Holderness School Today Fall 2020

The Magazine of Holderness School

| FALL 2020

Inside: » 2020 BY THE NUMBERS » THE HOLDERNESS RESPONSE TO COVID-19 » A STRATEGIC DIRECTION FOR HOLDERNESS SCHOOL » CATCHING UP WITH WITH MARTY & PAUL ELKINS

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Kat Alfond ’90 Sandeep Alva Karyn Campbell Katie Crumbo Carolyn Cullen ’87 Bob Cunha Cecily Cushman ’11 Chris Davenport ’89 Andrew Davis Paul John Ferri Tracy Gillette ’89 John Hayes The Right Rev. Robert Hirschfeld Burgie Howard ’82 Chris Keating ’81 Rob Kinsley ’88 Flip Kistler ’85 Alex MacCormick ’88 Chip Martin ’88 Kevin Mattingly Joe Miles ’82 R. Phillip Peck Nell Reynolds, Chair Andrew Sawyer ’79 Harry Sheehy Matt Storey Sander van Otterloo ’94 Richard Vieira Chance Wright ’14 Sung You ’01 Please send notice of address changes to the Advancement Office, PO Box 1879, Plymouth, NH 03264, or advancement@holderness.org. ©2020 Holderness School.

EDITOR: Greg Kwasnik EDITORS EMERITI: Emily Magnus ’88 and Rick Carey GUEST CONTRIBUTORS: Rick Carey and Andrew Herring

DESIGN & PRODUCTION: Tessa Magnuson, Align Graphic Design, LLC PHOTOGRAPHY: Thea Dodds, Greg Kwasnik, Max Paro ’17 Holderness School Today is printed by Allied Printing on sustainably produced, chain-of-custody stock certified to Forest Stewardship Council ® (FSC ® ) standards.

HEADMASTER EMERITUS The Rev. Brinton W. Woodward, Jr.

HONORARY TRUSTEES Warren C. Cook Bob Hall Jim Hamblin ’77 Piper Orton ’74 W. Dexter Paine III ’79 Will Prickett ’81

FEATURES 2020 BY THE NUMBERS

THE HOLDERNESS RESPONSE TO COVID-19

A beautiful October morning above campus.

GROUNDED IN OUR GROWTH: A

CATCHING UP WITH WITH MARTY & PAUL STRATEGIC DIRECTION ELKINS FOR HOLDERNESS SCHOOL

DEPARTMENTS From the Schoolhouse..................................................................2 From the Editor.............................................................................. 3 Around the Quad........................................................................ 24 Athletics........................................................................................36 Employee & Trustee Updates.................................................... 40 Alumni Profiles............................................................................ 42 In Memorium................................................................................ 48 Class Notes...................................................................................52

BONUS CONTENT Meet the Teachers................ 24 Construction Updates......... 28 COVID-19 Bulls on the Front Lines........................ 44

At This Point in Time...................................................................76

Fall 2020 | 1

FROM THE SCHOOLHOUSE

FROM THE SCHOOLHOUSE

U

nprecedented. I’m not sure how many times I’ve written that word since the start of the pandemic, but in nearly every sense, this year has been unprecedented —most certainly in my thirty-seven years as an educator. Everything is just so different this year, from how we learn to how we interact with each other. It’s a challenge, but the moment is ripe with opportunity.

I’m reminded of my days of teaching Chinese history and culture. One lesson was particularly resonant and has been helpful in viewing these most unprecedented times.

The Chinese word for crisis is represented by the two characters danger and opportunity for change. The pandemic, financial distress, and social and political turbulence that The Smile of Phil Peck Shines Bright have been on vivid display this last year are certainly rife with danger; however, we can use this moment to embrace the opportunity we are pleased to share our new strategic plan with you. to learn, grow, and change. Those areas of growth are It’s a framework unique among independent schools that seen in how we confront three crises: how we adapt to the leads with probing questions, rather than declarations, COVID-19 pandemic, how we respond to issues of social to ensure we are making the best possible decisions for justice and racism, and how we keep Holderness financially Holderness and are open to changing and adapting. sustainable and accessible for generations to come.

In all of this, we’ve remained true to Holderness, focusing And, believe me, we’ve done a lot of learning. At this time on the people who make this school so great. You’ll meet last year, did I ever think our community would have an the wonderful new educators who have joined us this understanding of the efficacy of PCR nasal swab testing year, catch up with an iconic Holderness couple, see how or know how to deliver classes in person and online our remarkable alumni are doing, and honor the memory simultaneously? Certainly not, but our teachers and students of three longtime and deeply impactful colleagues. and the amazing folks in maintenance, housekeeping, dining services, and Livermore have met every single challenge I’ll say it again, it’s been an unprecedented year. That said, with an amazing attitude that is pure Holderness. we have dealt with crises before. As in the past, working together, I am confident the Holderness School family will The articles, interviews, and announcements you’ll read continue to learn and adapt, and we will emerge stronger in this issue of Holderness School Today will no doubt as we work to serve this school and community we love. show just how much we’ve had to adapt to these new realities. You’ll see the scale of changes and adjustments Phil Peck we’ve had to make to ensure safe in-person learning.

Our return to school has justifiably been dominated by the urgent and important—you’ll read that we’ve literally and figuratively had to put out fires—but we’ve also had the opportunity to think strategically. In addition to wonderful progress on some exciting construction projects,

2 | Holderness School Today

ppeck@holderness.org

I

FROM THE EDITOR

FROM THE EDITOR f there’s anything the COVID-19 pandemic has taught me, it’s the value of our schools.

I came to this conclusion after realizing that I’m spectacularly unqualified to teach elementary-school math. Just go ahead and ask my seven-year-old daughter, who began distance learning in March. Almost every day throughout the spring, my wife and I would take turns sitting with her at the kitchen table, trying to inculcate in her young brain the finer points of the first grade math curriculum. My wife and I, both English majors by trade, spent hours trying to learn and then teach Common Core math concepts that simply didn’t exist when Michael Bolton won a Grammy for “When a Man Loves a Woman,” that magical year when we both learned to carry the one in grade school. Anyway, our attempts at teaching didn’t go well. I’m fairly sure that causing your child to weep in frustration isn’t a pedagogical best practice —but then again, I wouldn’t know. I’m not a teacher!

What I’m saying is there’s really nothing like a few months of distance learning to help you understand the true importance of a good school. Schools are places where we send children to learn academics, of course, but they’re also much more than that. They’re where kids learn to play sports, socialize, and develop intangible skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. Here at Holderness, the last 10 months have been an all-handson-deck effort on the part of teachers, administrators, and staff to preserve that rich experience for today’s students. This edition of Holderness School Today seeks to honor that effort. Within these pages are snapshots of a moment in time in which all of us—teachers, staff, students, parents, alumni, and friends—have encountered adversity, adapted, and emerged stronger than before.

I’m happy to report that Holderness students – and my daughter—have resumed the privilege of in-person learning this fall. But as I write this in mid-November, cases of COVID-19 are spiking across the country, and we’re treating every day on campus as a gift. On a personal level, I’ll never take for granted a single day of in-person schooling again.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my renewed admiration of teachers. In my humble opinion, teachers are magicians. Teaching, at its core, is the act of transferring knowledge, or a way of knowing, into the mind of another

Greg Kwasnik

person. It’s a type of intellectual teleportation that doesn’t just happen on its own. It takes persistence, practice, and—as I learned last spring—lots and lots of patience.

As we face down the peak of this tragic pandemic, I hope we can all try to model the kind of patience and dedication that our children’s teachers, and the teachers we’ve known in our own lives, have shown us. None of us would be where we are today without our teachers, and neither would our kids.

Greg Kwasnik

gkwasnik@holderness.org

Fall 2020 | 3

2020 BY THE NUMBERS 545

Number of COVID-19 tests administered to Holderness students, faculty, and staff during the first month of school.

Number of positive COVID-19 tests at Holderness during the first month of school.

Camper trailers to serve as quarantine housing, in the event students test positive for COVID-19

4,650

masks donated to Holderness School by the parents of our Chinese students.

32

Socially-distanced seats in Alfond for study hall.

4 || Holderness Holderness School School Today Today 4

60

Adirondack chairs placed on campus to promote social distancing and outside learning.

Episodes of “Chaplain’s Vlog” posted to Rev. Joshua Hill’s YouTube channel from March through September.

9th grade students—the largest incoming class in the school’s history.

350 Runners from around the world who participated in the school’s Run COVID Out of Town Virtual 5K in May.

460

Kilowatts of renewable power produced by the school’s new photovoltaic array.

27

Poly Studio X50 teleconferencing units, with 65" television screens and carts, purchased to aid in distance learning.

Square feet of the Davis Center, the school’s new math & science building currently under construction.

Fall 2020 | 5

THE

HOLDERNESS RESPONSE TO COVID-19 The onset of COVID-19 last winter changed everything. Keeping Holderness going was compared to f lying an airplane while designing it at the same time. But it f lew.

JANUARY 9 World Health Organization (WHO) announces a new coronavirus-related pneumonia in Wuhan, China.

BY RICK CAREY

JANUARY 21 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announces first U.S. coronavirus case in Washington state.

I

t was a hand-written letter, scrawled out in the woods and barely legible, but full of encouragement. “Thank you!” wrote Head of School Phil Peck to Associate Head Tobi Pfenninger. “I like everything you are doing—everything. In particular, thank you for communicating with Nell, the ISANNE heads, and parents.”

The letter was written and delivered on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. “Nell” was Nell Reynolds, chair of the school’s Board of Trustees. “ISANNE” is the Independent School Association of Northern New England, an organization of which Holderness is a member, all of whose heads were suddenly in the same predicament as Holderness. And Phil was up in the mountains with a group of juniors during the 50 th-anniversary of Out Back, and Phil’s first such outing since 2004.

Phil also suggested some other resources for Tobi, promised that he would be back on campus Friday while his group was on solo, and added that he was grateful she was there. But it was the last line that really got to Tobi. “P.S.,” Phil wrote. “I’m in heaven!”

Well, she could only laugh. “That’s nice,” Tobi remembers thinking. “Me, my reality was far from heaven.”

This particular sort of reality crept up quietly. It began as early as last December, when the Municipal Health Commission of Wuhan, China, reported a cluster of cases there that were diagnosed as pneumonia. In January the Chinese reported that in fact this was something new, and they publicly shared the genetic sequence of what had already been named COVID-19. That same month a traveler from Wuhan to Thailand was identified as the first recorded case outside China—and so the pandemic was launched.

MARCH 9 March Special Programs begin. Students on Out Back depart for the White Mountains, and 9th grade students on Project Outreach travel to Lowell, MA.

By March there were some 1,500 reported cases in the US, though most scientists think that in reality there were vastly more than that. Certainly the speed with which numbers of known cases skyrocketed that month, in the US and throughout the world, suggests that the disease— with its varying symptoms, its long incubation period— f lew at first and for quite some time under the radar.

“I remember standing up at our last all-school assembly in March, and advising seniors that—just in case—they should take their computers, their chargers, their textbooks home with them for spring break,” Tobi said. “But inside I didn’t believe it. I didn’t think our area would be much impacted.”

But then, across the nation, case numbers mushroomed just as Holderness students embarked on their various Special Programs. The ninth graders left on buses for Project Outreach, which this year was based in Lowell, MA. The juniors disappeared into the woods for Out Back, while seniors went home for work on their different Senior Thesis projects. Only the sophomores remained on campus for Artward Bound. In Phil’s absence, Tobi became the acting head of school.

And then things changed. How quickly? “If Special Programs had started just 24 hours later,” Phil said in the aftermath, “we wouldn’t have begun them this year.”

As it was, no sooner had buses disappeared down the road on Monday, March 9, when the news of college closings started rolling in and moving north: Harvard, then the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, then the University of New Hampshire, then right here with Plymouth State.

It was a rising tide, and if there was any portion of the Holderness School community that was relatively safe on high ground, it was the juniors on OB—outdoors and away from the rest of the world, in pods of presumably healthy kids and faculty (which proved to be the case). But if there was any portion in considerable danger, it was the students and faculty on Project Outreach, all working in close quarters with people outside the Holderness community.

MARCH 10 Due to rising concerns over the spread of COVID-19 in the Northeast, Project Outreach returns to campus.

Fall 2020 | 7

“I got a call the next morning from Carol Dopp in Lowell,” said Tobi. The school counselor and supervisor for Project Outreach wanted to bring her charges back to campus that very day. “I said fine,” said Tobi. “And Carol already had some ideas how the program might be run on campus instead.”

Other ideas, good advice, and mutual support were available from a Covid Crisis Team that had been assembled the previous month on what was then a precautionary basis. The team included each school administrator and also Nell Reynolds, who was in daily contact with Tobi first from her home in Massachusetts, and who then came directly to campus.

The immediate problem was how to run Project Outreach (a.k.a. PO) without getting in the way of Artward Bound.

In the end, PO was housed in the Alfond Library, where both students and faculty unrolled their sleeping bags.

There was no social distancing then, no wearing of masks, since those measures had yet to gain wide currency. But an array of suitable work projects was found on campus. The freshmen ate their meals in the Pichette and Woodward dorms, and such out-of-thin-air protocols as these succeeded in keeping AB and PO separate and smooth-running.

Of course everything had to be summoned out of thin air.

“In those days the whole situation—what we were hearing about COVID-19, what people were advised to do about it—was changing on an hourly basis,” said Nell Reynolds.

In such a f luid environment, Tobi found that the tasks of coordinating a barbershop quartet of special programs— and aware all the while of the risks to their participants, shouldering on a 24/7 basis the mortal weight of that responsibility—felt like f lying an airplane, she said, “while you’re trying to design and assemble it at the same time.”

Last March, students on Project Outreach traveled to Lowell, MA before finishing their week of service on campus.

MARCH 11 WHO declares COVID-19 a global pandemic.

8 | Holderness School Today

The whole trick, then, was to get this airplane down without crashing. The Crisis Team met on Thursday, and later that day parents were notified that Special Programs would be ending early. Most parents of juniors, however, were content to have their kids stay in the woods and away from society for the natural duration of the program. “The parents of

MARCH 17 The State of New Hampshire issues a ‘Safer at Home’ order and prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people.

the younger kids, though,” said Tobi, “understood why we needed to finish early, and we went ahead with PO and AB.” And so began a series of staggered landings, as it were, of the Holderness airplane. PO kids went home that Saturday, Artward Bounders the following Tuesday, and Out Back was allowed to run its course, with juniors coming in from the woods and going home the following Thursday.

When Phil came back on Friday, March 13, discussion turned to what comes next. Should spring break be extended? What if the school can’t be reopened at all?

Most urgently, how were the juniors to be brought back in?

The usual way—unloaded at once in front of Weld Hall, swept up into the arms of waiting parents, eating together inside the dining hall—had become obviously perilous.

Phil returned on Sunday to OB base camp, to one of those rare places on earth innocent of even the news of COVID-19.

“We decided that, to protect the purity of that experience,” Phil said, “we wouldn’t tell the juniors what was going on everywhere else until the night before they came in.”

This year's Out Back participants, including Head of School Phil Peck, returned to a changed school—and world—after spending 11 days in the woods.

And so it was that stunned OB groups, one by one, returned in buses with staggered arrival times to the rear of Bartsch. Each group entered the gym through the back door and eventually emerged through the front to find socially distanced family members wielding placards, each bearing the face of their child, these prepared by the Parents Association. Then the juniors as well set off into a new world of not-so-pure experience.

Because so many airline f lights had been rescheduled or cancelled, a handful of international students stayed on campus for as much as a week more. But at last they got home as well. The school’s faculty, its parents, its students, its Crisis Team—and especially the unsung heroes of its kitchen, housekeeping, and maintenance staffs, whose own tasks and schedules had been turned upside down and enlarged—had muddled through. The airplane had landed, though its pilot had kept to herself those occasions when she had sat alone in her office on the verge of tears.

MARCH 19 Students on Out Back return to campus as scheduled. An extended spring break begins, as teachers prepare for distance learning.

MARCH–APRIL Revisit Days become Virtual Revisits with webinars, virtual tours, and an extraordinary effort from faculty, staff, administrators, and current students.

Fall 2020 | 9

Of course on the other side of spring break loomed fourth quarter. This airplane had to f ly again, but at least now there was a little time to design it first.

“Spring break gave us an opportunity for collective sharing,” said Kelsey Berry, the school’s Director of Teaching and Learning. For Kelsey, that meant reaching out to the varied contacts she had made as a former Klingenstein Scholar, and also to academic leaders at other Lakes Region schools.

It helped that the heads of four of these schools—Proctor, Tilton, KUA, and Cardigan Mountain—were former Holderness faculty or staff members. During spring break, Phil and Tobi joined twice-a-week conferences with these other heads to share information, protocols, and frustrations. The best advice got passed on to Kelsey and other members of the school’s administrative team.

And the situation remained f luid. In late March Governor Chris Sununu issued a statewide stay-at-home order. The school had hoped to return to on-campus instruction by April 20, but day by day it became more apparent that a distance-learning schedule would be required for the entire spring. For an independent school such as Holderness, that meant distances of the sort, for example, spanning all the time zones (ten of ’em) between Holderness and China.

Kelsey and a committee of other faculty members created several different versions of a school-wide distance learning schedule. These were shared with faculty, students, and parents, and then discussed with all constituents via a Town Hall meeting. The schedule that ultimately went into effect was then tweaked several times on the run.

During Operation Diploma Drop just before graduation, teachers and administrators hand-delivered diplomas to as many local students as possible.

Meanwhile, as distance-learning began, conditions continued to deteriorate in the world at large. By mid-April, the thought of students returning perhaps in May had become just that—a dream. “The question then,” said Nell Reynolds, “was how best we could honor the traditions of the school in a virtual way.”

School President Abby Vieira ’20 was among those many students crushed by this circumstance. “There

APRIL 9 Distance learning begins!

10 | Holderness School Today

MAY 24 Holderness celebrates its first Zoom Commencement.

JUNE, JULY, AUGUST Teachers, administrators, and school staff prepare for students’ safe return.

wasn’t a lot we could do about it, though,” she said.

“So it became our job to make the most of it.”

There were certain paradoxical silver linings. Zoom and other social media platforms made space irrelevant in ways that heightened communication in several directions between faculty, students, and parents. Then both the hardships and the problem solving pursued in common by all members of the community bound them together all more tightly.

How, for example, could prospective new students conduct their spring second visits? Well, via Town Hall meetings, virtual panels, and Zoom Webinars moderated by Admission Director David Flynn ’96 and involving colleagues, board members, and current students and parents. “The breadth of the communication effort was incredible,” said Phil Peck, “and the result was the best yield we’ve ever had.”

And then how to conduct commencement? Abby Vieira acknowledged in her speech—in an event presented via Zoom Webinar, with each senior a co-panelist—the poignant pleasures of those pre-COVID non-virtual traditions. “With 217 days to go, we experienced our last Holderness movein day,” she said. “With 148 days to go, we ran around the bonfire one last time. With 112 days to go, we did our last lip-sync, and with 54 days to go we left for March break, oblivious that those 54 days would soon turn to none.”

And yet those small moments now loom larger and more warmly than they might have otherwise, she added. So would that moment when—for a New Hampshire senior, at least—a group comprised either of Phil Peck, Dean of Students John Lin, and communications intern Max Paro ’17; or else Tobi Pfenninger, Carol Dopp, and Jini Sparkman, English teacher and Director of Equity Inclusion, appeared unannounced at each senior’s home during the Friday before commencement. At each home they handdelivered a diploma, a yard banner, cake, strawberries, and gifts. “We left at 9:30am, got home at 9:30 at night,” said Tobi. “It was the best day of my entire spring.”

Then began a summer break that was not at all a break for Director Andy Herring and his communications

JULY 28 Senior Leaders connect with new students to formally welcome them to Holderness

When students returned to campus for O-Camp in late August, they were required to wear masks.

AUGUST 4 Students and adults gather virtually for an All-School Assembly to kick-off the process of safely returning to campus

Fall 2020 | 11

department, where escalating varieties and levels of outreach continued unabated; nor for Kelsey Berry, Academic Dean Peter Durnan, and others on the nine various sub-committees formed on behalf of having all students back on campus in the fall.

Across the nation, other schools and colleges have all struggled with this question, but an independent school can be its own little bubble, and if life within the bubble is planned and mapped out carefully enough—the quarantining, the testing, the staggered meal and release times, the enoughspace-for-distance classroom assignments, the disciplined observance of all CDC guidelines, the signed social contracts, and more—it can quite possibly be made to work.

“This is unprecedented in the history of the school,” said Phil Peck. “But this is an other-centered school, and if we support each other, if we work hard to keep each other safe—rather like we do on Out Back—we can come through it like we do OB, with both more confidence and more humility than we had before.”

Of course pandemics have always been part of human history, and in fact there is precedent at Holderness for something like COVID-19—most significantly, the 1918 Spanish f lu pandemic, which epidemiologists now believe to have originated not in Spain, but at a military base in Kansas. Nearly 200,000 Americans died in October that year. Across the world, some 50 million would be lost.

Mask wearing, elbow bumps, and outdoor classes— all new fixtures in today's COVID-19 reality.

AUGUST 24

All Holderness employees tested for COVID-19. All employees test negative.

12 | Holderness School Today

Are there lessons to be learned from the way the school handled that catastrophe? Alas, not really. It appears that the 1918–19 school year was mostly cancelled at Holderness. There were no faculty on campus, and only seven students. Perhaps these were tutored privately by Headmaster Lorin Webster. But we can only speculate because there is no mention of this year or its events in either of the two written histories of the school. Current archivist Joanne Wernig had to burrow deep into school records to discover even this much. It’s as if the memory of that year was immediately and intentionally buried.

SEPTEMBER 2

New students move onto campus.

Masks and social distancing required.

Such will not be the fate of 2020-21. Phil Peck says that he wants to be challenged in his work, and certainly he has a big challenge here in an event he knows will endure in our history and our memories. “It’s been painful, exhausting, but also stimulating,” he said. “Fifty years from now, alumni will be reminiscing about this.

Here and now, this is something that will draw on every facet of my 37 years of experience as an educator.”

Kelsey Berry, Peter Durnan, Data Systems Manager Hillary Beach, and the Academic Committee especially have been worked to exhaustion by all the obstacles they’ve had to overcome, all the contingencies they’ve had to cover, in delivering a Holderness education on both a virtual and now an on-campus-but-sociallydistanced basis. In so doing, however, they have discovered new and creative ways to use cutting-edge educational technologies, and how to build class schedules that f lexibly serve different pedagogical needs—from the science teachers who need large chunks of time to teach labs, to the language teachers who need short but daily classes for the purposes of repetition. Ways have been found to do both.

Associate Head of School Tobi Pfenninger teaches a class, with some students learning virtually. Take-out meals became a social-distancing staple on campus during the warmer fall months.

Nell Reynolds sees, in the long run, great benefit from the school having learned to f ly this airplane in so many different ways. “As we saw with our admission yield last spring, this is an opportunity for people to rise up and get better,” she said. “You find different ways to teach, new pathways to where you need to get, and in the end Holderness will come out stronger from this.”

Meanwhile Abby Vieira, accepted into Williams, will be taking a gap year while that campus remains closed and its instruction virtual. According to surveys, what she and her classmates missed most from last June was the opportunity to say goodbye to each other in some manner involving physical presence.

But Phil promises that sometime next summer the Class of 2020 will be invited back to campus in order to do just that. Once the date has been set, then Abby’s one remaining countdown can begin again. n

SEPTEMBER 7

Classes begin. Students and teachers are required to wear masks and maintain social distancing in classrooms and all indoor spaces.

SEPTEMBER 9–11

All students are re-tested for COVID-19 after their first week on campus.

All students test negative.

Fall 2020 | 13

GROUNDED IN OUR GROWTH: A STRATEGIC DIRECTION FOR HOLDERNESS SCHOOL

I

f the last year has taught us anything, it’s that uncertainty abounds and accountable flexibility is key to good planning.

And while our strategic planning process began well before phrases like social distancing became part of our vocabulary, we had the foresight to explore a new way of strategic thinking. Holderness calls it strategic wayfinding, and it provides a unique framework. It has community, character, and curiosity at its core. Instead of bold declarations that are fixed in time, strategic wayfinding leads with aspirational and adaptive questions. This framework takes a people-focused, inquiry-driven approach that compels critical thinking and draws out the best possible answers for Holderness School.

We do not seek to predict the future, rather we desire the flexibility and the ability to understand our environment and consider opportunities as they approach in real time.

At its heart, this framework preserves and amplifies what is absolute to Holderness — the deep relationships, the culture of curiosity and real-world learning, and the possibility of personal growth and lifelong transformation of the Holderness experience. This is about empowering the people of this community to think collaboratively, creatively, and in the service of others.

What is included in the succeeding pages is a map that sets a strategic direction. Our compass—what we hold to be true as a school—allows us to find our north while this map gives us the f lexibility to navigate the pitfalls and challenges that lie ahead.

Our course is set by a refreshed vision statement that aligns with the high calling of our motto—For God and Humankind—and an empathy-focused mission statement gives us the strength to press forward. We take solace in the elegant structure of this work that allows Holderness School to actively engage with and overcome the many variables and uncertainties of an unknown future.

Challenges provide opportunity, and Holderness loves a good challenge.

MOTTO, MISSION, VISION AND VALUES PRO DEO ET GENERE HUMANO FOR GOD AND HUMANKIND MISSION Holderness School fosters equally in each individual the resources of the mind, body, and spirit in the creation of an empathetic community, inspiring all to work for the betterment of humankind and God’s creation.

VISION Holderness School strives to develop people the world most needs.

CORE VALUES Community: We cultivate the bonds that unite us and the role that those relationships play in elevating learning and how we live.

Character: We believe that growth is rooted in the initiative, dependability, and fairness in a person’s readiness to embrace new challenges.

Curiosity: We match academic rigor with a commitment to inquiry as a means of forging a life-long pursuit of learning.

OUR JOURNEY BEGINS NOW.

Fall 2020 | 15

WHERE WE’VE BEEN Since its founding in 1879, Holderness School has been committed to the important work of educating young minds, bodies, and spirits for the betterment of humankind and God’s creation. The story of Holderness has been one of positive change grounded in meaningful tradition. Our roots are set deep but only to sustain our growth. And this growth has seen the evolution of Holderness School as a thoughtful, resilient, and mission-driven community. Here is a snapshot of a few such growth moments from the last decade:

▪ Constructed Pichette and Woodward Faculty dormitories and renovated Rathbun and Hoit dormitories in order to realize our vision for residential life.

▪ Adapted Senior Thesis to a full-year learning experience where all seniors explore and share an intellectual passion in-depth and beyond the classroom.

▪ Connected all campus buildings to an on-campus locally-sourced biomass heating system that reduced the school’s reliance on heating oil.

▪ Built a state-of-the-art outdoor ice rink with removable turf panels to allow for multi-season training; all energy needs offset by co-located solar array.

▪ Designed an academic schedule to support the cognitive and developmental needs of adolescents as well as affording the ability to gather regularly as a full school community.

16 | Holderness School Today

▪ Created the Office of Equity & Inclusion in order to support inclusive education and focus deliberately on support connected to race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, privilege and socio-economic status, and ability.

▪ Embarked on bold snow sports initiatives, including the resurrection of Mittersill Slopes at Cannon Mountain, the construction of the Mittersill Performance Center, the homologation of on-campus nordic trails, and the creation of both a freeski trampoline and airbag.

▪ Established the Director of Teaching and Learning position, an administrative role, to support ongoing academic initiatives and ensure the ongoing learning of Holderness School educators.

▪ Completed the Elevating Academics Campaign, Holderness School’s largest fundraising initiative to realize the construction of the Davis Center— the school’s new math and science facility—as well significant upgrades to Hagerman Auditorium.

HOW WE GOT HERE Following a comprehensive and critically ref lective 18-month accreditation process that yielded hundreds of pages of survey data and actionable recommendations, Holderness used these insights and findings to consider its future. Almost two years later, we are ready to take our first steps along this new strategic wayfinding journey. Here are the numbers that brought us to this point.

164 Page Accreditation Report (7 Constituent Surveys + 900+ 55 Recommendations + 4 Major Recommendations 12 Steering Committee Meetings + 6

Respondents)

Administrative Team Planning Sessions

+3

Full-Day Administrative Team Retreats

1 All-School Strategic Planning Assembly (350 Participants + 10,000 Post-It Notes + 100s of insights and common themes) 5 Primary Essential Questions + 15

Supporting Essential Questions

ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM Phil Peck Head of School

Rev. Josh Hill Chaplain

Tobi Pfenninger Associate Head of School

John Lin Dean of Students

Bruce Barton Director of College Counseling

Dr. Maggie Mumford Sustainability Coordinator

Kelsey Berry Director of Teaching & Learning

Margot Riley Chief Operating Officer

Tyler Cabot Assistant Dean of Students

Paulette Ryan Assistant to the Head of School

Carol Dopp School Counselor

Walt Schaeff ler Chief Financial Officer

Nell Reynolds P ’18 ’20 ’22 Board Chair

Jenna Simon Associate Athletic Director

Karyn Campbell P ’17 Trustee

Jini Rae Sparkman Director of Equity & Inclusion

Bob Cunha P ’16 ’19 Trustee

Mark Sturgeon Executive Director of Advancement

Andy Herring Director of Strategic Marketing & Communications

Rick Eccleston ’92 Athletic Director David Flynn ’96 Director of Admission Kristen Fischer Dean of Faculty Andy Herring Director of Strategic Marketing & Communications

STRATEGIC PLANNING STEERING COMMITTEE Phil Peck Head of School

Will Northrop ’88 Strategic Planning Consultant Tobi Pfenninger Associate Head of School Paulette Ryan Assistant to the Head of School

Fall 2020 | 17

WHERE WE ARE GOING

1.

OUTDOORS & ATHLETICS

How might Holderness amplify its remarkable athletic legacy and location by incorporating leading practices and competitiveness in all of our athletic offerings? » How might all of our programs better incorporate our location in the White Mountains? » What are the programs that would allow us to be a leader in secondary school athletics, particularly when viewed through the lens of strength and conditioning, sports psychology, nutrition, professional development for coaches, and character and leadership development? » What facilities are needed to support preeminent programming for secondary school athletics in America?

3.

2.

CULTURE OF INCLUSION

How might Holderness be a more inclusive community that champions social justice? » How might we support comprehensive access to equity, inclusion, and anti-racist education and professional development for all? » How might we better attract and support students and adults in order to create a more inclusive, diverse, and vibrant community? » How might we cultivate a community where all members of our school grow, thrive, and belong? » To work “for the betterment of humankind and God’s creation,” how might we promote an awareness, a responsibility, and a willingness to act on global issues and be more empathetic citizens?

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

How might we best embrace lifelong habits of health and wellness to build a thriving and dynamic community? » How do we deliberately use new and existing programs to support healthy, resilient, and other-centered individuals? » How might we better support each person’s spiritual journey to embrace joy and wonder? » How might we better create a balanced schedule to support our program and community wellness?

18 | Holderness School Today

4.

A COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS

How might we create a culture of critical ref lection to support feedback, learning, and growth?

5.

FINANCIAL ACCESSIBILITY

How might we lead by maximizing our resources to achieve the spirit of the founding principles of Holderness to be more accessible?

» How might we measure our students’ progress through all of their Holderness experiences?

» How might we be more disciplined and intentional with our spending?

» How might our adults gather and act on professional feedback in every aspect of their work in our community?

» How might we enhance our financial aid programs to work toward being fullyfunded need-blind in order to create a more dynamic and diverse community?

» How are we consistently assessing programs so that we are delivering the best possible Holderness experience?

Fall 2020 | 19

CATCHING UP With Marty & Paul Elkins

BY RICK CAREY

Paul and Marty Elkins served Holderness brilliantly for twenty years.

Then they went to see what was over the horizon, and they saw a lot.

Marty & Paul Elkins during their early days at Holderness.

A

mong all those former faculty members we celebrate as iconic in Holderness school history— long in tenure, mighty in accomplishment— this matched pair is certainly the most travelled in terms of service to other schools as well.

It’s a mild evening in September at a pretty house in the woods of Moultonborough, NH. Four of us are on the front porch, and when Head of School Phil Peck gets around to asking what’s special about Holderness, what the school needs to protect going forward, what should change, Paul (a.k.a. Elk) and Marty Elkins speak with the authority of having seen how education gets done at a lot of other places.

Of course they began getting it done together some four decades ago at Holderness. Elk arrived directly from Harvard in 1979 as a biology teacher, a coach of football and Eastern skiing, the successor to Jay Stroud as drama director. At that time Marty, after graduating from Williams, was working on a Master’s in teaching at the University of New Hampshire.

In 1981 Marty needed a place to do her student teaching.

By then English teacher Jim Brewer had returned to Holderness from a sojourn at Exeter, where Marty had been among his students. Jim happily took Marty on as an intern, and the next year she became a full-f ledged faculty member in English and history. Then a very discreet sort of spark f lared between these two young teachers during a 1983 Outing Club hike up Mt. Stinson.

They were both already so well liked that their marriage later that year was Holderness’s version of a British royal family fairytale. And so began their two decades of joint service at Holderness, interrupted only by a brief 1988 experiment at a Virginia girls boarding school. Marty had just earned a Master’s in educational leadership at Harvard, and the new headmaster at this school had hired her as assistant head, Elk as science department chair. But the faculty there so resisted the reforms urged by the new head that he resigned midyear—and then so did the Elkinses.

Swiftly reinstated at Holderness by Headmaster Pete Woodward, they took up where they left off. Elk eventually became chair of the science department while building a winning girls’ lacrosse program and helping Norm Walker field a football program that dominated NEPSAC football in the 1990s. He also ran the school’s Gordon Research Conference (GRC) event each summer. Marty, meanwhile, was immediately named the school’s first Dean of Girls. As coach of varsity field hockey, she led

teams that qualified for the NEPSAC tournament a dozen years running and claimed a championship.

Phil speculates that Pete Woodward might have liked having Elk as a dean, but couldn’t disburse two such assignments to the same teaching couple. “I always felt like you were an unofficial dean of faculty,” Phil says to Elk, “in the way you led from the ranks.”

Plenty of official leadership lay in store, however, once—one by one—they left Holderness for good. Marty had become the school’s college counselor in 1997, and four years later she left to take the same position at the Groton School. Elk lingered here one more year, seeing Marty on weekends and vacations, before joining the faculty at Worcester Academy— where in his second year he became dean of students and director of the school’s student leadership program.

“IT WAS REALLY HARD TO LEAVE HOLDERNESS, BUT THE TIME HAD COME FOR BOTH CAREER AND PERSONAL REASONS,” MARTY SAYS. “AND IT WAS GOOD FOR US TO BE PART OF OTHER SCHOOL COMMUNITIES, TO SEE HOW EACH REINVENTS THE WHEEL.” At Groton Marty found herself with a support staff and the sort of resources for travel and conferencing that she could only have dreamed about at Holderness.

But she did more than get Groton kids into the right schools—she helped counselors across the nation do their jobs better by founding, in 2007, the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools (ACCIS).

This organization f lourishes today in providing professional support and development, mentorship, and ethical guidance

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served as associate dean of students under former Holderness faculty member Chris Little ’81.

to counselors. “It was a profound experience for me, making that happen,” Marty says. “And it still is, seeing the organization run and continue to succeed as it has.”

Each year now ACCIS bestows on one of its members the Marty Elkins Award for Excellence in College Counseling.

In 2010 the first such recipient, of course, was Marty herself. By then, however, she was the counselor at the New Hampton School in New Hampton, NH. “We went to New Hampton in 2009 because Elk and I could both work there,” Marty says. “And the challenge of it intrigued me—college placement at three such different schools, with such different students, as Holderness, Groton, and New Hampton.”

At New Hampton Elk taught a popular course he had developed at Worcester—“It involved investigating the animal kingdom through dissection,” Elk says—and

22 | Holderness School Today

Three years there, and then something completely different. In 2013 Marty became head of school, and Elk dean of students, at the Beacon Academy, an independent school in the Philippines built around the International Baccalaureate curriculum. That all sounded good in theory, but the school’s secondary component was brand new and had to be invented mostly from scratch. Then there were many collision points between the IB curriculum’s freewheeling spirit of inquiry versus the islands’ conservative Roman Catholic culture.

After one exhausting year, they returned to the States and contented themselves once again with separate jobs: Elk as a full-time operations and grants manager in the GRC’s main office in Kingston, RI; Marty as the college counselor for the Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh, PA. In 2015, Elk came to Shady Side as dean of students, director of residential life.

One year together there, and then another exotic assignment: the Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, FL. “We arrived driving a U-Haul, moved into a caretaker’s cottage right on the water,” Marty said. “We had a pool, a sauna, a private dock if we only had a yacht.”

There again Marty handled the college counseling. Elk was the associate dean of student affairs and director of community service. He also taught sailing, and coached girls’ lacrosse and football in that football-mad state. It was a comfortable sort of life until year two, 2017, when they were among the evacuees before the advance of Hurricane Irma.

“We came back to millions of dollars of damage and a 35foot sailboat on the football field’s goal line,” Elk said. “By then we figured it was time to retire and go home to where most of our friends were.”

Of course “retirement” is not to suggest idleness, or even an absence of work. Elk continues to work summers for the GRC. Otherwise he hones his skills in animal dissection as a part-time assistant to the butcher at Jo Jo’s Country Store in Moultonborough. Meanwhile Marty has become a CASA volunteer—i.e., a “court-appointed special advocate” for abused or neglected children.

At journey’s end, and dusk deepening, Phil asks those questions about what should stay the same at Holderness, and what should change—especially as he feels his own retirement nearing. After a moment, Elk and Marty reply that the answer to both questions is essentially the same.

“There is a sort of commonality that prevails at Holderness that you don’t find anywhere else,” Elk says. “Dormitory life, sports, Special Programs—all these programs and activities are shared in common by all the faculty, all the students.

Even chapel, which I was surprised to find myself missing once we left, and of course Out Back is the epitome of this— everybody does the same things, and this sort of commonality builds strong, enduring relationships. Who do I have as friends on Facebook? Only the kids from Holderness.”

Marty agrees that nowhere in their travels did they find such a deep-rooted sense of community as they experienced at Holderness—but she confesses that workplace burnout was one of the important reasons why they left when they did.

“You hear this around campus, and it’s true: ‘Your life is the school and the school is your life,’” she says. “As an adult, you’re expected to be involved in all there is to be involved in. There are points of contact in every direction, and this is wonderful in many ways, like Elk says, but it takes a lot out of you. Because the school is so small, each adult’s responsibilities are enormous.”

Phil concedes that this remains an issue at Holderness, but points out that since they left, measures have been taken to blunt one edge of this two-edged sword: increased levels of staffing, more rotation of duties, more opportunities for leave, whether for parenting, professional development, or just battery recharging. “But with all our points of contact,” Phil says, “it’s still a big job, teaching at Holderness.”

In truth teaching—and coaching and counseling and dorm parenting, etc.—at Holderness were arguably the two biggest jobs these two worldly educators ever held, and the richest in what might be described as human capital.

“I went into base camp this spring during OB,” Elk says, “and talking with the faculty there, I was impressed all over again by their passion for what they do, by their knowledge of the kids. I think they know them even better now than we did twenty years ago.”

But these folks knew—and loved—their students at Holderness as well as any. “When I dream at night,” Marty says, “it’s the Holderness kids who come back to me.” n

WE LOVE CATCHING UP WITH MEMBERS OF THE HOLDERNESS COMMUNITY, AND WE’RE LOOKING FOR YOUR INPUT. Let us know if there’s a particular teacher, coach, or staff member you’d like us to catch up with, and we’ll do our best to see how they’re doing.

Please send suggestions to communication@holderness.org

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AROUND THE QUAD

Class Photo: New Holderness faculty pose for a socially-distanced picture before the start of the school year.

New Faculty for 2020

MEET THE TEACHERS W hat do a professional cellist, a skijumping computer scientist, and a scholar of the American West with Ivy League hockey chops have in common? They’re all teaching in Holderness classrooms this year.

Holderness is excited to welcome a total of seven new faculty members to campus this fall. As we face the uncertain future of our new COVID-19 reality, we look forward to the fresh

and dynamic perspectives these new faculty bring to their classrooms—and to the Holderness community. “We’re in these really strange circumstances of COVID and coming into a very different and potentially daunting and intimidating school year, and these educators are all in,” says Dean of Faculty Kristen Fischer. “This is a really awesome group and I’m really looking forward to working with all of them.”

HERE ARE THEIR STORIES.

FRENCH ALICIA CARTER Last year, Alicia Carter taught English in France; this year, she’s teaching French at Holderness. After graduating Summa Cum Laude from Colgate University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in French, Ms. Carter moved to Carentan, France, where she worked as an English Teaching Assistant at the Lycée Sivard de Beaulieu, teaching high school students about English language, culture, and grammar. While a student at Colgate University, Ms. Carter worked as a French tutor and served as the president of the school’s Latin American Student Organization.

24 | Holderness School Today

SALLY-THOMAS "SAM" DAIGNEAULT ’96 P ’24 Veteran teacher and former Holderness School Vice President Sally-Thomas “Sam” Daigneault ’96 is returning to her alma mater to teach psychology.

Having earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Williams College and a master’s degree in Elementary Education from Old Dominion University, Ms. Daigneault went on to spend two decades teaching young children in Texas, Florida, and Virginia. Most recently, she worked as a third-grade teacher at Park Place School in Norfolk, VA, an institution that offers a free private school education and experience to students with learning disadvantages.

While at Holderness, Ms. Daigneault will coach girls’ varsity basketball.

MUSIC ALEXANDER ELLSWORTH If you hear the sonorous notes of a cello emanating from the Carpenter Arts Center this year, you can probably trace it back to Alexander Ellsworth, the school’s new music director. A cellist, songwriter, and interdisciplinary artist, Mr. Ellsworth comes to Holderness from Chicago, where he spent five years as music director at MUSIC Inc. Chicago, a nonprofit program that combines highachieving music education and character development for students in Chicago’s west side communities. An All-New England soccer goalkeeper, Mr. Ellsworth will coach girls’ junior varsity soccer and live in Lower Bean. He has a bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance from the University of Maryland, and a master’s degree in Cello Performance from the DePaul University School of Music.

ENGLISH CHARLOTTE ANNE FRECCIA ’15 The last time most of us saw Charlotte Anne Freccia ’15, she was headed to Kenyon College, having just won the Fiore Prize for Theater and the English Cup. This fall, we’re excited to welcome this talented alumna back as an English teacher.

After graduating from Holderness, Ms. Freccia went on to make a name for herself at Kenyon, working as an editorial associate at The Kenyon Review before earning the Philip Wolcot Timberlake Memorial Prize for excellence in English and graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2019. While in college, Ms. Freccia spent several summers as a program assistant at the Great Books Summer Program in Amherst, MA, where she designed and taught unique literature electives for high school and middle school students. In addition to her teaching duties at Holderness, Ms. Freccia will live in Upper Niles and coach cross country.

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AROUND THE QUAD

PSYCHOLOGY

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ENGLISH JOE GAUDET Looking for an Ivy League hockey champion who just happens to be a published scholar on the American West? Joe Gaudet is your guy. While a student at Dartmouth College, Dr. Gaudet captained the varsity ice hockey team that won an Ivy League Championship—all while earning his bachelor’s degree in Native American Studies and Government. He went on to earn his master’s degree and Ph.D in American Culture from the University of Michigan, during which time he taught history at Vermont Academy and later English at the University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods, MI. He comes to Holderness directly from the Pomfret School, where he taught English. Dr. Gaudet will coach boys’ varsity hockey, boys’ varsity baseball, and have dorm duty in Webster. He is also married to Jenn Calver Gaudet ’05.

COMPUTER SCIENCE & ROBOTICS MORGAN STEPP With the school’s new home for STEM classes, the Davis Center, taking shape on campus, we’re truly excited to welcome computer science and robotics teacher Morgan Stepp. In coming to Holderness, Mr. Stepp won’t have to travel far: he spent the last six years as an Information Technologist at Plymouth State University, and he continues to serve as the ski jumping coach at Plymouth Regional High School. Mr. Stepp has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Colgate University.

SPANISH – INTERIM JESSICA STOREY P’20,’22 Jessica Storey P’20, ’22, is no stranger to Holderness. The mother of Carter Storey ’20 and Rachel Storey ’22, Ms. Storey will spend the fall as an interim Spanish teacher. She brings to Holderness a wealth of classroom experience, having taught Spanish at several Massachusetts schools, including Mount Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, Pine Cobble School in Williamstown, and Lenox Memorial High School in Lenox. She also currently works as the Wellness Consultant at Camp Dudley in Westport, NY, where she teaches fitness classes, coordinates outdoor experiential education programs for local schools, and leads the camp’s farm-to-plate program for campers and leaders. Ms. Storey holds a bachelor’s degree in Government from St. Lawrence University, and a master’s in Spanish Language and Literature from Middlebury College. n

26 | Holderness School Today

AROUND THE QUAD

FOR GOD AND HUMANKIND, In Action

W

hen the COVID-19 pandemic struck last spring, the Holderness community could have resigned itself to feelings of fear and hopelessness. But it didn’t. Instead, thanks to fundraising efforts by the entire community – and one very generous donor – the school gave more than $15,000 to local nonprofits, including Speare Memorial Hospital.

On May 16, 350 runners from across the globe raised more than $5,850 during the school’s Run COVID Out of Town Virtual 5k. All proceeds from the run, which attracted participants from as far afield as London, Thailand, and Sweden, went to Speare Memorial Hospital’s COVID-19 Fund. The fund was established to help the hospital cover expenses related to the purchase of personal protective equipment, unreimbursed medical care costs for COVID-19 patients, and to offset the loss in revenue from the reduction in non-emergency related medical services.

SUPPORTING LOCAL NONPROFITS Thanks to a $10,000 gift from an anonymous donor, Holderness School donated $500 each this summer and fall to the following local nonprofits: » The Circle Program » The Bridge House » Whole Village Resource Center » Pemi Youth Center » Camp Mayhew » Pemi Valley Habitat for Humanity » NAACP of Manchester » Voices Against Violence » First Star

Perhaps inspired by the generosity of the Holderness community, an anonymous donor gave $10,000 to the school this summer, on the condition that it be distributed to local charities through a Community Impact Fund.

By September, the school had donated $500 each to 16 local charities chosen by the Holderness community.

» Boys and Girls Club of Manchester

“In a time when many local charities were struggling to meet financial budgets or to meet the demand placed on their services because of COVID-19, it was wonderful as a school community to be able to support these local charities that play such an important role in Holderness, Plymouth, and the state of New Hampshire,” said Director of Advancement Mark Sturgeon. “The other really wonderful part about this was that all of these charities were chosen by Holderness faculty, staff, and families.”

» PFLAG of New Hampshire

» Plymouth Regional Senior Center » Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire » Melanin Base Camp » GLSEN of New Hampshire » Captain Douglas DiCenzo Camp Fund

When future Holderness students learn about the school’s guiding principles, they’ll look to the spring and summer of 2020 as a time when the school truly put into action words Pro Deo et Genere Humano—For God and Humankind. n

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AROUND THE QUAD

FALL 2020 CONSTRUCTION Big things are happening on the Holderness School campus. From the installation of a new solar field to the construction of a Freeski and Snowboarding Air Bag Jump, the summer and fall of 2020 has been a transformative time on campus.

MATH & SCIENCE | THE DAVIS CENTER Not even a small construction fire on September 25 could delay construction on the Davis Center, a 35,000-square-foot academic facility that will be home to the school’s math and science departments. The fire, which was confined to a small portion of the building’s roof, was quickly extinguished by first responders from several surrounding towns. The Davis Center, designed under the themes of innovation, collaboration, f lexibility, and connecting to the outdoors, will feature wet and dry science labs, versatile classrooms, enhanced faculty planning spaces, break-out rooms, and an atrium-like Winter Garden with stunning views of Stinson Mountain. The building is named in honor of Trustee Andrew Davis P'18 and the Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund.

Enjoying the spectacular view from the Winter Garden, inside the Davis Center.

RENEWABLE ENERGY | PHOTOVOLTAIC ARRAY This summer saw the construction of a 460-kilowatt photovoltaic array directly across the street from the school’s football field.

Holderness is leasing the land to Barrington Power, which owns and operates the array. The school will buy back the power generated by the array at a reduced rate—enough to power the new Davis Center, plus several dorms. Turn the page for more!

28 | Holderness School Today

The Air Bag Jump will be built into the hillside above the football field.

In mid-September, construction began on a training Air Bag Jump for our freeski and snowboarding teams. The giant inf latable bag will allow students to safely progress from the existing trampoline in Bartsch to competitive on-snow aerials. Athletes will descend a ramp built into the hillside above the football field, launch off a jump, and land on an 1,800-square-foot Air Bag equipped with impactabsorbing cushion. The Air Bag will allow skiers and snowboarders to train in all seasons with great effect, and to throw more technical tricks.

MITTERSILL PERFORMANCE CENTER Ski racing in New Hampshire took a giant leap forward this fall with the groundbreaking of the Mittersill Performance Center, a 9,200-square-foot lodge at the base of Mittersill Slopes at Cannon Mountain. The project is a joint venture between Holderness School and Franconia Ski Club. The lodge, which will be open to all resort guests, will provide Holderness and FSC athletes with much-needed space for alpine ski racing and training. The facility, designed by lead architect and project manager Evan Mullen '00, will include ski tuning rooms, coaches' offices, video review rooms, and gear storage areas.

The Holderness crew breaks ground on the Mittersill Performance Center at Cannon Mountain in September.

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AROUND THE QUAD

FREESKI & SNOWBOARDING AIR BAG

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WATTS UP

Holderness Builds New 460-Kilowatt Solar Array

H

olderness School’s environmental sustainability efforts received a major jolt this summer thanks to the construction of a 460-kilowatt, on-campus photovoltaic array.

installed 360 solar panels as part of the construction of the outdoor hockey rink. Those solar panels, which generate up to 95,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, are used to directly power most of the rink’s energy needs.

Construction crews were busy this summer building the large solar array, which sits on Route 175 directly across from the school’s football field. When the project was completed this fall, the solar panels began generating enough renewable energy to power several dorms. It will also generate enough power to cover the electricity needs of the Davis Center, the school's new 35,000-square-foot math and science building, which is currently under construction.

While these environmental sustainability projects will help Holderness School save energy, they will also provide valuable teaching opportunities for students. In a world upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, Maggie says, it’s even more important that students recognize the looming global consequences of climate change, and the intersection of sustainability and environmental justice.

“I’m happy to say that this 460-kilowatt-capacity array will do more than offset the electrical demand of the new academic building,” says science teacher and Director of Sustainability Maggie Mumford. “It will also probably cover Hagerman Auditorium and Alfond Library and maybe a couple of the northside dorms. It’s a significant amount of electricity that will be generated.”

While Holderness School owns the property on which the new photovoltaic array sits, the array itself is owned and operated by Barrington Power, a renewable solar energy provider based in Barrington, N.H. “They are leasing the land from us, building the array, and then we will buy back the electricity generated at a discounted rate,” Mumford says. “We will know that it’s renewable energy that is powering a good chunk of the school.”

This new solar array is one of several major sustainability projects undertaken at Holderness School over the last decade. In 2008 and 2009, the school conducted sustainability audits of all buildings on campus, and implemented its recommendations while renovating Weld Dining Hall and the Hoit and Rathbun dorms. Two additional dorms constructed since then, Woodward and Pichette, both attained LEED Gold Certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. In 2011, the school constructed a woodchip-burning biomass plant, which provides heat and hot water across campus. And in 2014, the school

30 | Holderness School Today

“I think it will be really important for our students to realize that environmental sustainability is more than mitigating climate change so we can still have snow to ski on,” Maggie says. “They need to understand that it is a global issue.” n

Fall 2020 | 31 AROUND THE QUAD

LIVERMORE LEADERSHIP SOCIETY In a world where uncertainty is abundant and empathy and understanding are in short supply, it is impossible to overstate the impact and necessity of the Holderness experience. The learners, leaders, adventurers, artists, and athletes who call this campus home reap the benefits of an education rooted in service, other-centeredness, and intellectual courage.

And this experience—the moments of emotional growth on Out Back, countless dishes washed during pantry, or the deep conversations had during family-style dinner—is made possible by the support of an extraordinary community of loyal alumni, families, and friends. Your care for this school and your financial support and foresight makes today and tomorrow possible.

To express our appreciation for our donors and their impact on the Holderness School community, we have launched the Livermore Leadership Society, recognizing donors who contribute $1,000 or more ($250 or more for recent graduates) to Holderness School each fiscal year.

The Livermore Leadership Society consists of seven levels honoring iconic individuals and moments in the school’s history:

32 | Holderness School Today 32

Livermore $100,000+ Livermore Mansion and the surrounding land was the first “home” of Holderness, donated by Mrs. Balch, honoring her late husband, the Rev. Lewis P. W. Balch Jr., who always wanted to start a religious educational institution.

Niles $50,000–$99,999

Webster $25,000–$49,999

William Woodruff Niles was the second Bishop of New Hampshire, President of the Board of Trustees, and founder of the school.

Headmaster from 1892–1922, Rev. Lorin Webster was a scholar, musician, and lover of athletics, which flourished during his tenure. Webster’s daughter, Lorraine, was the first female student to attend classes.

Carpenter $10,000–$24,999 The school’s first gymnasium and now home to the arts is named for an original trustee, Josiah Carpenter, and was made possible through the generosity of his widow, Georgia Butters Drake Carpenter.

Weld $5,000–$9,999

Hagerman $2,500–$4,999

Rev. Edric Amory Weld was headmaster from 1931–1951 and oversaw the rebuilding of Livermore Hall and several dormitories. During his tenure, women were welcomed to the faculty, and the school adopted its long-standing and iconic leadership program.

Donald Clark Hagerman was headmaster for 26 years and grew the school from 67 to 226 students, while maintaining its warmth and character.

Out Back began, and the first Day Girls were accepted.

Woodward $1,000–$2,499*/ ** Rev. Brinton W. Woodward was headmaster from 1977–2001. He was an athlete, scholar, and chaplain and is remembered best for his “years of enlightened, compassionate, moral leadership.”

He oversaw the transition to coeducation, reaffirmed twice-weekly Chapel, and the school launched the first annual alumni weekend, Artward Bound, and what would become Senior Thesis.

Two large fundraising campaigns were completed, and the Outdoor Chapel, Hagerman, Gallop Gymnasium, Connell, Alfond Library, and Alfond Arena were added to campus. *Young alumni through their 5 th Reunion $250+ | ** Young alumni through their 10th Reunion $500

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AROUND THE QUAD

Students and faculty performing Saturday trail work on the Nanamacomuck Ski Trail in the White Mountains.

SATURDAY PROGRAMMING

F

rom wearing a mask in class to attending Chapel virtually, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered many aspects of daily life at Holderness. One of the most significant changes is the replacement of Saturday morning classes in favor of programs to support students’ social and emotional health.

For decades, Holderness students have attended Saturday morning classes before participating in afternoon athletic practices and games. Following the emergence of COVID-19 and the ensuing logistics of social distancing, however, it became clear that certain aspects of the traditional Holderness schedule had to change. After considering numerous scenarios, teachers and administrators saw an opportunity and decided to forego Saturday morning classes in favor of programs focusing on student health and wellbeing. “There have been a lot of initiatives we haven’t found time and space for in the schedule over the past few years that we wanted to do around socio-emotional learning,” says Director of Teaching & Learning Kelsey Berry. This year, with pandemic-related stress a real concern, students are getting that socio-emotional boost.

On a typical Saturday morning this year, students can get some extra sleep—so important to the developing adolescent

34 | Holderness School Today

brain—eat breakfast, and then begin their day with a virtual assembly in their dorms. From there, they move on to a rotating menu of enrichment programs and grade-specific programming. The rotating programs include equity and inclusion, health and wellness, and outdoors and service.

Early in the fall, for example, juniors spent time performing trail work on the Nanamocomuck Ski Trail in the White Mountains, a key travel corridor used during the school’s Out Back program. Students will continue to make regular Saturday work trips to the backcountry ski trail, which the school adopted from the U.S. Forest Service last year.

Back on campus, other students have spent their Saturdays focused on equity and inclusion. On a recent Saturday in September, students and teachers gathered in small groups to hold conversations about the impact of racist, homophobic, xenophobic, antisemitic, anti-Asian, and sexist language in the Holderness community and beyond.

Those conversations led to further discussions about how to create a community without such language, where all students could feel valued and welcomed. “We have long hoped for a regular time to allow students to explore their own identities and the way those identities interact with our world and with one another. Our Saturday programming

AROUND THE QUAD

for Equity and Inclusion allows for that to happen,” says English teacher and Director of Equity and Inclusion Jini Rae Sparkman. “Our young people need spaces to grapple with the hard questions of our time and imagine a new future. Our time together on Saturdays is a first step towards creating that space and giving time in order that they might begin to understand and imagine what that looks like for each of our community members, employees and students.”

The college process is another area of focus for the new Saturday program. This year, grade-specific programming includes multiple days focused on the college process for seniors and juniors. Throughout the fall, seniors spent time meeting with their college advisor, working on college applications, and polishing their essays with some of the school’s English teachers. This spring, the juniors will begin college-specific work. “I think it will be invaluable to have that dedicated time and space to work on their

college applications that’s not Monday through Friday, and doesn’t conf lict with an athletic commitment,” says Interim Director of College Counseling Erika Blauth. “I’m hoping we’ll be able to work in small groups and oneon-one settings and cover a variety of topics—from art supplements to athletic recruiting to financial aid to essays.”

Whether students spend their Saturdays working on their college applications, focusing on equity and inclusion, or sprucing up a wilderness ski trail, they will be active, engaged, and learning. It will be different from what past Holderness students experienced on Saturday mornings, but today’s students are growing up in a world reshaped by COVID-19. “A lot of schools are talking about how it’s an opportunity to rethink school from the ground up,” Kelsey Berry says. “One of the principles of the learning master plan that we’ve come up with is to balance conventional and progressive pedagogy, and I think we’re doing that well.” n

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ATHLETICS

Dartmouth Director of Athletics and Holderness Trustee Harry Sheehy greets an athlete during a pre-pandemic football game.

COLLEGE RECRUITING IN THE PANDEMIC ERA

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f your child is a standout hockey player, or skis competitively, or excels on the lacrosse field, you might be wondering how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the college recruiting process. Harry Sheehy has been wondering the exact same thing—and he’s the director of athletics at Dartmouth College.

A member of the NCAA Championship Cabinet and former longtime men’s basketball coach at Williams College, Harry is uniquely plugged into the world of collegiate athletics. He’s also on the Holderness School Board of Trustees, and was kind enough to spend an hour talking with us about the current state of pandemic-era college recruiting. In our wide-ranging conversation, Harry shared a number of insights, reasons for hope, and advice for how high school athletes can improve, grow, and prepare for college during this unprecedented time.

At Dartmouth, and across the Ivy League in general, fall athletic competitions have been cancelled.

The same goes for many high schools across the country. How does that affect college recruiting?

This is clearly going to be a year unlike any other in the recruiting world. Then you couple that with probably shaky high school seasons, shaky college seasons.

We already know we’re not going to play anything in the fall [at Dartmouth]. We may or may not play

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anything in the winter, and frankly it wouldn’t shock me if the whole year went by the wayside. So this is unprecedented in terms of what we’re going through now.

So it seems like the future of college athletics is fairly uncertain—at least for the upcoming year.

You know, the frustrating thing is coaches, and probably athletic administrators, are among the people in the country who most desire certainty—some type of normalcy and certainty. They want to be able to count on certain things. There is no clean option here. That’s the thing that makes this so very, very challenging. We all want answers. I told my senior leadership team in the department about a week ago that I’ve never had more questions asked of me where the only answer was ‘I don’t know.’ It humbles you beyond belief. We all want control over certain things and we just simply don’t control this.

How has the pandemic affected how you recruit high school athletes?

I will say this, that in the future we will save money recruiting because Zoom has become something where you can really learn about student-athletes. I always felt, as a basketball coach, that film was great but there was nothing like seeing a kid live to determine things like quickness and work ethic—and frankly what kind of competition he or she is playing against… I

If I’m a high school athlete and who wants to play in college, what should I be doing right now—especially if I won’t get to play many games this year?

Use all the things you do have at your advantage in terms of communicating with coaches, Zooming, film work.

You know, I was the head softball coach at Williams for a few years. I could watch a kid’s pitch on a video and tell pretty much whether or not they could play at the college level. So there are some sports—if you watch a pitcher warm up and you see the ball move and you see the speed that they have, you can make some judgments.

It’s just not going to be as clean as we normally would like it to be. I say that knowing it’s not a clean process anyway. If 75 percent of my recruits over a 17-year college career worked out within a standard deviation of how I wanted them to, that would be a very high percentage.

It sounds like you’re saying students should be more proactive in the recruiting process right now.

This is a really critical time for the student-athlete to take control of the recruiting process – not Mom and not Dad. I used to use that time to get to know a kid, and when Mom and Dad did everything for them, I never got to know the kid. You should be coming home and telling your folks “Hey, I got the coach at Bowdoin today, here’s when I’m visiting,” that type of thing. We don’t see that very much, unfortunately…These kids are going to fail sometimes, and you’ve got to let them fail —and then you’ve got to see how they pick themselves up. They’ve just been kind of rescued. That’s why I love the student leadership structure at Holderness, because there’s some responsibility there and I think that’s a really healthy thing for a young person to develop.

What three pieces of advice would you give to a high school athlete involved in the college recruiting process?

Number one is fit. Find the right fit, if you’re being recruited. Fit doesn’t mean the coach you like the best, necessarily. Find the right institution with an academic, social, and athletic fit. I think that’s number

one. I don’t think enough people pay attention to it, and that’s why, for some kids, a place like Dartmouth might be a stretch, and Dad and Mom might want them to go there, but the better fit might be Trinity. It just might be. You just have to really pay attention to fit.

Number two, hammer the academic piece, because the better you are academically, the more options you’re going to have no matter what happens.

And then three is don’t waste your training opportunity here. There is a training opportunity. For me, if I had taken that year and not gone to prep school where I could play, that would have been a crucial year for me to train and up my skill level and my physical attributes of strength, wit, all those things. So it’s only a waste if you let it be, and if you don’t let it be a waste, it won’t be a waste. You’ll find some good out of it. And you know what? This will not be the biggest challenge of these young people’s lives. You’d like to think it might be, but this is not going to be their biggest challenge in life. It may be a current that sets your life on a certain path or takes it off other paths, but that’s not your life. You get to make your life. You can’t just let life happen to you.

It's funny that you mentioned finding the right college fit. At Holderness, we talk about how important it is for students to find the right college fit. Why do you think that’s so important—especially now?

Look, if you’re going to go to school, pick the school that you would go to if you went there and then blew out your knee and then were not going to be able to play for two or more years – and maybe never the same again.

What school would you go to? That’s the school where you want to invest yourself academically and otherwise.

Even if you look at the Division III level and you look at the data, it says that a high percentage of the kids choose the school because of who the coaches are. That’s almost 100 percent at the Division I level. It’s not the best way to make your choice, because the coach could get another job, the coach could be fired, the coach could become ill, maybe your relationship with the coach didn’t turn out like you thought when you were on your honeymoon being recruited. There are all kinds of things that happen, but if you’re a good fit academically and socially, and it’s a place you actually want to be, then chances are you’re going to get set up for your life and be able to move forward after you graduate and have a productive life. n

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think there’s more danger of coaches making mistakes and young people making mistakes in this year than probably any other year we’ve ever had. It’s hard enough when you actually see them live, to be able to project those young people into a college program at a certain college level. Without that, it becomes really difficult.

RICK ECCLESTON ’92 ATHLETICS

Henderson-Brewer-van Otterloo Chair Year “THE ULTIMATE GOALS ARE A LOVE FOR THE OUTDOORS, AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW YOUR BODY WORKS, AND A LIFELONG PASSION FOR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH.”

Rick Eccleston ’92

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uch like Kevin Costner’s character in the hit 1989 film “Field of Dreams,” Director of Athletics Rick Eccleston ’92 has a vision. But instead of imagining a baseball diamond in a cornfield, he’s envisioning a future for Holderness athletics that includes state-of-the-art training facilities, sweeping improvements to turf fields and Nordic trails, and a revamped athletics program that emphasizes nutrition, rest, and emotional wellness for student athletes.

mental health; coach development; and a new athletics facility. The school is already well on its way to achieving those goals. Thanks to an anonymous $6 million gift in early 2020, Holderness student athletes will soon benefit from the construction of a new turf field and the renovation of the existing turf field; the creation of a freeski & snowboard jumping venue, including a big air bag; and the development of a 5-kilometer homologated cross-country skiing venue that will incorporate 2 kilometers of lighted trail and 2.5 kilometers of state-of-the-art snowmaking.

“The ultimate goals are a love for the outdoors, an understanding of how your body works, and a lifelong passion for mental and physical health,” Rick says. “If we had the facility to support us in these initiatives, then I think we could be a leader in physical education for secondary boarding schools in the country.”

With Holderness Athletics poised for big changes, Rick’s chair year became critical to realizing the school’s vision. A yearlong endowed program that provides faculty with the opportunity to pursue intellectual and academic interests, the chair year afforded Rick a chance to reimagine the school’s athletics program from the ground up. By the start of his chair year in the summer of 2019, Rick had begun visiting some of the most forward-thinking schools and sports institutions in the country. His goal was to learn everything he could about their programs, and determine how he could translate their successes to Holderness.

Rick’s vision is far more tangible than whisperings in a cornfield. In fact, thanks to the Henderson-Brewer-vanOtterloo Chair Year Program, he spent the better part of the last year traveling the country, learning how to make his vision a reality. In truth, though, it wasn’t his vision alone: in 2017, the school convened an Athletics Council to consider what athletics at Holderness should look like five or 10 years in the future. After much deliberation, the council decided that Holderness athletics should focus on several key initiatives: character development and athletic culture; strength and conditioning; nutrition;

For a school with a long history of success on snow, it made sense that one of Rick’s first stops was the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Center of Excellence in Park City, Utah.

Thanks to an introduction from former Holderness Associate Head of School Jory Macomber, Rick was able to tour the sprawling 85,000-square-foot training facility and spend time with Troy Taylor, the Director of Human Performance for the US Ski & Snowboard teams. Touring the grounds, Rick realized the clear value of large workout facilities with extensive mutli-functional space, with fewer machines and more room for plyometrics and functional

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ATHLETICS

During his travels, Rick visited Chicago Cubs President Jed Hoyer ’92 at spring training in Arizona and toured facilities at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

movement exercises. He also took note of the emphasis placed on athlete nutrition, recovery, and mental health.

As Rick toured other facilities across the country, the same themes kept cropping up: the importance of multi-functional space, good nutrition, rest, and mental health. That’s certainly what he discovered at the University of Colorado at Boulder, with its emphasis on off-the-field basics like nutrition, functional movement, and emotional wellbeing.

In fact, the school has four full-time sports psychologists on staff, while a student athlete-run organization, the Boulder Buffs, holds regular meetings to discuss the health of fellow student athletes. Rick found similar trends when he and Head of School Phil Peck traveled to Mesa, AZ to watch Chicago Cubs President Jed Hoyer ’92 guide his team through spring training. While there, they also met with several members of the coaching staff, including Head Strength Coach Shane Wallen. Of the many young athletes he’s coached over the years, Shane said, most of them have lacked key foundational strength. The focus for high school athletes should be basic strength and functional movement exercises, Shane said, along with plenty of rest.

Perhaps one of Rick’s most impactful visits occurred less than two hours from the Holderness campus. During a fall visit to Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont, Rick toured the new Ronnie Berlack Center, a facility with more than 6,000-square-feet of turf field and 4,700-square-feet of training area with a rubberized f loor. It’s a huge facility with

plenty of space for functional movement, and enough room for the entire student body to work out together. Of perhaps equal importance was the school’s focus on proper recovery and nutrition. Athletes wear heart rate monitors to help modulate their effort during workouts, and the school places a high value on healthy eating, especially when students are traveling for competitions. In fact, coaches teach their athletes how to shop and cook their own food while on the road, so poor nutrition won’t compromise their performance.

Now that Rick is back behind his desk in Bartsch, he’s already changing how Holderness athletes train, eat, and rest. While building a new athletic facility remains a long-term goal for the school, some of the most impactful programs Rick encountered on the trip—those focusing on proper nutrition, rest, and emotional wellbeing—are perhaps the most readily achievable, and the most likely to teach students important life skills. And Rick is certainly primed and ready to make those changes. On a personal level, after learning from the best in the country and spending valuable time with his family, he’s energized and looking toward the future.

“Not a lot of schools have a program like this,” Rick says of his chair year. “If five years from now someone asked me for advice, I would tell them to make sure to do something that will fill your tank professionally but also make sure you do something to fill your tank personally and get the most out of the time. It was just a tremendous gift. I can’t express that more.” n

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Interim College Counselor:

ERIKA BLAUTH

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ou’ve spent years getting good grades, prepping for the SAT, and racking up extracurriculars with an eye toward college. Then, once you’re finally ready to apply, COVID-19 hits. What now?

Talk to Holderness School’s Interim Director of College Counseling Erika Blauth, and she’ll tell you one thing: keep doing what you’re doing. “Big picture, the process is staying almost the same,” Erika says. “That’s the message we’re trying to communicate to students and families.”

Bolstered with a wealth of knowledge from her years as an admissions counselor at schools like Colorado College and Wellesley College, Erika is more than ready to help Holderness School students find their perfect college fit, pandemic or not. Here’s how she plans to make that happen.

The school year is in full swing, and students are deep into the college application process.

What’s going through your mind right now?

I’m feeling confident. Holderness students are known for having impressive strength of character, and they have such a great support system with their people here at Holderness and in their families. We’ll be able to all partner even more than we have in past years, and I hope to use my admission background to shed light on timely topics like test-optional application review. Even though the process will look and feel a little different this year, I know students will ultimately end up at colleges and universities that in any other

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Interim Director of College Counseling Erika Blauth.

year they would have been really excited about as well.

If they trust the process and we’re all able to work together as a team, you never know—they might even enjoy the ride and have a little fun along the way.

How different will the college process be this year?

The timeline is staying the same, as will the bigger pieces of the process like building your college list and filling out the Common Application. But anything that had been in person is now virtual, and most colleges have now made it optional to submit the SAT/ACT. Those are the biggest changes. So, things like visiting a college campus, doing an in-person interview, going on a tour, and speaking face-to-face with an admission officer— those things are still happening, but in the virtual space. For instance, in a typical year, college representatives would come here to the Holderness campus and meet with groups of students who are interested in their college or university. We’re still doing those this year, but virtually. Students will still have that chance to meet with the college representative in a smaller group setting and get “face time” with the admission officer who is probably going to be the one reviewing their application. That’s going to be a really valuable opportunity. Similarly, taking advantage of virtual interviews are something we’re really encouraging.

Won’t it be difficult to choose a college if you can’t visit in person?

It’s definitely different, no doubt about it. Sometimes campus visits can provide that clouds-parting, sun-

This year, juniors and seniors at Holderness will get enhanced college counseling.

Can you tell me about that?

For years, Bruce Barton [Director of College Counseling, currently on his Henderson Brewer van Otterloo Chair Year] has been wanting and needing some more time with seniors—especially as deadlines approach—to have that one-on-one application support time. So this year, with some more f lexibility with Saturday mornings [traditional Saturday classes are being replaced with a curriculum to promote socio-emotional learning], we’re really excited to be able to work with seniors for a handful of Saturday mornings through the fall. I think it will be invaluable to have that dedicated time and space to work on their college applications that’s not Monday through Friday, and doesn’t conf lict with an athletic commitment. I’m hoping we’ll be able to work in small groups and one-on-one settings and cover a variety of topics—from art supplements to athletic recruiting to financial aid to essays.

Given the pandemic and concerns around social distancing, many colleges and universities are no longer requiring students to take the SAT or ACT. How important are standardized test scores in today’s admissions process?

The number one most important part of a student’s application—not just today—is a student’s academic performance over their 3.5 years of high school, as shown on their transcript(s). This is because the transcript is the number one indicator of a student’s potential to

succeed in a college academic environment; 4 hours on a Saturday morning can only tell you so much. So, admission officers look closely at such things as the rigor of their high school course load, their grades, any grade trends – like an upward grade trend—and other pieces of a student’s academic story that can be gleaned from a transcript. Testing was a very small part of that academic review (perhaps less than 25%, depending on the college). And oftentimes test scores just validate or back up the story that’s already being told on the transcript. What’s more, research shows that standardized testing holds little to no predictive value on a student’s future college GPA and is more of an indicator of a testtaker’s background and access to resources rather than their potential to succeed in the college environment.

This is not new information for admission officers, so they always take testing with a grain of salt, even when testing is or was a required application material.

In your new role at Holderness, you’re filling in for Director of College Counseling Bruce Barton, who’s taking a Henderson Brewer van Otterloo Chair Year during the 2020-21 school year. What brought you to Holderness?

When I was at Colorado College, I was the New Hampshire territory rep, so I was that college admission officer who would visit campus in the fall to meet with students and do interviews. I was also the one who would read the applications of Holderness students who were applying to Colorado College. So, I always knew about the school, really enjoyed collaborating with Bruce, and was just always really impressed by the students I met or whose applications I reviewed. When I visited campus, I would usually interview about six students over the course of a few hours, and every conversation I had was always just really different and interesting. Most of all, I was really impressed with the students’ character, across the board. That was always the big thing that came through about Holderness students—they were just really good people who cared about service to their community and were really hard workers. Those values alone can be so additive to a college community. So, when this opportunity arose to be here for Bruce’s sabbatical year, it was an easy ‘yes’ for me given my knowledge of Holderness and how much I respected this school and identified with the Holderness core values. n

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shining-down-on you type of moment, like “Oh, I feel like this is the place for me!” While this can be a helpful turning point for students in their college search process, to be honest, it also has the potential to confine students to thinking that “this is the one-and-only place where I can see myself thriving in college”. In the virtual visit space, however, students are really forced to do their research in the absence of having that thunderbolt type of moment. I hope this allows students to truly fall in love with LOTS of colleges and be able to picture themselves being happy at different places for different reasons. So, students may not have that one moment of realization, but by gathering these little “aha” moments over time through their research and conversations with various people (Holderness alums, admission officers, their college counselor, etc.), I think that will get them to the same place they would have been, pandemic or not.

ALUMNI PROFILES

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF STAYING IN PLACE

BY RICK CAREY

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ike Taffe ’86 likes where he lives, and has managed the rare trick (in science) of building a varied and distinguished career without leaving.

A scientist’s life is often a nomadic one, what with the circumstances of different career stages, the vagaries of grant funding, and a number of other x-factors. If your expertise is fixed to one narrow field or passion, you might not want to even unpack.

Diego-based nonprofit specializing in biomedical research. He was able to complete his postdoctoral work there doing work on the effects of MDMA (a.k.a.

Ecstasy) on brain chemistry.

“One rare but sometimes deadly side effect of Ecstasy is hyperthermia,” Mike said. “So I got sidelined into investigating body temperature responses as a measure of toxicity.”

Mike Taffe ’86

Then, on the other hand, you have Mike Taffe, who first found himself a nice place to live in which to do his doctoral work, and who then—with a malleable and wide-ranging curiosity—managed to build and sustain a distinguished career in that one congenial place.

Mike grew up in Rumney, NH, his father a computer science professor at Plymouth State, and he went on to Colorado College, he said, “because it seemed like a perfect analogue to Holderness.” There he found himself piqued by the mysteries of human behavior—and the sort of experimental psychology pioneered by B.F. Skinner and the behaviorists.

Then one of the criteria in Mike’s choice of doctoral programs was where it might be nice to live for a few years. In that way in 1990 he arrived at the University of California’s campus in San Diego, where he began study of the feedback loop between behavior and brain chemistry—particularly as it involved medications for depression, schizophrenia, or Alzheimer’s disease.

Mike earned his Ph.D. in psychology in 1995, and continued at UCSD as a post-doctoral fellow until the funding for that work dried up. “This is often lost on the general public, but we work for you, the taxpayer,” he said. “It’s sometimes a question of what we want to do, but more often a matter of what the federal institutes find valuable and are willing to fund.”

Mike might have had to pack up and move if not for the opportunity to join The Scripps Research Institute, a San

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In 2000 Mike completed his post-doctoral work just as the director of his lab at Scripps left to work elsewhere.

Hired then as a professor of neuropharmacology at Scripps, he also took over leadership of the lab—but remained subject to the vagaries of federal funding.

So the next sort of “sidelining” involved possible applications of immunotherapy—i.e., activating the body’s immune system—as a treatment for addictions to opioids or methamphetamine. On the horizon gleams a hope that this might yield something like a vaccine to prevent addiction.

There has been enough sustained support for this research for Mike to build a considerable reputation in the field—and to take advantage of a 2019 invitation from UCSD to join its faculty in psychiatry and to continue his work on substance use disorders.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to stay in San Diego during my entire career so far,” Mike said. “And while I’m a long way from the sort of experimental psychology I began with, each twist and turn has brought me new, important work that I really enjoy. So I’m very lucky that way too.”

San Diego might not qualify as an analogue for the Lakes Region in New Hampshire, but it’s become the fond home of this far-ranging scientist. n

ALUMNI PROFILES

A MATTER OF TIMING

BY RICK CAREY

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iper Orton ’74 has never shied from a challenge over decades of achievement and leadership.

But sometimes the challenges arrive unbidden.

When Piper Orton applied in 1971 to be among the first few girls admitted to what was still the Holderness School for Boys, it was in search of academic challenge. Another challenge she took on—that of confronting the culture engrained in all New England boys’ schools of the day, Holderness included—just happened to be a matter of timing.

Maybe it was also good experience, because once Piper got out of school—after a Bachelor’s at Williams, an MBA at Cornell—she soared into a career of civic and institutional leadership that has encompassed finance, education, healthcare, and social justice, and particularly as all these touch on the interests of women.

To cite a few highlights, Piper has served as assistant director of financial management for the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration; as chief financial officer of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts; and as director of women’s health programs at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She has also donated time on the boards of any number of nonprofits whose missions are dear to her. In 2004 at Holderness she became the trustees’ first female chair.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that Piper’s current day job is at Wellesley College, one of the few schools that spurned the shift towards co-education in the 1970s. To this day Wellesley remains fixed on the education—to quote its mission statement—of “women who will make a difference in the world.”

Piper came to Wellesley in 2016 as its chief financial officer and interim chief of staff. The next year she was named the school’s Vice-President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer. Among the challenges of that position is another circumstance that makes Wellesley special these days—its bold commitment to being need-blind in its admission process.

Piper Orton ’74

And suddenly there is this other challenge that happens to be a matter of timing: COVID-19. “Yes, the financial repercussions are considerable,” Piper said. “We have to provide for social distancing in our classrooms, which has involved increasing capacity through the installation of modular classrooms. We need more fiscal support for our custodial staff with the cleaning and disinfecting necessary now. And some of our students have deferred admission or taken a leave of absence—not to mention those international students who are unable to enter the country.”

Add the expense of weekly COVID testing for all students, faculty, and staff, and still that covers just a portion of the unforeseen costs of the 2020-21 school year. But hidden within great challenges lie opportunities.

“At Wellesley, in response to this, we’ve achieved a level of organization, integration, and teamwork across all departments that we’ve never had before,” Piper said.

“And that will still be there when this is over.”

Not unlike the toughness and drive that Piper had, and still has, after several years of going against the grain at the Holderness School for Boys. Now working hard to support the education of these other “women who will make a difference in the world,” she herself has been there, is still doing that. n

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COVID-19

BULLS ON THE FRONT LINES

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hen the COVID-19 pandemic hit last spring, most of us were told to stay home, social distance, and avoid public spaces. But for Holderness alumni and parents who work as healthcare providers, staying home wasn’t an option. Venturing from the safety of their homes to care for others in a time of great need, they truly put into action our school’s motto, For God and Humankind. Here are their stories.

ALLY KEEFE ’02 Registered Nurse | Reno, NV “I work as a staff RN in an emergency department in downtown Reno and at a small community hospital in Incline Village, NV. Thankfully, we have not been hit as hard as other areas (yet) and I think both hospitals managed the pandemic to the best of their ability. Similar to the rest of the country, we were short on PPE (personal protective equipment) in March and April, but with the entire state essentially shut down at that point, both EDs

were surprisingly slow. Despite our numbers being low at that point, tensions among both staff and patients were very high at both facilities. Since then, both hospitals have been able to stock more PPE, and the overall anxiety level of the staff seems to have improved. Conversely, it appears as if anxiety among the patients remains high, although that may be more indicative of the state of our nation as a whole rather than the current situation in Washoe County.”

MEREDITH HOUSEMAN P ’15 ’18 Registered Nurse | Plymouth, NH “I have worked as a registered nurse for 26 years. Twenty years of it has been at Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth, NH. I grew up in this area and have always loved living in rural New Hampshire but my love for this area has grown during this pandemic. We have been fortunate to not have had many cases of COVID-19 in this area thus far and honestly very few cases at Speare Memorial. This does not mean that my job in our ICU has not been stressful. The anticipation and preparation that went into preparing for the unknown was extremely stressful. Many days I woke up feeling guilty and feeling as if I should go to NYC to help but also knew I needed to be ready if COVID hit our area. Every day I worked, we talked about when the surge would hit. Many things at the hospital came to a halt. There were no staff meetings or committee meetings. The days were focused on the surge.

On Saturday March 14th while at work I got the heads up that I would be getting an admission into the ICU. This

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patient was going to be our first rule out COVID-19 on the inpatient unit. (The picture is of me that day with my full PPE on prior to the patient's arrival). I never imagined wearing full PPE would be so difficult. When the patient arrived I stayed in the room for over two hours doing the admission.

I honestly had to talk myself out of not having an anxiety attack quite a few times. It was very difficult to breathe, in fact I had to figure out a way to breathe differently. I survived that day and have survived many more in PPE but it has not always been easy. There have been many 12hour shifts that I have only taken the N95 off one time.

To be honest though, the hardest part of my job during this time has been taking care of patients and knowing that their loved ones are not allowed to visit. It is emotional for all involved. The pandemic has brought many challenges to the healthcare world but it hasn't changed my feelings that I chose the right profession.

pandemics | Dartmouth College

“I gave a talk at Dartmouth on January 10 about the scientific, logistic, and economic factors that make epidemic vaccine development especially challenging. My first slide illustrated the growing frequency and intensity of new outbreaks. I noted that it was already out of date given reports of an unidentified viral pneumonia circulating in China. Even then, could any of us have predicted how deeply invested we would all become in finding solutions to these problems in the coming months? With forecasts indicating that COVID-19 could claim 40 million lives and reduce global economic output by 12 trillion by the end of next year, there is not a moment to lose. With well over one hundred vaccine candidates in development, scientists, corporations, and nations are racing for the finish line. Before the pandemic, Chris Snyder, Dartmouth Economist, and I had been working on mechanisms to overcome market failures for epidemic vaccines. High demand and global competition suddenly seemed like a great problem to have. In some ways,

however, uncoordinated free market competition may actually hinder efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. In a free market, vaccines will go to the highest bidder, which will drive up the price (by a factor of 13 according to our research) and reduce access. Furthermore, protectionist measures on the part of any one nation could hamper the pace of progress since vaccine development expertise, manufacturing capacity, and supply chains are highly distributed around the world.

We make the case for a global coordination mechanism much like the one that GAVI, the vaccine alliance launched earlier this year to procure large amounts of vaccine from multiple developers. An advance purchase commitment from such an entity would (1) reduce the cost and risk of development and (2) allow vaccine to be allocated on the basis of need, prioritizing individuals most likely to transmit the virus or suffer severe consequences from it. Equitable allocation is not just the right thing to do; it also provides the highest probability of ending the pandemic in the shortest period of time. Viral spillover events are trans-national issues that no one country can solve alone. The challenge in the years ahead is to develop institutions and tools that will allow nations to address these problems collectively. An advance purchase mechanism takes one important step in that direction, allowing nations to pool and coordinate resources to produce pandemic vaccines as a global public good.

MEREDITH PECK ’09 Intern in Residence | Portland, ME “COVID-19 hit at the end of my 4th year of medical school. I was on a medical Spanish elective in Peru and got out five days before they closed the borders. I was leading a group on Outback when I found out all of my rotations for the end of my 4th year were cancelled and learning would be moved online. My Match Day celebration was cancelled, my graduation was virtual. I moved to Portland, ME to start my intern year at Maine Medical Center in mid-June.

Orientation was organized to optimize social distancing with no group events, virtual sessions, and everyone had to wear masks at all times. I began my first month of residency on the cardiac ICU. Fortunately, at Maine Med, there is a COVID unit, so I was not exposed to any patients who tested positive.

Regardless, we wear masks, and not face shields, at every patient encounter. All of our resident learning sessions are done via Zoom, whereas they used to be held in the auditorium.

I still spend time with my anesthesia co-residents; we are a small group and get together often to have dinner and drinks. I have been able to stay active running around Back Cove, playing in a co-ed soccer league, and working out at the gym (with a mask on of course).”

Fall 2020 | 45

ALUMNI PROFILES

KANDALL HOYT P’23 Expert in vaccine development policy for emerging infectious disease

ALUMNI PROFILES

SARAH MICHEL ’14 Registered Nurse | Concord, NH “At the start of the pandemic I made my way back to New Hampshire from Tampa, Florida where I had been working to be close to family and better serve my community. I am now working as an Emergency Room Nurse at Concord Hospital. My experience has been eye opening to say the least. In the healthcare field we prepare for these things but never think that a global pandemic would hit us, but it

has. In the beginning it was constant donning and doffing of new PPE and going into our work day knowing it was probable we would be in contact with this virus. It was difficult to have a constantly changing work place with daily protocol updates.

With the numbers of COVID-19 at a lower level in New Hampshire, I think we have all taken a collective sigh of relief but the battle is still ongoing with no clear end in sight. It would be a lie to say that the whole situation isn’t mentally and physically exhausting. At the end of the day I remember that this is exactly what I signed up for and I feel proud of whatever small difference I may have made.”

TOM LEBOSQUET ’93 ER Physician | North Carolina “I'm an Emergency Physician serving a very busy group of hospitals in Western North Carolina (mostly Asheville).

Pandemic times have been very interesting indeed. The first few weeks of shutdown in March were strangely quiet for us. Despite the busyness of some parts of the world, we were actually working and seeing far fewer patients than typical because of quarantine, stay at home orders, and the cancelation of many medical procedures. Now, six months into the pandemic, it seems to be a slow, ongoing battle. I'm

treating some COVID patients almost every day, and the degree to which they are ill can be highly varied. We see people who have very mild symptoms and people who are gravely ill. Oftentimes the diagnosis of COVID is rapidly apparent. Lack of rapid testing and lack of defined treatment protocols has been problematic. In addition, because so many of us have been infected, it has been stressful to anticipate staffing needs and fill in gaps when providers become ill.”

DAVID SMAIL ’88 Surgeon | Beverly, MA stopped. Even the emergency surgery seemed to dramatically decrease in volume. Medical emergencies like heart attacks and strokes also seemed to disappear. For two months our whole world became COVID.

“I run Essex Surgical Associates, a four person private practice surgery group. We are based at Beverly hospital which is about a 230 bed hospital 30 minute north of Boston. Our area got hit pretty hard with Covid. Case numbers exploded in late March and early April. By mid April our 230 bed hospital had 100–110 patients admitted with Covid. Other medical care essentially stopped. All surgery other than emergency surgery

46 | Holderness School Today

As general surgeons most of what we do is planned surgery.

This includes surgery for breast, skin, and colon cancer; repairs of hernias, surgery for gallbladder disease, and surgery for intestinal disease like diverticulitis. All of that stopped. We still had occasional emergency surgery cases for things like appendicitis, trauma, or inflamed gallbladders.

Emergency surgery is about 10% of our total business. So at first we found ourselves somewhat on the sidelines.

The hospital meanwhile was overwhelmed with these sick patients with COVID. The hospital was losing staff as staff either got sick or had to quarantine due to exposure before they could come back to work. My partners and I therefore repurposed ourselves as intensive care physicians.

Working in the intensive care unit was quite an experience.

This disease is not the flu. Many patients have minimal symptoms but those in the hospital all had significant breathing problems and often multi-system organ failure Usually we have the luxury of watching anyone we are at all worried about in the intensive care unit but so many people were sick and so many people needed full ICU care that we didn't have ICU beds for who everyone might develop respiratory failure, we had to save the ICU beds for people who had respiratory failure. We were often running to other parts of the hospital to intubate people and bring them to the ICU. Day to day life caring for these ICU patients was challenging.

In medicine we are used to working real hard to make a diagnosis then once you have a diagnosis you know how to treat people and what to expect. For these COVID patients we had the diagnosis for everyone but we didn't know how to treat it or what to expect. Many of the people who got really sick were older with other medical problems but we also saw young healthy people get sick. People did not do very well once they were sick enough to need ICU care and any improvements happened over weeks to months. We tried all treatments, dextamethasone, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, convalescent plasma, and remdesivir. None seemed to make a big difference.

It was emotionally draining. These patients were so sick and they were all alone. Families couldn't visit.

We went into the rooms as little as we could to avoid spreading the virus. Monitors and infusion pumps were moved outside of the patient's rooms so as much care as possible could be provided while minimizing exposure to the care team. Nurses were holding up IPads and cellphones to these dying patients so that they could facetime with loved ones as visitors were not allowed.

We were all afraid of getting sick or even worse getting our families sick. Personal protective gear was in short supply.

After twenty years of being told to always throw away my potentially dirty surgical mask after each operation I was now wearing the same mask for a whole twelve hour shift.

The N95 mask I wore under the surgical mask when I went into patient rooms I would re-use for a week. We would use the same gown everytime we went into a patient's room for an entire 12 hour shift. Some of my colleagues

moved into hotels to avoid bringing the virus home. I moved into the guest room in my house and came home each day and removed my "outside clothes" in the garage then went straight to the shower before any interaction with my family. Many of our nursing staff did get sick.

Fortunately no staff in our hospital have become critically sick. The stories from elsewhere were terrifying and tragic I did witness lots of heroics. Our nurses were fearless and selfless as were the respiratory therapists, environment services staff and everyone else who showed up at work each day. The community was wonderful. The drive into the hospital was and is still lined with handmade signs of support. Signs saying things like "You got this" and "Heroes work here". Donations poured in for groups like "Feed the Frontlines" which bought food from local restaurants to support them then brought the food to healthcare workers.

Meanwhile I was running my surgical practice which is a small business and was struggling like so many small businesses. With the elective surgery shut down, all of our business other than emergency surgery was gone. You can not really provide surgery via telemedicine. Emergency surgery is about 10% of our business. When we are working at full volume our practice overhead is about 50% of our total income. Cutting our volume to 10% quickly put us in a deep hole. A medical practice is not an easy business to run.

Although the country's overall spending on healthcare is rapidly increasing, payments to physicians for our services have not even increased even in pace with inflation. We are very dependent on volume and efficiency. From a business standpoint we have essentially spent two decades running harder to stay in the same place financially. The loss of revenue from COVID was crippling. I had to furlough my staff and mothball the practice. My partners and I took significant pay cuts. So far the federal PPP loan has kept us afloat.

Currently my partners and I are back to doing our regular surgery. Our office is open and our staff is back. We are watching the numbers of COVID cases in MA increase with a sense of dread. We do not want to go back to where we were in April and May. I realize we can not stay shut down forever. I actually hope my kids have some form of in person school this fall. I have one junior at Pingree school and my twins are starting as freshmen. It is however heartbreaking to hear stories of big indoor parties and gatherings and people not wearing masks. We are the country that came together to win the World Wars and the Cold War. Now we can not skip a party to beat COVID.� n

Fall 2020 | 47

ALUMNI PROFILES

Surgeons all are trained in intensive care medicine as part of training but most of us were a few years removed from that. I finished my surgery training in 2002.

IN MEMORIUM

STRENGTH IN HUMOR

N

o solemnity was safe when Jim Hammond was in the room. But the laughter was a means to an end, and it made everyone who shared in it feel good to be alive.

Was Jim Hammond really who he claimed to be?

Generations of new students at Holderness first met him in an all-school assembly. During my own first assembly in 1991, after I rose to introduce myself as the school’s inaugural director of communications, I was pretty well upstaged when the man in the next seat rose to say, “My name’s Jim Hammond, and I’m the strongest man in the world.”

Certainly Jim was strong. In 1996 a snow machine piloted by Jim—also carrying English teacher Mike Henriques ’76, and hauling enough peanut butter and yogurt for eighty kids—spun out on ice in Sandwich Notch during that year’s Out Back. That meant heavy boxes of those supplies had to be humped on foot uphill.

“We take the same number of trips up the hill,” wrote a young, barrel-chested Mike in a 2000 issue of HST, “but Jim, long known as ‘the strongest man alive,’ carries one or two more boxes than I do each trip and he’s singing ditties. I look at his gloves as we carry.

‘Ham’ he has written on one, ‘Dog’ on the other.”

Certainly he was bold as well. In 1980 the school hired young instructors from the Dartmouth Outward Bound Center to teach winter survival techniques to faculty going out on OB. The problem was that many of these young outdoorsmen displayed a condescending attitude to a Holderness group that included many skilled and experienced outdoorsmen—such as Jim, for one.

When the DOBC folks—out in the winter woods of Moosilauke, beside an open stream—described a familiar stream-crossing technique as though it were a revelation, Jim said, “Well, this is how we cross streams

48 | Holderness School Today

Jim Hammond

at Holderness.” Then he took a running, boots-andall leap into the icy water and started swimming.

And certainly, Lord help us, he was funny. When Head of School Phil Peck was out of college and looking for work in 1984, he got advice from John Mott, a Dartmouth buddy then teaching history at Holderness. “Phil, you’ve got to come work here,” John said. “Why? Because every morning I have breakfast with the funniest guy I ever met.”

Matched with his wife Loli, Jim was also one half of one of the most beloved pair of dorm parents many Holderness students ever met. Jim had been one of those people who grew up in several different places and had attended several different colleges. Eventually he earned a B.A. in Spanish and Spanish literature from Tufts, an M.A. from

Middlebury. But that was long after he and Loli had met as teenagers in the summer of 1953 in Falmouth, MA.

IN MEMORIUM

“He was a dishwasher and I was a waitress at one of those old-fashioned resorts,” said Loli.

“And he looked like Marlon Brando.”

The romance endured through Jim’s various colleges, his switch from geology to Spanish, his stint in the Army during the Korean War. They came to Holderness in 1962, hired by Headmaster Don Hagerman, living in and presiding over Rathbun. “We stayed four years, and it was wonderful,” said Loli.

They were tempted to stay forever, but they also wanted to see what else was out there. They spent a year in Barcelona, where Jim both taught and studied, and then worked happily at the Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. Jim resisted Don Hagerman’s several invitations to return to Holderness, but he couldn’t resist an appeal from his good friend Bill Clough ’57, another faculty member there with a wicked sense of humor and a pronounced sense of boldness.

The Hammonds came home in 1976. Over the next 24 years Jim would coach football and lacrosse, chair the language department, serve as president of the school’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society, become a pillar of Bill Clough’s OB program, and forge his own magnificent fusion between classroom instruction and the theater of the absurd.

“It was my privilege that for over twenty years my office was directly above Jim’s classroom in the old Schoolhouse,” said Headmaster Emeritus Pete Woodward. “That provided me daily exposure to the laughter, excitement, and joy that filled that classroom each day. Jim brought all that with him wherever he went—to assemblies, faculty meetings, the playing fields. He’d say things that would raise the roof and just make you feel good to be alive.”

It was Phil Peck’s dubious privilege to have his table next to Jim’s during family-style dinners.

“I always wished my table was as fun to be at as Jim’s,” he said. “But that was impossible.”

As razor-sharp as Jim’s wit could be, its sole target was pompousness—which made it also warm, self-deprecating, and empathetic. He inspired as much devotion as he did laughter, and Loli no less so. “It’s remarkable,” Pete Woodward said. “If there were thirty alumni weddings over

the course of a summer, Jim and Loli would be invited to twenty. That’s the sort of connection they had to kids.”

Phil Peck is grateful for the connection he had to Jim. “How blessed I was, as a new teacher at Holderness in the 1980s, to have had giants like these to learn from: educators like Don Henderson, Jim Brewer, Don Hinman ’55, and Jim Hammond not least among them.”

Jim retired in 2000. He and Loli went to live in Waterville Valley, and then Falmouth (the one in Maine, not Massachusetts) to be closer to family—daughter Heidi Hammond O’Connor ’79, her husband Michael ’79, and son Fritz Hammond—as his health declined. On July 3rd, shortly before his 85t h birthday, he was claimed by Covid-19.

So he spent his last days in quarantine, but friends and family could talk to him through a window.

“We’d speak, but we couldn’t be sure that he heard,” Loli said, “until Fred and Cindy came.”

Fred Beams had taught math at Holderness for 13 years, had helped Bill Clough invent OB. He and his wife Cindy had also become dear friends of the Hammonds. “When Fred spoke, Jim opened both eyes,” Loli said. “So we knew he had always been listening. Soon after that he died peacefully.”

Then they poured in, the fond remembrances of Jim from faculty and alumni/alumnae, volumes of them, all of which so heartened the survivors of a man who may or may not have been the strongest man in the world, but who quite likely had the most fun—and he was generous enough to share it with us all. n

Fall 2020 | 49

IN MEMORIUM

EDWIN BRUCE HAERTL 1932–2020

went on to captain the hockey team at Dartmouth College for two seasons. Upon graduation from Dartmouth in 1954, he served in the U.S. Air Force from 1955–57. As a lieutenant in the Air Force, he met Antoinette Buzzi and it was love at first sight. After a whirlwind courtship they were married

Head of School Phil Peck, left, with Bruce Haertl in 2012.

E

. Bruce Haertl (PEM) passed away peacefully with his wife Tonya by his side on May 7, 2020. Edwin Bruce had presence; he was a character with character.

Many will remember his searing intensity as a coach; others might recollect his love of history and his animated teaching of it. Some will recall how his laughter could fill a room or a nickname that he'd bestowed upon you. Bruce was interested in people and always looked past the first impression where so many of us stop. For him, conversation was an art form, fueled by the rare ability and desire to listen. This is how he connected with people, particularly the students he touched throughout his life. He heard all the dreams and aspirations, providing the necessary nudge here, a hug there, a slap on the back with the challenge to make yourself and those around you better. There were few people he didn't like, even fewer he didn't see the possibilities in. He celebrated the differences in people and believed that everyone had something to offer. To that end, he spent endless hours as a mentor, educator, coach and parent helping others to recognize and realize their potential.

Edwin Bruce was born on May 3, 1932 in Springfield, MA. He graduated from Framingham High School in 1949 and

50 | Holderness School Today

on August 26, 1957 in Wichita. Bruce taught at Holderness from 1958 to 1962 before joining the faculty of Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, WA as an English and History teacher and as a coach for the football and golf teams. It was at Charles Wright Academy that he met and mentored a young student named Phil Peck. Years later, it was Haertl who encouraged Phil—then a Dartmouth graduate and young history teacher—to check out Holderness School.

“It’s so hard to believe we lost Bruce. He was the key reason I went into teaching and coaching, and then why I even considered being a head of school,” Phil says. “In 2012, Dave Floyd ’62 and his classmates brought Bruce and Tonya back for their 50th reunion.

It is a weekend I will always remember fondly.”

Bruce went on to make his mark at Charles Wright as a passionate educator and inspiring coach, serving as the headmaster from 1969–77. Charles Wright recognized his contributions by naming the football field Haertl Field in his honor. Above all, Bruce was a devoted family man. His four sons and grandchildren got a large dose of his active imagination from the master storyteller and were gifted with the gentle imparting of wisdom from a life well-lived.

This much is certain: he left nothing on the field. He lived his life to the fullest and, hopefully, with no regrets. If the true measure of any person's life is how much you are loved, his was unsurpassed. His legacy remains f luid. It lives in his wife of 63 years who stood by him so lovingly, strongly, and patiently. It f lows through the stories that have already been passed down the generations. And it lives in the countless memories he left behind with all who loved him. n

IN MEMORIUM

JONATHAN BOURNE 1939–2020

J

onathan (Goatie) Francis Bourne, 81 of Holderness, NH, passed away Friday, October 2, 2020 at the Golden View Health Care Center in Meredith, NH.

Jon was born on September 25, 1939 in Boston, MA to Philip W. Bourne and Mary E. Bourne of Beverly, MA. Jon spent a lot of his youth on Squam Lake and moved to Holderness in 1960.

Jon faithfully served the Town of Holderness Fire Department from the 1960s through the 1970s. He worked at Kip & Joe’s in Holderness, Smith Piper General Store in Holderness, and retired after 25 years working for Buildings & Grounds at Holderness School. He is remembered fondly by many who worked with him at Holderness.

“Jon was such a wonderful role model for all of us who were fortunate enough to work for (he was my boss during summer maintenance) and with him,” says Head of School Phil Peck. “Every day he epitomized the Holderness mission. I feel blessed to have learned with and from Jon. He moved the mission of our school forward. I can only hope to have had such a meaningful legacy.”

Jon loved his antique cars and motorcycles, driving across the country where he met many wonderful people and formed many lasting relationships. Jon was always there to help with his mechanical expertise.

He is predeceased by his sister, Sally Bourne Harrison and his brother, Philip Bourne.

Jon is survived by Catherine G. Bourne of Gilford, NH; his twin children, David E. Bourne of Holderness and Deborah A. Bourne of Gilmanton, NH; five granddaughters; his wife, Penelope Crowley Bourne; and his step-children, James and Linda Crowley. n

Fall 2020 | 51

CLASS NOTES

CLASS NOTES Milestones DEATHS Warren "Sandy" Carstensen Jr. ’65: December 10, 2019 Stephen W.A. Thompson ’58: January 13, 2020 Donald "David" D. Douglass Jr. ’53: March 12, 2020 George F. Theriault Jr. ’61: April 27, 2020 Edwin "Bruce" B. Haertl (PEM): May 7, 2020 Gordon "Doug" D. Hamilton ’50: May 9, 2020 George C. Textor Jr. ’63: May 10, 2020 Robert "Bob" U. Johnsen Jr. ’68: May 16, 2020 Hugh O. Barndollar Jr. ’56: May 30, 2020 Eric "Rick" H. Nickerson ’65: June 10, 2020 William "Bill’ A. McCollom ’64: June 28, 2020

Ethan Pfenninger ’11 (PEM) and Ashley Pfenninger: July 16, 2020 at Welch and Dickey Mountain, Thornton, NH Gabbie (Raffio) Weisburger ’10 and Ben Weisburger: July 17, 2020 at Chicago, IL Caroline Casey ’99 and Michael Britton: July 24, 2020 at Two Harbors, Catalina Island, CA Woosung Lee ’06 and Seul Ah Yoo: July 25, 2020 in South Korea Katie (Leake) Parker ’12 and Will Parker: August 1, 2020 at Marblehead, MA Abagael Alattery ’12 and Anand Kumar: August 2, 2020 at Church Landing, Meredith, NH Malcolm Mitchell-Lewis ’03 and

Preston "Pete" S. Parish TR: July 1, 2020

Kelly Dillon: August 13, 2020 at

James W. Hammond (PEM): July 3, 2020

Church Island, Holderness, NH

John D. Summers ’47: July 15, 2020 Claudine Gauthier (PEM):

Anne Richardson ’05 and Greg Williams: August 22, 2020 at Queensbury, NY

September 7, 2020 Michael F. Mansfield ’56: September 10, 2020 Bill Barbour (PEM): September 13, 2020 Raymond J. Terry ’54: September 25, 2020

BIRTHS AND ADOPTIONS Victoria (Canelas) Lantiegne ’07 and Aric Lantiegne: Lincoln Briar Lantiegne on June 16, 2019 Chris Little ’81 and Beth Little: Bowman Crawford Allan Little on May 4, 2020 Alec Brewster ’96 and Nadia Brewster:

MARRIAGES AND UNIONS Jason Merritt ’05 and Nina Merritt: June 1, 2019 at Castle Hill Inn, Newport, RI Haleigh (Weiner) Thompson ’11 and Eddie Thompson: September 7, 2019 Mimi Pichette ’10 and RJ Reid: January 25, 2020 at Toronto, ON Bruce Hamlin ’06 and Hairi Lee: June 26, 2020 Grady Vigneau III ’06 and Jane Barnard: June 26, 2020 at Holderness School Outdoor Chapel, Holderness, NH Matt Nolan ’10 and Courtney Nolan: July 10, 2020 at 4U Ranch, Peoa, UT Anders Nordblom ’06 and Molly Muller: July 13, 2020 at Lonesome Lake Hut, Franconia, NH

52 | Holderness School Today

Winders: Arlo Winders, June 2020 Emily (Noyes) Grunow ’03 and John Grunow: Elizabeth "Betty" Pike Grunow on June 2, 2020 Ally (Stride) Lloyd ’09 and Michael Lloyd: William Weeks Lloyd on June 2, 2020 Kwan Kim ’05 and Hana Yoo: Dani Kim on June 13, 2020 Brian Swan (PEM) and Erinn Swan: Benjamin Andrew Swan on June 24, 2020 John Lockwood ’03 and Sophie Lockwood: Josephine Kendrick Lockwood on June 26, 2020 Jason Merritt ’05 and Nina Merritt: Charlotte Kathryn Merritt on July 4, 2020 Katy (Gannon) Bode ’98 and Eric Bode: Rhett Cayden Bode on July 9, 2020 Kelley (Keohan) Da Silva ’06 and Bruno Da Silva: Lucas Keohan Da Silva on July 15, 2020 Caroline (Walsh) Andren ’10 and

July 28, 2020 Thomas R. Loemker ’48:

Ashely Saba Winders ’05 and Dennis

Benjamin Adnan Brewster on May 4, 2020 CJ Vincent ’06 and Rebecca Vincent: Hayleigh Wayn Vincent on May 8, 2020 Stan Smith ’05 and Tatiana Smith: Zoë Gabriella Smith on May 10, 2020 Tyler Stearns ’07 and Lauren Stearns: Maia Rose Stearns on May 15, 2020 Hadley Bergh ’09 and Margot Moses (PEM): Edith "Edie" Bergh Moses on May 20, 2020 Katy Rodden Walker ’03 and Forrest Walker: Olin Feinberg Walker on May 22, 2020 Dan Schmidt ’03 and Laura Schmidt:

Derek Andren: Sage Elizabeth Andren on July 17, 2020 Nate Glenney ’02 and Hillary Glenney: Eva Rowan Glenney on July 20, 2020 Kathryn (Cheng) Sullivan ’08 and Chris Sullivan: Noah Weng-Hing Sullivan on July 23, 2020 Emily (Marvin) Rider ’09 and Joe Rider: William "Liam" Joseph Rider on August 6, 2020 Erin (Simes) Daigneault ’01 and Joey Daigneault: Charli Mea Diagneault on August 20, 2020 Kelly (Pope) Casey (EM) and Ian Casey (EM): Thomas Pope Casey on August 23, 2020 Carlie (Bristow) Febo ’06 and Anthony Febo: Luna Catherine Febo on August 27, 2020 Sophie Nicolay ’00 and Nick Emlen: Leo Emlen on August 29, 2020 Jenn (Reilly) Gorman ’04 and

Barrett "Bear" Angler-Alden

Robert Gorman: Jack Reilly

Schmidt on May 22, 2020

Gorman on September 18, 2020

over-looking the Hudson River. Life has been very good to us. As I look at my 90th birthday next September I think the future is bright.” … Rik Clark says: The aging process for 1948 classmates has enough challenges, without the coronavirus, as we all have reached age 90. I lost my daughter at age 63 in January. We have moved to a condominium in the same Village

Bill Seaver’s ’61 granddaughter Eloise wearing ear protection with her parents at a noisy event.

of Osterville leaving our former home after 35

Rik Clark ’48 was surprised on his 90th birthday by his children, who arranged to have his life-sized cutout placed on the Green Monster in Fenway Park (top row, to the right of Big Papi).

our health is good, and I am back playing golf.

years. Our energy and stamina are returning, We are very fortunate and count our blessings

’47

Time passes too fast. We are fortunate that our

every day. Speaking of blessings, ever since the

entire family lives within 20 miles of us and

Red Sox built 269 seats above Fenway Park’s

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

we get together often. Of course the present

left field wall, 37' high, known as the Green

Bill Briggs

circumstances do curtail getting together. I

Monster, I have wanted to sit there and watch

kvanlingen@holderness.org

have fond memories of our time at Holderness

the Red Sox play. Although Fenway Park was

and know that the school has really prospered.

built in 1912 and the famous left field wall

A short chat with Bill Briggs reveals, that

Thanks to Rik for taking such good care of

did not happen until 1933, the Green Monster

although he has email, he’s quick to admit

our class all these years.” … Tom Loemker

seats did not happen until 2003. My desire to

that at 90 years of age he’s not good at using

writes: “This is a brief note to cover more

sit there was expressed to daughter Sharon

computers. But those 90 years don’t hold him

than seventy years. After Holderness, I went

before she died in January, 2020. Sharon

back from “racing”—although they are shorter

to Dartmouth (BA 1952/Tuck MBA 1953)

obviously shared this with her sister Sue and

races these days and they consist of walking

and then the Army. Lost 70+ pounds in basic

brother Ted. They had hoped to host me in the

instead of running. He was glad to hear that

training and never put it back on. Was sent to

Green Monster seats for my 90th birthday, but,

COVID-19 cases in New Hampshire have been

Japan, given training in Japanese in Tokyo,

alas, no fans in Fenway Park. They have made

low and that the students will be returning to

then sent on to my permanent assignment

my wish happen just the same. Ted and Sue

campus. He said it’s a back and forth world

outside of Kyoto. Managed to travel quite a bit;

discovered that there was space in Section 2

with some people wanting everyone to wear

discharged in 1955. Worked for Pitney Bowes

for a cardboard cutout of yours truly, wearing

masks and others not wanting masks at

for over 30 years, getting general management

his 2011 Pan-Mass Challenge riding jersey.

all. He’s been hearing more about the “new

experience in the later years. Worked for a

They negotiated with the Red Sox and the

normal” and laughs because “at age 90, I

series of companies brought together through

seat for me has happened! If you look now at

can’t remember what the old normal was.”

acquisition, all involved in identification labels

Section 2, there I am sitting next to Big Papi in

for both the garment and grocery industries.

the top row. WOW! Talk about a wish coming

’48

Retired three times—last two to integrate

true; this wish has been special and Ted and

more acquisitions. Finally retired around

Sue, with an assist to Sharon, have made it

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

2000. Experienced business travel to Europe,

happen. I am very excited and very grateful.

Rik Clark

the Far East, Australia, and New Zealand over

capeclarks@aol.com

the years and extensive vacations with our children to many national parks and around

’49

Bart Chase reports: “Things are well here

the US. Enjoyed very good health until June

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

on the West Coast despite the pandemic

2019; had a stroke which paralyzed my left

Bill Baskin

situation. Our health continues to be okay,

side. Working hard to get strength back in

william_c_baskin@sbcglobal.net

despite the ages of 91 for me and 89 for my

both arm and legs—a process that will never

wife Bunny. Hope our remaining classmates

end. My wife Marion and our three daughters

Well, as of mid-summer the coronavirus

are getting along all right. Hope class input

are being a great support system. While

pandemic has the surviving nine of us

to HST will be larger than last year. Playing

confined to a wheelchair now, I’m looking

sequestered, but that is just an additional

golf as often as the weatherman will allow.

forward to walking later this year. Now we

restriction on our mobility, given our seniority.

Fall 2020 | 53

CLASS NOTES

are living in a retirement community (CCRC)

CLASS NOTES

… Bob Barrows wishes all of us well from

girlfriend, Milan. We adore her. They are

from the ship’s skipper and drove the Austin

his new quarters in Matthews, NC. He

inseparable largely because of the strength of

Healey to Beloit, WI where Jean and I were

reports that his health is fine, his children

the relationship they treasure. This remarkable

married. After a couple of weeks’ “honeymoon”

and grandchildren are all well, and that his

young lady is Vietnamese; however, unlike

back near Brooklyn Naval Shipyard I sent

downsizing to a duplex has thankfully freed

her parents, she was born in this country. She

Jean back solo with the Healey to Chicago

him from ownership overhead chores, i.e. “no

wanted Henry to meet her extended family

to complete her RN school. I then rode my

grass to cut, no trees to prune, sewers, no well

that lives near Ho Chi Minh City. So off they

destroyer through the Panama Canal to our

to go dry, etc.” The pandemic has interrupted

went by plane from the US to Tokyo in order

new home port of Long Beach, CA where we

his exercise routine at the YMCA, which

to make another connection from Japan to

made our home until 1958. Civilian life started

was substituting for having retired his golf

Hanoi. Upon returning, my grandson reported

with three and a half years developing steam

clubs; but it pleases his yellow lab “associate”

to us that the people in that country simply

turbines for Allis Chalmers in Milwaukee, WI

Buddy. … Bill Baskin and his Judy are strictly

love Americans. As their family guest he was

followed by three and a half years learning

sequestered in their retirement community

treated like a king. What a great experience!

about liquid rocket engines at Aerojet-General

apartment, but three of their children live

In conclusion, special congratulations go to

in Sacramento, CA. Next came six years with

nearby in Connecticut, and happily share

Holderness’ current graduating class of 2020.

TRW in Redondo Beach, CA, again with liquid

satisfying their parents’ shopping and medical

As a member of the Class of ’50, those of us

rockets. While there we lived in Palos Verdes

appointment chauffeuring needs. … Bob

who are still around will be celebrating our

with a view of Catalina Island. Pretty neat.

Bradner reports from Glencoe, IL, that his

70th Reunion this year. We wish the current

Finally the long-delayed bite of the aviation

family has been enjoying its annual vacation-

faculty and student body our warmest regards

bug got me and we bought a fifth interest in

time at Plum Beach, RI, but that his getting

and commend them for protecting and

a 1941 Piper Cub coupe and Jean and I both

there is dubious, and that his church is also

preserving that very special Holderness spirit,

began learning to f ly. The periodic whims of

very restricted. … Pete Kulla and his Edie

a kind of family loyalty that we all cherish.”

the aerospace industry finally caught up with

are well and living in Florida. They have been fortunate to have done a lot of travelling in the

me and I found myself working independently

’51

as a consulting outfit with customers spread

past, but now, “due to age and the fact that we live in the epicenter of the coronavirus, we stay

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

the late ’60s we discovered the beautiful Scott

at home.” … Don Wyeth is “hunkering down at

Terry Weathers

Valley in far northern California and bought a

home” in Canton, GA, where he “made 90 years

tmw@sisqtel.net

ten acre parcel of forest with a creek running

old June 30.” The Wyeths’ excitement has been

across the country. On a camping vacation in

through it and nothing but an old dozer cut for

the arrival of a great granddaughter, and their

We heard from Dick Daitch who wrote:

an access road. It then became our summer

grandson Jacob signing a commitment letter

“Living full time in Venice, FL for the last two

camping destination. June of ’72 we made our

to play baseball for Louisiana State University.

and a half years with the second Mrs. Daitch.

big move. A big U-Haul truck and trailer were

Previously we split our time between Cape Cod

filled with our earthly possessions. Jean and

’50

and Sarasota over the previous seven years.

I drove to the airport and she took her private

Vital signs are behaving and have no health

pilot f light test and I took my commercial test.

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

complaints except for the usual aches and

Fortunately we both passed, because the next

Frank Hammond

pains. Still active playing golf and competitive

morning we were on our way north with both

f hammond64@comcast.net

bridge, along with travelling here and there.

daughters, dog, and cat. That summer and fall

We have seven kids, 12 grand and three great.

we built, largely with our own hands, the small

Frank Hammond writes: “Submitting worthy

Manage to stay in touch with the Carters

redwood home in which Jean and I are now

news about our family will be centered mostly

(Fred Carter) and Arthur ‘Mac’ McKinstry

retired. We ran a little airport at Montague,

around the ‘doings’ of my granddaughter and

periodically.” … As for me, Terry Weathers,

CA from ’79 to ’96 and I cut back to a one-man

grandson. Megan will be entering her third

taking on the class rep job again has forgotten

operation instructing, giving pilot exams,

year at Boulder this fall. However, some of her

advantages, such as the great phone call I

and chasing wildfires. I gradually retired

courses will be online, given the somewhat

got from Dick Daitch this week. (I’m sure

and finally sold my last airplane in 2012 and

unsettling circumstances taking place on

he’d enjoy hearing from other classmates.)

haven’t f lown at all for the last six years. Jean

our school campuses these days. She has

We hadn’t spoken since graduation in 1951.

finally retired from a long career as a family

become an even more attractive young lady,

I won’t pretend to do as comprehensive a job

nurse practitioner about four years ago. I’ll bet

tall and pretty, along with being a somewhat

as Bill Summers, but I’ll try to fill in the

we have it easier than most when it comes to

gifted athlete. We’re all proud of her. Henry,

gap. I’ll start with an update on myself. After

social distancing. The closest neighbors are at

in his very quiet manner, reacts to his

graduating from Illinois Tech in ’55 with an

least 1,000 ft away. Once a week we travel 28

accomplishments very humbly. He successfully

engineering degree courtesy of an NROTC

miles over one mountain (three stop signs and

graduated from Plymouth University, thanks

scholarship, I served three years aboard a

no stop lights) to Yreka, our county seat, for

largely to the tutoring he received from his

destroyer. In April 1956 I borrowed $100

shopping—with masks, of course. Sure looking

54 | Holderness School Today

forward to hearing from more of our surviving

basketball game at Springfield University in

Chase, George “Bernie” Morrill ’58,

class of ’51. Before I sign off, I’d like to share

1892. There were nine players per side and

Stephen “Crap” Carpenter ’58, Bill Clough

some memories of Bart and Vivianne Chase.

only one basket was scored...by Bart Chase!

stands out because I see him at Middlebury

Vivianne (Vee) was my mother’s sister. It was her raving about Holderness (their son, Bart

’52

gatherings which we both attend every two years, and we have spoken on the phone often

Chase, Jr. is class of ’48) that prompted my

Want to connect with your classmates?

in the past year. I am still living in Owls Head,

mother to convince me that the school was a

Consider becoming a class correspondent

ME and continue to be involved with

much better choice than the public 1-12 county

and encouraging your classmates to

Penobscot Island Air, the island air service for

school in Kentucky that I was attending. My

reconnect in the HST class notes.

Penobscot Bay. My trusty Cessna 180 is on

mother must have hit up every shirttail relative

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

f loats again and I f ly it for fun and instruction.

she could come up with to scrounge together

for more information. Thank you!

After 25 years I finally sold my Bell 47 G5A

that first year’s tuition. The Chase couple came to Holderness from Proctor Academy in the

helicopter and that was truly traumatic and

’53

difficult for me. This may well be the last year

fall of ’48 just after Bart Jr.’s graduation. Bart Chase was a coach in virtually every sport the

Want to connect with your classmates?

have an apartment in my house I rented to a

school offered and taught history and biology.

Consider becoming a class correspondent

young man who turned out to be the son of

They managed the Marshall House dorm for

and encouraging your classmates to

Hannah Babcock ’80. Hannah was on the

some years, then bought a rural home about 13

reconnect in the HST class notes.

University of Maine Ski Team which I coached

miles from campus that they called Knoll Top.

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

for many years. Fun connection. Hannah and I

Bart retired as Athletic Director in the early

for more information. Thank you!

both talked about Don Henderson many

’60s and they later went to Port Hueneme, CA. Bart had graduated from Springfield

for my f lying which is sad to think about. I

times and what a difference he and Holderness

’54

made in our lives! Thanks for keeping in

University as had his father and so did his son, Bart Jr. He also joined the U.S. Naval Reserve

Want to connect with your classmates?

Heide Munro, writing for Orton “Bo” Munro,

and served on active duty during WWII,

Consider becoming a class correspondent

responded to the snail mail letter I sent to

attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

and encouraging your classmates to

classmates without e-mail addresses, but

He continued to participate in the Ready

reconnect in the HST class notes.

replied by e-mail: “Thank you for your letter

Reserve, retiring with over 20 years of total

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

and the news about Holderness. Barry Borella

service. Early in my senior year Bart called

for more information. Thank you!

phones us off and on to keep us informed. We

me aside and asked what my plans were after Holderness. I said I hoped to go to college and

touch, Dick, and gathering class notes.” …

have three sons, in NYC, Boston, and Saco,

’55

ME, and two grandkids: Katelyn (16) in Saco,

study aeronautical engineering. “How are you planning to pay for it?” (Knowing full well that

Want to connect with your classmates?

work and learn from home in these crazy

my family couldn’t afford it.) “Well, I’d thought

Consider becoming a class correspondent

times. We are not doing much, walking the dog

about enlisting in the Air Force and making

and encouraging your classmates to

and Bo still goes to our A-frame in Gilead, ME

use of the GI Bill.” “Have you ever heard of

reconnect in the HST class notes.

on weekends. Every event has been cancelled

Naval ROTC Scholarship, the Holloway Plan?”

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

this summer, and so it goes. Be well.” … Tom

“No, sir.” “Well, I’ll get you some information

for more information. Thank you!

Anthony is a regular contributor: “I’d have

on it and you give it some thought.” He did, and I did, and the whole application process

and Cameron (15) in Norwood, MA. They all

written before, but there’s not a lot to write

’56

about. I haven’t seen many people, and the few

is a story into itself. The result was a degree in mechanical engineering from Illinois

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

computer screen. I’ve read a lot of news, but I

Institute of Technology in Chicago (where I

Dick Meyer

must say it doesn’t put me in a very creative

met Jean), three years aboard a destroyer, and

richard419@roadrunner.com

frame of mind. It’s easy to fall into the trap of

20 years participating in the Naval Reserve

I have seen are those who are often on my

ordering priorities with the election a few

retiring as Captain. Now at age 87 that naval

When I put out the request for class notes I

l-o-n-g months away. I’d have reported on my

retirement pay is the primary part of my

repeated the sad announcement of the death of

trip to Ischia, but it didn’t happen and the

retirement income. I’ve got a lot of reason to be

two classmates. This triggered the opening

airline thought that the price I paid for tickets

thankful to Uncle Bart. An interesting bit of

line of the reply from Philip “Brud” Folger: “I

was a contribution and refused to refund.

history that I picked up when confirming this

did see the notes from school about Hugh

We’re doing as well as can be expected in the

information with cousin Bart is the following:

Barndollar and William “Wink” Rawle.

context of the pandemic; I’m riding my bike a

Bart’s great grandfather, also named William

Memories took me back to Marshall House

lot, cooking a lot, picture framing, and

Bartlett Chase, played in the very first

with those two of course but Bart and “Ma”

writing. There are a couple of furniture

Fall 2020 | 55

CLASS NOTES

’57 and all the others too. George Pransky ’58

I knew the Chases before Holderness because

CLASS NOTES

projects to look forward to. Still, all of this

Alone Lane. Well, not completely alone. I live

maintain enough engines and cars to limp

pales in the looming awfulness of climate

in Carrboro, NC and my son lives a few miles

through operations on the weekends.”

change. We see signs everywhere we look and

from me in Chapel Hill. Also, my son in

Continuing with the saga of the Maine Narrow

as I think of it, the pandemic is probably

Georgia keeps in close contact with me. And,

Gauge Railroad and other tidbits: The

having an impact on the depredations of fossil

then there is Emi. She came as a foreign

COVID-19 virus has reduced the weekly

fuels. Another plus is the reaction of human

exchange student 20 years ago, became a US

ridership from about 2,000 to something in

connections. Despite masks, gloves, zones of

citizen, and lives in the Washington, DC area.

the neighborhood of 50. Plans for operating

avoidance and being locked up or down, so

She visits frequently and stays several days. I

Polar Express at Christmas (20,000 customers

many people are rediscovering the importance

have set up all the tech stuff so that she does

in 2019) looks to be in jeopardy. Consequently,

of interaction, of consideration and common

not miss a beat while she works remotely. So,

I think the survivorship of the Maine Narrow

purpose. Not all, of course. For some seem to

not alone entirely. Of course, COVID-19 has

Gauge Railroad is in jeopardy. The waterfront

be taking the restrictions as a personal affront.

certainly changed my life. Instead of reading

construction and loss of parking space is also a

Still and all, we are here, doing our best and

the New York Times in a coffee shop and

big contributing factor. Nevertheless, I keep

what we can and our minds are prospering

instead of a Barnes and Noble visit, my New

plugging along with the repair and restoration

from the new things we are learning.” … Bob

York Times is online and my books are on a

work. We are a small crew who mostly work on

Armknecht added some sad news from his

Kindle. The Chapel Hill area has great forests

separate projects. One is a retired forest ranger

life: “I’m afraid my update is not all I would

for walking. I enjoy doing that. Since these

who keeps going back to his cabin with his

have hoped it to be, but then, whose

forests are not often visited, they are safe from

brother in the Allagash. Another is in the

2019/2020 has turned out as planned? When I

‘COVID-19 world.’ I do some bird watching. It

process of purchasing a summer home on a

last wrote, I told you of my happy new entry to

is an interesting time to do it, because as the

lake and is absent while he goes through

married life and a planned honeymoon trip

warming climate changes, the bird population

inspections and remediation before closing. A

around the world. Unfortunately, three days

changes a bit. Well, that’s it for me: just

third is still sheltering at home. One is only a

before reaching Tanzania, my wife suffered a

dealing with change. I wish I could wave a

part time Maine resident and returns to

major stroke from which she never recovered,

magic wand and stop it, but old age happens

Connecticut frequently. And, after all, we are

and she died two months later. As a result of

and the world is a ‘machine’ where almost all

only volunteers and this is summer and people

finding myself single again, I decided to move

parts are moving. I am like the old mule

also take vacations, so work progress is slow

to a retirement community in Westwood, MA,

pulling a plow in the so very hot Carolina sun:

and not too steady. The first project that drew

called Fox Hill Village and moved in mid-

‘I knew it would be like this, but I sure hoped it

us out of lockdown happened when we had

December. Everything was going well and then

wouldn’t be.’ Nope. Change happens. No magic

vandalism attributed to an early Black Lives

COVID-19 raised its ugly head, and the place

wand. Hope this finds you and yours in good

Matter protest march. Although the type of

went into total lockdown. Fortunately, I kept

health. Stay safe and regards.” … Ironically,

damage—kicked in door panel and broken

my Westport house so I have a place to escape

the spring issue of HST arrived just as I was

door window—is also characteristic of

to. I hope to renew my cruising next year and

putting these notes together for the fall issue

homeless damage when they want a place to

have three trips planned. On a school note, I

and Al Taylor read my article on the Maine

sleep out of the weather, the 13 broken side

was saddened by Don Henderson’s death. (He

Narrow Gauge Railroad (MNGRR) and sent

windows are pure vandalism. Ironically, this

always seemed indestructible to me.) He was

this along: “As a young fellow I spent my

also provided a chance to do extensive repair

the last of the faculty from our era, and they

summers in Wiscasset and remember the

to the hinge side of the door casing as well as

are missed in my mind at least. I hope all is

Narrow Gauge Railroad. I do not remember

the latch side. The door now swings more

well with you. Keep calm and carry on.” … It

when it stopped running but I know I was very

freely, latches more securely, and looks better

was nice to receive a letter from Philippe

young. I never rode on it but I did go into the

than it has for some time. We were in the

Coupey. Philippe lives in a Buddhist Sanha in

station house a couple of times.” … I (Dick

process of fabricating 160 feet of cushions and

Paris, France. He has written a number of

Meyer) replied to Al: “That was the WW&F

back rests for another coach when the

books on Zen Buddhism including his most

railroad, Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington

shelter-in-place order started. This project is

recent book entitled, In the Belly of the

Railroad. They are still in business as a tourist

again now in process. Within a day or two

Dragon. The day after writing his letter, he

novelty, only they are now located in Alna,

before the March lockdown Dave Wiggins

was “off to Greece for two weeks.” He was

(about 5 miles west) and don't make it all the

(Liberty, ME) suggested we have lunch at

planning to “sleep, recuperate and read in the

way to Wiscasset. However, they have a

DiMillo’s in Portland. I suggested that since

shade on the empty beach. And empty it is.

machine shop, round table, and storage

there are several in our class here in Maine

The little town I go to in Crete has no

facilities that we do not, because our complex

within driving distance that I contact them

telephone, no bank and not even any

of buildings was sold for development and we

and we have a mini-reunion. The lockdown put

newspapers.” … Lew Snow also had sad news

lost our museum. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the

an end to that, but I still plan to do it as soon

to report: “There have been a few big changes

Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad in Portland is

as it is safe to meet together in a restaurant—

in my life. My wife of 50 plus years died in

on its last leg, but we are partnering with

probably next year. The invitation is not

2017. So, now I am living life in what I call the

WW&F folks to take our rolling stock. We

limited exclusively to Maine residents,

56 | Holderness School Today

my dear friend Copley, cousin-by-marriage,

cake! The zip code we live in [now] has had

driving distance. Heidi Munro, writing for

stroke-stricken and wheel-chair bound, has

around 25 new [COVID] cases. I do not know

Orton “Bo” Munro (Augusta, ME), says to

reached his limit of endurance and has decided

whether our local schools and universities will

count them in. Two of three grandchildren

to leave, now. He has stopped eating. And we

reopen. What is Holderness’ plan? I see there is

have had COVID-19, and the third had an

have said good-bye to one another. Several

going to be some new construction going on. I

emergency appendectomy just at the start of

things come to mind about this: I suspect your

hope the student body will not be enlarged. I

the pandemic, creating considerable concern

80-year-old body is also, to one degree or

would like to see an evaluation by recent

about hospital infection. All have recovered

another, complaining. Yet my impression from

students (and some old fogies, too) of their

well. Of the two with the virus one is an EMT

reading Holderness School Today, Sharon’s

experience and a list of suggestions that could

working his way through college, and the other

Walnut Hill School periodical, and our college

lead to a better learning experience in the

is a CNA, working in a rehab center, who

and graduate school alumni quarterlies is that,

future” [italics added by Brooke and Bill].

caught it from a new patient she was assigned

in class notes, one’s not supposed to admit of

“Great news!” Erl continues. “Holderness exists

to before the patient was diagnosed correctly.

any complaint. Our spouses are spectacular

as a place in Yorkshire. It is not a public

She was only moderately sick, but the fever

and forever; our children f lawless at sport,

relations gimmick as many have suspected.

held on for weeks, so she could not go back to

school, and career; our homes the envy of the

Holderness is a coastal area in the English

work. When she was finally cleared, hospitals

neighborhood; our investment strategies

county of York, Britain’s largest county after

were no longer assigning patients to rehab, so

calamity proof; etc. This is, in part, part of our

the city of London. Holderness’ coastline is

she went on unemployment for a while, but is

educated Americans’ alumni magazine culture

receding every year but will take a long time to

now back to work. The EMT grandchild said

that understandably implies that one’s

recede a noticeable distance. We visited the

that when his employer ran low on PPE, the

institution has turned out generations of

towns of Beverly, Scarborough, and of course

rules were changed so they did not have to use

perfect people, that we remain forever as

the ancient city of York, as well as my family’s

it. I wonder how he contracted the virus? My

creative and competitive as when we were

ancestral church in Rowley. The people are

thanks to Dick Endlar who kept up a stream

juniors, that Our School is an excellent

great and so is the beer. We stayed in YHA

of videos and jokes all winter from Florida. ~

institution. As indeed ours is. There are

hostels and had a great time.” … Erl’s

Dick Meyer

assumptions ‘out there,’ that one’s school will

preference for older, unpretentious, smaller

expand in size, educational scope, array of

ways is unlikely to prevail. Someone, a couple

’57

gender identities, and in open-mindedness,

of years ago, gave a Massachusetts liberal arts

and that we alumni—living longer than we

college twenty-five million bucks, and another

Want to connect with your classmates?

used to—nevertheless will also continue to

hedge fund fellow one-upped the previous

Consider becoming a class correspondent

grow, will not stop expressing ourselves to the

donor by giving an additional hundred million.

and encouraging your classmates to

world as productive, competitive human

Really! And they gave it to the same college

reconnect in the HST class notes.

beings. A question: at what post-graduation

whose class of 1962 had lost half a dozen

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

point do we in fact cease to need to tout our

dropouts by homesickness or despair, even

for more information. Thank you!

triumphs and instead acknowledge our

more dropouts by variations on academic

collective humanity?” … Erl Solstad has

failure, and three suicides, all well before

’58

already shared with us some of his

graduation ... to say nothing of the multitude

reservations about the assumptions mentioned

of members who, since graduation, have not

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

above. He is disappointed that our school’s

been heard from because, in their perception,

Bill Biddle

expansion has sacrificed a great deal of the

their spouses were insufficiently spectacular,

williambiddle@myfairpoint.net

personal, individualized relationship between

their children merely normal, their career

Randall “Brooke” Thomas

students and teachers, and with that, some

paths ordinary, whatever. We are all, in fact,

rbthomas@anthro.umass.edu

loss of development of character. His August

extraordinary, each in our own way. It’s a

13 th email to Brooke speaks more fully of how

given. Yet we’re all also vulnerable, more now

This from Bill Biddle: “As I write this, my left

his worldview shapes his words. Erl writes:

than ever, to life’s vicissitudes. It was touching,

hip is in need of repair or replacement, but has

“Phakinee and I now spend a lot of our time in

a few issues back, to learn from Bruce Keller

to wait until the disabling gout that has

Brooklyn, typically walking together with our

of just how very much the loss of his wife has

inf lamed my left foot is thoroughly gone. In

small Yorkshire terrier along the Brooklyn

affected, dampened, his outlook on life. …

the meantime, my wife Sharon and I take our

waterfront or one of the nearby parks. At one

Gordi Eaton reports on the difficulty that

daily blood pressure, cholesterol, cardiac, and

of the parks anyone can get free food if you

came with his and Karen’s recently selling off

general malaise pills. And grunting and

wait in line for about forty minutes on

all their goods and chattels (except the

groaning, we carry on: neither bodily ailment

Saturday afternoon. This food is donated by

restaurant their daughter oversees in Lincoln,

nor COVID-19 will deter us from working our

Trader Joe’s and other large retailers. So we do

NH) in Middlebury and moving to Hood River,

land and gardens, or from voting against the

that sometimes and get two boxes of tomatoes,

CO, to be near their son and grandchildren.

narcissistic sociopath in The White House. But

potatoes, bread, milk, cheese, and sometimes

“We were actually invited to come, mainly

Fall 2020 | 57

CLASS NOTES

everyone is invited. I was just thinking of easy

CLASS NOTES

because we are easy and cheap baby sitters,” he

cabin in Averill, VT, even though we would

survive but he lost a large amount of personal

writes, adding that “moving out of a home of

need to quarantine for 14 days. After seven

belongings. … As for me, Jerry Ashworth,

43 years is not a fun process [and, he adds,

days of quarantine we chose an option to get

all is well. I still enjoy horseback riding and

commercial] moving companies come as close

tested in Newport. Although we understood

boating. One grandchild is off to Texas for

to the mafia as I want to get.” He also notes

that the results of the Quest Diagnostic test

college and the other one will be going to

they’re right on the Columbia River where

would be communicated regardless of the

school in Maine. I look back to my first year at

“kite boarding and windsurfing are big” and

outcome, we never did hear the results. We

Dartmouth and I see someone who thought he

that the area is a “hot spot for wonderful

expect that only positive results were

knew it all. My grandchildren think the same

mountain biking with a 7–8 month season.”

communicated. The summer has been most

way. What an awakening they will have! It is

Gordi speaks well of his roommate at

unusual given the need to social distance and

a scary thought to know how much I had to

Holderness and especially of Don Henderson

wear masks. Both of our sons and their

learn. I am still in touch with Chris Palmer

and Ed Cayley both of whom “exposed [me] to

families have been able to spend some time

and my near neighbor Steve Barndollar.

a positive, inquisitive and enlightened

with us in Averill, but not staying with us in

Speaking of Steve, I was saddened to learn

culture.” … One of us had written to Steve

our cabin. The New York Kingstons had to

of the death of his brother Hugh Barndollar

Carpenter a few months back, offering

quarantine while the Norwich, VT, Kingstons

’56. Hugh is the one person who made my

condolences on the death of his brother Bill.

did not. Our youngest, Courtney, and her

golf game look great. Also, he was my hero

Bill’s career had been in leading several

family who live in Portola Valley, CA, near

for putting hockey coach Rip Richards over

statewide New Hampshire agencies. Steve

Stanford, did not want to f ly across the

the boards in a scrimmage at our old outdoor

wrote back, “Even a sad moment can bring a

country, so they drove east in early July. Last

rink. I wish I had been there to witness that

smile to one’s face,” alluding to having heard

weekend they began their return trip driving

event. … I have regards to Dick Floyd from

condolences from a classmate. Though Steve

across the northern route. Initially they had

a mutual friend—Jim Gambrill says “hello.”

reports that he’s “still struggling with my

planned to stop at Mt Rushmore, but decided

Well, that’s all for now. Let's try to send news

brother’s passing. It’s hard for me to

to pass when they heard that 200,000 Harley

for the next HST. Until then, stay well.

understand that I am now the family

Davidson cyclists were expected to be in the

patriarch.” As are a number of us. Steve’s

area. This pandemic will pass, but we need to

career, and his banking, have been in Southern

take it seriously and protect each other. Stay

’60

California for the last 45 years, but he

safe. Best regards, Mike” … Brooke Thomas

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

concedes he may move because “the state is

and I wonder how, as with Mike, the pandemic

Gerry Shyavitz

getting on my nerves, and a little too deep into

may have affected the quality or quantity of

g.shyavitz@comcast.net

my pocketbook.” … Michael Kingston has also

your and your family’s activity? What have you

just written us. Here’s his full report: “Brooke

learned about living with yourself through all

These are difficult times for all of us, but

and Bill: Great to hear from you both in these

this? Are we doomed? Why not?

I believe that it also has some benefits, as it forces us to slow down and think more.

challenging times. Louise and I are fine and

’59

Instead of dwelling on the negative, we

of Holderness. Early March when this pandemic began we cancelled our ‘harvest’ trip

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

of health, spouses, grandchildren, nature,

to Chile and locked down in Princeton. Our

Jerry Ashworth

fresh air, mountains, oceans, etc. Enough

hospitality business at the winery closed

ashworth.kemah@gmail.com or

preaching. Have not heard from many of you

shortly thereafter, and we sent our five US

jashworth617@gmail.com

this year but even so, hope you are all well

currently in Averill, VT, about two hours north

can look around and count our blessings

and safe. Let’s have a good turnout for our

fellows, who are recent university graduates, home. One of those fellows was Holderness

This is being written on August 20th, the first

delayed 65th reunion next year. I received

graduate Teagan Mosenthal ’15. We

cool autumn-like day in Maine. Like everyone

a wonderful surprise call from Charley

continued with a skeleton staff to harvest

else I have no idea what the fall season will

Witherell recently. When I sent out a note

grapes and make this year’s wine. At this stage

look like. All I know is that it will surely be

to Charley, I included my legal card. No, I

Chile continues with major lockdown in the

different. This was not a good turnout from

was not looking for estate planning business,

cities like Santiago and Valparaiso. Country

our class in regards to responses to the request

but I was reaching out to talk. Then I forgot

wide they have had over 375,000 cases with

for class news. I have only heard from CPL.

and then came the call, which lasted some

over 10,000 deaths in a total population of

Charles Murphy USMC. He is still working

20 minutes. It was like going back in time.

about 18 million. Back in Princeton we

part time for Senator Grassley as an advisor

Charley and I were 18 again, not 78. Charley

continued in lockdown through March, April,

on defense issues. That’s good to know. We can

has not changed—he’s still a good guy. So

and May. Younger friends shopped for us but at

sleep safe and sound knowing that the defense

anyone who would like to talk, my telephone

least we were able to get outside to walk for

of our country is in good hands. … As to your

number is 603-401-5655. Many thanks for

some exercise. Towards the end of May we

inquiry into Harold “Buster” Welch’s fire

the regulars who consistently send donations

decided that it made sense to move to our

earlier this year, I think his food locker did

each year to the Holderness Fund. You are

58 | Holderness School Today

resume normal activities in the next year or

’63

two. Meantime, we’ll stay safe here, cast our

Want to connect with your classmates?

absentee ballots for new leaders, or go back

Consider becoming a class correspondent

to Miami Beach for the winter. I hope you’re

and encouraging your classmates to

safe and well in these times!” In a follow up

reconnect in the HST class notes.

email John says: “Smoking was one of my

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

youthful vices. At Holderness, hanging out

for more information. Thank you!

in the ‘butt room’ was also a social pastime.

In college, I began smoking a pipe instead of cigarettes. Later, I enjoyed an occasional

’64

cigar. But I stopped smoking in my 30s to

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

boost my aerobic capacity and activities. It

Guy "Sandy" Alexander

seems to have worked!” … As I (Shy) recall,

salex88@comcast.net

the "butt room" was right OUT THERE for all to see to the dismay of some, but it was

It is with great sadness that we learned of

useful maybe for growing up. It was between

the passing of Bill McCollom on June 29th

the school house and the old gym, so you

from a heart attack. It is hard to believe

could not avoid seeing it. In stormy weather,

that someone so active, so athletic could be

both loyal and generous. Pearl and I have just

they would still be there, even in an igloo.

gone so soon. … Not long after that we heard

celebrated our 53rd anniversary (July 23). It is

Over time and after I graduated, the butt

that Warren “Sandy” Carstenson ’65 had

amazing how many ask me how Pearl is, and

room was moved out of sight and then gone

died last December; while he graduated in

they have never met her. Guess I talk about

forever....AH MEMORIES. … And lastly, the

1965 he had started with the class of ’64

her a lot. Although she is now immobile, the

high f lying Rick Bullock says, “My wife and

and can rightfully be considered part of our

same personality exists and we are thankful.

I and our family are all well—doing our best

group. … One of our most prolific authors,

She is still relatively healthy. My daughter

to use best COVID avoidance practices. I still

Richard Seltzer, has had his recent novel

Sara from Waltham, VT, grandson Bradley,

oversee some aviation activity; I have a hangar

Beyond the Fourth Door published by All

granddaughter Mia, and son-in-law Paul are

at the Fitchburg, MA airport and manage

Things That Matter Press. It is available from

well. Also, my daughter Abby, granddaughters

a small corporate f light department that

Amazon and quite a few of our classmates

Londynn and Aurora, and son-in-law Brian

operates a business jet. Challenging times.

have already placed their orders. … Rick

in Montreal are also well and we are all so

I think of Holderness often—hard to believe

Hintermeister reports that all is well in the

very close. Those are my assets, I tell clients,

we graduated 60 years ago. Best wishes to all

hotspot of Florida. He has recovered from

etc. … Ross Deachman says it is quiet in NH,

my classmates.” … In closing, here’s wishing

a badly broken foot and has plenty of metal

although they had a busy July 4 th weekend.

good health, stay safe, keep in touch and we

now to alert any TSA agents. … The Ski Hall

Ross goes on to say: “The school seems strange

shall meet again. That’s all folks. ~ Shy

of Fame’s 2020 ceremony in Sun Valley was

Gerry Shayvitz ’60 and his wife, Pearl, on their 53rd wedding anniversary.

with no Gordon Research Conferences going

re-scheduled and then canceled, so my plan

’61

to see Donna and Sam Stout will be delayed.

closed in. It seems mammoth especially since it occupies the space where Marshall was.

Want to connect with your classmates?

we can even talk Terry Morse into driving

Nancy and I are well, as are my children and

Consider becoming a class correspondent

over from Moab. … I heard from several

grandchildren. Jessie, our son John’s oldest,

and encouraging your classmates to

classmates who mourned the passing of Jim

just found out she will be returning to Penn

reconnect in the HST class notes.

Hammond. Ironically, his assistant lacrosse

State for on campus classes this fall. My best

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

coach while he was at Mercersburg is my next

to you and yours and the entire ’60 family.”

for more information. Thank you!

door neighbor in Sunapee. Like many, he has

on. The new science building is pretty well

his own store of Jim and Loli stories. ~ Sandy

… POOR MARSHALL HOUSE. MY HOME. IT FINALLY DISAPPEARED DOWN THE

Next year’s bash will be in Snowmass; maybe

HILL… (-Shy). … I exchanged some emails

’62

with John Despres. Well, John reports: “In

Want to connect with your classmates?

’65

this time of the pandemic, we’re safe, well, and

Consider becoming a class correspondent

Want to connect with your classmates?

enjoying life by the ocean in Santa Monica,

and encouraging your classmates to

Consider becoming a class correspondent

CA, but not traveling as usual. Instead, we

reconnect in the HST class notes.

and encouraging your classmates to

Zoom, read, and walk a lot more. I finally

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

reconnect in the HST class notes.

read Albert Camus’ The Plague to adjust

for more information. Thank you!

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

to the lockdown. I now look forward to any

for more information. Thank you!

Fall 2020 | 59

CLASS NOTES

medical breakthroughs which would let us

’66 CLASS NOTES

CLASS CORRESPONDENT Peter Janney pj@apllon.com As we come into the end of the summer of 2020 in this new COVID era, greetings to all of the Class of 1966. I wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge three recently deceased faculty members who were very much alive for members of the Class of 1966 during our stint as students.

They are of course Jim Hammond, Michael Drummey, and Jim Brewer, all of whom were very much alive during our Holderness odyssey. No doubt, each of us has our own memories of these three individuals, however jaded by the movement of time. There is something about death that stirs a sense of sobriety, when we lose someone who had, in one form or another, an impact in our lives.

John Coles ’68 is continuing restoration work on the Colonial Theater in Laconia, NH

And now, traversing our eighth decade, we begin (and continue) the process of our own reckoning,

John Coles continues to do restoration

wit had not deteriorated in the slightest

not just with Holderness, but everything that has

work on various historic buildings. He is

bit! In any event, when I read that he had

come after. That being said, from time to time I

currently working on the Colonial Theater

died, I felt a real sense of loss. R.I.P. Mike.

have found myself thinking about each of these

in Laconia, NH. … Grafton Biddle wrote:

faculty, as they departed this dimension of being in

While reading the Spring 2020 issue of HST, I

2020—Jim Brewer on March 28, Mike Drummey

noticed that my English teacher and baseball

’69

on April 12, and most recently Jim Hammond on

coach, Mike Drummey, had died. Mike was

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

July 3. Having been fortunate enough to have all

a non-nonsense guy who had no tolerance for

Jonathan Porter

three of these Holderness icons as teachers, the

slackers. If you were caught “goofing off ”, so

jwoodporter@cox.net

poignancy of their transition this year was, for

to speak, in his class or at baseball practice,

me, only eclipsed by the segue of John Cameron

you were promptly dismissed. I can still hear

A note from Henry Copeland ’71: It is

(October 2018), a most revered teacher of English

the words “Get out!”, along with the unspoken

with great sadness and fond memory that

at Holderness, Phillips Academy (Andover), then

words of “...and don't’ let the door hit you in

I report my brother's passing on February

chairman of the English Department at Dana Hall

the ass!” The foregoing notwithstanding, I

21, 2020. Jack Copeland passed peacefully.

for twenty-eight years (1976–2004). I could regale

, along with a number of others in my class,

He lived a full and active life as an integral

you with memories—moments which undoubtedly

had enormous respect for the man. So much

part of the Mammoth Lakes CA/Mammoth

have danced in the foreground of your own—so

so that, in fact, we dedicated our yearbooks

Mountain community for many years. He

perhaps you might consider this an invitation

to him! When we announced the dedication

leaves behind his wife, Kathy, two faithful

to tell us your memories, as our own sunsets

Mike was quite surprised; I can’t ever

canine companions, three siblings, a niece,

move inevitably toward the western horizon.

remember seeing him with such a look of

and many whose lives he helped make a little

disbelief. You could tell that it meant a great

bit brighter over decades in his community.

’67

deal to him. I always admired the man, and

Like our late father John Copeland ’37, also

when he chose me to be the starting second

a Holderness alumnus, Jack held Holderness

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

baseman my senior year, I was (believe it

in high regard and was a fine example of the

Jamie Hollis

or not) quite honored. Mike was an All-Ivy

school’s outstanding heritage and traditions.

jameshollis@comcast.net

League third baseman for Harvard, so I felt pretty lucky to play for the guy. Mike had

’68

the ability to get his students to think, and

’70

think hard, about whatever the subject/book/

Want to connect with your classmates?

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

play, etc. was that was being studied. I came

Consider becoming a class correspondent

John Coles

back to school in 1970, when I was in the

and encouraging your classmates to

johncolesart@gmail.com

Marines, and saw Mike again. We went for a

reconnect in the HST class notes.

ride in my VW, and his acerbic and sardonic

60 | Holderness School Today

our son Ted, his wife Dr. Jessica Shepard, and their three daughters, ages 1 to 7. Our daughter Herman of Grass Valley, Calif., and they have purchased a house in Denver. They love both Colorado and their new house. That’s it for this time. Hope you all are staying safe. ~ Dwight

’73 CLASS CORRESPONDENT Dick Conant rconantjr@msn.com Dear Classmates, well, the world is certainly different from six months ago when I last wrote up class notes. I hope you all are weathering COVID-19 as well as possible. I certainly have never seen such disruption to

Holderness Class of ’73 OB photo taken March 1972. Who do you think is in this photo? Here is our best guess: Back row (L to R): Glidden, Leake, Whitman, Naylon. Front row (L to R):

“normal” in my lifetime. I was, however, very

Reynolds, Richards, possibly Auchincloss, Robinson-Duff or Henderson, Scott and maybe Geib, Carver, Theodoredis or Hall.

class. Sam Richards lit the fire by sending me

heartened by the response from many of our that OB photo, which Tim Scott had originally sent out to all of us. Apparently that was Sam’s

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

we will relocate from Boston to the northeast

group and he was able to identify most of the

for more information. Thank you!

corner of Connecticut to be closer to our

group with a few exceptions. Sam writes, “You

two daughters and their families.” Peter

may have seen the attached postcard—that’s

’71

and Miriam are still keeping an eye on his

me on the left in the front row, head bowed

94-year-old mother, who lives on Cape Cod,

in prayer hoping we all survive and return

Want to connect with your classmates?

and engaging in the lives of his grandchildren.

to campus 10 days later! Not sure how we

Consider becoming a class correspondent

“Perhaps by June 2022, this pandemic will be

survived temperatures of 35 below and live

and encouraging your classmates to

over and we will be able to gather for our 50th

chickens for dinner, but thankfully John

reconnect in the HST class notes.

reunion,” Peter says. “It would be good to see

Reynolds was in our group and he knew

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

you.” … Chuck Kaplan is alive and well in the

exactly how to transform them from live to

for more information. Thank you!

Chestnut Hill section of Brookline, MA. “Hope

a deliciously cooked succulent meal!” The

everyone is staying well,” he writes. “I just

quest to identify the others hiding under full

’72

realized we are all now classified as ‘elderly.’

winter gear and after 50 years of diminishing

Look forward to getting back to normalcy.

mental capacity brought an avalanche of

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Not sure I’m rushing back to my home office

answers, speculation, and wild-guesses from

Dwight Shepard

in Asia anytime soon.” … Good to hear brief ly

me and John Lord, Scott Morrison, Tim

shepdb@comcast.net

from Eric Haartz, who still lives in Concord,

Scott, Jim Sargent, Geoffrey Klingenstein,

MA, with his wife Denise. He continues

Steven Leake, Peter Terry, Fred Savage,

I don’t know about you, but I thought 2019

as CEO of the Haartz Corp., the makers of

Bill Cosgrove and Peter Garrison. You can

was a crazy year. But 2020 has just blown

automotive topping and trim materials. …

find the reprinted photo here in the HST

things out of the water, hasn’t it? So, how are

Also heard brief ly from Dave Nicholson.

with the best guesses to this date for that OB

you all surviving? … Peter Kimball, who as

“Our family is also having a good summer,”

crew. Don’t kill the messenger! … I heard from

of July, still lived in Sherborn, MA, writes

Dave writes from Grafton, MA. “All are

Daryl Bradley to my west in New Haven.

that he joined his wife Miriam in retirement

working from home and enjoying not having

He has been dealing with power outages

last October after 31 years of charitable gift

to commute.” As of this writing, Dave was

and trees down in his neighborhood from

and estate planning at Harvard University.

looking forward to a family vacation on Cape

Tropical Storm Isaias. Central and western

“I miss my office colleagues, the mission,

Cod. … As for Lucy and me, we split our time

Connecticut got blasted by that storm, but

and paycheck but not the commute and daily

between our year-round condo in Duxbury,

here in Mystic just some wind and leaves

grind,” Peter wrote back in August, when this

MA, and seasonal house in Dennis on Cape

down. Daryl is going through some of his old

column was prepared. “In the near future,

Cod. In Duxbury, we live two miles away from

photo negatives from his time on The Dial and

Fall 2020 | 61

CLASS NOTES

Lisa got married to a lovely woman, Heather

CLASS NOTES

we may try to coordinate on a photo essay for

remember the faces.” Bill might be one step

our upcoming 50th. Let me know if anyone

ahead of me in just being able to remember

else out there has any old photos in their

the faces! … Peter Terry reports that he was

personal collections. … Tim Scott informs

in the Tecumseh OB crew and wants to know

me that Tom Carver has moved out of my

who was with him. Peter remembers the

neighborhood in Mystic and up into Tim’s

Tecumseh were an awesome group, whomever

part of the world around Jackson, NH. Tom is

they were! … Peter Garrison was also glad

now working for the Conway scenic railroad.

to see the response to the OB photo. “Finally,

Details to follow. … Jim Sargent writes from

after almost 50 years, we are coming together

Austin, TX. He retired for a few months, but

again. Have not heard much from many of

got bored so now he has been helping a small

the class, but great to reconnect! I am pulling

veteran-owned business start up a distillery

out my yearbooks to look at school life then.

in Dripping Springs, TX (great name for a

Living in Exeter, NH and enjoying life to the

distillery!), where COVID-19 is rare and the

fullest—whatever that may be during these

pace of life is slow. Jim had been doing some

crazy times. But, boy are we getting old now.”

serious mileage on his bicycle, but is taking a

… Geoffrey “Klinger” Klingenstein also

break now to recover from shoulder surgery.

weighed in on the OB photo with a slew of

for my news, all three sons are now out west

… Scott Morrison also checked in. He is

possibilities that will be debated until our

of the Mississippi—two attending grad school

currently working in South Glastonbury, CT

50 th and beyond. … Fred Savage writes that

and one working for a wilderness therapy

after spending most of the spring in Vermont

he has seen Pete Garrison in recent years

group in the wilds of Idaho. I hope to do a

trying to whip his house into shape. Scott’s ski

(at our 45th reunion) and “Yes, he’s getting

road trip come September to work on my state

season came to an abrupt end when COVID-19

old, but damn he looks 21 years younger than

highpoint project in the east. Plans to attempt

reared up, but he managed to ski up Cannon

me, which is annoying! LOL.” Fred goes

Mt. Rainier again this summer were torpedoed

on May 14 th, which was still covered top to

further to say. “No news from here to report.

by COVID. If all goes well I will have 45 of

bottom. … John Lord writes about his fond

Just getting used to living in a new ‘altered

the state highpoints completed by October.

memories of OB. He wonders if there is any

reality’ necessitated by the Coronavirus. Back

Looks like I might get out to Jackson Hole this

chance that anyone has the names and make-

when the OB picture was taken a new ‘altered

coming February to ski with two of the boys,

up of the OB groups? John remembers being

reality’ usually had something to do with

COVID-willing. Until the next call for notes,

in the Pemigewassets. He also informs me

hallucinogenics. Nowadays I guess it means

try to have a great year! The Chinese have an

that I was in the group (I’m glad someone has

getting used to some sort of global infectious

ancient curse which goes “May you be cursed

their memory intact). All I remember was an

inf luenza or pandemic.” … And finally, coming

to live in interesting times.” We are living in

epic 25-mile day on snow shoes over Stinson

in just at the deadline, Henry Robinson-

interesting times indeed! Best to all, Dick

Mt and literally down a part of the shoulder

Duff says “Hey guys, I hope everyone is

of I-93 in a mad dash to get back to campus

doing well. To call the last 12 months bizarre

before snack bar closed for the day! John

would be an understatement. The last year I

’74

further writes, “We have been in Yarmouth,

spent recovering from both prostate surgery

Want to connect with your classmates?

ME for 35 years, and all kids are still in Maine.

(recovering has been a process) and continuing

Consider becoming a class correspondent

Something in the water I guess. One of three

heart issues. I have been swimming at a

and encouraging your classmates to

children will be married once someone knocks

wonderful salt water pool at the Westin in

reconnect in the HST class notes.

the COVID-19 feller out. My best memory

Avon, CO which has helped in the recovery.

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

of Holderness was obviously all you folks,

When we shut down the mountains on March

for more information. Thank you!

especially those that were there all four years

13 th, I was fortunate to have a friend who

(supposedly the max number of years you could

lives at the Westin and through them I was

attend, by the way). I transferred in my junior

able to have access to the pool throughout

’75

year from a less holistic school so I was quite

quarantine. It was great to have my own

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

behind the Holderness curve in friendships.

private Olympic size pool! Even though the

Mac Jackson

For the most part that did not seem to matter.

mountain closed early I was able to still get in

skifarmer@live.com

As it turns out, my English teacher my first

a million vertical feet for the season. My boys

year at Holderness, Mr. Jay Stroud, later was

f lew out the minute everything started to shut

Linda (Fogg) Noyes says: “Emily Noyes

able, as Headmaster, to improve the school I

down and spent the quarantine with me doing

Grunow ’03 and her husband, John Grunow

had left for Holderness. What did Mr. Stroud

backcountry skiing throughout Eagle County.

gave birth to Elizabeth, our fifth grandchild

say about using too many commas? … Bill

Now that both men have finished college I

and their third child, on June 2nd! Celebrating

Cosgrove writes of the OB photo, “Not sure

am looking north to get some heli skiing in

life! … Edward “Ted” McElhinny submitted

I remember all of the names but it’s great to

Canada. Hoping they open the border!” … As

the following note: “I just suddenly retired

62 | Holderness School Today

Ted McElhinny ’75 in the pilot seat for American Airlines.

’77

to walk off campus that year headed to the

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

highway right into Plymouth. Our destination

Peter Grant

on Day 1 was summiting Mount Stinson

pete@grantcom.us

behind Plymouth. We hiked until 1:00 A.M. just to realize we could not summit Stinson

Views of the Bighorn fire taken from George “Ham” Boynton’s ’77 back patio.

George “Ham” Boynton reports: All good

on snowshoes.” J.D. says it was so late that he

here in Tucson, AZ. Hope all is well with

and his group—led by then-English teacher

the class of ’77. Sad when I read about the

and varsity hockey coach Bill Burke—ended

passing of some great teachers I had. Just

up throwing our mats and sleeping bags on

good people. Had a scare with the Bighorn

top of the crusty snow. “It was a clear, cold

Fire down here. We were on set evacuation

and beautiful night—and we could see many

for three weeks. We escaped any damage.

stars above the trees,” he writes. “We had fresh

As a matter of fact not one structure was

maple syrup for dinner. The problem was we

touched. Ginger and I have six kids between

were up on a mountain—and it was not a f lat

us and nine grandkids. They are the best

area. So one by one—our fellow OB’rs could

of both worlds. Spoil them to death, then

be heard sliding in their bags down the hill.”

hand them back when they get cranky.

’78

’79 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Hratch Astarjian

Luther Turmelle

hihratch@gmail.com

lturmelle@sbcglobal.net Charles “Chug” Sides is spending his free For the Coronavirus edition of notes from

time volunteering with SCORE as a small

the Class of ’78, let’s start with Scott Sirles,

business mentor. … Doug Henson says, “It

who made it back from Argentina before the

was with great sadness that I read about

from American Airlines in April due to the

pandemic pretty much shut things down.

Jim “Treeline” Hammond passing. He was

Coronavirus, a year and a half before my

“I have been going to Argentina every year

my leader for Out Back, and we gave him

scheduled retirement at age 65. An abrupt

for the last 25+ years,” Scott writes. “I have

that nickname when we thought it was the

end to a 42 year f lying career. Thirty-three

a few friends there and I go for the sea run

sun rising over the hills, but it was just Jim’s

years with Piedmont Airlines, USAir, and

brown trout fishing on the Rio Grande river

forehead with its usual glow. On a lighter note,

finally American. It was a great career and I

in Tierra del Fuego as well as king salmon

my middle daughter, who lives in Portland,

thoroughly enjoyed f lying airplanes right up

fishing in their Glacier National Park. I also

OR gave birth to our first grandchild on July

to the end. After all of those years of being

go dove shooting in the Cordoba region.” …

1. I run into John Alden ’78 fairly often as his

away from home and living out of a suitcase

Hal Hawkey checks in with news about his

path as an architect and Planning Commission

I’m looking forward to being home more and

daughters. He says his youngest, Grace, is a

member crosses mine as a land surveyor

also cruising long distance on my sailboat.” …

senior at Elon University. “My oldest, Sarah,

and engineer. ‘Hi’ to all of my classmates.”

Perry Babcock had a recent Zoom call that

is living in NYC, working in HR at NASDAQ,”

George "Ham" Boynton's ’77 daughter and her three children at Disney World.

included: “John Putnam, Baird Gourlay, and

Hal writes. “For my 60th birthday, my wife

Rick Shipton. All are rich and famous and

and I heli-skied in the Cariboos.” … J.D.

’80

healthy. Best three skiers I ever hung with.”

Hale says his family has gotten a little bigger

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

with the addition of two daughters-in-law—

Jack Dawley

’76

Ava with his son Charlie and Kristen with

jdawley@northlandresidential.com

Want to connect with your classmates?

Angeles while Kristen and DaLonn are in

We heard from Jim Mason who reports:

Consider becoming a class correspondent

North Reading, MA. One of Jud’s daughters,

“Sara and I and our two kids (Caroline, 18,

and encouraging your classmates to

Rosie, is still living and working in Denver.

and Welles, 15) live in Marietta, GA and

reconnect in the HST class notes.

Her sister Lacey was transferred back to

have for the last 11 years. After a 23 year

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

Boston from Denver and is in South Boston.

career with Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi in

for more information. Thank you!

And for a trip down memory lane, Jud offers

Boston, Prudential Private Capital gave us

this recollection of his Outward Bound group

the opportunity to move south, get out of the

in 1977. “I believe we were the only OB group

banking business and do something new. It

DaLonn. Ava and Charlie are living in Los

Fall 2020 | 63

CLASS NOTES

woods,” he recalls. “We headed under the

trying to get even farther away. I have started building my off-the-grid house. The cabin is

CLASS NOTES

in and I hope to have things finished within a few years. Maybe the Holderness Out Back never left me.” … Leslie Wright returned to the Shelburne Museum a year ago where she serves as Director of Advancement. She keeps

Jack Dawley ’80 and Chandler Lippitt ’80 in their younger days.

that Holderness student-athlete ethic going by running mentoring programs for girls in

took us about six months to realize how tired

partnership with St. Michaels and Middlebury

we were of the New England winters! I will say

with her Stride Foundation. Joe Miles

we’ve become weather wimps and are typically

’82 recently helped out with sponsorship

putting on a sweater when for most of our

of the Nordic ski mentoring program

lives we would’ve been putting on shorts! We still miss New England a great deal and get there fairly often as we have a family beach house in Kennebunkport, ME. Needless to say this year we haven’t been to Maine or really

through his company RK Miles Lumber.

Prentice "Skip" Strong ’80 on the pilot ladder waiting to get picked up by the pilot boat after piloting a large yacht through a section of the Maine coast.

’81 Want to connect with your classmates?

anywhere for that matter. Caroline is about

much as we do. Children Peter and Hannah

Consider becoming a class correspondent

to start her freshman year at Florida State

are creating meaningful lives and careers in

and encouraging your classmates to

University and Welles will be a sophomore at

renewable energy and education. Amazing that

reconnect in the HST class notes.

Walton High School here in Marietta. These

we left Holderness more than 40 years ago!”

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

days I spend my free time as the resident

… Prentice “Skip” Strong reports: “We are

for more information. Thank you!

handyman—constantly fixing and tinkering

healthy and happy here on the coast of Maine.

with things around the house and I play as

Both girls are in college—our elder at Warren

much golf as I can. It’s a year-round sport here.

Wilson College (which has a mandatory

’82

I haven’t had much contact with Holderness

student work program which brings back

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

classmates over the years, but still catch up

fond memories of morning pantry), and the

Chris Pesek

with Geoff Cook a couple of times a year. I’d

younger at Wheaton College and planning

chrispesek7@gmail.com

love to hear from classmates or get together

to go back this fall. My wife is still working

if any of you are in the Atlanta area. Despite

as a family practice PA for the local hospital.

Frank Bonsal reports: “Twenty three years of

what we may have all been raised to believe,

I had planned to go down to a half-time job

marriage, three children, and multiple career

life in the south is good and I recommend it

in about two years from ship piloting, when

extensions continue to keep me busy and

highly!” … Ed Biddle says he “enjoys meeting

both girls were finishing up with school, but

fulfilled. In mid-2019, I became managing

up with fellow Nordic skiers from the 1970s

with a significant drop in the number of ships

partner of a private partnership aptly deemed

era (before skating). Great to see Joe Miles

we are handling, I’m experimenting with

Bonsal Capital, founded by my father in 1999,

’82 on the Holderness Board of Trustees, and

that now. So far so good. We have done some

where we invest in early stage tech-enabled

remember how he blasted onto the map as a

fun travelling in the last few years, hiking in

companies primarily focused on the future of

fierce force underclassman. Recently ran into

the Moab area, biking in the Netherlands.

work and learning; a recent ‘professional why’

Mike Hussey whom we both competed against

Now we are just enjoying quality time on

is depicted here: https://www.bonsalcapital.

when he was at Vermont Academy. We were

MDI without all the tourists.” … Greg White

com/venture-capitals-enlightenment-nothing-

on a remote island in northern Ontario, the

says: “It’s funny to see your email, as I was

changes-if-nothing-changes. This follows and

site of Keewaydin Camps where my father Bill

going through some old pics this week and

is wholly aligned with a five year gig at Towson

Biddle acted as a guide in the 1950s. Since my

ran across some from Holderness, which

University supporting regional startups and

family have all gone to the dark side (Alpine),

ironically included you (Jack Dawley). The

an eight year general partner role at New

please reach out if you are interested in taking

caption on the back of the pictures of you

Markets Venture Partners, during which I

a nice traditional tour somewhere, or climbing

and Chandler Lippitt read: ‘Feb 1980.

was a modestly-engaged Holderness trustee

to make turns.” … Jeff Boal writes: “Having

Coming back from downtown.’ Remember

(fun and rewarding). Life in the Baltimore

recently sold my agency and hung up my spurs

Necka-Bane?” … Sam Mead reports: “We are

metro is full, including present and past

in the advertising business, my wife Abby and

in Northampton, home of Smith College. I

nonprofit board and community service work.

I are pursuing a famers life on a salt water

work at UMass Amherst these days.” … Mike

I am fortunate to get to NH once or twice a

farm in Jamestown, RI. We are learning about

Lane writes: “Forty years ago I got out of

year, when I most often reside at the family

the leopard moth, appletree borer, and the

the East Coast and traveled to Alaska to get

compound in Peterborough. I have organically

parade of horribles who enjoy our apples as

away. I never really looked back. Now I am

seen and try to keep up with Mark Cavanaugh

64 | Holderness School Today

CLASS NOTES Chris Pesek's ’82 children left to right Alex 20, Teddy 17, and Marty 18.

Frank Bonsal III ’82 in a work-from-home candid amidst COVID-19.

Michael Brubaker ’82 hiking Goldmint Glacier with his family.

(currently MD-based) and George Samaras

DC, and many others. I don’t know if students

(Portland, where my eldest child lived for a

spend the same amount of time we did playing

bit). I am apologetically horrible at keeping

Hacky Sack and throwing a Frisbee on that

up with broader classmates and peers but

massive greenspace the way we did, but if

social media gives a glimpse. Hoping that

they aren’t they should. It was always a good

COVID-19 finds everyone safe, savvy, and

time and I am sure that has not changed.

largely sane. If you want to go far, go together.”

The pandemic has helped me spend more

… I received the following response from

time with my kids, slow down a little and

Mark Cavanaugh on my call for class notes:

focus on activities I have not done in a long

“CP (Chris Pesek), great hearing from you

time such as gardening, growing herbs, more

my friend. Wow, two off to college! Here I

mountain biking, tiling and house painting,

sit with a 13-, 11-, and 8-year-old. I cannot

and lots of yoga. This time has reminded

imagine the emotions. Your heartfelt letter to

me of our senior year when we met in small

all our classmates was awesome. You made me

groups and read books of nuclear holocaust

smile/laugh on your comment around putting

and found time on a kind of inward bound

speakers out your Niles room windows. Man,

where we explored hobbies and different

those were special times; brings back a f lood

areas of study as senior projects. I know

Frank Bonsal's III ’82 son, Frank IV, and his canine "sibling" Dakota in Peterborough, NH with Mt. Monadnock in the backdrop.

this time has brought us tremendous loss

sooner than later. Jim Hammond—that one

of 82.” … As for me, Chris Pesek, with 2020

a note and let us know where you live now

hit hard. I was lucky enough to have stayed

looking like what Fred Beams, Will Graham,

and what you’re up to and send a picture. We

in touch with him post-graduation and got

Jim Hammond, or Bill Burke would call a

miss you and want to see you. Go Bulls!

together with him a number of times over the

“complete shirtshow”, I’m going to choose

past 3–5 years. I loved that man. Always made

levity and mix it with hope in my summer

you smile and make you feel great about life.

cocktail. While Louisville is trying to right

’83

So lucky to have him in our lives from teen

itself in the wake of an economic, wellness

Want to connect with your classmates?

years onward.” … We also heard from Michael

and social pandemic, I am sending two of my

Consider becoming a class correspondent

“Bru” Brubaker who wrote: “So nice to hear

three kids off to college in Boston and New

and encouraging your classmates to

from you. I am still in Alaska and Jill and I

York City, and one is here completing a senior

reconnect in the HST class notes.

have four kids ages 21, 18, 16, 16. Things are

year of hybrid classes, sports, and activities.

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

quieting down a bit with kids going off to

I just hope the year of wash up, mask up, and

for more information. Thank you!

school, so I have more time to correspond and

stay back ends as quickly as possible. I know

to visit with classmates either virtually or the

I am not the only one who is wishing I were

bucket list trip to Alaska. As to classmates, I

in Plymouth playing music from the speakers

’84

keep in contact with Miles Glascock, mostly

in my dorm room in Niles out over the lawn

Want to connect with your classmates?

by phone. Otherwise your list is a reminder of

on a Saturday afternoon. It was always such

Consider becoming a class correspondent

a lot of people who I think and wonder about,

a mixture of music: Springsteen, Lynyrd

and encouraging your classmates to

and would love to hear more in our Holderness

Skynyrd, The Police, Supertramp, Pink Floyd,

reconnect in the HST class notes.

School Today. Thank you for taking on the role

Neil Young, Cheap Trick, Fleetwood Mac,

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

of class correspondent and corralling the class

The Sugarhill Gang, The Rolling Stones, AC/

for more information. Thank you!

of great memories. My heart goes out to the kids last year who had their senior year cut short. Hoping things can get back to normal

and I hope we all can take away something meaningful from this ordeal. Please send in

Fall 2020 | 65

CLASS NOTES

’85

generous person and I learned so much

several weeks before he died. That’s the thing

from him during our friendship. Chip was a

with Chip—he had such amazing friends—

Want to connect with your classmates?

great athlete and star running back on our

whether from childhood, Holderness, Rollins

Consider becoming a class correspondent

championship football team junior year. Coach

or beyond. All of us meant so much to him—

and encouraging your classmates to

Norm Walker was impressed with ‘Whitey’

his wife, family and friends—and he leaves

reconnect in the HST class notes.

and would often rely on him to get the ball

us so much better for having known him.”

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

over the line—and he delivered. We pulled a

for more information. Thank you!

few pranks at Holderness as well—whether antagonizing ‘townies’ (frowned upon by the

’87

’86

administration) or filling the new science

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

building with sheep (frowned upon by the

Kathryn (Lubrano) Robinson

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

administration) to name a few. Chip was a

kathryn.robinson@gmail.com

Chris Zak

joker and one afternoon while I napped, he

chriszak@gmail.com

filled my ear with hair mousse which began growing out of my ear. I woke up in terror

’88

Taylor Hubbard writes in from Vermont:

to see Chip standing in the door to our room

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

“I am happy to report that life in Vermont

with a huge grin that evaporated as I leapt to

Christina “Nina” (Bradley) Smallhorn

remains somewhat normal. Great to catch up

chase him across campus from Rathbun to

nsmallhorn@me.com

with Jonathan Craig and Freddy Paxton ’85

Weld. Just one of countless pranks we engaged

on a visit this spring to see George “Chip”

in to pass the time in rural New Hampshire.

Corona time (not the fun kind) has been

White, Jr. Many good laughs were shared.

When we went off to college freshman year,

challenging. The global pandemic has had

Sadly, Chip passed away soon after our visit.

we would call each other at 5:00 P.M. Friday

an enormous impact on so many. Hope

My daughters are both at St. Lawrence and

for a pre-weekend happy hour to catch up

you and your families are well and healthy.

keeping fingers crossed that they will be going

(before cell phones or texting if anyone can

Personally, we have been enjoying the Bay

back as planned. I am currently readying

remember back that long ago). Despite living

Area since March. The first few weeks were

myself for my 29th year teaching first/second

far from each other, I often got together with

unsettling and stressful, as time passed,

grade, albeit far different than the previous 28.

Chip on business trips to Washington, DC. As

our new normal with all its highs and lows,

My wife retired from Green Mountain Valley

Chip’s cancer progressed over the last year, I

became less anxious. We look for silver

School recently and is sneakily researching

visited him as much as possible and talked to

linings in each day, Zoom calls, extra family

Sprinter Van RVs. I hope everyone is well

him almost daily. I never heard him complain

time, the great outdoors and lots of Netf lix.

and that ‘normal’ will return soon.” … Greg

once. Instead we focused on maximizing fun

We are grateful for frontline and other

Redmond writes in from Alabama: “George

times, including a visit to Cape Cod with his

essential workers. One of our own—Dave

“Chip” Wagner White, Jr.—December 3,

daughter Allie, dinner in NYC at Peter Luger’s

Smail—and probably others: THANK YOU!

1967–March 24, 2020. It is with profound

Steakhouse with his friend Holder (a Chip

Last fall, I caught up with Nate Foran and

sadness that I write to let our Holderness

bucket list dinner), and long conversations

Steve Walker for a drink in Corte Madera.

friends know that Chip White succumbed

reminiscing on the rooftop of the W Hotel

It was great to reconnect. Time passes but

to his battle with appendix cancer this past

in Washington. It was there that Chip asked

not the connection we all share as ’88ers.

March after an almost two-year fight. As many

me to say some words at his funeral that was

… More recent news, Steve Walker writes:

of you know, Chip and I were roommates at

not to be because of COVID-19. When asked

“The last weekend before COVID took over,

Holderness and lifelong best friends. I will be

what he wanted me to say, he said ‘center it

I was fortunate to connect with Lauren

forever grateful for his friendship of almost

on three things: wife, family, and friends.’ His

(O’Brien) Smith and her husband up at their

40 years and will smile often when I think of

family was the world to him—Lisa to whom

ski house in Vermont, while on vacation with

the incredible fun we had along the way—as

he was married for almost 25 years, and his

my daughter in Okemo. Lauren still has all

I’m sure many of you are doing now reading

three children—Allie, Pamela, and Wagner.

the youthfulness, pep, and positive energy

this. Chip had an incredible way of making

He would often share their accomplishments

that followed her everywhere on campus. If

friends with anybody and inevitably filling

with such pride—but never before he asked

we decide to get the class together for a ski

a room with laughter. Chip was a country

about you and all of your family. And his

weekend, Lauren’s is the place to be. The

boy having grown up in horse-country in

friends. He loved his friends—especially

old town general store they converted into

tiny Middleburg, VA—a haven for presidents,

Holderness friends as those were such great

a ski retreat can sleep a small army.” … IN!

DuPonts and Mellons. Legend has it, as

times. In the end, he visited with Freddy

Name the date. … Matt Schonwald writes:

some of you may recall, that he arrived at

Paxton ’85, Taylor Hubbard, Jonathan

“It has been a long year in the PNW (Pacific

Holderness freshman year by private jet. But

Craig, Colin Cohen and I’m sure others. All

Northwest). I did ski with Edward “Sohier”

Chip was down-to-earth, good to everyone,

his Rollins friends and fraternity brothers

Hall this winter and went on a fun tour,

and never entitled. He was an incredibly

came to Middleburg for a weekend to visit him

catching up. I am writing another guidebook

66 | Holderness School Today

CLASS NOTES Brad Greenwood ’89 with his family at Middle Dam on the Rapid River. Charlie (age 10), Cora Mae (age 12) and his wife Megan. hope everyone in the Holderness family is safe and well. The Greenwoods have been staying

Steve Walker ’88 and Lauren (O'Brien) Smith ’88 share a hug on a visit to Okemo.

close to home in the great state of Maine and are making the best of a challenging time. Work slowed waaaaay down in the

and am back to mountain guiding locally.

spring so we dove into yard projects, and

We have two big dogs, Sadie the GSD and

some local outdoor activities like biking,

Archer the Malamute, who have kept us

fishing, boating, and tennis. We took a

entertained.” … “Baja” aka Alex MacCormick

week on Rangeley Lake and had a blast on

(who, again, keeps ’88 on top with class

the water and in the mountains of western

participation during annual giving day)

Maine. We get to see David Gerasin ’91 and

reports: “Hunkered down on Nantucket since

family regularly as we have our boats on the

early June. Crossing fingers for a ski season.”

same dock. We caught a f leeting glimpse of

… Chris “Stewie” Stewart, sent me the

Amanda Black this summer when she visited

following quote, “When the going gets weird,

Maine. We are looking forward to what the

the weird turn pro.” He also writes: “Scott

next season brings our way and hope to see

“Spo” Esposito and family were here visiting

more of our Holderness people soon!”

Members of the class of 1989 get their families together for a day on Lake Powell. Back Row (L to R): Chris Davenport ’89, Topher Davenport ’21, Brooks Reed ’21, Stian Davenport ’19, Jimmy Bocock ’21, Tracy (McCoy) Gillette ’89.

Front Row (L to R): Jen (Comstock) Reed ’89, Wells Gillette ’22, Ceci O’Marah ’19, Lily Gillette ’19.

for the 4th of July shenanigans. Heading to mainland Mexico with “Jones” (Steve Jones ’87) and family in October for a surf trip.

’90

My son JB is opting for NOLS semester in

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

the fall and Bhutan semester in the spring

Nina (Cook) Silitch

instead of freshman year. Hope everyone is

ninasilitch@gmail.com

healthy and safe. Forward, never straight.”

A recent photo of Mitch Van Wynsberghe's ’90 children—the oldest off to university and the younger kids off to grades 11 and 8.

’91 Want to connect with your classmates?

… On that note, forward. Stay safe and well.

We heard from Mitchel Van Wynsberghe in

Consider becoming a class correspondent

Counting the days to our 35th reunion. ~ Nina

Canada: “I hope everyone is doing well. Things

and encouraging your classmates to

are good up here with the family. Caught up

reconnect in the HST class notes.

’89

with some at a reunion which seems like a

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

long time ago. Take care everyone.” … Derek

for more information. Thank you!

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

“Pepper” deTuro reports: “All is well on our

Brad Greenwood

end. Having four kids in the house with a

brad@greenwoodbiz.com

puppy has been quite interesting. If all goes

’92

well this fall Corley will be a junior at Eckerd

Want to connect with your classmates?

We heard from Kimberly Gannett who is

college in Florida, Bailey will be playing

Consider becoming a class correspondent

“surviving and thriving the virus…climbing

lacrosse as a sophomore at Dennison, Burke

and encouraging your classmates to

mountains, enjoying doing new things in

will be a junior at Canterbury, and Locke will

reconnect in the HST class notes.

Colorado that I’ve never seen since now being

be a second grader at St Paul’s in Princeton.

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

‘stuck’ here, still doing college counseling (25

Hope all is well with our classmates.”

for more information. Thank you!

years in schools now!) and watching three kids grow!” … Brad Greenwood writes in: “I

Fall 2020 | 67

’93 CLASS NOTES

CLASS CORRESPONDENT Lindsay (Dewar) Fontana linds_dewar@yahoo.com Lindsay (Garre) Bierwirth says: “We are living in Chatham and run a small local business called Chatham Works. It is a combination fitness center, retail, and coworking space. It is our first year—and what a challenging year with COVID-19 and the shutdown. But each day is a new day and a new opportunity to be creative and persevere.

Summer usually brings Katie (Boggess) LeRoy and her family to Chatham, but unfortunately they did not come this summer.

We keep in close contact, as our children are now best of friends. Jenny O’Keeffe recently had a baby girl, but I’ll let her tell her story about Wynn. Life is a blessing. After watching the Out Back video celebrating 50 years, I

Lindsay (Garre) Bierwirth ’93 in a photo for her fitness, workspace and retail business, Chatham Works.

Recently promoted USMC Colonel Warren "Bunge" Cook, Jr. ’94.

am reminded again that Holderness is such a

mentors for a wonderful, private foster youth

INSIDE OUT BACK: 50 Years of Adventure

special and unique place. Oh how I treasure

support agency. A silver lining from COVID-19

Education at Holderness School. What a

those days and hope one day to give my kids

is the community reaching out to support

trip it was to head back out on Out Back

the same opportunity.” … We heard from

these youth: for the first time ever, all 200 of

27 years later! Leather mittens, OB bagels,

Tom LeBosquet who reports: “My wife Katie

our college students have a volunteer mentor!”

hot lemonade, and a platoon of friends on a mission. With its 3-day solo, the experience

and I have been living in her hometown of

’94

was again a firsthand lesson about the balance

been loving life in the mountains. We have two little girls, 5 and 7, who have just started

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

real and rugged Holderness culture is alive

at a local country day school. They love hiking

Ramey Harris-Tatar

and well! Check out the film here: https://

with us, chasing the dog, and writing on our

rameyht@yahoo.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUqrE6mQT5k

Asheville for over three years now and have

between the individual and the group. That

Two years ago I moved to Maine from

marble counters. Both learned to swim a lot better over the summer. We were lucky

Warren “Bunge” Cook, Jr. was just promoted

Colorado with my wife and son. So happy

enough to escape to Charleston for a week

to colonel in the Marines—no small feat—

to be here with my small family and

in July, despite COVID-19 quarantines. I’ve

now serving at G-3 Marine Corps Recruiting

pulling it off making meaningful films.”

spent most of my work time at a fairly big

Command. … Peter Scoville reports that

medical center called Mission Health. It's

“all is great in Colorado Springs. We have

been fun to recently become involved teaching

had great family time over the past few

’95

the UNC Chapel Hill medical students who

months and are excited to have the kids

Want to connect with your classmates?

come to Asheville. Also I have been riding

back in school (for now). I keep in regular

Consider becoming a class correspondent

my bike again lots over the past two years

contact in a group text thread with Sander

and encouraging your classmates to

or so (after a long hiatus). Any semblance of

van Otterloo, Jeffrey “Jason” Myler, Alex

reconnect in the HST class notes.

fitness is coming slowly. I had hoped to do

Daly, John Spiess, Rogan Lechthaler,

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

some gravel racing this year, had it not been

Derek “Rick” Richardson, Josh Povec,

for more information. Thank you!

for COVID-19. Instead I sneak out for long

Thomas “T.G.” Gallaudet and Sam Bass.

rides in the mountains.” … We heard from

We talk all things life, kids, Holderness days

Hilary (Comerchero) Taylor who writes:

etc. Most recently we have been a support

’96

“Hello! I received an MA in education with

group (both pro and con) for Sam Bass as he

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

a concentration in counseling and trauma-

pursues his dream of running the Colorado

Heather (Pierce) Roy

informed care in August 2019, which allowed

Republican Party election campaign.” …

heatherbpierce@hotmail.com

me to leave higher education for the non-

We heard from Josh Povec who says: “This

Amanda (Knox) Hoffman

profit world. I now manage the volunteers and

March Jake Norton ’92 and I made the film

bostonknox30@gmail.com

68 | Holderness School Today

’97 CLASS CORRESPONDENT CLASS NOTES

Putney (Haley) Pyles putneypyles@gmail.com Hi all, as I said in my email a few weeks ago, I wish that I were writing you from the relative stability and certainty that we knew back in the early winter. I’m hopeful that wherever you are as you read this note, you and your loved ones are healthy. Over the past few months, my family has kept busy with a chocolate lab puppy, Charlie—very sweet and 100% troublemaker. She and our 3-year-old, Peter, do a great job antagonizing each other. Peter starts pre-school next week. We are hopeful that he will have a great experience, despite

Andrew Miller ’97, his wife Emily and their daughter Sophie ’24 (one of our new 9th graders).

Kathryn (Bridge) Angelo ’98, her husband Steven, and their 9 month old son Cameron.

mask-wearing and all sorts of new protocols.

chapter of my life holds. I am a week out

Holderness gatherings due to the new baby

Best wishes to all as we head into the fall

from embarking on a five week thru-hike of

but hope to meet new Holderness families

season. Thanks to those who took some time

the Colorado Trail, from Durango to Denver,

when gatherings are able to resume. … Eric

during these turbulent times to share updates.

and hoping that the wildfires subside and

Mueller reports: “We made a big move cross

… Andrew Miller writes: “I still live south

the smoke clears! Life is good. Hope all are

country this summer from Dedham, MA

of Boston and have three girls, the oldest of

well out there!” … Ben Dulac shares: “I have

to Evergreen, CO! Summer here was great,

whom is going to Holderness as a freshman

been living in Marblehead, MA since 2013

and Eliza (9) and Liesl (7) started school

on September 2—Class of ’24. By the time you

and my wife and I have really fallen in love

yesterday. So far so good! We're all looking

read this we will be deep into the COVID-19

with the town and the ocean. We feel lucky to

forward to ski season in a few months!”

high school experience and I’m sure it will

be raising our three kids in this community.

go well as Holderness is doing a great job

Our oldest son just turned 13 and we have

planning this out. It is crazy to think that she

boy-girl twins who are 10. I am working in

’99

will be there now alongside our classmate

Boston for a commercial real estate ownership

Want to connect with your classmates?

Dennis Roberts’ son Connor ’23. Other than

and development firm. It has been a while

Consider becoming a class correspondent

that, like the rest of you, I have been doing

since I have run into anyone from our class.

and encouraging your classmates to

the best I can during this whole thing and

I did see Andrew Marshall in Wyoming in

reconnect in the HST class notes.

spending as much time outside in and around

early March just before the pandemic really

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

home and in Rhode Island this whole summer.

hit. It’s hard for me to believe that it has

for more information. Thank you!

I am praying for snow and skiing now more

been almost 24 years since Holderness, I

than ever.” … Brian Werner sent this in from

cherish the experiences and friends I formed

Colorado: “It’s been a while since I wrote!

there and hope to see some of you soon!”

I think my last update was after the birth of my first. Since then, Sula Aoife Frances

’00 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Mae Werner was born—she is now 5 and just

’98

started kindergarten yesterday! Levi is 7 and

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

in second grade. They are both rock stars.

Putney (Haley) Pyles

Two years ago today my family and I moved

putneypyles@gmail.com

to Paonia, CO from Telluride and we could

Andrew “Sully” Sullivan MyIreland20@gmail.com

’01 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

not be happier with the move. We are in an

We heard from Kathryn (Bridge) Angelo

Karyn (Hoepp) Jennings

amazing community, surrounded by organic

who says: “While this summer has been more

KarynPJennings@gmail.com

orchards and farms, near the mountains, and

low key with COVID, we have managed to

living on four beautiful acres with abundant

stay busy. We are raising our 9-month-old,

water, f lowers, fruit, and vegetables. I am

Cameron, born on November 1, 2019. Then

’02

in the process of winding down my business

in July we moved to a new house still in

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

of 15 years that I left behind in Telluride

the Denver area in Centennial, CO. We are

Betsy Pantazelos

and looking forward to seeing what the next

settling in nicely. I was sad to miss some

b.pantazelos@gmail.com

Fall 2020 | 69

CLASS NOTES Phil Peck, Ben Rossetter ’02, Amy Lorenz, Joel ’02 and Elissa Bradley, and Robin Peck at Ben and Amy Rossetter's wedding.

Betsy Pantazelos ’02 and fiance Chris Potter atop West Rattlesnake after getting engaged..

On August 13 Malcolm Mitchell-Lewis ’03 married Kelly Dillon. Left to Right: Richard Lewis, Steve Rand ’62, Dave Lockwood, Malcolm MitchellLewis ’03, Kelly Dillon, Francis Mitchell-Lewis, Ben Mitchell-Lewis ’06, Wes Mitchell-Lewis ’10.

Kerry Douglas reports: “My husband Andrew

jobs, live in the mountains, and work for

and I retreated to my hometown of Stowe,

social and environmental change in this

VT back in March. We were very fortunate

valley and throughout the country.” … We

to escape the chaos of the city, amidst

heard from Ally Keefe who is “still working

COVID, and haven’t returned to our Boston

on my masters in nursing to become a nurse

apartment since March. The ease of working

practitioner and am on track to graduate

remotely has certainly been a silver lining

in December. I continue to work in the

to the pandemic and we’ve been taking full

emergency department as a staff RN, which

advantage of living in the country: skiing,

needless to say, has been quite different these

mountain biking, trail running, hiking, and

last six months. Otherwise, I’m just trying

being outdoors as much as possible. We’ve

to get out on my mountain bike as much as

fallen in love with the Vermont lifestyle

possible and enjoy Tahoe and the Sierra!” …

and are in the process of buying a house in

As for me, Betsy Pantazelos, I wanted to let

Waterbury.” … Benjamin Rossetter says:

everyone know that I got engaged this July

“Hello Holderness fam! It’s been a while.

at the summit of Rattlesnake overlooking

I had the pleasure of getting married in

Squam Lake. My husband-to-be, Chris Potter,

is well!” … Shannon Fallon says: “2020 has

September 2018 to Amy Lorenz. We had a

coordinated with Joe Sampson to have a big

been wild! We are welcoming our first child (a

beautiful ceremony and reception in Beverly,

sign that said “Say Yes” on a boat on the lake

boy!) soon—due in early September. Spending

MA. Joel Bradley played an enormous and

below. Meanwhile, Liz Norton ’01 and her

lots of time with new Maine transplant Sam

glorious role in the evening’s festivities, and

husband hiked up behind us with a picnic

Woolf ’04 and his wife Bina!” … Emily

Phil and Robin Peck graciously joined us. We

and champagne to celebrate. It was a truly

(Noyes) Grunow and John Grunow welcomed

subsequently moved back to Jackson, W Y and

special day, made all the more special with

their most recent family member Elizabeth

I began teaching field science education in

love and support from Holderness friends.

“Betty” Pike Grunow. They are enjoying their

Emily (Noyes) Grunow's ’03 children John, Betty, and Hope.

short stint down in Florida but are excited

a small graduate school at the Teton Science

’03

to make their way back to the Northeast

education and community science, as well as running a marine science summer camp in

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Dillon celebrated their wedding on Church

New Brunswick, Canada, called Whale Camp.

Nick Payeur

Island on Squam Lake in Holderness this

Unfortunately, due to the spread of COVID-19

ndpayeur@gmail.com

past August. His brothers Ben Mitchell-

and subsequent suspension of in-person

Neal Frei

Lewis ’06 and Wes Mitchell-Lewis ’10

programming, I lost my job. I have spent the

nealfrei@gmail.com

were able to make the trip and our own Rev.

Schools. Amy trains educators in place-based

soon. … Malcolm Mitchell-Lewis and Kelly

Josh Hill presided over the ceremony.

past few months organizing a virtual edition of the infamous Jackson Hole Hootenanny,

Kara (Herlihy) Young writes: “Hey friends!

teaching virtual field-science programs for the

Life is good in Vermont. We’re having lots of

University of Wyoming, doing long-past-due

fun with our 11-month-old daughter Parker

’04

house chores, and running in the mountains.

and are about to renovate our new house in

Want to connect with your classmates?

I happily picked up a new job teaching middle

Warren. I chat with Emily (Noyes) Grunow,

Consider becoming a class correspondent

school math at the Mountain Academy of

Liza McElroy, Anna (Lockwood) Kelly, Jay

and encouraging your classmates to

the Teton Science Schools, starting this

“Jota” Connolly, and Neal Frei “Private Eye”

reconnect in the HST class notes.

fall. Though the past few months have been

regularly. Hopefully we’ll make it back to

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

tough, Amy and I are excited to have good

campus for a reunion soon. Hope everybody

for more information. Thank you!

70 | Holderness School Today

CLASS NOTES Justin Hall ’05 proposing to Victoria Hendrickson.

Ashley Babcock ’06 trekking up the slopes on a spectacular day.

Nigel Malloch's ’05 new daughter, Isla Rose, born on March 19, 2020.

’06

’05

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Clgilman5@gmail.com

Casey Gilman

Brie (Keefe) Healy Grady Vigneau shares some happy news:

healey.brie@gmail.com

“Wanted to pass along a photo from our I hope this round of class notes finds you and

wedding ceremony on June 27 th. How special it

your families as safe and sound as possible during these unpredictable times. I’ve often thought back on our days at Holderness and

was to be able to get married at the Holderness

Anne Richardson ’06 on her wedding day with husband Greg Williams.

all the aspects of life there that contributed

outdoor chapel! We are so grateful.” …

We heard from Molly (Nissi) Craig who got married late last year at SF City Hall.

to it, building such a strong community.

Energy. We also welcomed our daughter Isla

“Alexander ‘Ax’ Hayssen ’07 was one of our

While so many of those activities were the

Rose Malloch on March 19, 2020.” … Peter

witnesses. My family made the trip as well,

foundation of our lives there, as I write this

Schlech: “My wife Emily and I live with our

so Taylor Nissi ’04 and Rachel Goldberg ’01

message many of those routines and traditions

one-year-old daughter Ruby in Yardley PA. I

were there too! Loads of fun and hilarious

are needing to be put on hold for the health

work full time f lying for Delta Air Lines out

Holderness memories came up that weekend!”

and safety of the Holderness community.

of New York City while working part time as

… Ashley Babcock writes: “Hello! I write as

I think of the students, faculty, staff, and

an instructor pilot f lying KC-10s in the Air

I transition away from my last four years in

families there today and have faith that the

Force Reserve. I vacationed up on Squam

Jackson, W Y, where I’ve been a teacher, a ski

strong community will find ways to persist

Lake this July so I was close to Holderness

patroller, and horse packer into a new chapter

as they always do. May this sense of strength

for a week and a half. Still as pretty as ever.

in Laramie, W Y, where I will be completing a

in community extend to the alumni as well.

Cheers.” … Emily Sampson: “I will be moving

masters of science in natural science education

As for me, I’m still living in Richmond, VT

to San Francisco in September to work for

and environment and natural resource issues.

with my husband, Mike, our daughter Lydia,

an autism clinic as a BCBA. It will be a

I’ve been lucky to live with Ryan Walters

and dog Rosie. I’ll be beginning a new job

major change of pace shifting from school-

and across the street from Ryan Caspar ’05,

in the 2020–2021 school year in Williston,

based consulting and living in the country

plus get some good kayaking and skiing in

VT (still a middle school teacher), which will

to clinic and city-based life. If any Bulls

with Alex Martini. In Jackson, we miss Ben

be much closer to home. It’s always great

want to meet up, let me know!” … Justin

Peters and Tory Hayssen who are now in

to hear from you all! ~ Brie (Keefe) Healy

Hall: “I got engaged in April to Victoria

the Northwest, but alas, new chapters await.

… Now on to your updates! Ashley Saba-

Hendrickson (introduced by Lauren Frei),

Here's to a good 15 year reunion next year!” …

Winders: “Dennis and I are still living in the

moved to Boulder the same month, and we

Christopher “CJ” Vincent writes: “Rebecca

Netherlands where we welcomed a daughter,

recently adopted a dog we named Paavo

and I welcomed our daughter Hayleigh on May

Arlo, in June. That’s the big news :). Can't

(currently four months old).” … We heard

8th, in the middle of shelter in place orders

wait to hear how everyone else is doing.” …

from Emma (Schofield) Phipps that she’s

in California, which made for a very quiet

Nigel Malloch: “We bought a house in San

expecting her second child in mid-December!

hospital stay. We’ve otherwise been keeping

Clemente, CA and I currently work for PBF

busy working from home since March, and

Fall 2020 | 71

CLASS NOTES Christopher “CJ” Vincent ’06, his wife Rebecca and daughter Hayleigh.

Mike Heyward ’07 and Jason Nunez ’14 coaching at The Athenian School Owls. The Boys Varsity Basketball team finished 18-10 overall and finished second in league with a 9–3 record for the best record in school history.

Kathryn (Cheng) Sullivan ’08, her husband Chris, and their newborn son, Noah.

’08 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS Baird (Meem) Anderson bairdmeem@gmail.com Jessica White white.jessica.madigan@gmail.com We heard the following from Morgan Frank: “After completing my PhD and an additional

Grady Vigneau ’06 and Jane Barnard were married at the Holderness Outdoor Chapel.

year of postdoctoral work at MIT, I am now beginning a tenure-track faculty position in

hitting virtual workouts over Zoom with Neal

the School of Computing and Information

Frei ’03 on occasion.” … Anne Richardson

at the University of Pittsburgh where I will

reports: “I just married my longtime college

continue my research into technological

friend, now husband, Greg Williams, in my parents’ backyard on August 22. We had a

change, how workers learn and use skills,

Tyler Gosselin ’07 and his daughter Maggie.

small family ceremony and my brother Will Richardson ’96 actually married us!”

and the future of work. I will also have appointments at the MIT Media Lab and

which offers brand strategy and creative

the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered

production. This year we've collaborated on

Artificial Intelligence as a research fellow.

’07

some exciting projects with brands like Prada,

I am sad to be moving further away from

Interview Magazine, GrowNYC, NAOMI

the White Mountains, but I am excited for

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

NOMI, and Hood By Air. Hoping to spend

this opportunity. Beyond the career move, I

Taylor James

some time visiting New Hampshire this fall

had a very eventful year prior to COVID-19.

taylorveronicajames@gmail.com

since the new world order seems to be remote

I presented my research at the World

working.” … Annie Hanson reports: “I have

Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos,

We heard from Tyler Gosselin who says:

moved to Hanover, NH where my fiancé is

the Premier of South Australia, at the U.S.

“My wife Jess and I are doing great. We had

starting business school. I will be working

Federal Reserve Bank of Cincinnati, and at

our first baby on January 8, Margaret Ann

remotely, and am so glad to be back in NH

the Inter-American Developmental Bank

Gosselin. Maggie is doing great and has

for a couple of years. We are getting married

(IDB). I hope to continue work with partners

been the distraction we needed during all

next summer in the Upper Valley.” … As for

from many of these institutions to find new

this quarantining. We also bought our first

me, Taylor James, we postponed our larger

ways to help workers navigate today’s perilous

house in February in River Vale, NJ. We are

wedding celebration to September 18, 2021

job market while creating new stability to

fully suburban now!” … Sarah Morrison

but are still planning to do a small ceremony

safeguard against future disruptions.” … From

reports: “Not a ton of new information from

this fall on Squam Lake. Pictures to come!

Amber (Stewart) McCormack: “Enjoying

my last update. I’ve been working nonstop

my summer by relaxing and staying quiet.

to build my business, The Morrison Group,

A new speed for me but I am loving every

72 | Holderness School Today

CLASS NOTES Class of 2008 Zoom call: Top row (L to R) Brittany Dove, Baird (Meem) Anderson, Gretchen Hyslip, Polly Babcock. Middle row (L to R) Jessie White, Kathryn (Cheng) Sullivan, Julia Ford, Greg Ramey. Bottom row (L to R) Dan Marvin, Annie Carney, Tyler Markley, Haley Hamblin.

Morgan Frank '’08, his wife Catherine Westborn, and their dog Mocha hiking in Vermont. lives in Waltham, MA. … Haley Hamblin and her fiancée Josh Raab postponed their wedding, packed their little Subaru up and

bit of it. Slowly renovating our ‘home on

f loor, and helping my fiancé run his logging

have been driving around the country for the

wheels,’ a 40' Blue Bird event bus. Dreaming

business. We just bought our first home in our

last three months. They’ve been working from

of all the adventures I am going to go on

hometown of Woodstock, VT and are excited

campsites, tiny homes, Alex Martini’s ’06

with the husband and our two very spoiled

to be expecting our first child, a baby boy,

backyard and everywhere in between proving

dogs.” … Annie Carney broke her wrist in a

in early December!” … Christina Tierney

the Washington Post and National Geographic

rollerblading confrontation with a goose. …

is living in Madrid, Spain teaching English.

can be produced anywhere with cell service.

Sacha Gouchie lives in a little house on the

Since completing her masters in international

While on the road Haley eats as many chicken

water with her husband Max and three fur

education last year, she is preparing to start

sandwiches as possible in preparation for

babies. She improves homes and empowers

her own business in educational tourism.

the next time she sees Greg Ramey. …

women. … And from me, Jessica White:

Finally she is set to get married spring 2021

Julia Ford is in NH at Cardigan Mountain

“Running a family business during a pandemic

(COVID permitting). … Although still a

School. “I’m the assistant athletic director

has been quite a learning experience. I’m

northerner at heart, Jessie (Potter) King-

and director of alpine skiing,” she reports. …

grateful to have a patient and loyal staff who

Geovanis is based out of Miami, FL with

Jordan Gonzales shares: “I am now married,

stuck with us while we tried to navigate shut

her husband Andreas and her dog Stella.

living in Denver, CO, and still plotting global

downs, changing regulations, and new safety

Pre- (and hopefully post-) COVID-19, she

domination.” … Brittany Tocci is living in

protocols, since construction is not something

frequently travelled worldwide to lead yoga

Basalt, CO, a little f ly fishing town just outside

that can be accomplished remotely. Luckily

teacher-trainings and retreats. She founded

Aspen. “I am an avid climber and golfer, and

we were able to keep our whole staff employed

a non-profit called Rise and SoulShine that

I jump into the river as much as possible! It

and healthy, and I am looking forward to

raises charitable funds and awareness for

has been a different year career wise due to

a successful 2021.” … From Baird (Meem)

a variety of organizations via a monthly

the pandemic, but I am gearing up to go back

Anderson: Hey Holderness! I’m still living in

waterfront yoga series. In addition to this, she

to work in the outdoor sports industry for

Cambridge, MA and teaching at Spruce Street

co-founded a yoga school called The Inspired

the winter. I miss NH and Holderness and

Nursery School in downtown Boston. At the

Life and developed a platform called With:In

think about my time there fondly!! There are

beginning of quarantine, some of the class

which caters to her yoga community online.

a ton of east coasters out here, and I even met

of ’08 decided it would be fun to catch up via

In her free time, she can be found putting

a guy the other day who went to Holderness

Zoom! Throughout the spring we Zoomed a

her green thumb to use, cooking, or going on

in the ’80s!” … Polly Babcock is two years

few times and checked in on each other and

outdoor adventures with the fam! … Craig

into working as a photo production specialist

reminisced about Holderness, of course! This

Leach just moved back to Boston from his

at Starz Entertainment in Denver, CO. Her

summer I have been spending a lot of time in

two year stint in Chicago. He is excited to be

team manages all photography that is created

Boston, Maine, and Southampton, NY, doing

back with his East Coast family. … Ryan "RJ"

and distributed for every original series that

a lot of freshwater fishing with my husband

O’Riordan is living with Jeremy Larrere

Starz produces. She also works as a freelance

Kyle, and swimming a ton! I am currently

and finishing school remotely in LA....go

photographer at her own studio where she

enjoying my last week of vacation before I

Holderness roommates! … Jeremy Larrere

captures boudoir, portrait, and e-commerce

head back to school to teach in-person with

is still working in casting in LA, among other

photos. She’s been in Denver for four years,

many new protocols due to COVID-19. … Kelly

things! … Gretchen Hyslip is working at

and loves it. She can live the city life while

Giller: “I’m working as a registered nurse at

Brandeis University in the Office of Academic

being close enough to her hometown of Vail

Dartmouth-Hitchcock, currently on a COVID

Affairs and Student Experience. She currently

to get away and ski, mountain bike, raft, do

Fall 2020 | 73

CLASS NOTES Ally (Stride) Lloyd ’09 and her husband, Michael, welcomed their son on June 2nd! Everyone meet William Weeks Lloyd!“10 pounds at birth, he’s our little chunky monkey!”

Elise (Steiner) Hacker's ’10 new puppy, Bailey.

yoga, and spend time with her family. … Greg

medical school in May 2020. Started residency

Ramey writes: “I’m still living in NYC with

in anesthesiology at Maine Medical Center

Dan Marvin but COVID-19 is temporarily

in Portland, ME in June 2020 for a four year

placing us on a sabbatical from the city.

program. My dog Iliad will turn six this year!”

Emily Hayes moved to Salt Lake City and

Until it’s safe to return to Manhattan, I’ll be bouncing between Miami, San Francisco,

Kristina Micalizzi ’12 making good use of her OB water bottle on the Billy Goat Trail in Maryland.

’10

is enjoying living with her partner Bobby

and wherever Jaclyn Vernet ’11 is.” … Haley Wilich is living in Portsmouth, NH and

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Utah. She is working as an engineer and

loving mountain biking and kayaking lately.

Elise (Steiner) Hacker

recently earned her masters degree in

… Brett Phillips is living his best pandemic

elisehsteiner@gmail.com

systems engineering. It is great to connect

life while working from home. 2020 marks

Langlands and exploring the outdoors in

with Holderness friends in SLC, including

the seventh year since the founding of his

Wesley "Wes" Mitchell-Lewis reports: “After

Adam Sapers and Jamie McNulty. She

production company, Create Awesomeness.

a short one-and-a-half years in Minneapolis,

hopes to see more Holderness friends over the

This year’s projects include a feature film

I made the move back east to Boston where I

upcoming ski season and is looking forward

and various smaller client projects. He is still

now work for a small tech-startup. Starting

to our 10 year reunion next summer!

strongly considering getting a cat. … Kathryn

a new job during a pandemic has been

(Cheng) Sullivan writes: “I bought a house

interesting but thanks to it, I have been able to

in Wellesley, MA and started a new job this

spend much of my summer in NH, mountain

’12

year at SharkNinja working on their digital

biking on the Holderness trails!” … I, Elise

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

marketing team. My husband and I welcomed

(Steiner) Hacker, have been fortunate enough

Alex Leininger

our baby boy Noah on July 23, 2020.”

to be working from home during the pandemic,

leiningerbalex@gmail.com

spending time with family in Boston, Cape

Kristina Micalizzi

’09

Cod and New Hampshire. And since I will be

kmicalizzi08@gmail.com

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

my husband Mike and I welcomed a furry

Alex Leininger is living in Chicago

Allison (Stride) Lloyd

member to our family. We brought home a

and would love to set up some Bulls

stride.ally@gmail.com

golden retriever puppy, Bailey, in June and she

events if anyone is interested!

working from home for the foreseeable future,

has been keeping us on our toes ever since.

Emma Locke writes, “Hi Class of ’09. I have been enjoying the summer in South Boston

’13

with my fiancé while working at ASICS as a

’11

field rep and loving every second of it. Looking

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Consider becoming a class correspondent

forward to getting married next May in South

Cecily Cushman

and encouraging your classmates to

Carolina with our golden retriever Revelstoke

cncushman@gmail.com

reconnect in the HST class notes.

as the ring bearer/best man. It was great

Jamie McNulty

Contact us at alumni@holderness.org

to see everyone at our ten year reunion and

jamcnulty20@gmail.com

for more information. Thank you!

can’t wait for the next one!”… We heard from Meredith Peck who wrote: “Graduated from

74 | Holderness School Today

Want to connect with your classmates?

’14

I can practice these passions at Lehigh through

CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

entrepreneurship programs, and my major in

Tess O’Brien

finance and real estate. Since graduating, I have

tmobrien@uvm.edu

begun to realize just how much my Holderness teachers and the community has shaped me!”

’15 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

’19

Hope Heffernan

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

hopeheffernan@gmail.com

Lilly Patterson lgp011@bucknell.edu n

Jack Herrick writes: “I graduated from college from my bedroom in Telluride, CO as COVID was in full effect. And now I am off

’20

to Denver to start my sales and marketing

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

career at a company called True North!”

Amanda Vansant ’20 on an outing for her work with a local forestry consulting company.

Abby Vieira abigail.e.vieira@gmail.com

’16

sarahro524@gmail.com

Amanda Vansant reports that she’s been

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Luke Valentine

working for a local forestry consulting

AJ Chabot

lukevalentineoms@gmail.com

company and enjoying the outdoors as much as possible! … Eleanor Lee Page writes: “Hi

ajchabot@gmail.com Jullila Tran writes, “I just completed my second

school! This summer I have been babysitting

Thanks to taking a gap year post high

year at Carnegie Mellon University (through

a local family in my area and doing some

school graduation, I’ll be a senior this year

Zoom), where I’m pursuing my electrical and

training for cross country. I will be going to

at Williams! Still majoring in English, still

computer engineering degree. I’m currently

Colby College this fall and the school has a

dancing, and still missing all my Holdy friends

interning at Uber ATG as a software engineer,

very detailed plan to address COVID-19. We

and family. Hoping all goes as smoothly as

working on developing self-driving technology. It

will be moving in on August 21st and will

possible on campus this fall. AJ Chabot.

has been quite an exciting journey thus far, and

be tested upon arrival as well as twice every

I’m learning a lot! Although there have been a lot

week for the first part of the semester. I am

’17

of unexpected challenges, I’m thankful for these

very excited that I am able to return to school

opportunities to learn and grow as a person.”

and that I will still be able to practice with

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

… Erica Ashby writes, "Since graduating in

the cross country team even though our races

Elizabeth Johansson

2018, I have jumped feet first into my time at

are cancelled. I will miss Holderness this fall

ecjohansson17@gmail.com

Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA! I enjoy

but I hope to come back and visit soon!” …

seeing other Holderness faces around campus:

Even though my original plan was to go to

’18

Quang Tran, Tori Merrill ’17, and Liam Van

Williams in the fall, I decided to take a gap

Herwarde ’17. Being on the club ski team here

year to take courses that I haven’t tried and

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

has given me the chance to chant ‘Go Bulls!’ with

that interest me. During my gap year, my plan

Stuart Clifford

Meghan Gillis ’19 and Diego Zesati at weekly

is to take coding classes, learn to cook, and

stugclifford@gmail.com

races. Holderness helped me discover what I am

finally get my driver’s license! ~ Abby Vieira

Sarah Rogers

genuinely passionate about and I am thankful

SHARE YOUR NEWS! Have you recently encountered a milestone in your life? Share your news with your classmates! Please contact us at alumni@holderness.org.

Fall 2020 | 75

CLASS NOTES

my role as an editor for the newspaper, work with

AT THIS POINT IN TIME

Holderness:

KEEPING NOSES CLEAN SINCE 1879

W

hen we were digging through the archives this summer, we uncovered this undated photo, likely taken in the school’s infirmary. It shows School Nurse Hildur J. Archibald, who began her tenure at Holderness in 1943. While we’re not sure what medical procedure she’s performing on the unnamed student, it’s a scene any current Holderness student, faculty, or staff member can identify with. Why? During the first two months of school this year, every single person on the Holderness campus was tested several times for COVID-19 using the somewhat invasive PCR nasal swab test.

It was a quick but uncomfortable rite of passage that ensured the entire school was coronavirusfree to start the year. While the test itself wasn’t fun (it brought a tear to the eye of many students and adults) it was a testament to the school’s longstanding commitment to health and safety —a commitment that hasn’t changed since Nurse Archibald’s day. And for that, we’re thankful.

Nurse Hildur Archibald with a student circa 1943

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! What’s happening in your world? Holderness School Today wants to know! Have you: ▪ Changed your mailing address or email?

▪ Had an addition to your family?

▪ Volunteered for an important cause?

▪ Embarked on an exciting professional or personal adventure?

▪ Experienced a chance encounter with another Holderness alumnus or alumna?

Send your photos, updates, and news to alumni@holderness.org. We look forward to hearing from you!

76 | Holderness School Today

7:00 a.m., October 22, 2020.

Fall 2020 | 77

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Holderness School P.O. Box 1879 Plymouth, NH 03264-1879

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Students in an AP Environmental Science class walk across our 600-acre campus to perform a stream lab on October 15.