1952. Dick graduated from Yale Law School in 1949. After his military service, he practiced antitrust and trade regulation law for 37 years with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Steptoe and Johnson until his retirement in 1986. He
held several positions with the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law and served as its chair and delegate to the ABA’s House of Delegates in 1984 and 1985. During the Steptoe years, he authored several articles on antitrust subjects for professional journals. In 1984 Dick moved to Grantham, N.H., and immersed himself in his new community, serving twice as director of the Eastman Community Association and once as president. From 1985 to 1990 he was an adjunct professor at Vermont Law School, and he was president of the New London Country Squires (1993–1994) and of his Dartmouth class (1994– 1999). In 2007 Dick moved to Charlottesville to be closer to his family. Dick is survived by his five children, 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
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Trustee Emerita Jean Thurman Ramsey ’43 In Memoriam
by Kate Seamans
T
rustee Emerita Jean Thurman Ramsey ’43 passed away on Dec. 7 in Bedford, N.H., after a period of declining health. She was 89. An active alumna, Jean remained part of the life of Colby-Sawyer as alumnae director and served on the Colby-Sawyer College Board of Trustees from 1967 to 1971. Her dedication to higher education was also evident at other institutions: She was the assistant to the vice president of Development at Boston University and director of Public Relations and Alumnae Activities at Mount Saint Mary College in Hooksett, N.H. “Jean appreciated the important things in life, and Colby-Sawyer is better for her having considered our college one of them,” said Colby-Sawyer President Thomas C. Galligan Jr. “She gave back to her alma mater in every way possible: She helped strengthen us through her work as a staff member, she supported the Annual
Fund, and she advanced the goals of the institution through her years of service on the Board of Trustees. We thank her for her lifelong relationship and belief in Colby-Sawyer, and we hold her family in our thoughts.” Born in Des Moines on Feb. 17, 1924, the daughter of Bill and Margaret L. Donahue Thurman, Jean was raised in South Orange, N.J. She graduated from Columbia High School in 1941 and from Colby Junior College in 1943. Jean and her husband, Francis “Frank” O. Ramsey, who died in 2010, were married for 49 years. Jean always made time to connect with her community and was a volunteer at New London Hospital as well as a member of the New London Hospital Board of Trustees. In retirement Jean and Frank moved to Florida, where they enjoyed playing golf, and Jean volunteered at Parrish Medical Center and Good Samaritan Village.
Survivors include Jean’s sister, Ann Thurman Coombs; stepdaughter and partner, Julie Ramsey and David Crane; stepson and wife, Peter and Patricia Ramsey; stepson and wife, David and Sarah Ramsey; stepson, Kirk Ramsey; grandchildren, Baird, Catherine, Kelsey, Christian, Jennifer and Sarah; nieces, Linda and
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Christine; nephews, Michael, Kingsland and Robert; her many grandnephews and grandnieces; and many dear friends in New Hampshire and Florida. In addition to her husband and parents, Jean was predeceased by her brother-in-law, Sam, and her nephew, Bill.
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From the Archives
A Touch of Old England in New England: May Day at Colby-Sawyer by Anthony Despres ’15 & Rae Stokes ’16 with Kelli Bogan
The first May Day celebration at an accredited college took place in 1875 at Earlham College in Indiana. Soon after, May Day celebrations began to appear at colleges across the country, especially in New England. These colleges were new and trying to appeal to a growing population of female students. In May Day Festivals in America, Allison Thompson writes, College administrators of the period actively encouraged the creation of college traditions … These administrators … saw in the development
of school and individual class traditions a means to encourage solidarity and to create loyalty to the school. May Day was also good business for colleges. It helped to create an image for them and encouraged people to visit during the festivities. A May Queen (center) with her court. After it transitioned from an Academy, Colby Junior College formed an athletic association responsible for organizing events such as Mountain Day, Winter Festival and May Day. In 1928 students researched English May Day customs
using Jennette Lincoln’s text The Festival Book, which is still in ColbySawyer’s library collection. Marion Bailey ’30 of Kingston, Mass., was crowned Colby Junior College’s first May Queen in 1930. The student newspaper reported that secrecy became a key component of selecting the queen, who often was not announced until the moment of the crowning to heighten the celebration. Being selected May Queen was a great honor, and local newspapers covered the coronation. One newspaper wrote of a Colby Junior College queen,
Being selected May Queen was a great honor.
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Nancy [Carpenter] is a liberal arts student this year and holds numerous positions on campus. She
is the secretary of the Young Women’s Christian Association and is also a member of the Interfaith Commission. She is also a member of Colby Key and is a senior counselor. To top it all off, she is a member of the Music Club. Last summer she was one of the counselors at the Colbytown Camp on Lake Sunapee. During the May Day celebrations, Colby Junior College students, staff and faculty members would gather at the May Day location, usually the front lawn or the President’s House, and set up a May Pole. Ribbons were attached to the top of the May Pole, and students were chosen to twirl the ribbons around it in celebration.
tennis courts, where the Buzzin’ Dozen sang their first public performance. The appeal of May Day began to fade, however, both at Colby and nationally. The celebration at Colby Students celebrate spring 1941 with a festive dance in the president’s garden. Junior College was discontinued around 1956, only to be revived in 1964. The times were changing, though, with new ideas about women’s bodies and roles, and racial injustice. Students became hostile to old conventions and traditions associated with white In the 1930s students dressed as Robin Hood for a May Day Colby Junior College students dance privilege. pageant. around a May Pole in 1953. The pageant was put on for the pleasure of the queen. In early years the ceremony was under the direction of members of the physical education department. Later, the pageant was put on by the dance team or dance club. These pageants were usually themed and featured classic May Day characters such as Robin Hood and Maid Marian. The 1943 May Day celebration was described in the Kearsarge Beacon:
The theme of the pageant is May Days in England. The program is divided into three episodes, which are as follows: Episode I—Early Days in England were thought to have held a magic and mysterious significance. Episode II— In the time of Robin Hood, and for sometime afterwards, May Days took on a new tone. Sherwood Forest provided the setting in response to the necessity for feast, joy, and merriment. Episode III—Today, May Day
celebrations are symbolic of spring. Tribute is justly paid to the beauty, gayety, and freshness of the season.
The End of a Tradition The May Day celebration continued to evolve with a slew of new events. A Key Dance initiated by the junior class of 1948, for example, became part of the larger dance. In 1956 a shipwreck party and bonfire were held on the
“May Day survived longest in colleges that were relatively small, generally all-women’s, and frequently geographically isolated as well,” wrote Thompson. It helps to explain why May Day continued at Colby Junior College through the spring of 1970. During the celebration that year, the students of Colby Junior College staged peaceful protests, and the decision was made to discontinue the tradition.
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Learning to Write Epilogue
by Caren Baldwin-DiMeo, Director, Learning Services and Coordinator, Writing Services
M
y fiveyear-old daughter cannot yet print her name in a way that is meaningful to most people. It has begun to concern me. Her Gs are backwards. Her Ws and Ns run together like a giant zig-zag, and there is supposed to be an E in between. That E seems to orbit the rest of the letters like a satellite. I teach college composition, which is removed from handwriting. Still, this seems to be something she should be able to do, and a skill that I want to hurry along. But I don’t. I resist the urge to find some worksheets and have her practice. Despite the fact that I see younger children writing their names, I do
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not explain to her that she is perched at an important threshold in literacy acquisition; that once she writes her name, she will be able to say, “This is mine,” “I drew this,” or “I was here.” I want to tell her that I am anxious for her to write and read and find all of the joys that I have reaped from my relationship with the written word, but I wait. At work, in an office filled with her unsigned drawings, I meet with college students about their writing. One question permeates every meeting: “Why are you here?” It has many interpretations, and the answers are varied. The obvious ones are “I have a paper due,” or “My professor told me to get help.” At the beginning of this year, I posed this question in a group workshop with first-year students. Many sat silently. Others offered
the usual answers: money, career goals and parental expectations. All are valid reasons for getting an education. It is important that students see a connection between school and future goals. As the conversation drew to a close, one young man raised his hand tentatively. “I think it might make me a better person,” he said. “It might give me a better life.” That answer stands out as pretty awesome, but it is incomplete. This student understands why his education is important, but he does not yet know how it is important. This student is much like my daughter. He, too, is at a threshold, maybe even a series of thresholds, and with each door that he opens, he will make new
connections and forge new ways of knowing. Like all students, he will be called on to memorize facts and figures, but his real learning will not come from memorizing. It will come from learning how to decide what is relevant and where and how to invest his energy, love, money and time. As an educator, I must trust my students to uncover the relevance of the subject I teach. If I simply tell them what is meaningful and expect that they will follow my lead, I am undermining a fundamental lesson. As a parent, I am finding it more difficult to stick with my pedagogy. I have to trust that Gwen’s great interest in telling stories will lead her to want to write them down, that her beautiful drawings will lead her to want to sign them.
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