NMH Magazine 2012 Spring

NMH Magazine

12 spring/summer

volume 14 • number 2

Northfield Mount Hermon

Head-Elect Peter B. Fayroian Is Ready to Go to Work

IN THIS ISSUE Flipping the Math Classroom The Road from NMH to Afghanistan On the Farm, A Changing of the Guard

SPRING/SUMMER 2012 Volume 14, Number 2 Editor Jennifer Sutton P ’14 Managing Editor/Photo Editor Sharon LaBella-Lindale Class Notes Editor Sally Atwood Hamilton ’65 Contributors Megan Buchanan Cherry ’91 Susan Pasternack Mary Seymour Kate Snyder Archivist Peter Weis ’78, P ’13 Design Lilly Pereira Class Notes Design HvB Imaging Director of Communications Cheri Cross Head of School Charles A. Tierney III Chief Advancement Officer Allyson L. Goodwin ’83, P ’12, ’14 Northfield Mount Hermon publishes NMH Magazine (USPS074-860) two times a year in fall/winter and spring/summer.

Printed by Lane Press, Burlington, VT 05402.

NMH Magazine Northfield Mount Hermon One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3978 Fax 413-498-3021 nmhmagazine@nmhschool.org Class Notes nmhnotes@nmhschool.org Address Changes Northfield Mount Hermon Advancement Services Norton House One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3300 addressupdates@nmhschool.org

Magazine

12 spring/summer

departments

2 3 4 42 50 104

letters leading lines on campus alumni spotlight class notes parting words

105 giving back features

12 “ The Work We Do With NMH Students is Going to Change the World.”

Head-Elect Peter B. Fayroian is ready to start his new job.

17 Flipping the Classroom

A new teaching method is changing math education. Is it working?

20 Mentors Students perform Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” in the Rhodes Arts Center

Whether a teacher’s guidance is obvious or subtle, it can last a lifetime.

28 The Road to Afghanistan

In an NMH class, a young man discovers the Middle East.

32 Goal The story of Johnny Mendoza ’12 begins with his family.

34 Empty Rooms Full of History

Photographer and teacher Philip Calabria explores the forgotten side of Ellis Island.

Cover photo: Kathleen Dooher Table of contents photo: Glenn Minshall

letters premature departure from the class of 1969. While this looked like an academic dismissal, we saw it as the weeding out of a dissident voice, the silencing of a student by a faculty member.

Mr. Hays’ self-servingly narrow vision of the past overlooks the fact that, at least in this case, he was part of the problem, not the solution. Discere et Vivere!

Steve Pollock ’69

San Francisco, California To the Editor: The troubled spring of 1968 and the issues of race at Mount Hermon were brought only into hazy focus by Michael Hays’ letter in the Fall/Winter issue of NMH Magazine. I was the roommate of “Souljoy,” the founder of Mount Hermon’s Afro-American Society and the student now lionized by Mr. Hays. Souljoy’s angry voice taught me lessons of tolerance, respect, and the price of privilege, and by the time of Dr. King’s assassination, the rising tide of black awareness was shaking our relatively sleepy campus.

But let’s not get too revisionist and self-congratulatory at the expense of a competing perspective. While “Iron Mike” may take comfort in recalling how he and Mr. Davis brought black and white consensus to a troubled faculty meeting, it was the same Mr. Hays who denied academic credit for Souljoy’s book review of Soul on Ice because he deemed Eldridge Cleaver to be an “inappropriate author,” whatever that means. The result: a failing grade and Souljoy’s

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To the Editor: Thank you for printing the recipe for the famous Bishop’s Bread that was enjoyed so much back in the day. I thought you might like the recipe for Mrs. Smith’s Swedish coffee cake, too.

Mrs. Smith was the housemother at the faculty house back when I stayed there on weekends when I would visit my fiancé, Charles Hume ’51.

He taught Bible and Ancient History. He also coached lacrosse and swimming, and was advisor to the camera club. He taught from 1958–1960. We married in June of 1960 just before he started at his first parish as pastor in Southampton.

Anyway, we gals always enjoyed Mrs. Smith’s Sunday morning coffee cake and so has my family ever since.

• Add egg/milk mixture to dry ingredients and beat 3 minutes.

• Add 1 tablespoon of melted butter and mix well.

• Pour into a greased and floured 9-inch square pan.

• Pour additional melted butter over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

• Bake about 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

• Serve warm with butter.

To the Editor: The sculpture on the first page of the NMH calendar recalls for me one of the best teachers I had at the school. “Mac” MacAlister Coleman, who created this welded steel, threesided version of the algebraic formula, taught studio art and art history/appreciation in a Recitation Hall classroom with views of the great lawn and towering elm trees before Dutch Elm disease got them.

Mac literally opened my eyes and I’ve been engaged in visual work ever since. As a landscape architect, I recently designed bases and settings for two different sculptures that were unusual projects for me, but they reminded me of Mac. He introduced some of us to his

Quaker faith when the Vietnam War was urgently on our minds.

His studio on campus at the barns was a magical place to visit, with the heavy sheets of steel he worked with (he had some of the biggest forearms I’ve ever seen).

Mac went on to teach for many years at Endicott College and lived in Manchester-by-theSea with his wonderful wife, Peggy, who taught Russian at Northfield. I visited and did a little work with him there, many years ago. As far as I know, they are still active in that area.

When Mac did the NMH sculpture, he was in a threesided phase, and I recall him working on female figurative pieces in plaster and carved wood. I had one of these plaster studies for many years in my studio in Orange, Massachusetts. Mac also had a gift for a turn of phrase and a sly, dry humor. Perhaps the sculpture is a good symbolic memorial to Recitation Hall, and the thousands of hours of inspiring thoughts shared within its rooms with beautiful views.

Channing Harris ’72

Hamden, Connecticut

Patricia (Johnston) Hume

Naples, Maine Mrs. Smith’s Swedish Coffee Cake • Sift together 1½ cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and a pinch of salt.

• Place 1 egg in a 1-cup measure and add milk to make 1 cup.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? NMH Magazine welcomes correspondence from readers.

Letters and emails may be edited for length, clarity, and grammar, and should pertain to content in the magazine. Reach us at: NMH Magazine, One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354; and at nmhmagazine@nmhschool.org.

leading lines

by MARK CHARDACK ’73

“ It Has Been a Privilege”

Reflections from a Northfield Mount Hermon Board Leader

I love our school. That is, by far, the most important thing I can say. Northfield Mount Hermon made a huge difference in my life as a young man, in my self-esteem and my view of the world; it gave me the opportunity to stretch and grow. After I graduated, I began to see, over time, that I owed the school a debt of gratitude. When I was asked to serve on the board of trustees, I saw it as a chance to give back.

educational program. We all have a deep appreciation for the Northfield campus, yet our school is so much bigger than bricks and mortar.

No doubt the consolidation has been a big part of our recent success, which incudes our record-setting $88 million capital campaign. When you look today at the energy and caliber of our students, faculty, and staff, as well as the wonderful new facilities we have added to the NMH campus—it is nothing short of spectacular. This is an exciting time for NMH. We now are more able than ever to provide academic excellence in a caring residential community and to fulfill our mission of empowAs I reflect on my years of service, one of the great experiering students to act with humanity and purpose. ences of being a trustee, and then chair, was that I was able to These students have good role models in the many dedicated meet people from all parts of our community: not just my peers individuals who love and serve our school with their heads, at a reunion, but alumni from across the classes, members of hearts, and hands. The trustees are passionate, capable, wise, our faculty and staff, and current students. All those remarkable and generous. The faculty and staff continue to amaze all of us opportunities shaped my view of our school and helped me with their commitment to the education of young people and understand the needs of our students and alumni. They, along their astute awareness of the needs of today’s students. What with the outstanding administrators whom I worked so closely I will miss most is being with these people and working with with and whom I admire so much, deserve my heartfelt thanks. them to help shape our school’s future.

When I joined the board, We now are more able than ever to provide academic excellence I was not yet married and neither of my two sons had in a caring residential community and to fulfill our mission of been born. Now my older son empowering students to act with humanity and purpose. is about to enroll at NMH as a freshman. I have before me Often people think the board chair makes all the decisions the wonderful opportunity to experience NMH as a parent. I and oversees the school’s operations like a president or chief am looking forward to visiting our beautiful campus even more executive officer. That is not true. The chair’s duty is to move often than I already do, strolling the grounds, going the board forward on strategic issues, but most important, it is to games, enjoying performances in the Rhodes Arts to make sure the board fulfills its fiduciary responsibility and Center, and bringing the rest of my family along. preserves what is known as intergenerational equity. That means My son’s education at NMH will be separated students of the future should get the same or better education from mine by 40 years. I imagine that his expeas students of the past. Now that promise lies with my succesrience will eclipse mine. As a trustee, I have sor, chair-elect Bill Shea ’72. He and I both build on the hard seen and felt the vitality that makes work of chairman emeritus Bill Rhodes ’53, who led us to the NMH a place where young adults path of success that we’re on today and that will benefit the can learn and think, challenge school for the next century. themselves to do things they My board service was focused on steering our school didn’t know they could do. They through the transition from two campuses to one. The decileave NMH ready to become sion to consolidate was a difficult one, yet it was guided first good citizens. They confirm for by the impact it would have on our students today, and second me that our school’s mission is by the resources we needed to devote to the school’s future not just words—we live by it.

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spring/summer 2012 I 3

on campus Down on the Farm, a Changing of the Guard NMH farmers Liam Sullivan ’05, left,

It is the end of an era: After 35 years on the job, farm manager Richard Odman is officially retiring in June. While he will still volunteer occasionally on the little slope of heaven he helped create in the northeastern corner of the campus, he turns over NMH’s farm program to a new director, Liam Sullivan ’05. Sullivan has spent much of the past year learning the ropes alongside Odman and farm assistant Rachel Onuf.

For many in the NMH community, Odman is the farm program. He arrived at NMH in 1977 as a counselor and volunteered to assist with the school’s established farm club. A year later, he was appointed farm manager, and in 1979 he began working full-time on the farm and has been at it ever since. He relishes the meaningful contact with students that comes through all the work they do together in the barn

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and fields—the joking, the rewards of labor, the instruction he passes along, not only in farm tasks but also in life skills.

Sullivan was one of the students who soaked it all in. He grew up in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. At NMH, he was a student leader and worked on the farm’s sugaring and summer work crews—and got hooked. He attended UMass Amherst, earning a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil sciences with a focus on sustainable agriculture.

“He’s going to do a great job,” Odman says of Sullivan. “Liam gets along with students, and has a natural, easy way about him. He’s friendly and gregarious. Plus, he’s caught on to the whole milking thing.”

Following Odman’s example, Sullivan plans to integrate the farm’s products into the school—for example, to grow more

vegetables for use in the dining hall, including storage crops that can be harvested in the fall. Sullivan also brought two goats with him to campus, “to eat all the brush,” he says. (Work job students should be grateful for this addition to the farm menagerie.)

Ask Odman what he plans to do after he retires and his answer is both serious and comically evasive. “Just write ‘spaghettitwirling lessons for children, castle building, weaving, writing, and reading,’” he says. He also plans to travel with his partner, Onuf, to California and Chicago, where her work as an archivist often takes her, and to enjoy “not working seven days a week,” he says.

Odman’s final contribution to the farm will be a new manure shed and a manure spreader. “I’m looking forward to coming back and using it with the horses,” he says, “even if it’s on a volunteer basis.”

Photo: Glenn Minshall

and Richard Odman

on campus

Photo (left): Ed Judice. (right): Don Varney

Board of Trustees Gets a New Leader As NMH welcomes a new head of school this summer, it also will undergo a leadership change on its 28-member board of trustees. Mark Chardack ’73, the current board chair, will complete his tenure after Commencement. Bill Shea ’72, who joined the board in 2002, was elected late last year by his fellow trustees to assume the role of chair for a three-year term. “I look forward to serving the school that had such a profound effect on my life,” he says.

In his decade as a trustee, Shea has served as the vice chair of the board, led the board’s advancement committee, and cochaired the 130th Anniversary Campaign that concluded in 2010 and raised $88 million. More recently, he chaired the search committee that guided the board in its decision to appoint Peter B. Fayroian as NMH’s next head of school.

“My main role as board chair will be to assist Peter,” Shea says, “and we are fortunate that NMH is in a very good place right now.”

Shea credits the “strong board leadership” of Chardack and previous chair William Rhodes ’53 for steering NMH through the challenges of the past two decades. “We have successfully completed the move to one campus, improved the academic environment while fostering a stronger sense of community, and completed the largest capital campaign in NMH history,” Shea says.

The board will continue to be guided by NMH’s mission—to provide an education for the head, heart, and hand—and by the school’s new strategic plan, which the board developed last year and which focuses on academic excellence, a strong community, and financial sustainability. “We will operate in an open and transparent manner and will regularly keep the entire NMH community informed of our initiatives and progress,” Shea says.

After his two years at NMH, Shea earned a bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He began his business career at IBM, moved to Itel Corp. and the Brae Corp., and in 1984 founded Kelley Transportation Services and Bay Cities Leasing Corp., which he sold to General Electric in 1998. Today he lives in San Francisco with his wife, Elizabeth. They have two children: Allyson, a senior at Columbia University, and Austin, a sophomore at Williams College.

Northfield Campus Update The future of the Northfield campus is still being determined, according to information released in mid-April by owner Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The company, which purchased the core campus from Northfield Mount Hermon in 2009, intends to eventually donate the property to one or more Christian institutions that will operate educational programs on the campus.

Hobby Lobby continues to show the campus to prospective occupants and evaluate proposals from dozens of schools and organizations across the country.

The company’s original plan was to give the campus to the C.S. Lewis Foundation, which expected to open a new Christian college focused on “Great Books” and the arts. When the foundation did not meet a fundraising deadline of December 31, 2011, Hobby Lobby invited other institutions to submit proposals for the campus. The C.S. Lewis Foundation remains a candidate and is continuing its fundraising efforts.

Among the many interested groups attracted by the legacy of school founder D.L. Moody has been Liberty University of Virginia, which was founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell. This development prompted opposition from a group of alumni, who petitioned the NMH Board of Trustees to take a stand against Liberty University’s potential acquisition of the campus. With signatures from more than 1,000 alumni, the petition characterized Liberty as an institution whose values were inconsistent with D.L. Moody’s legacy.

In a statement issued March 9, 2012, board members wrote: “As the owner of the Northfield campus, Hobby Lobby naturally has the right to determine the new user or owner of the Northfield campus. The NMH Board does not have the ability to control the way in which Hobby Lobby transfers its property. Northfield Mount Hermon remains focused on its mission and on providing the best educational program possible.”

spring/summer 2012 I 5

On the Track, She Flies

From Fourth-Liner to Power Player

Here’s how NMH track coaches see Camille Gooden ’12: “A jaw-dropping natural athlete,” says Donald Marshall, the varsity head coach. “The greatest sprinter to ever come out of NMH,” declares Erik Chaput, assistant coach.

As an eighth grader in Windsor, Connecticut, Gooden was known for her skills in soccer and lacrosse, but during a casual Field Day game of capture the flag, she surprised everyone, including herself, by racing against star football players and winning. A teacher took Gooden under her wing, and encouraged her to begin competing widely. Gooden went from local meets to national and international competitions before she even started high school.

It’s no understatement to say Gooden hit the NMH track flying. During her freshman year, she broke three school records: 100 meters (11.97 seconds), 200 meters (25.58), and long jump (17' 4.25"). She won the 100meter and 200-meter races at the SCHOOL New England Championships, and finished RECORDS second in the long jump. Marshall attributes 100 METERS Gooden’s early success to “raw talent—an amazing blend of strength, explosiveness, SECONDS power, and quickness,” he says.

200 METERS Gooden contracted Lyme disease her sophomore year and subsequently was injured and SECONDS sidelined for most of the season. With support from her coach at the time, Bill Batty ’59, and LONG JUMP Michael Corrigan, she returned to 17' 4.25" Chaplain the track as a junior with newfound patience and drive. At the New England Championships, her performance in the 400 meters (56.37) set a new meet record and shattered the 20-year-old NMH record of 57.36. That year, Gooden also set a new NMH record in the 100 meters (11.9) and a New England record in the 200 meters (25.33).

Marshall says of Gooden’s New England record-setting 400-meter performance: “The 400 is not just a race of brute force. To run it fast, it must be run well. Camille showed that she not only has pure athletic ability, but has developed a sense of the science of the sport.”

A student deacon and a member of Circle of Sisters, a campus affinity group for female students of color, Gooden is a leader as well as a gifted runner. Her goals for her final spring at NMH: “To try something new. To get my team more engaged. To be more of a role model, more of a voice.” And, of course, “to break all my records again.”

In the book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell introduces the “10,000-Hour Rule,” proposing that success in any field depends on the amount of time spent practicing. Brandon Bete ’12, a day student from Greenfield, Massachusetts, embodies that theory, whether he’s at the hockey rink or on the golf course. “I’ve always been a quieter kid, so I try to lead by example, to lead through hard work,” says Bete, who served as a captain of the varsity hockey and golf teams this year.

Bete was still in elementary school when he was spotted on the ice by NMH math teacher and golf coach Mace Hemphill. “He played on the same team as my daughter and I knew then that he had talent,” Hemphill says.

“Frankly, he was the only boy who would pass the puck to anyone—even to the only girl on the team.”

25.33

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I’ve always been a quieter kid, so I try to lead by example, to lead through hard work.

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11.9

“No one has worked harder to develop himself into a leading player than Brandon,” says Tom Pratt, NMH’s athletic director and boys’ varsity hockey coach. Bete began his NMH athletic career on the JV hockey team. While he moved up to varsity in his sophomore year, he “was a

little-used fourth-liner, playing occasional JV games in order to aid his development,” Pratt says. Bete trained hard the next summer, and in his junior year was regularly sent onto the ice whenever the team had a “power play,” until a groin injury sidelined him midseason. This year, his last at NMH, Bete barreled back, scoring 27 goals and notching 10 assists in 29 games.

As she did at the youth hockey rink, Hemphill also watched Bete grow up on the local golf course, and at NMH, he became her top golfer his freshman year. “He works incredibly hard on his game, constantly keeping fit by working out after practice and entering Junior PGA tournaments,” she says. At one of those tournaments last summer, Bete beat more than 120 of the best golfers in New England, which came as no surprise to Hemphill. “Even when he was just 11 or 12 … he had obvious talent for the game, which requires incredible patience and skill.”

Photos: Risley Sports Photography

on campus

on campus

The Century Club WHAT DO Crossley Hall, Ford Cottage, and Schauffler Library have in common? Not only did each building turn 100 years old in the past year, they also were designed by the same architects—Wainright Parish and J. Langdon Schroeder of New York.

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“Old” CROSSLEY was originally built in 1886 by F.W. Crossley, an Englishman and friend of D.L. Moody, and named in memory of his young son.

The building burned in January 1911, just as students were registering for springterm classes, but was rebuilt in just eight months. Funding for the enormous reconstruction project came from Mrs. D. Willis James and Mrs. Russell Sage, among others.

Photos (left): Courtesy of NMH Archives. Photo (right): Sharon Lindale

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The Georgian Revival style FORD Cottage was funded through a large number of donations from “old boys” and named in honor of Harriet Ford Cutler, who taught Greek and Latin and was the wife of Headmaster Henry Cutler. Mount Hermon alumni returned to campus on the 30th anniversary of the school to break ground for Ford Cottage—by pulling plows.

CROWNED Last fall, the NMH barn got a new cupola, designed and built with help from NMH alumni and students. The structural beams came from campus evergreens that were felled by a windstorm. Mary MaysharkStavely, whose family helped fund the project in honor of her father, Jim Mayshark ’32, said at the installation, "It looks like it was always supposed to be there.”

3

SCHAUFFLER Library’s donors, Rev. Adolph Schauffler and his wife, Julia, wished to honor Adolph’s father, William, a missionary and translator of the Bible. The library’s original interior included multiple catwalks and mezzanines that hovered over what is now the circulation desk and periodicals room.

Want more NMH history?

Visit the NMH Archives blog at http://archives.nmhblogs.org

spring/summer 2012 I 7

on campus

Posted @ NMH A selection of online conversations and comments

facebook.com/NMHschool facebook.com/NMHArchives NMH: Check out this video of commencement through the years. How did you celebrate your graduation day? http://vimeo.com/24530311 Janet Fox ’62: We threw our sturdies into Perry Pond!

NMH: The tradition continues...it’s sunny and the sap is flowing, so NMH students are sugaring!

Karen Lanphear Malinowski ’77: The old sugar shack used to be behind Wallace.

I remember standing too close to where the sap was being boiled down and melting my cool polyester pants. :)

Culture: It’s What’s for Dinner The meal began with an appetizer of fried peanuts. Then: stir-fried greens with egg, chicken with shitake mushrooms, scallion pancakes, sliced beef in a soy broth, dumplings, edamame, spicy tofu, steamed rice. The dishes kept coming, and the three student-chefs remained remarkably calm despite the pressure of cooking for 14 in an unfamiliar kitchen.

The kitchen belonged to Meg Donnelly and Glenn Minshall, English teacher and outdoor program director at NMH, respectively, and the Chinese-Taiwanese food was the work of Yu-sheng (Victor) Lin ’13, Chenguang

Liang ’13, and Weijian (William) Shi ’13. Their collaboration was part of a new initiative from NMH’s Center for International Education (CIE) in which a faculty or staff member teams

Chris Clement ’78: A big belated thank-you for the swag…my car is now properly bumperstickered for the first time in over a decade.

@NMHschool @NMHHoggers @Arts_at_NMH Pauline Stevens ’07: Just registered for @NMHSchool reunion 2012…can’t wait. #hoggers #fiveyears #feelslikeyesterday Andrew Taylor ’11: Reading a book about evangelicalism for one of my classes.

Naturally there is a section on D.L. Moody.

Sweet Honey In The Rock: @NMHSchool We loved being there and you all have a beautiful community of singers. Blessings and much gratitude. Till we meet again.

“THE THINKER,” NEW YORK, NY, 2011, BY YISHAN ZHANG ’14 The artist’s statement: “I think this unique big city is really interesting. I can find

Sarah Messer ’06: Love this, @NMHSchool

tons of people who are happy but even more people are under pressure for many rea-

Flashmob at Founder’s Day? So much more memorable than “mundane” speeches. http://vimeo.com/35963786

sons. And the buildings there are amazing and stunning. During Thanksgiving break, I

8 I NMH Magazine

carried my camera in order to photograph every moment that I’m touched by.”

NMH Farm Products on campus

ORDER FORM

Above from left, Weijian (William) Shi ’13, Yu-sheng (Victor) Lin ’13, and

up with international students to plan and cook a dinner from the students’ home country. Other students, faculty, and staff sign up for a seat at the dinner table.

There have been Korean and Turkish dinners in addition to the Chinese meal; a Mexico-focused event also was in the works. The goal, said Lorrie Byrom, director of the CIE, is “to allow international students more focused attention in the NMH community and more chances to share information with their peers about their country.”

In the Donnelly-Minshall kitchen, Lin explained that he and his fellow chefs were making common Chinese food, “so it’s a great way to introduce our culture.” Liang chimed in: “I liked cooking when I was in China.” The

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students’ culinary experience comes in handy, since, by her own admission, Donnelly does not cook. “I live at a boarding school for a reason,” she joked. “But I love anything that celebrates different cultures.”

The meal was a good lesson for the guests, who perhaps equated Chinese food with General Gao’s chicken and fried rice, dishes Lin dismissed as “too Americanized.” “You know what I learned? That texture is really important,” Donnelly said. Shi confirmed this: “We like lots of things to be glutinous, to have that feeling like gummy bears. It just tastes better.”

Hence the appearance on the table of stir-fried rice cakes (a sticky, round rice noodle) with cabbage and scallion, which the dinner guests agreed were chewy and delicious.

The dishes kept coming, and the three studentchefs remained remarkably calm despite the pressure of cooking for 14 in an unfamiliar kitchen.

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Dinner photos: Glenn Minshall. Farm photo: Sharon Lindale

Chenguang Liang ’13 prepare dinner.

Download an order form at nmhschool.org/ nmh-farm-products or return a copy of this order form, along with a check payable to Northfield Mount Hermon, to: Farm Program, NMH, One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354.

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Spring/Summer |

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spring/summer 2012 I 9

evening

Who • What • Why Who I Atta Kurzmann, NMH outreach coordinator and adjunct faculty member What I Sunday evening meditation Why I She wants to help students calm down, explore their inner worlds, and have a few moments of peace.

So many of us lead busy, multitasking lives. We go from place to place, from one responsibility to the next; our minds jump from the past to the future and back again. “Kids— people—start to feel disconnected from their own personal source of energy and understanding,” says Atta Kurzmann, who guides a small weekly meditation group in Memorial Chapel in addition to running NMH’s student outreach program. “We all need a time to settle and to not be thinking about all the things going on in our lives.

Calming the mind is a refreshing kind of experience.”

Northfield Mount Hermon Summer Session june 30-august 4, 2012

Kurzmann heads to the chapel after dinner every Sunday to guide students (a core group of six or seven and usually a curious visitor or two) in a variety of traditional meditations. A recent session included gentle stretching, a walking meditation, a sitting meditation, and, at the end, a snack and casual conversation about the students’ experiences that evening. Kurzmann, who retired last year from teaching full-time (in NMH’s visual arts, religion, and psychology departments) but still teaches Eastern religion and yoga classes, has led campus meditation groups on and off for years in order to “answer a need that the kids have,” she says.

“I initially tried it because I’d spent the past year doing

meditation on my own and I decided I wanted more formal instruction,” says Teagan Atwater ’12. “I continue to go back because I have developed a strong connection with everyone…and walking away afterward completely at peace is a very positive reward.”

Sound simple? Kurzmann cautions her students not to expect an instant bliss trip.

“Meditation is a skill that has to be developed, like playing the piano,” she says. “The mind is constantly moving, so you have to teach it to be present and focused—and that’s hard. It wanders; you bring it back. It’s kind of like training a puppy.

With consistent and caring attention, the puppy eventually will listen to your wishes and become your best friend. It’s the same with the mind.”

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www.nmhschool.org/summer Northfield Mount Hermon Summer Session One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3290 summer_school@nmhschool.org

10 I NMH Magazine

Photo: Glenn Minshall

on campus

on campus

by PETER WEIS ’78

Harris Cottage

The Century Club, Part Two

Photos: Courtesy of NMH Archives

A canning factory, a power plant, and a home for the “King of West Hall”

Today, Northfield Mount Hermon is almost exactly a century removed from a wave of magnificent campus construction: Between 1907 and 1913, nearly a dozen major projects were completed on both campuses, including Alumni Hall (1909), James Gymnasium (1910), Sage Chapel (1909), and Gould Hall (1912). But as the school celebrates the centennial of several remarkable buildings on the NMH campus (see p. 7), it is worth recalling three other buildings that are less proudly hailed.

The tale of the first building may well be a precedent for NMH’s current interest in “green” or “sustainable” initiatives.

Richard L. Watson, Class of 1891, had worked briefly at Martha Berry’s Industrial School in Rome, Georgia, before returning to his alma mater to work as the supervisor of the dining hall. He brought with him the idea to start a canning operation for the storage of vegetables and fruits from the school’s agricultural enterprises.

So it was that Mount Hermon boys built the canning factory, beginning with the manufacture of the concrete blocks right on campus.

The Stanley Ward Power Plant

By the 1920s, inexpensive gas refrigeration made the canning process obsolete.

But if the process was outmoded, the building was not; it became the headquarters for the physical plant office, housing the plumbing and carpentry shops. In 1966, the building found a third use as a dormitory and was named for Carroll Rikert, Class of 1913. It was fitting that a building of so many uses would honor the man who worked tirelessly for the school in multiple capacities, retiring in 1959 as the director of plant and property.

Richard Watson figures in the story of the second building as well. By 1907, he had a growing family, with three daughters and a son. A house, named Harris Cottage after a donor, was built near Dwight’s Home for the Watson clan (the youngest would be born there). In 1935, “The King of West Hall,” as Watson was known, left the cottage after watching all five of his children—including his daughters—graduate from Mount Hermon. This house— with the best view on campus, according to those who lived there—was next home to head librarian Elliott Fleckles ’21, but,

Rikert

as time went on, the place attracted more than its fair share of English teachers and their families: T.D. lived there; so did Bill Batty ’59. Today, more than a century after the Watsons first moved in, David Dowdy continues that tradition.

The third lesser-revered centennial building lies across campus. As early as 1902, plans were floated to construct a central steam-heating plant (by 1905, one had been built with good results at Northfield), and in 1909, construction began on what is now the Stanley Ward Power Plant.

Originally, the plant provided both heat and electricity, but as electrical demands increased over time, this system became impractical; today, the plant provides only steam heat, though fuel sources have varied with the times. Originally, the plant burned coal. In 1964, it switched to oil.

In the early 1980s, it briefly burned wood chips, but soon was burning oil again, as it does today. On a cold morning, one can look down the hill, observe the thin white plume rising from the brick stack behind the Rhodes Arts Center, and be grateful: It’s a sign the campus is warm.

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The work we do with kids at NMH is going to change the world.

NORTHFIELD MOUNT HERMON’s head-elect is PETER B. FAYROIAN—a leader in independent schools across the country, not to mention an English teacher, outdoor educator, tennis player, and new father. On July 1, his new job begins, and so does a new era at NMH. PHOTOGRAPHS BY KATHLEEN DOOHER AND MYRA KLARMAN

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What attracted you to NMH? The mission: head, heart, and hand. If, upon arriving on campus, I had found this to be merely catchy and not a commitment, I wouldn’t have pursued this opportunity. I was also attracted to the size— large enough to provide a breadth of opportunities and resources for students but not so huge that you lose track of kids. I was also intrigued by NMH’s focused approach to academics, its history of social justice, the work program, and the resources it puts into the arts and athletics.

What are your impressions of the school so far? As much as I love the school’s remarkable setting, it is my encounters with the people of NMH that are resonating. I am finding that this isn’t just a place to work or go to school or get a diploma; there’s a passion for this experience. I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve received letters and calls from nearly a hundred alums from around the country and the world. They’re saying, “Welcome. Love that place. Here’s my story.”

When you begin work on July 1, what will your approach be? What will you do first? Any work I do has to come from a place of understanding and appreciation for what goes on at NMH. The first year is less about making big changes and more about learning and growing with the community.

I’m going to get to as many people as I can possibly get to, hear their stories, understand their history with the school. From there, I’ll be able to help.

What do you see as the key components, or priorities, of NMH’s next chapter? After undergoing so much necessary change in its recent history, NMH now has firm footing from which to communicate its strengths to the world. I think it says so much that the school has been able to embrace change and reinvent itself without losing its focus and commitment to its mission. This is a great opportunity for NMH to dedicate its resources to upcoming building projects and to

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strengthen the programs that historically have made the school unique.

One of the changes NMH has undergone is the sale of the Northfield campus, which came as an unwelcome decision for some in the school community. How will you address their concerns? For many people, this change meant loss. We should not underestimate that. And it’s not just about losing the Northfield campus; it’s about losing a part of themselves. I went to a huge public high school and the building was razed. I’m not particularly fond of my high school experience, and I don’t have any allegiance to it, but I still get a little wistful when I drive by and I see that my old school isn’t there. And I didn’t have onethousandth of the love for my school that Northfield folks do. So I will try to understand their passion and what made that campus in particular so special to them. Once I get that, then I can invite them into a discussion about how NMH on one campus in 2012 still has everything that they loved about NMH on two campuses 10 or 20 years ago, or 50 years ago, when the schools were separate.

How would you describe your leadership style? A school is best served when it takes advantage of a leader’s strengths and passions, and finds other people or other ways to take care of the other stuff. In a nutshell, I let people do their jobs, provide them the resources to do them well, and trust

them, with the understanding that this must all happen within an agreed-upon rubric of accountability.

If NMH will be best served by taking advantage of your strengths and passions, what are they? I like working with people. I like conflict. I know that sounds crazy, but it doesn’t mean I instill conflict; it means I enjoy solving problems and working with people to figure out the best way to do something. I love the energy of a lot of people, a lot of great minds, of getting together and orchestrating it so that those people can do their best. I’m able to get a lot out of people because I respect what they bring to the table.

What is your most important qualification for this job? I love kids. In high school, they’re still kids; I don’t mistake them for college students. At the same time, I never underestimate what they’re capable of doing. It sounds like a cliché, but they truly are our future as a society and civilization, so the work that we do with kids on the NMH campus is going to change the world. That is my passion.

How will you balance the responsibilities of a modern-day head of school: being an integral part of a campus community and also traveling off campus, sometimes far and wide, to meet with other members of the school community? That balance is exactly what I look forward to. I expect my time with students and teachers while on campus to be meaningful, and the time I spend away from campus equally meaningful to the greater NMH community. The senior administrative team at NMH is very strong, and I know they will be a tremendous support in this effort.

Describe your family background. I was raised in an Armenian home outside Detroit; I’m the youngest of five

I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve received letters and calls from nearly a hundred alums from around the country and the world. They’re saying, ‘Welcome.

Love that place.

Here’s my story.’

and the only boy. Needless to say, I got used to being the center of attention, for better or for worse. But my sisters are a lot older than I am, so I was, for the most part, an only child, arguably even feral at times.

My father was a graphic artist—a lithographer—and my mother worked odd jobs, mostly in retail, and they were strongly supportive of all my interests.

They were lovers of music, and my sisters became really accomplished musicians; I grew up in diapers listening to them play.

My three oldest sisters are a year apart, and they formed a trio and they traveled around the country and got a lot of press. There was always some article in the newspaper that mentioned the three sisters and then the fourth sister, who also played music, and then—I remember this particular quote: “And there’s Peter, 6. He plays football.”

What kind of kid were you in high school? I went to high school in a massive factory that did its best to maintain control over nearly 4,000 kids. It’s probably no coincidence, given what I do now, that I was the president of my class and president of the student council. I navigated, I think deftly, the different cultures of the school. I was a good student, a decent athlete, concertmaster of the orchestra. I think I ended up being someone people trusted.

Fayroian with his wife, Rachael Waring Fayroian, and their daughter, Sofia, who was born in February.

How did that experience lead you toward becoming an educator? I liked learning and my teachers, and for that reason, I was pretty much left alone, unfortunately.

I could have used some guidance. Even then, I knew there was something I was missing. I remember sitting in my AP history class with 40 other students while the teacher read the paper, and I was thinking: There HAS to be a better way.

At 24, when I took my first job in an independent school, I understood what that was. I got it right away.

What does a great teacher look like?

That’s easy. A great teacher makes every kid in his or her classroom feel valued, and feel like she or he has something important to bring to the table. A great teacher gets kids to places they are able to reach, understanding that there are different ways to get there. It’s about lighting fires, not filling pails.

What do you consider the biggest challenges in secondary education today? So much more is asked of secondary schools these days as we prepare young people for a highly competitive world. Our students must be technologically savvy, able to navigate territory that most schools are just beginning to understand. American colleges are no longer just bigger prep schools; they are international marketplaces. And knowledge is no longer held in the hands of a few, passed on by teachers who themselves learned how to impart

SEARCH PROCESS The NMH Board of Trustees appointed Peter Fayroian head of school last December, following a seven-month, nationwide search.

“We sought a proven leader whose educational vision would resonate with the deepest meaning of NMH’s heritage and mission,” says outgoing board chair Mark Chardack ’73.

The Head Search Committee, led by Bill Shea ’72, managed the process and involved the entire NMH community. Faculty, staff, students, parents, and alumni were invited to meet each of the final candidates and provide feedback. The Parents Council and the Head Search Advisory Committee supplied invaluable guidance.

HEAD OF SCHOOL SEARCH COMMITTEE SETH ALVORD ’89, trustee CLAUDE ANDERSON P ’11, dean of enrollment JOHN BERG ’80, trustee MARK CHARDACK ’73, board chair MARGARET CLARK P ’11, trustee VICKY JENKINS, faculty KRISTIN KELLOM ’80, director of donor relations JEFF NEILL ’97, faculty LIZ HALL OLSZEWSKI ’87, former trustee BILL SHEA ’72, trustee and search committee chair HEAD SEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAULA CARR ’77, P ’13, investment and finance administrator BETSY COMPTON ’72, trustee GRANT GONZALEZ, faculty MARY HEFNER P ’06, ’09, ’11, faculty WILSON JOSEPHSON ’12 RICH MESSER P ’06, ’13, director of dining services A’DORIAN MURRAY-THOMAS ’12 JOHN & CARMELINA TONKINSON P ’12, ’14 JOAN VANDER VLIET ’48

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It says so much that NMH has been able to embrace change and reinvent itself without losing its focus and commitment to its mission.

STUDENT

Q+A

it from their own teachers. Knowledge is now a shared experience, and it’s incumbent upon our schools to teach young people how to acquire it and collaborate in the process.

the world now, not just the Northeast, not just the U.S. How can we take advantage of kids being accepted into college earlier to shift some of our priorities in order to help them better prepare for a global world? If, for some kids, their high school career is ostensibly completed by the end of the fall, then maybe we can provide them with a different kind of educational experience before they go off to college.

What is different for high school students today? What are we gaining and what price do we pay? So much happens earlier. Going to college used to be something aspirational, not for everyone. Even when I started teaching 25 years ago, kids didn’t apply to college until they were well into their last year of high school, if not toward the end. Now it’s not unusual for them to already be accepted to a college in November. That has to affect our high schools. But since there’s nothing we can do about it, I’d rather think of it in terms of opportunities.

One thing we can think about is how to make the senior year look a little different. We’re preparing kids for

How does experiential education prepare teenagers to navigate life after high school? When I first started as an experiential educator, it was mostly about outdoor education, environmental education. Now it’s about kids taking an active role in their learning as opposed to just sitting passively in their seats and getting barraged with information that they need to memorize and repeat. Both approaches are about getting kids out of their comfort zone. Whether it’s on a river, in the woods, or in an unfamiliar city, they’re experiencing disequilibrium, and they need to depend upon each other and themselves. The playing field becomes absolutely level. It doesn’t matter where

If happiness were the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? and other questions.

In between shaking many hands and meeting dozens of NMH community members when he visited campus, Peter Fayroian gave interviews to two student publications, The Bridge and The Hermonite. Among the reporters’ questions: 1 Assume for a moment that you’re leading a group of students on a week-long canoe trip near the Canadian border. Your party pulls to the side of the river to cook dinner, but as you are unloading the canoes, there is a flash flood. The canoes and camping supplies are lost. You have no map, no food. It will be dark in a few hours.

What is your course of action? 2 If happiness were the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? 3 What is the best way to get pepper spray off your skin? 4 A great philosopher once said, “Do or do not. There is no try.” Do you agree?

5 Where is the safest place to stand outside in a thunderstorm? 6 What’s something you do differently than most people?

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you’re from or what you’ve brought to the table. Kids find out things about themselves that they wouldn’t otherwise. Ultimately, it’s about taking risks and solving problems with other people, and learning what kind of roles you take in that process.

Leading a boarding school is a lifestyle as much as it is a job. Why do you want this lifestyle?

I want for my family the kind of life I saw young families living on my previous boarding school campuses. I can’t think of a better place for a young child than a boarding school campus, surrounded by a diverse group of thoughtful, intelligent, and compassionate people. Some accuse boarding schools of not being the real world; I think it’s the ideal world. And I like being able to eat as much as I want in the dining hall.

Where did you and your wife, Rachael, meet? What do you admire about her? We met at Zingerman’s, perhaps the best and most famous deli outside of New York City. Rachael is the most positive and grounded person I know. No matter how engaged she gets in her work, no matter what hand she’s been dealt, she goes right to what really matters: taking care of each other and others.

What kind of father do you think you’ll be? I joke with Rachael that we’ll be lucky if our kids make it to high school with all their fingers, because I am apt to say, “I don’t think you should, but go ahead and see what happens when you stick your hand in there.” I’ll let you know how that works out in a few years.

If you were a student at NMH, what work job would you be attracted to, and why? If there were a student award for Most in Need of a Shower, I’d win it. I’d spend as much time as possible in the barn and gardens on the farm.

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Flipping

the Classroom

BY KATE SNYDER

PHOTOGRAPHS BY GLENN MINSHALL AND SHARON LINDALE

Online video lessons in dorm rooms, homework problems in class—a new teaching method is beginning to change math education. Is it working?

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fig. 1 fig. 2

fig. 3

Dick Peller’s BC Calculus students file into the classroom carrying heavy-looking bags. They find their seats and pull out their books, settling in. To an observer, this looks like an ordinary math class. It’s not. fig. 1 NMH math teachers record video lessons on tablet computers, or assign instructional videos created by online schools.

fig. 2 Students watch and listen to the videos on electronic devices such as computers, tablets, or smartphones.

fig. 3 In class, students work together on “homework” problems—and consult with their teachers.

The students in this class are on the crest of a pedagogical movement called the “flipped classroom,” in which technology becomes an integral part of the teaching process, and the role of teachers is transformed from lecturer to learning coach. Here’s how it works: Students watch videos of lectures at home or in their dorms before class, and solve and discuss homework-type problems in class—rather then listening to a lecture during class and practicing problems for homework. By blending cutting-edge and traditional teaching methods, the teachers are providing students with a nimble learning environment in which person-to-person interaction—between teacher and student, among students—dramatically increases.

The NMH math department is in its second year of experimenting with this movement. A handful of teachers, including department chair Dick Peller, record videos that explain mathematical concepts for students to watch, or they ask students to watch videos on the Khan Academy website, which is essentially a library of math and science lessons. (Salman Khan, a former hedge-fund manager, started the site after video clips he recorded to tutor his cousins went viral on YouTube.) Students also are encouraged to visit websites like www. openstudy.com—virtual study groups where learners ask questions and post answers for one another.

Math teacher Taylor Russell ’06 says that when students prepare for class by watching a video lecture and spend class time working through problems, he has more time to talk with individual students and to foster both interaction among students and student-initiated learning.

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Many students appreciate the flip.

“Incorporating technology comes naturally to us,” says Steven Liu ’14, a student in Peller’s BC Calculus class. “When we combine it with what we do in class, we can cling to it; it’s more visceral.

Digging through the textbook and listening to the teacher is not effective for everyone. This way, we learn in our own way. It’s innovative.”

“The kids in my class were staying overtime to do their ‘homework,’” says Russell, who teaches Honors Algebra and Precalculus. “I had to kick them out at the end of class. I like that. It shows me they’re more engaged and not rushing out the door.”

Russell and other teachers in the math department describe their approach as the “blended classroom,” because they alternate between flipped and traditional

lem,” she says. “There’s a lot of practicing.”

Proponents of the flipped method assert that this freedom for students to grasp an idea quickly the first time, or to repeat lessons as needed so a new idea becomes ingrained, leads to a fuller comprehension of the material. Khan’s data show that by allowing students to progress at their own pace, the pupils who are slow to learn an idea eventually catch up and perform at the same level as the students who understand quickly. In essence, each student learns how to learn.

But all that exposure to a single idea isn’t for everyone. “Sometimes it’s a bit repetitive,” says Caitlin Ramsey ’12. “Sometimes it’s helpful to see it in a different way. But sometimes you tune it out.”

The method doesn’t suit every teacher, either. Math teacher Mark Yates

experimented with the method for two weeks, but found that only supermotivated students persisted when the video presented a concept they didn’t understand or a question arose.

His colleague John Christiansen uses the method for math classes and for coaching baseball and football, and says its potential in sports is “huge.”

But as a dorm parent, he has observed plenty of kids “watching” Khan math videos while also emailing or instant messaging. “They know the teacher would help them catch up in class,” he says.

Yates also found that the flipped method lacked a mechanism to help a particular student whose academicsupport needs were great—and to reassure the student’s parent, who was skeptical.

This parent “had made an investment in the school for its great teaching,” Yates says. She felt the video learning was depriving her child of it.

Russell’s experience says otherwise.

With the flipped method, “I’m free to do a lot more one-on-one,” he says.

Even though teachers are using technology to convey ideas, according to Sal Khan of the Khan Academy, what’s happening—perhaps counterintuitively— is that their freedom to spend more class time interacting with students is humanizing education.

Dean of Faculty Hugh Silbaugh, who teaches English, isn’t using the flippedclassroom method, but he and other NMH humanities teachers are experimenting with different technologies. For example, Silbaugh uses an iPad application called Explain Everything to grade his students’ papers; instead of minuscule notes in a margin, students receive a fourminute video of Silbaugh evaluating their work. They get thorough feedback on a platform they relate to, he says.

Technology also “gives kids a sense of agency in their own learning,” he says.

“They learn the material, they collaborate, they stretch.”

NMH is among many independent schools investing in new technologies in the classroom. The Eight Schools Association, a boarding school group of which NMH is a member, is planning a summer conference on the subject, and NMH is devoting professional development time to hosting and participating in classroom-technology online seminars. “We’re right on this,” Silbaugh says. “We’re working hard to create a buzz among the faculty.” It is helpful that Peller has taken a lead by introducing the flipped-classroom method at NMH. “To see a veteran teacher who’s got a long track record embrace a new possibility and reinvent himself as a teacher is astounding,” Silbaugh says.

Back in Peller’s BC Calculus classroom, the students are getting coached on how to prepare for a test at the end of the week. Peller’s whiteboard notes say: • Read the book, especially the examples • Go over homework, redo problems • Read your journal • Review class notes • Watch Khan videos • Work in a study group • Use www.openstudy.com Peller finds the mix of high-tech learning and old-fashioned hitting the books inspiring. “Technology is what kids are living with, and they’re receptive to it,” he says. “I know what it’s like to listen to a lecture and feel your eyes glaze over.” It’s important, he says, paraphrasing a quotation he recently read, to “be bold and discard what’s no longer appropriate.”

Yes, says Silbaugh—but learning how to think differently about technology and education takes getting used to. “I’m such a traditional paper-and-text guy,” he says. “It’s challenging. [Pause.] And it’s liberating.” [NMH]

Even though teachers are using technology to convey ideas, what’s happening—perhaps counterintuitively—is that their freedom to spend more time during class interacting with students is humanizing education.

teaching methods, depending on the material. Russell says he uses the flipped method about a quarter of the time.

Alison Kennedy ’12, a postgraduate in Peller’s class, says that students can be exposed to ideas multiple times: in a Khan or Peller video, in the problem-solving work done in class, in a subsequent viewing of the video, and in examples explained by the teacher. “You can also ask [students at] your table to go over a difficult prob-

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INTERVIEWS BY Jennifer Sutton PHOTOGRAPHS BY Edward Judice

There are teachers who inspire students, challenge them, help them do great things at NMH and in the world. And there are students who return the favor. spring/summer 2012 I 21

At NMH, faculty and students live, learn, and work in close proximity.

Mentoring happens naturally.

Whether a teacher’s guidance is obvious or subtle, it helps form the foundation of an NMH education— and that can last a lifetime.

JAMES GREENWOOD Director of Multicultural Education History and Social Science teacher

SPENCER RUSSELL ’08 Amherst College ’12

SPENCER: We met in the dorm my senior year, which was James’s first year at NMH. My first impression was: That’s a well-dressed man. Bright pink tie and some kind of sweater vest. Later, I couldn’t find my roommate one night, and it was maybe 11:30 and he was supposed to be in the room.

I checked all over the dorm.

Then I figured I’d check James’s apartment. And my roommate was in there, working on his college essay, watching the Lakers game. That was when I realized I could come in and hang out, watch TV, eat some good food. So I did, all the time. It was very homelike, and James was there to talk with. It was nice to feel a little bit like you were away from the dorm, away from school.

JAMES: Since Spencer is the youngest of four, with two older brothers, I think that was also something he was looking

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for. And I have a younger brother, so that kind of connection is important to me, too. The relationship I have with Spencer is something that I wanted when I was Spencer’s age and didn’t have. So I knew I wanted to go into education.

I thought I had a skill for identifying potential and encouraging it, particularly helping young men of color be successful and stay positive. I do feel that same sense of pride that parents get. But Spencer once introduced me to someone and said I was “like a father,” and my first thought was, “I’m not that old. How about an older brother?”

SPENCER: I’ve gotten a lot of support from James that’s been consistent over the last five years, both during my last year at NMH and since then at Amherst—academically, socially, and then also professional advice, how to move

things forward, helping to figure out what I’m doing after I graduate. Last year, James helped me look at internships for the summer, which is how I ended up working at NMH. JAMES: He was a summer school intern, and he lived in the dorm with middle schoolers, the youngest kids here for the summer. Just watching the amount of attention and thought and effort that Spencer put into their care, as well as his lesson planning for class, it was evident that he was really trying to do a good job and trying to impart wisdom

and be a good role model for the students.

What always struck me was how compassionate Spencer is.

When he was at NMH, there was a student in school who had a lot of difficulties, and he could be challenging for faculty, and for other students to live with. But Spencer was always reaching out to him and defending him and he genuinely seemed to enjoy this kid.

Spencer tended to gravitate toward students who had a little more social difficulty, who were the underdogs, and he would make it kind of a mission to build them up.

MEG DONNELLY English teacher Tennis coach

KYRA WHITE ’12 Enters St. Lawrence University in fall 2012 MEG: I met Kyra in Humanities I, so I was her freshman English teacher. It wasn’t pretty.

KYRA: I’ve come a long way since then in terms of learning, but back then maybe I took my frustrations out the wrong way. I had never had a teacher before who pushed me to find an answer because they knew I was capable of doing it. I wasn’t used to a teacher who was so intuitive and who made the experience of learning so personal. It was a little overwhelming.

MEG: I knew I wasn’t seeing Kyra for who she really was, but I couldn’t get there because she wasn’t passing the

vocabulary quizzes. She’s deeply reflective, yet she was feeling more and more diminished in class. There were tears involved.

I remember thinking, “She hates me.” I don’t usually have students who hate me, but that’s how it felt. A year and a half later, I saw Kyra’s name on the list for the New Zealand study-abroad trip, and I thought, “Does she know that I’m leading the trip?”

KYRA: I’d wanted to go to New Zealand since the beginning of freshman year. We learned about the country for three weeks at school and then we went there and actually saw what we had been studying. It was really powerful to be learning so much all the time and not be in a classroom. Meg was still asking all these questions, but it was easy to think about them in that kind of setting.

We did a lot of journaling in

New Zealand and everything was so inspiring to write about.

MEG: In New Zealand, Kyra became a student in a way I hadn’t been able to see before.

She just blossomed. She knew every vocabulary word that had anything to do with the Maori.

She was determined to know the language, every detail.

She could correct anybody on pronunciation. It’s important to Kyra to be respectful of other people and cultures; she’s really sensitive to insensitivity.

And she did not want to get it wrong in New Zealand. She became a tiger about getting it right.

KYRA: One of the things I learned from Meg is to make connections, like between two different books, or between a book and something happening in real life. Throughout the whole trip to New Zealand, we

thought about the connections between the different people we met and the places we visited and the emotions we felt.

MEG: I’ve always been a believer in experiential education, but I’ve never seen a more dramatic example of its effects than through Kyra. She taught me to remember that all of my students have talents besides English. I just need to find out what those talents are, honor them, and then slip in some English.

KYRA: I think Meg is courageous as an educator because of the things she’s not afraid to ask her students. She sacrifices her own feelings in order to help a student understand something, and she does that knowing that not every student is going to accept it positively. She is always determined to give students the opportunity to thrive.

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YVONNE-MARIE SAIN ’02 Cornell ’06 Performer with Dana Foglia Dance and Broadway Underground Dance teacher in New York and Connecticut

GRETEL SCHATZ Dance Program Director

GRETEL: I really admired Yvonne’s tenacity, because she auditioned [for dance company] and didn’t get in, but she kept working, she took feedback, and she was positive and funny and spunky about it.

I love my students who just want to give dance a try, but Yvonne was driven. Once she got into dance company, she stayed.

And she lived next door to the dance studio on the Northfield campus, so there was this really natural way of bumping into her. I think our personalities are similar, too—we’d just rather be in the dance studio.

of here, you can be a dancer.” Then I thought, “There’s hope for me. I can do something I love.”

YVONNE: Dancing was what got me through the day sometimes. I had always thought that if you wanted to be a dancer, you had to drop out of school and study ballet six hours a day—until Gretel told me, “You can dance for the rest of your life. As soon as you get out

YVONNE: It was hard, mentally—going to a different place, a different aesthetic, and learning all these different things and thinking, “This is weird.” Gretel made me understand that you should try to learn everything.

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GRETEL: So much of my work is about getting rid of the prima donna posturing. Having this attitude about being the best dancer is not going to make you a good dancer. It’s about learning from others rather than wanting to have the best pirouette. We need to look to each other and see what we can learn, and Yvonne jumped right into that right away. There was never any junk.

GRETEL: Ballet is important; it’s like learning grammar. But once you know your grammar, you can write in all different styles.

YVONNE: I remember feeling drawn to Gretel because I wanted to be like her. It sounds crazy, right? But I loved the way she was creative, and I felt like we were making fun stuff, even though sometimes it was dark and sometimes it was confusing. It was cool. Gretel pushed us like that. I can’t tell you how many things I tell my students, word for word, that I remember Gretel telling me 12 years ago, about discipline and work ethic—learning what worked for me and holding onto that and making sure I give those same things back to my students.

DAVID DOWDY English teacher Catholic confirmation teacher

RYAN KELLY ’12 Enters Duke University in fall 2012 RYAN: Back home, I didn’t go to church every Sunday. I went when my dad thought it would be good to go, maybe one or two Sundays a month. When I got to NMH, the friends I was hanging around with were Catholic and they got me to go, and once I started going, I remembered how much my faith meant to me.

DAVID: It was Ryan’s second year, in confirmation class, that we really got to know each other.

It was a yearlong class. We met for 90 minutes, two nights a

week, and we’re talking about very big matters in a very personal way. When Ryan’s mother fell ill, of course we needed to talk then.

RYAN: Without Mr. Dowdy’s help, I wouldn’t have been able to hold onto my faith as strongly as I did. He always kept me positive and showed me what my faith could do for me. He lost his daughter a while back, and to see someone who’s relying on his faith to get through a death in the family was inspirational. It showed me that I could do it, too.

DAVID: What was impressive was that Ryan didn’t turn tail and run. His mother is dying and

then she dies, and most people his age that I’ve known would just say, “To hell with it all.

There is no God. There is no meaning in life.” What I saw in Ryan was: “I don’t understand it, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to throw everything away.” This is really rare.

The other thing was that Ryan was willing to be open with me, instead of just playing the tough guy. I’ve had students who’ve experienced serious events, disasters, and they just tough it out; their way of dealing is they don’t talk. Ryan was willing to talk.

He allowed himself to be honest and vulnerable, but he also was determined.

RYAN: I felt weak inside and all that, but I knew that I had to keep pushing. My mother would have wanted me to keep going in school and do as well as I can and not let this hinder my education and my progression in life.

DAVID: Ryan thinks I was inspiring him. In fact, he was inspiring me. I keep an eye on him.

And he got me involved with volleyball last year because he and a bunch of his buddies joined the team. I don’t think I had ever been to a boys’ volleyball game, but I went to three of them last year. It was kind of a record for me.

spring/summer 2012 I 25

 T ESSA GOBBO ’09 Brown University ’13

 V ICKY JENKINS Math teacher Crew coach

 H ARRIET BOOTH ’09 Brown University ’13

26 I NMH Magazine

Who was your mentor at NMH? Let us know who had an influence on you. Email us at nmhmagazine@nmhschool.org.

TESSA: I decided to row because I was tall and people said I should row.

That was it. I knew nothing about it except for that scene in Dead Poets Society where they row for two seconds. But it became really important to me right away; it’s the ultimate competitive sport. And ever since then, Vicky has had to deal with me. I figured out where her office was and when her duty hours were and she never kicked me out.

VICKY: These girls are very good friends, total opposites, and I had to learn how to communicate with each of them. With Tessa, it’s getting her to settle down and listen. She’s a bundle of really wonderful energy, optimistic, hypercompetitive, always wanting to do stuff. And Harriet has a work ethic that says, “That is where I want to be and dammit, I’m going to get there”—that was absolutely her strength.

But she doesn’t deal with frustration easily.

HARRIET: Vicky kept me sane when I was freaking out with stress freshman year—there was a ton of work and you don’t really know what’s going on. Vicky is someone you can always talk to, and we basically followed her around. I was in one of her math classes, so I’d ask her homework questions, and there was always crew stuff to talk about. She was just fun to hang out with.

TESSA: I learned a lot of people skills from observing Vicky.

She has a way of respecting everybody, even when they’re not on the same page as her. It’s a valuable thing to know about people—that they always have something to offer.

VICKY: My whole thing is turning kids on to sports, to help them believe in themselves, to know that they can obtain goals they thought were unobtainable. But with kids, you often don’t know how far you can push them until you’ve pushed them too far. If you’ve got a kid who is just getting excited about sports and you put them through a practice that kills them, they might get scared and say, “I’m not coming back.”

Tessa and Harriet would say, “No, we can do harder workouts.” Or “You can expect more of us.” Or “Let’s do this instead of that.” They didn’t realize they were leaders, but they were communicating with me in a way that allowed the team to keep working at higher and higher levels. They also demonstrated that you can do this really hard work, but you can also laugh and bring other kids along because you’re having fun.

You come to school every day with these kids but it’s not until later, when you see where they go and what fabulous people they are turning into, that you realize: Some of my strokes helped put that painting together. [NMH] spring/summer 2012 I 27

In an NMH class, a young man discovers the Middle East, and a journey begins.

STORY AND PHOTOS

BY MATT TREVITHICK ’04

1

The ROAD to

2

Afghanistan

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3

I

1. C hildren fishing off an abandoned Russian tank in Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan 2. The author in Panjshir Valley 3. Beirut, Lebanon 4. Damascus, Syria

AK-47s in hand, they step out onto the street and nod approvingly at the approaching SUV, scanning the rest of the road for anything out of place. They come back inside, shutting the gates quickly behind an old Toyota Land Cruiser. Another radio-toting guard in the front passenger seat steps out. Smiling, he opens the door for me. “How are you doing today?” he asks in Farsi. “Ready to go to work?”

I shake the hands of the first two guards, who reopen the gates and step back out onto the street, covering our exit. “Yup, let’s get to work,” I answer in Farsi, and my escort gets on his radio and

backed Taliban, ideological conflict has decimated an entire generation of Afghan men and women and created a country stuck in a perpetual crisis.

I am on the front lines of this war of ideas, armed with the conviction that what’s happening at this university will produce an informed and educated generation of Afghans who will go on to shape the future of their country for the better.

The ideas promoted in classrooms here are as simple as they are powerful: equality, tolerance, fairness, transparency. They are the opposite of the dark, dogmatic ideology promoted by the Taliban.

Afghanistan’s war of ideas follows me everywhere I go here, even on my commute to work. Along the dusty streets are wizened women covered head to toe in dark blue burqas, pushing their way through the legion of Afghan schoolgirls, who laugh and run on their way to classes, white headscarves waving. There

t’s 6:30 am, and I’m in my driveway watching the sun come up over the Hindu Kush, the staggering peaks that surround Kabul. It’s a teeming city of some 5 million people who, by the sound of it, have already been up for hours preparing their shops or commuting to their jobs. I hear the two-way radio in the guard hut go off and watch my two bodyguards open the heavy metal doors to our house. tells the operator that call sign “Bravo25” is en route from Tango Three (his house) to Tango Nine (his work). The driver steps on the gas.

Thus begins my daily commute to the American University of Afghanistan, where I work in the president’s office as a communications officer. With its Western liberal arts curriculum and 900 male and female Afghan students, the university is the most daring initiative in a nation whose soul has been ripped to shreds by a continuous war of ideas. From the Soviet war and withdrawal in the 1980s, to the warring fiefdoms of the mujahideen in the early 1990s, to the rise of the Pakistani-

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spring/summer 2012 I 29

6

7

5

5. The ancient city of Petra, Jordan 6. Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Esfahan, Iran 7. Qom, Iran

I WAS A SOPHOMORE AT NMH when are young women who have adopted the Saudi-style niqab, a jet-black ensemble that hides the entire body except for a small slit for the eyes, contrasting with other women who have chosen blue jeans and brightly colored hijabs that sit loosely on their heads, showing some hair. The same contrast applies to men as well, though in this uber-patriarchal society, they routinely switch back and forth between traditional dress and form-fitting T-shirts and jeans so tight that even the disco-going men of the 1970s would wonder how they do it.

Along with these subtle signs of competing influence are more obvious ones, such as when my car quickly pulls over to the side of the road to allow a column of American Humvees and MRAPs (MineResistant Ambush Protected vehicles) to barrel past, soldiers swiveling their turrets to examine each car that gets too close or doesn’t get out of the way fast enough.

This is the force behind the Western dream of instilling law and order in a poor, remote country in Central Asia. My car resumes its journey, passing locations marred by suicide-bomb attacks, including one in October 2011 that killed 13 American soldiers next to my office.

30 I NMH Magazine

NATO invaded Afghanistan and a junior when the United States invaded Iraq.

These events dominated the news and would come to dominate my life, but even as a high school student, I was developing an awareness of the broader world.

At NMH, this happens when your best friend is from Hong Kong and you are learning the Korean word for “lighter” so that you can talk, even when faculty are nearby, about stealing off campus with your Asian friends to smoke a cigarette.

It also happens in classes, like the one I took my senior year with Dick Schwingel and Ted Thornton that led me to focus on Near East studies and Arabic in college.

We were asked to survey the international news media before each class to prepare for the day’s discussions, which ranged from Afghanistan to Iraq to religions of the Middle East. There we were, tackling the major problems of the day—and occasionally proposing interesting, if not naively creative, solutions.

After graduating from Boston University, I set out to explore this region of the world whose modern history I had been studying and reading about for years. The region’s complexity was immediately apparent, even during the short car ride from Beirut’s airport into the city proper. I passed a dazzling array of churches, mosques, Roman ruins, and the

world’s top-ranked nightclub (in 2008), all set against a stunning Mediterranean backdrop.

Arguing with the border guards got me into Syria, where I roamed the ancient bazaars and mosques of Damascus; met friendly, conspicuous “secret” police outside my hotel; and befriended an Internet café owner who, when no one was looking, helped me get around the government block on social networking sites. A rickety bus took me from Syria to Jordan, where I hiked up the mountain that looks out over Wadi Musa, the valley where Moses struck water from the rock. A short car ride took me into the West Bank and Israel, where I merged with thousands of others in the Old City of Jerusalem, standing within 100 meters of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Western Wall, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

When I returned to the U.S., I accepted a job at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies; then I went to work at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars as a research assistant for Middle East expert, journalist, and best-selling author Robin Wright. But I was eager to escape the D.C. swamp and return to the Middle East, so I worked for a year at the American University of Iraq, modeled on the 150-year-old American University of Beirut. I spent my free time discussing

8

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8. H azarajat, Afghanistan: the site of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, after the Taliban destroyed them in 2001 9. Kabul at night 10. Kabul

issues of the day in Arabic with students from Baghdad and across the country, visiting former Saddam Hussein torture centers, traveling around the country whenever possible—and visiting the nearby Iranian consulate. My application for tourism to Iran was eventually accepted after dozens of rejections, though only after I had moved to Afghanistan.

That was one of my strangest trips: flying from Afghanistan to Iraq to pick up my visa to travel to Iran. A day later, I was the only foreigner in an underground club in Tehran, mixing with the agitated Iranian youth a year after a brutal crackdown had maimed and killed their friends.

I was admiring Safavid gardens and architecture in Esfahan, reading Cyrus the Great’s cylinder containing the first codified set of human rights at the national museum in Tehran, and getting scowled at by imams in the holy city of Qom, the birthplace of Iran’s modern, fiery Shiism.

Returning to Afghanistan, I traveled to the farthest reaches of the old Persian Empire, standing on the remains of the enormous Buddhas of Bamiyan, which were abruptly declared un-Islamic by the Taliban in the summer of 2001 and reduced to rubble after more than 1,300 years in the careful custody of Islamic rulers.

10

BACK IN KABUL, my car turns the last corner on the way to work, past the butcher slaughtering and skinning sheep and the cheerful storekeeper who insists on directing me to his supply of Head and Shoulders shampoo when I enter his shop.

At the university’s front gate, I endure a quick bag check and swipe my ID across a badge-reader, and then I’m on campus, watching the sun, now 20 minutes higher in the sky, firmly crown the awe-inspiring Hindu Kush. As I walk to my office, I pass buildings that appear to belong on a 1960s American high-school campus, because before the Soviets invaded and before the Taliban swept across a country mired in devastating anarchy, that’s what this was. Boys with ideas of their own, like Zalmay Khalilzad, who would go on to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Afghanistan, and Iraq, went to school here. By the 1980s, the school had closed, and the space was used to promote a different ideology; my office

sits in a building that the Soviets built and used as an intelligence center.

Now, from my office window, I can look out over the university grounds and see Afghan students studying business, computer science, and political science in four modest buildings renovated by funds from the U.S. government and generous Afghan businessmen. The university is about to hold its second commencement, which will bolster the ranks of Afghan men and women who are committed to bringing peace and prosperity to their country and who are the voices of moderation in a country plagued by extremism.

Discere et Vivere. Learn and Live. The old Latin words from the NMH school seal deliver what appears at first glance to be a gentle recommendation. Read another way, those three often-overlooked words present a demanding ultimatum, telling us that the only way to Learn is by Living, and the only way to Live is by Learning. I have just begun. [NMH]

spring/summer 2012 I 31

<< BY JOHNNY MEND

OZA ’12

! l a o g

Risley Sports Photography

F

or you to understand how far I have come to be at NMH, it is important to tell you about my FAMILY in California.

My dad, Miguel, attended school until ninth grade and then decided to go work in the fields to help his dad support his family. My mom, Maria, attended school until fourth grade. She lost her father, so she and her siblings had to work to support each other.

Nothing was ever handed to me as a kid without me having to work for it. My mom set a great example for us by going back to school to earn her G.E.D. She is Mendoza (second from now a staff member at the elementary school that my brothers and I attended. My players from Senegal, Korea, right) and family New Zealand, Canada, dad works at a sawmill and is always working overtime to make sure we have food at his brother's on the table, clothes on our backs, and plane tickets to get home. One important Venezuela, California, graduation. lesson he taught me was the difference between needs and wants—necesidades y Michigan, Colorado, quere. Like all kids, I wanted a lot of stuff that my family could not afford. My dad Vermont, Gill (Massachusetts), and even would say, “Dime mijo, quieres esto o lo necesitas?” “Tell me, son, do you need this or Mexico. In my first season, I realized how do you want it?” important team chemistry and commitment Even though my parents have little formal education, they both realized it was to one another were for reaching our potenessential if their kids were to move forward. They made me work hard in school. I tial. We were players with different backcould never miss a day, even if I was sick. I never fully understood why my parents grounds and abilities who learned to play wanted me to get a good education until I got to NMH. for each other. In my second year at NMH, One of the reasons I didn’t understand was because I lived in one of the poorest we built on the lessons we had learned counties in California, with some of the worst schools. Too many kids in my comand powered our way to a New England munity join gangs and sell drugs or get pregnant. Far too many kids drop out of Championship! school to work in the fields to support their families.

A painful lesson also occurred during and In my public high school in Porterville, California, the typical class size was 30 after that championship season. I lost four kids or more. There were few class discussions or research-paper assignments, and teammates—people I considered to be my no PowerPoint presentations or class debates. If you wanted to disapbrothers at NMH—to pear into the back of the classroom, the teacher didn’t care. Kids didn’t my parents various discipline issues. learn how to challenge themselves. Everyone assumed there was no way made me believe Given the life of poverty I out of the community. They thought that living in Porterville was the had come from, it was hard in myself, and only thing that there was in the world. It was no wonder that drugs, for me to understand why fights, and gangs were an everyday part of life. they pushed me along anyone would put their I am lucky to have a strong, loving family that made sure I did not education in jeopardy with in a JOURNEY they take the wrong path, and I am also fortunate to have soccer be part careless decisions. both wished they of my life. I have been playing soccer since I was 4, and it became my Now, as I look back at opportunity to get out of Porterville. how the opportunity to could have taken.

Four years ago, a coach in our community started a club soccer team attend NMH has changed to help local players get recruited by colleges. One day, the Amherst College coach my life, I am almost speechless. I was fortusaw us play and asked us if we had considered attending a private boarding school nate that my hard work on the soccer field in the East. To be honest, I didn’t even know that these schools existed. I also wasn’t created an opportunity for me to grow in sure that a Latino kid from the fields of California could survive at a private school. the classroom. I am blessed to have found a Leaving my family was the hardest part of my journey to NMH. I did not want community that values people of all different to let them down. My parents made me believe in myself, and they pushed me backgrounds. I am lucky my parents pushed along in a journey they both wished they could have taken. Some of my friends at me to reach for a better life. [NMH] home were supportive, while others told me I would never make it.

When I arrived at NMH, I really struggled academically. I went from a rural This is an excerpt from a speech Mendoza public high school where 80 percent of my classmates were Mexican to Dennis delivered at NMH’s fall athletic banquet in Kennedy’s English class! But, like most of my teachers at NMH, Mr. Kennedy November 2011. Among his numerous athletic helped me along, and I slowly began to improve the quality of my work. honors was his selection as an All-American When the academics were wearing me down and creating self-doubt, soccer by the National Soccer Coaches Association of was critical to my survival at NMH. On my old high-school team, everyone was America. He was the first NMH boys’ soccer Mexican. At NMH, it was the most diverse team I had ever played on. We had player to earn the award.

spring/summer 2012 I 33

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empty rooms full of history EXPLORING the FORGOTTEN SIDE of ELLIS ISLAND

For more than a year, photographer PHILIP CALABRIA, chair of Northfield Mount Hermon’s visual arts department, was a regular on the 7:30 am National Park Service boat from Lower Manhattan to Ellis Island. The boat, carrying park staff and volunteers, would leave the Coast Guard station near Battery Park, stop briefly at Ellis Island, and continue on to the Statue of Liberty.

Once he was on Ellis Island, Calabria would pass by the immigration station that was restored and opened as a museum more than 20 years ago. He would flash a special access pass and head toward the two dozen or so unrestored buildings on the south side of the island that remain closed to the public. In these empty spaces—which once housed the mortuary, operating rooms, and psychiatric and maternity wards of what was the nation’s largest public hospital—Calabria would pull out his camera.

by JENNIFER SUTTON photographs by PHILIP CALABRIA

spring/summer 2012 I 35

The windows of the rooms were mostly covered with plywood, but small stripes of daylight filtered in through ventilation panels and doorways. Calabria set his camera for long exposures, and in his photographs, the weak light grew luminous, revealing this part of Ellis Island as a derelict, otherworldly landscape coated in dust and flaking paint.

Calabria spent 16 months traveling back and forth between NMH and Ellis Island, making roughly 1,300 images. The resulting exhibit, titled “The Stilled Passage,” is on display at The Gallery at

[1]

[2]

[3]

1 Isolation ward 2 The hospital administration building entryway 3 The women’s staff quarters

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the Rhodes Arts Center through June 10, and will be shown at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in the fall.

Calabria had never visited the island before December 2009, when a longtime friend who is an architect working with the National Park Service and the Save Ellis Island organization invited him to come look at the preservation projects under way there. He thought Calabria might be interested in photographing the place. He was right.

To Calabria, the broken-down rooms, largely cleared of artifacts, were a series of still lifes, “with an amazing palette, cool and warm tones, and the fantastic light that exists in any maritime space,” he says. “I was drawn to what had happened to the surfaces, and how the skeleton of the structures was revealed.” Calabria was less interested in documenting the history or the architecture of the buildings. “I wanted to interpret what was there in a very visual, painterly sense,” he says.

He proposed a project to the National Park Service and the Save Ellis Island organization, procured the necessary authorizations, and in June 2010 established a routine: Every other Thursday, he took the train to New York and camped out in his architect friend’s apartment on the Lower East Side. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, he rode

the staff boat over to Ellis Island and caught the last boat coming back, at 6:30 or 7 pm. He explored and photographed all day. “I was left alone,” Calabria says. “They gave me totally unfettered access.”

As he moved from building to building, he says, “sometimes I’d be so zoned in that I wasn’t even cognizant of where I was, but at other times it was haunting.” Calabria’s own father, Francis Joseph Calabria, had come through Ellis Island en route from Italy with his family in 1912, but when Calabria was

growing up on Long Island in the 1950s and 1960s, Ellis Island was in limbo: The immigration station had been shut down in 1954, but restoration efforts had not yet begun.

After the immigration museum opened in 1990, restoration crews moved on to other parts of the island, repairing seawalls and roofs, removing long-shattered window glass, and clearing out artifacts such

Calabria set his camera for long exposures, and in his photographs, the weak light grew luminous, revealing this part of Ellis Island as a derelict, otherworldly landscape coated in dust and flaking paint. as operating tables and bunk beds from more than 230,000 square feet of interior space. Despite the rickety state of his surroundings, Calabria says he never felt at risk while he was photographing, though once he had to scramble to catch his tripod from sinking through a section of rotten flooring. Having worked in construction between college and graduate school, he understood, he says, “that you always check things twice before you venture forth.”

Calabria had to balance these careful, deliberate instincts with the rhythm of the natural world. “That’s why I got there early,” he says. “I could follow the sun throughout the day. I’d go into one space and if the light wasn’t right, I could come back to it later.”

A few months into the project, Calabria was asked to show what he’d photographed so far to officials from the park service and the Save

Ellis Island group. The park service deputy superintendent looked at one image after another and said, “These don’t look anything like Ellis Island.”

Calabria panicked for a moment.

“And that’s why it’s such an astonishing accomplishment,” the deputy superintendent continued. “He’d been on the island every day for years and had never seen the spaces this way,” Calabria explains. Which was exactly the point. “What I’m after is tone, tempo, and the undercurrent of a place” rather than the place itself, he says.

Calabria continued his everyother-weekend routine through fall 2010, receiving a semester-long course release from NMH that allowed him to teach a lighter load.

Even after he returned to his normal teaching schedule, he kept photographing on Ellis Island whenever he could. If, for a few months, Calabria spent less time on campus than he usually does, his commitment to the Ellis Island project modeled for students how the process of making art requires “a great investment of time and energy to the point of putting other things aside,” he says.

“If there’s anything I can impress upon students, it’s that 90 percent of what artists do is work. It’s enjoyable work—there wasn’t a single day that I didn’t enjoy being on Ellis Island— but it’s not sitting in front of an easel waiting for inspiration, or sitting in front of a blank piece of paper waiting for the muse to write the poem for you. Art, in any form of expression, whether it’s poetry, music, painting, is intentional.” [NMH]

spring/summer 2012 I 37

alumni spotlight

Holyoke’s New Mayor Has Roots in NMH’s Upward Bound

It’s likely that the president and the press have taken such interest in Morse because he’s young (22 years old) and openly gay, and his win against the political old guard in Holyoke—a city of 40,000 and the poorest in the state—was initially viewed as improbable.

Despite his youth and relative inexperience, Morse has been preparing to lead his city for years: He got involved in politics when he was 13, serving on Holyoke’s Youth Commission and eventually becoming its president. During his four years at Holyoke High School, beginning in 2003, he participated in Upward Bound and spent three summers studying on the NMH campus, eventually becoming a counselor in the program. At Holyoke High, he founded the Gay-Straight Alliance, and by the time he was a senior, he had decided to run for mayor someday. In 2011, during his final year at Brown University, he declared his candidacy.

Morse knocked on every door in Holyoke and rented a truck fitted with a loudspeaker in order to encourage voters, in Spanish as well as English, to elect him.

He argued that Holyoke needed fresh leadership in order to work harder to ease

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poverty and to reduce the persistently high number of high school dropouts and teen pregnancies. He also pushed for revitalizing the city’s education system and downtown neighborhoods. Unlike his 67-year-old incumbent opponent Elaine Pluta, he opposed casino gambling.

Morse’s message of renewed civic pride resonated with voters in Holyoke, especially Latinos, who have traditionally been left out of the political process. Morse won the primary by a single vote, and went on to capture the general election with 53 percent of votes cast in a race that saw a turnout rate of 38 percent.

Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images

NMH Upward Bound alumnus Alex Morse has been busy. He was inaugurated mayor of Holyoke in January; he’s been to dinner at the White House; and he’s been the subject of coverage by CBS News, the Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor, and Boston Globe, among other media outlets.

alumni spotlight

A Portrait of Pacifists: Le Chambon, the Holocaust, and the Lives of André and Magda Trocmé RICHARD P. UNSWORTH ’45 Syracuse University Press

“Alex has an unwavering belief in the strengths and possibilities of Holyoke,” says NMH Upward Bound director Gisele Litalien, who watched Morse, on the NMH campus, begin to develop his sense of social justice. “He found the encouragement and support to be himself, and he had models of people who fought to undo racism and homophobia,” Litalien says. “Upward Bound helped him come into his own. We are proud of him.”

This double biography tells the story of a couple who, after World War II, came to be known as “Righteous Christians” for their work sheltering thousands of Jews from the Holocaust in the town of Le Chambonsur-Lignon in south-central France. A minister and teacher, respectively, André and Magda Trocmé were long-standing advocates of absolute pacifism and nonviolent resistance to oppression. Their deeply personal commitment helped galvanize other residents in Le Chambon to make the town a humanitarian haven during the war.

This first detailed account of the Trocmés’ life together is based on their unpublished memoirs, as well as interviews and research conducted by Richard Unsworth ’45, a former head of Northfield Mount Hermon.

Unsworth, who worked at NMH for much of the 1980s, met the Trocmés when he became involved with the Collège Cévenol, the school in Le Chambon that the couple founded in 1938 and which still operates today. Unsworth traces the Trocmés’ work in pacifism through the war and into the following decades, creating an admiring yet scholarly portrait. Unsworth’s own career in education and theology is equally long: Besides leading NMH for nearly a decade, he taught religion and served as chaplain at Smith and Dartmouth Colleges, and currently is a senior fellow of the Kahn Liberal Arts Institute at Smith.

In the Light of Darkness: A Photographer’s Journey After 9/11 KATE BROOKS ’95 Schilt Publishing

Photographer Kate Brooks ’95 is on a mission. “To me, photography has always been a tool for activism and social change, to capture and convey injustice,” she says.

Weaving powerful, haunting images with a series of brave personal essays in In the Light of Darkness: A Photographer’s Journey after 9/11, Brooks documents 10 years of work in the Middle East, from the time that she moved to Pakistan after the September 11 terrorist attacks up to the Arab Spring.

Along the way, Brooks’s photographs have been published in TIME, Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Smithsonian.

Brooks began working as a photojournalist in Russia when she was a college student. Her images of child abuse victims in Russian orphanages were used

by Human Rights Watch to campaign for the rights of orphans.

“A photograph can be evidence, it can be an illustration, it can be art, and sometimes, it can be an iconic, symbolic representation of a moment in history,” Brooks says. “Occasionally, photographs make a difference; often that’s just an elusive notion. But when my work has influenced an individual’s life, mobilized aid, or contributed to the change of laws, or when I’m able to capture some sense of humanity or convey someone else’s human experience, I feel I’ve done my job as a photojournalist.”

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alumni spotlight

Cross-cultural Jewelry

¡DELICIOSO! What’s a nice Irish kid like you doing cooking Spanish food? Award-winning chef and New York City restaurateur Seamus Mullen ’91 has lost count of how many times he’s been asked this question by interviewers. His answer makes NMH proud: “I went to Spain in high school and fell in love with the country and the culture and the language.”

For Mullen, the past year has been one of distinction: New York Magazine nominated him one of five “Best Up-and-Coming Chefs” and The New York Times named his restaurant, Tertulia, one of the top 10 new restaurants of 2011. Mullen, who returned to Spain during college and had the opportunity to work with some of the best chefs in the country, opened Tertulia last spring in New York’s West Village; it was hailed by Bloomberg as the Best New Restaurant of 2011. A recent finalist on the Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef,” Mullen has been described by New York Magazine as “the city’s acknowledged master of cutting-edge Iberian cuisine and all things to do with suckling pig.”

Annette Stephens ’04 (left) with her sister Phoebe.

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Hope Amidst Despair: HIV/AIDS-Affected Children in Sub-Saharan Africa SUSANNA W. GRANNIS ’55 Palgrave MacMillan

As the founder of the nonprofit group CHABHA (Children Affected by HIV/AIDS), educator Susanna Grannis ’55 understands the complexities of the health crisis that has left 16 million children orphaned around the world. Her latest book examines the crisis, and, through research and interviews, explains the resulting circumstances of impoverished children in Africa. The book also describes CHABHA’s partnerships with community-based organizations in Africa that support children through camps and workshops focused on creative, healing activities.

Grannis is a former elementaryschool teacher and college professor and served as dean of the School of Education at Queens College, CUNY, and dean of the Graduate School at Bank Street College in New York. South African archbishop Desmond Tutu has called Hope Amidst Despair an “unsentimental and realistic assessment of the desperate situation of children in subSaharan Africa affected by the HIV/ AIDS pandemic. Thus when the author says there is hope despite the hopelessness, we must believe her.”

Photo (left): Brian Ach/Getty Images. Photo (middle): Craig Barritt/Getty Images

Seamus Mullen ’91

Cofounded by sisters Annette (Caitlin) ’04 and Phoebe Stephens in 2009, Anndra Neen is a sculptural jewelry and accessory company whose innovative designs garnered the 2011 Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize and were featured during Paris Fashion Week 2012.

Born and raised in Mexico City, the Stephens sisters draw inspiration from their childhood, when they were surrounded by artists. Their grandmother was a celebrated painter, sculptor, and jewelry designer who collaborated with the Muralist Movement in Mexico, and their father, Luis Stephens, is a painter and collage artist.

Anndra Neen’s jewelry fuses a range of cultural influences, from ancient Egyptian motifs to Japanese design to Bauhaus graphics to antique European jewelry. Their pieces have been worn by Michelle Obama, Jessica Alba, Drew Barrymore, and Anna Paquin, and were recently featured in W Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue China.

alumni spotlight

of the assistance process.”

In other words, she provides neutral assessments— describing both successes and failures—of the three projects in order to help development professionals and students better execute future assignments.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Meals in 30 Minutes or Less International Development in Practice: Education Assistance in Egypt, Pakistan, and Afghanistan ANDREA B. RUGH ’53 Palgrave Macmillan

For decades, social anthropologist Andrea Rugh ’53 has lived and worked in the Middle East, writing numerous books and articles on Middle Eastern culture and society and serving as a technical advisor to USAID and UNICEF development projects. Her latest book analyzes three of those projects, which span a total of 22 years. The goal of the book, Rugh says, is to “sensitize readers to the opportunities and constraints that are an inevitable part

TOD DIMMICK ’82 Alpha Books, Penguin

Move over, Rachael Ray. Food writer Tod Dimmick ’82 has spent the last decade making whole-food, budgetconscious meals and developing cookbook recipes that are accessible, healthy, and, above all, quick.

Dimmick’s past books include The Complete Idiot’s Guide to 20-Minute Meals and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to 5-Minute Appetizers.

His latest volume ups the ante to a full half hour of prep time. It is packed with 500 recipes that cover breakfast through dessert, and offer what appear to be family-friendly meal and snack ideas.

In addition to promoting this basic approach to cooking, Dimmick also writes about wine, organic gardening, and local-food cuisine. He develops recipes for several CSA (communitysupported agriculture) organizations and food websites in the Boston area; cooks on the “Phantom Gourmet” television show that is broadcast in New England; and for 20 years has published Tasting Times, a food and wine newsletter for readers who lean toward $15 bottles and appreciate his “Wine 101” approach.

Athletic Hall of Fame Names New Members A snowstorm in May is difficult to imagine, as is a blizzard in October.

Yet that was the scene last fall as NMH prepared to induct new members into its Athletic Hall of Fame during Homecoming weekend. Hardy alumni almost had to shovel their way onto campus to participate in the ceremony, showing the grit that made them winning athletes in the first place.

Ellen Bossert ’82, a member of the newly inducted 1980–81 girls’ soccer team, said that her coach— Mark “Commander” Jander ’50, who spoke at the ceremony—“taught a bunch of teenagers that regardless of outcomes, you’ve got to show up, you’ve got to believe in yourself despite your doubts, and action trumps everything.”

2011 INDUCTEES ’51–’52 Boys’ Cross-country ’51–’52 Boys’ Track ’51–’52 Football ’80–’81 Girls’ Soccer

Photo: Glenn Minshall

Wear Your NMH Pride The NMH bookstore can help get you and your family outfitted.

Visit the NEW and IMPROVED online store for great gift ideas.

nmhbookstore.com

spring /summer 2012 I 41

Lift Lift Thine Thine Eyes Eyes

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heritage alliance society

NMH NMH Travellers Travellers

invites invites you you to to Spain Spain

Please join the over 650 alumni and friends of NMH who have made a bequest to the school or notified us that a planned gift is included in their wills.

for more information please contact :

September 20–29, 2012 September 20–29, 2012 To book a place on this tour, or for more information,

To book a place this of tour, or forand more information, please contact the on Office Alumni Parent Programs please contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Programs 413 - 498 - 3600 413 - 498 - 3600

JEFFREY A. LEYDEN ’80, P ’14 DIRECTOR OF PLANNED GIVING JLEYDEN@NMHSCHOOL.ORG 413-498-3299 www.nmhschool.plannedgifts.org

alumni spotlight

Three New Trustees Join the Board Don Glascoff ’63, P ’12 Four generations of Glascoff’s family have attended NMH. He serves as a reunion chair and member of the gift committee for the Class of 1963.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Yale and a law degree from Cornell, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army, deputy general counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and as an adjunct professor at Delaware Law School. Then he began a 30-year career at the international law firm of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, the oldest firm on Wall Street. Chairman of Cadwalader’s real estate group for many years, Glascoff became one of the firm’s co-chairmen and partners. He represented clients such as Freddie Mac, Unilever, MacMillan Publishing, and Bank of America.

After his legal career ended due to blindness, Glascoff became a principal and investor in real estate and banking ventures, including his current venture, Curator, LLC. He served as chairman of the former Park Avenue Bank and on the boards of Renco Metals and Magnesium Corporation of America. His work with nonprofits includes board memberships with Frost Valley YMCA, OpSail 2000, the International Senior Lawyers Project, and the New Media Advocacy Project.

A life-long civil rights advocate, Glascoff conceived and produced Taxi to the Dark Side, a documentary film that exposed the Bush administration’s policies of torture in

Afghanistan, Guantánamo, and the Abu Ghraib prison. The film won the 2007 Academy Award for best documentary.

Peter J. Macdonald ’75 Peter Macdonald was raised in Quincy, Massachusetts, where he spent considerable time working in the Villa Rosa, a restaurant started by his grandparents, who emigrated from Italy. The restaurant, which is still in the family after 55 years, properly prepared Macdonald for kitchen work jobs on the Northfield campus.

The Villa Rosa properly prepared Macdonald for kitchen work jobs on the Northfield campus.

After graduating from Northwestern University in 1980 and Boston University School of Law in 1984, Macdonald began practicing trial law in Boston with WilmerHale (formerly Hale and Dorr), an international law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers. In 2000, he opened the firm’s office in New York City, where today he is vice chair of the firm’s 400-lawyer litigation department. In 2009, Macdonald led the pro bono team that obtained the release of Dewey Bozella, who had been wrongfully imprisoned in New York State for more than 26 years. The case generated widespread media coverage;

Macdonald’s team received the Gideon Champion of Justice Award from the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Macdonald lives in New York with his wife, Trisha, and their 3-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

Mark R. Wetzel ’79 Mark R. Wetzel ’79 earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont and an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth, where he graduated with distinction as a Tuck Scholar. He began his investment-consulting career in 1990 at Kidder Peabody and progressed through acquisitions of the company by Paine Webber and UBS, becoming a senior vice president. In 2006, Wetzel cofounded Fiduciary Investment Advisors (FIA), where as president and a member of the firm’s investment committee, he works with corporate, nonprofit, and captive insurance clients. He is a trustee and member of the investment committees of many organizations, including the Ellsworth Foundation, McLean, Hartford Hospital, CHS Insurance, Ltd., and Novartis Corporation.

Wetzel lives in North Granby, Connecticut, with his wife, Barbara.

They have three daughters: Abby, Liza, and Rosie. His sister and brother also graduated from NMH: Laurie ’80 and Gary ’82.

spring /summer 2012 I 43

alumni spotlight

Over the past 18 months, the Northfield Mount Hermon Alumni Council has launched a program to celebrate the spirit of the Northfield School for Girls. Alumnae from classes ranging from 1930 to 1972 have been gathering at events around the country and on campus to discuss how Northfield traditions have been incorporated into the school today.

The program is part of an ongoing Alumni Council effort to reach out to graduates who may not feel strongly connected to the school. According to Wendy Alderman Cohen ’67, Northfield graduates felt a sense of loss when their girls’ school merged with Mount Hermon; the closing and sale of the Northfield campus was another loss—for all alumni who lived and attended classes there. “It felt like a

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dishonoring of the past,” Cohen says, particularly for Northfield graduates.

“It was difficult at reunion time [for some alumnae] to come back to a campus that felt unknown to them.”

Alumni Council members Cohen, Carolyn “Ty” Bair Fox ’59, and Jean Fuller Farrington ’53 devised the idea of offcampus teas and luncheons, reasoning that if some alumnae “couldn’t come to campus, then we would bring the campus to them.”

Participants at these non-fundraising events sing Northfield songs, play trivia games, and discuss the state of the school with current faculty members. “It’s an attempt to honor what was supposedly ‘lost’ and to indicate that it isn’t really lost at all,” Cohen says. Northfield alumna Barbara Tweedle Friedman ’66, who was an NMH trustee at

the time of the Northfield campus closing, has spoken at several of these events to offer information and perspective about the decision-making processes regarding Northfield.

The reaction from many alumnae, Cohen says, has been “a sense of validation … that it was reasonable to be sad” about the closing of the campus, she says. That validation is helping some Northfielders look to the future: A new endowed scholarship, called the Northfield School for Girls Scholarship Fund, was established in December to provide financial assistance every year to a female student who embodies the Northfield spirit—academic curiosity and dedication, a strong work ethic, determination to succeed, confidence, caring, and poise.

Photos: Courtesy of NMH Archives

Honoring the Past

class notes VITAL STATISTICS pg 100 / IN MEMORIAM pg 102

If you are an alumna or alumnus from a class without a secretary, please send news to Sally Atwood Hamilton ’65, Class Notes Editor, in one of the following ways: • by regular mail to: Northfield Mount Hermon One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354 • by fax to 413-498-3021 • by email to nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

Members of the Nor thfield Mount Hermon Alumni Association are hereby notified that the annual meeting of the same shall take place on campus Saturday, June 9, 2012, at 10:30 am , during reunion weekend. In addition to its usual business, the association will present its annual awards to alumni who have demonstrated significant service to the school, their communities, and the world.

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From the Alumni Office: We received a letter from Walter Eastman’s daughter, Donna, last fall, re-

porting that her father (101) was legally blind and profoundly deaf and living in his own condo in Palm Coast FL. She writes: “My husband, Shelly, and I see him 2 or 3 times a week. His 24/7 care-

givers are delightful, and we always have a good visit. All of Dad’s old friends visit often. He came to my house for Thanksgiving dinner and we’re going to his place for Christmas. His memories of Mt Herman are very fond, and he’s full of stories. We still have the photo of him dressed as Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest. In ’10, we had a wonderful 100th birthday for him and invited all of his living descendants, all of his living relatives, steprelatives, and many, many friends (all much younger than he). Most everyone showed up. What a blast.” We received the sad news that Walter died on 2/2/12, a month shy of his 102nd birthday.

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EDITH BENDER SOUTHWICK 395 N 70th Street Springfield OR 97478-7206

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From the Alumni Association: It is with great

sadness that we share the news of the loss of class secretary Bradford Burnham on 12/21/11 in Vero Beach FL. Brad was a tireless volunteer for NMH. He became class secretary upon graduation in ’39 and never relinquished the job. He served on the 50th reunion committee and was former chair of the class. Brad attended and hosted numerous NMH events, served on the Alumni Awards Committee, received an Alumni Citation in ’89,

and in ’99 received the Lamplighter Award, the highest honor bestowed by the NMH Alumni Association for graduates whose work on behalf of the school is exemplary.

Brad went on to Yale and then served in the Marine Corps during WW II. After the war, he joined the sales force at Samuel Moore & Company in OH when it was a 12-person operation, and over the course of a nearly 40-year career became president and CEO and helped build the plastics manufacturer into an $80 million company by the time he retired in ’84. In the mid-1990s, Brad was still flying his own plane alone all over the country.

His obituary, in part, reads: “Always a champion of education, Brad was one of the founders of the Hudson [OH] Montessori School and an active supporter of Western Reserve Academy, also in Hudson. For many years, Brad was the secretary of both the class of ’39 at Mt Hermon School and Yale’s class of ’44. He never missed a reunion and was an active class agent for both schools.

“Throughout his life, Brad devoted a great deal of energy to an array of civic organizations. Over the course of 14 years on Hiram College’s board of trustees, Brad used his persistence and persuasiveness to raise more than $23 million for the college’s scholarship fund. As president of the Fishers Island [NY] Civic Association, Brad worked to expand and strengthen the year-round population, which he saw as essential to the long-term health of the island.

He was a driving force behind the formation of the Walsh Park Benevolent Corporation, a director of the Fishers Island Gazette and supervised the creation of the original Island Growth Plan, a strategic

SUBMIT A NOTE We hope to include you in our next issue!

• Send news/notes to your class secretary.

• Send photos to your secretary, but be sure

Walter Eastman ’30 dressed as Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest.

The greater Brad Burnham ’39 family taken in Vero Beach FL on the day of his memorial service 1/14/12 in front of the new Indian River Habitat for Humanity building, which is being named in his honor for all he did for that organization. Former faculty member and brother Dave Burnham is holding Brad’s picture and stands beside his wife, Anne Webb Burnham ’44. Paul Burnham ’72 is in the back row with the beard, Louise Burnham Packard ’78 is in the middle of the grouping of three seated in the front row.

to put your name/address on the back if you would like them returned.

• If you want to send digital photos, please make sure they have sufficient resolution for print (300 d.p.i. and at least 3 inches wide) .

• Color photocopies will not be accepted.

• Email news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org.

• To maximize photo coverage, we may choose from among similar shots. Also, if space doesn’t permit, we will choose alumni shots over photos of your relatives.

spring 2012 I class notes I 45

class notes

vision for the island’s future. A passionate sailor, Brad loved to race his Bullseye, Peregrine, and was especially thrilled when he could beat his younger brother, Dave.

“When he settled in FL with his 2nd wife, Joan, Brad directed his energies and fundraising abilities toward the Indian River Habitat for Humanity.

In 2000, he and a friend organized the Moorings Habitat Committee in the hopes of getting the others in their residential community interested in the Habitat cause. Over the course of the next 8 years, more than 40% of Moorings residents participated in sponsoring 45 homes. Brad later successfully challenged 5 other prominent residential communities to follow the Moorings’ lead; now nearly half of all Indian River Habitat for Humanity homes are sponsored by these neighborhoods.

“In this Habitat work during his final years, Brad demonstrated many of the traits that had marked his life: contagious enthusiasm, generosity of spirit, persuasive charm, and a ‘passion for his communities and the people who live in them.’”

Brad was predeceased by his 1st wife, Anne, the mother of his 5 children, and is survived by his 2nd wife, Joan, and an extended NMH family. Please see the Vital Statistics section for a full listing.

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(B. J.) ELIZABETH JANE SMITH JOHNSON 167 Main St Wenham MA 01984-1446 robert.johnson53@comcast.net

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CHARLES F. HALL 3801 East Crest Dr Apt 2202 Bryan TX 77802-5706 hallboy4@hotmail.com

My birthday was on Thanksgiving in ’11, and I spent it at the rehab center where Alice was undergoing therapy for yet another fall. She is home now in time for Christmas, and I am most thankful. Now in my 90th year, I did a little checking and found that the average age of our class survivors will soon be 90. Gordon Smith heads the group at 95.

I had a nice chat with George Jordan on Christmas Day. George was in good spirits and ready for company. George is a top-flight host and always has a new story or joke to tell.

Herb Spohn continues to write prose and poetry.

Herb, twice widowed, lives independently in his home in Topeka. He has a gratifying relationship with a significant other and is also sustained by a social support group. On the lighter side, Herb writes: “While still in reasonable shape, I can no longer win, place, or show in a cross-country skiing

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event as I did in 1940.”

His 90th birthday at hand, George Gilbert sold the boat he had built and commissioned 57 years ago, but the boat is in good hands. George sold it to a former merchant marine captain who, in George’s words, “will continue where I left off—cruising. Best of all—he works on wooden boats at the Mystic Marine Museum.”

Ben Gunn had a severe fall last summer, which resulted in some spinal cord damage.

Son John ’75 writes that recovery has been slow, but Ben is gradually regaining arm and leg function.

After months in intensive care, he has returned to the health center wing of his retirement community, where he continues his treatment and is with his wife Mary.

Jamie and Fred Witzel write: “AOK here but a little slower of step.” Virginia and Bruno Larsen are both doing well, are sporting a new Prius V, and took an Alaskan cruise last summer.

The July wedding of his granddaughter highlighted Will Bartlett’s year. Will made a small tray basket and a handled vegetable basket in a course in basket weaving at the U of ME. Will writes: “I always wanted to take a course in basket weaving in college, but Harvard did not offer it.”

Phyllis and Sherman Katz spent the winter in Longboat FL. They are in pretty good health and do a lot of volunteering.

Howard Gallup is still an avid stamp collector— an avocation that just about got the best of him last year. While working with his stamps, he scratched the back of his hand with his stamp tongs. The ensuing cellulitis and complications caused an extended hospitalization and rehab program lasting several months, during which he had to learn to walk again.

Now home, he walks with a cane and is able to drive.

Howard says that friends tell him he should write a book on the hazards of stamp collecting.

Toni and Al Stites live in the Costa Rica–countryside where all is “quiet and serene.” A master herbalist, Toni keeps Al healthy. Al, in turn, drags wood in from the forest and chops it up for the chilly nights. In retirement, Al has become a prolific writer. He thinks that Hermon men would find Forget the Goal, the Journey Counts (Amazon) interesting, since he speaks a bit about the fine year that he had at Hermon.

Gordon Smith writes that “all goes well here (Carmel CA).” Gordon was on the NMH Board of Trustees when the subject of consolidating on the Mt Hermon campus was initiated.

Joe Bauer recently moved from Farmington to Avon CT and Dick Nash moved from Tarpon Springs to Palm Harbor FL. Lennie Arnold is in the health care wing of Highland Farms, his retirement community in NC. His window gives him a view of the beautiful memorial gardens below. Lennie keeps busy with daily activities and special events and continues to

enjoy the company of many longtime friends.

Tom Hart died during the summer of ’11.

Daughter Judy Hart ’74 wrote to me of his passing and spoke of his love for Hermon and of some of his more adventurous escapades. Judy writes: “It amused me because I was the one who went to NMH in the rebellious ’70s, and I don’t recall having nearly as much fun.” Tom and I were roommates at our 70th in 2010.

I close with a quote from my father, L. K. Hall, as he spoke to the passing of our Mt Hermon friends and colleagues. “Thus they have passed on. It is not easy to see them go…yet these occasions stir feelings of deep gratitude that human life can be so rich...and bring renewed reverence for a universe in which such a gracious thing as a well-lived human personality can emerge.”

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REV ESTELLE DAVIS KAY 101 Randolph Rd Worcester MA 01606-2463 estellekay@aol.com DORCAS PLATT ABELL 30 Walden Lane Pittsfield MA 01201-1572 sabell3@nycap.rr.com

From Dorcas: I received the following from Gloria Savcheff Gancarz, ’43, sister of Helen Savcheff:

“In the summer of 1945, the day after the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, my sister Helen and I were on break from serving lunch at the Northfield Hotel. We were on our way home from our waitressing jobs—riding our bikes—and we stopped at the drugstore for the newspaper.

Unbeknownst to me, Helen curled the paper so that she could read the front page about the bombing as she was riding. (No traffic on Main Street in those days.) I was already riding ahead of her and as I passed a dump truck parked on the side of the road, I heard the sound of metal on the tarmac. Unwittingly, she was so engrossed in the news that she had ridden into some metal rods, which extended from the back of the truck, and the impact threw her. She died of a ruptured spleen. She would have graduated from the College of Music, Boston University, ’46. She had taken a PG course at Northfield and was asst to the housemother at South Hall ’41–’42.” I was saddened to learn of the tragic way that Helen’s death occurred. Gloria and I have renewed our friendship and met face-to-face last June at our 70th reunion.

Marie “Ree” Townsend Morrison is happily ensconced in an assisted living facility of about 100 people in Walnut Creek CA, where there is much to keep her busy. She writes: “As age 90 approaches,

class notes

life takes on more meaning. Travel is out of the question. Grandchildren and all young people astound me with their innovative lives. CA weather and 2 family members keep me happy.”

Sue Spencer Harris plans to leave Italy and move back to the US but is not sure when. She writes: “Northfield days seem very long ago, so my memory of my days there is still strong, and I can still ‘see’ the campus and some of my friends. Such good, innocent days. We were reminded that our purpose was not to make a living but to make a life.

And so it has been.”

Betty Zumwinkel Fulton still lives with her daughter and family in Fort Collins CO and writes: “I’m spoiled rotten. Can’t believe that I’ll be 88 in just a few weeks. I’m still healthy and active, so that is good.” (She was 88 in Nov.) Lynette Heminway Emery lost her sister Libby Heminway Ruth ’44 in July.

We missed Estelle Huff Davis Kay at the 70th reunion and found out why. She has moved to Dodge Park Rest Home, 101 Randolph Rd., Worcester MA 01606. Daughter Holly wrote to Marian Melby Abbott that Estelle has “midstage dementia, mainly short-term memory, but does remember some long-term friends. She is unable to write letters or read books but does read short articles in magazines.”

I talked to Eleanor Shedd Whitehouse recently—she and I have good memories of our month in Portugal last Mar. Eleanor plans to go to Salisbury NC to visit her daughter for Jan. Lucy Christensen Duncan was sorry to miss reunion. She lives on her cousin’s property out in the countryside of Vacaville CA, where she sees all sorts of domesticated animals plus families of deer, turkeys, quail, rabbits, lots of Canada geese, and all varieties of small birds and eagles. She says the stars and moonlit nights are spectacular, much like Northfield.

She has traveled to the Philippines many times.

Helen Small Weishaar’s daughter, Marianne Weishaar Hirschman ’64, who attended our 70th with her mom, sent me some pictures taken that weekend.

I’ve gotten to know Barbara Boyden Wetherbee a little from messages on Facebook.

Louise Pfuhl Darby and I exchange Christmas cards, and her life in FL seems to be going well.

I’m going to Ft Myers FL on Dec 30 and will stay through Mar 6 to help celebrate my sister’s 90th birthday. Love that sunshine and being able to walk every morning. Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy ’12.

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CARLETON FINCH 612 Rindge Rd Fitchburg MA 01420-1310 zeke137@aol.com

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CORA LEE GETHMAN GIBBS 355 Blackstone Blvd, Apt 554 Providence RI 02906-4953 coraleegibbs@aol.com

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LOREN BULLOCK 204 Upshire Circle Gaithersburg MD 20878-5234 mlbullock9@comcast.net

My memories increasingly go back to our time at Mt Hermon 70 years ago. Gorgeous campus whether in spring or fall or with deep snow.

Chemistry class with Dr Bowman, English with Louie Smith, algebra with Arthur Platt, Sacred Concert, parlor dates at Northfield, morning room inspections, meals in West Hall (now Alumni Hall), and so on. I would love to be back this spring for our 70th reunion, but my spinal stenosis is slowing me down too much. I’m enjoying life and grandchildren here in Gaithersburg MD. My email asking for your notes had a wrong return email address for me, so I apologize if I missed any of your replies.

I heard from Paul McGrew, Los Altos CA, and from Ed Obert, Milford CT. Also Bob O’Donoghue writes: “I’m still living at a retirement center in Leesburg FL. Lou Haskell ’43 and Nora Bassett Dorman ’44 are also here. I stay busy dancing, geocaching [what’s that, Bob?], and doing some traveling.”

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ROBERTA BURKE BURPEE 8311 Sago Ct Englewood FL 34224-6607 bobbieburpee1925@comcast.net

Grace Kemp Harris writes she heard the Northfield Benediction when she attended the memorial service for Elizabeth Marker Granicher in Aug. She was handed a lei when she entered the church, as Betty and her husband loved Hawaii.

Through tears, she joined Betty’s enthusiasm for life.

Grace and Betty met at least once a year since ’43.

Grace also visits Pine Ridge Indian Reservation annually to check on progress, as her church continues a number of activities there.

Ruth Keating Hyde says ’11 wasn’t a good year.

Her husband’s eyesight has seriously deteriorated and her brother Howard Keating ’45 died in Mar. She entertained Larissa Daigle from the Alumni Office at her Washington DC club and Larissa brought her up to date on NMH. Ruth still attends seminars held by the Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute.

Elizabeth Van Zandt Adams is healthy and happy in her NC senior community. Betsy admits her legs aren’t too steady, therefore she uses a walker.

She feels fortunate to have her daughter and a son nearby. She has a grandson who is a musician in NY, another working for a TV station in Houston TX, a granddaughter who is a lawyer, and another who is a teacher in Greensboro NC. She has 2 great-grandchildren.

Joy Waldau Hostage is busy on the CT State Library Board, the local Cheshire Public Library board, the library committee at the Congregational Church, and on the Democratic town committee.

Many thanks for the kind words I have received for being secretary. Luckily, I have good health due to the Burke genes. I exercise every day riding a stationary bike for 30 min and join the water aerobics group 3 times a week. Living in FL, I can garden year-round. Wish I could play golf.

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ANNE WEBB BURNHAM 44 River St Rehoboth MA 02769-1314 awburnham@aol.com

Thanks to those of you who have sent news. Lee Baldwin Mehl writes she is still exercising and working on her posture but without books on her head. One of her passions is mental illness, which she says is in her family, which includes 2 sons in WI and RI and a daughter in CO. All were in Peoria for Thanksgiving. Lee plans to be in a budding psychiatry resident program at U of IL College of Medicine.

Yvonne Snyder Elliman writes: “In the ’50s I lived in Rome, made movies, modeled in Rome, Florence, Milan, Paris, and NYC. In the ’60s I married Charles Specker, a Swiss. We lived in Zurich, St Moritz, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He died in ’68. In ’75, I married Don Elliman, and we live in Westhampton NY and NYC. Have volunteered at Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU for 37 years.” Yvonne has been president of Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, which supports students in science, engineering, and medical research, and has been with the NY Hall of Science for more than 30 years. She was a founding member of the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center’s advisory council and has been vice chair for more than 12 years. She travels widely and speaks 7 or 8 languages. Wow. For many years Elizabeth Gamble Roe and husband Tom visited Yvonne in the summer, and they would meet up with June Baker Bremer and with Ed and Grace Bradt Ricketts. Tom says Liz is not well. Yvonne’s husband is 99 and still a single sculler.

Helen Martin Raisz teaches sociology as an adjunct at the U of Hartford and at Central CT

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State U. “I wish my students had the benefits of a Northfield education. The skills I learned while writing a paper on Greek ‘democracy,’ so called despite the slaveholder status, are still being used 67 years later.” Bobbie Fink Renfrew works on the monthly in-house newspaper for her retirement center. She is assoc editor, proofreader, illustrator, and occasional limerick writer. The editor is a good friend, and they enjoy working together. Daughter Betsy and husband are in Greensboro, teaching English language and culture to immigrants.

Marge Garland Nickerson lives at Piper Shores Retirement Community in Scarborough ME along with Mary Newcomb Davis ’42 and Grant Law ’49. Mary and Marge’s cousin Eleanor Osterman Caddell ’47 attended the Northfield reunion in Kennebunkport last summer. “I see and talk with Rosamonde Cole Little, who is at Riverwood Retirement Community in Exeter NH. Roz showed me a picture of her brand-new great-grandson.”

Finally, Art Chickering is looking for Winnie Ingram Dunphy. NMH has lost touch. Anyone have a clue? Maybe he wants another parlor date.

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CHARLTON R. PRICE 1501 17th St, Apt 514 Seattle WA 98122-4103 charlton_p@hotmail.com

Ted Swett, who died a year ago, certainly had the

most distinguished military career of our classmates and maybe of anyone in our Hermon generation: 1949 West Point graduate, colonel US Army, and combat veteran of Korea and Vietnam.

In ’Nam he commanded an air mobile battalion and was awarded the Silver Star for “evacuating wounded men under hostile conditions.” A photo of President Johnson presenting the Silver Star to Ted appeared in the New York Times. That same day, Ted flew to DC to be with his ailing father, also a distinguished military officer, at Walter Reed Hospital. As Ted walked into his dad’s hospital

Trevor Swett ’44 receiving a Silver Star from President Lyndon Johnson in ’67 for his actions in Vietnam.

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room, the photo of Ted and the President appeared on the TV evening news. Ted’s daughter Marjorie Swett ’68 recalls: “Grandpa, watching the TV, then looking up to see Pop, said: ‘Now I’ve seen everything.’ He died 2 days later.”

Our distinguished academicians: You’ve already read here recently about Dick Moench, anthropologist at SUNY Binghamton. He has had a long, productive career in research and teaching, specializing in North Africa and the Middle East.

Already at Hermon, Dick was effortlessly (seemingly, to me) academically noteworthy. (Do you remember that he was our valedictorian?) The outlook seemed less promising for Art Chickering— that’s Distinguished Professor Arthur Chickering, Harvard doctorate in social psychology, who has served on the faculties of George Mason U and Goddard College, and is widely known for research and publications in “the fields of student affairs and college student development” per Wikipedia (you can read a lot more about him there). In a vivid memoir—I wish it could be quoted here at length— Art tells how he struggled at Hermon—“singing… next to sports, cards, and eating” was what he cared about. “Academics were not my strong point. [I] got a D- and a C- in conduct for my junior and senior years. I graduated 93rd in [our] class. When I walked out of the chapel after the [graduation] ceremony, [Mom] heaved a big sigh and said: ‘Well, you finally made it.’ You could have gotten 1,000to-1 odds against this character ever becoming a distinguished professor.”

And this just in—our generous class notes editor gives us some post-deadline extra space—as hoped and expected, our Class of ’44 Scholarship Fund total is back over $200K, despite recent minimal or negative growth (what else, given the “high crimes and misdemeanors” of some of the “malefactors of great wealth”?). We’ve received an eloquent report and warm thanks from the current recipient of our fund’s earnings: Rebekah Lofgren ’13, who’s a member of our 70th (!) anniversary class. Rebekah says: “Being a student at NMH has opened the door to many new things. The chances I am given and choices I can make have a huge impact on my life.” The ’44 fund will grow faster in the future; it’s now in line for at least 1 bequest from a classmate.

Think of this as inflation insurance: though NMH tuition now approaches $50K, more than a third of NMH students receive some financial aid. And as direct descendants of MH and N’44 alums, your great-grandchildren who apply to NMH and are accepted will get first call on our fund’s earnings.

Glorious leader Pete Leyden wants to get us together at reunions this year. Are you confident you will be “good to go” by mid-2012? If so, please say yes to me now. That might make it more likely you’ll show up. More promotional efforts and details to follow.

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ARLENE FINCH REYNOLDS 273 Erie Rd Columbus OH 43214-3600 arlenerey@aol.com

When Harriet “HaHa” Heywood Stambaugh did not see any class notes last year, she decided to write to me. HaHa went to Oberlin College, where she met and married David, who became an Episcopal priest. David died 25 years ago. They had 2 daughters and 1 son, who she says “turned out well.” When the economy flattened, Susan and husband Bill moved in with her. They are the parents of her 4 married grandchildren, who all live in IN. She also has 6 great-grandchildren. They are together for most holidays. HaHa calls it “chaos but fun. I think of my Northfield classmates often. I would love to see you in the alumnae magazine.”

Jackie Snyder Johnson took several trips during ’11—to Paris, Luxembourg, Prague, and across Canada from Toronto to Vancouver to visit her son and grandchildren. Now she is helping her daughter, who recently had the left lobe of her left lung removed due to cancer.

Irene Eldredge Derby had a ruptured aneurysm, which caused an infected right eye and has kept her from driving. She is very optimistic that it will get better. Irene and I telephone each other often.

I heard recently on Facebook from Ele Cox Lawrie’s daughter that Ele has overcome cancer.

Now she has a melanoma spot on her knee.

Barbara Goodwin Fellows and I go out to eat once a year. She goes to ME each summer and takes many trips. At Christmas she went to Chicago to be with her son and daughter.

In 10/10 I discovered that I had had strokes in both of my eyes. After many tests and medicine, the inflammation has subsided. My eyesight remains very blurry. I cannot see or read at all with my left eye. The hardest task is that I cannot drive. Thank goodness, I live with my children.

Last year I was very surprised to receive the Lay Leadership Award (a beautiful glass cross) during the All Saints Day service at my church. It was followed by a grand reception with many old friends I had worked with in Habitat, Church World Service’s Cambodian Refugee Resettlement Program, Columbus Metropolitan Area Council of Churches (CMACC), Bethlehem on Broad Street (BOBS), and other United Church of Christ committees.

As a board member of CMACC for many years, I have done the bookkeeping and the clergy identification badge program, which provides ministers a photo ID to enter all the community hospitals. Last May, the CMACC board honored me with an Alvin Hadley Social Justice Award at the 20th annual living faith breakfast.

class notes

I am leaving Irma Klein Schachter for last because I want to lift her up again for all she enthusiastically does as class fund chair. She has just called to say it is that time of year. We want 100% again.

We’ve lost a number of classmates since my last column. Anne Boyce Mackie emailed to let me know of the death of Martha Avison Woodson on 12/29/11. Anne writes: “I had lost most of my memory after I did not wake up for 3 days last summer, but I do remember being in the room next to Marty and Sally Sutton Mead ’43, a senior student cop, in Center Gould. Marty wasn’t thrilled with math, and I loved it so I was a help. Marty was a friend for all these years, and I shall miss her. We used to visit her grandpa’s jewelry store in Greenfield.”

June Kyle Corrigan died in 8/11. She was active in Meredith NH, serving on the conservation commission, as a library trustee, and helping start the original Friends of the Library. She was past president of the Meredith Garden Club, a member of Altrusa, and a member of the garden committee at Kirkwood Gardens at the Squam Lakes Science Center in Holderness.

Kay MacKay Goranson of North Port FL passed away on 8/13/11.She received degrees from Wheaton and Lesley College and went on to become a pioneer in the field of reading disabilities, founding and directing for 20 years a program to prepare teachers to educate dyslexic adolescents. She received honors from the International Dyslexia Association. Kay served as president of the NE branch of Association for Children with Learning Disabilities. She was named Distinguished Woman Leader of the Year in NH in ’94. She was also active in musical theater, where she directed choirs, choruses, and community productions. Cynthia Slosson Emmet passed away 8/30/11. After Northfield she went to Wheaton and the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Cynthia was co-owner of Studio Fitness in Santa Barbara CA and was on the board of directors of Laguna Cottages for Seniors for many years. She is survived by 3 daughters and 3 grandchildren.

Betty Cameron Spence passed away 9/24/11.

A graduate of New England Baptist School of Nursing, where she received her RN degree in ’48, Betty worked tirelessly for those less fortunate and taught her children and grandchildren by example.

She was an accomplished pianist and traveled widely.

Betty is survived by her husband, daughters Carolyn Spence Newton ’71 and Elizabeth Spence ’73, and son John Spence III ’77.

Ila Wright Helberg died 11/1/11. She was librarian at the Bowles Elementary School in East Springfield MA for 30 years. She is survived by her 3 children, their spouses, 6 grandchildren, and 1 great-granddaughter.

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PETE DEVENIS 9 South Meadow Ridge Concord, MA 01742-3000 ingadevenis@aol.com

I’m saddened to write about several classmates who passed away. Russ Housman died on 11/11/10, Joseph Fleck on 1/14/11, and Richard Hannum on 2/8/11. Russ was a star athlete at Hermon in football, wrestling, and track, was captain of the football team, co-captain of the wrestling team, and a member of the student council. At Colgate, Russ was a 4-letter athlete in the same sports plus lacrosse, of which he was captain. He worked in the advertising and financial fields in NY and was a longtime resident of Garden City NY. After retirement in ’91, Russ and wife Joyce moved to Vero Beach FL. Russ loved to play golf. He is survived by a daughter, 3 sons, and 7 grandchildren.

Joe was a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory doing research on projects in chemistry, biochemistry, and physics. He was well known and respected in these fields as a project leader and author of many scholarly publications.

At MH he sang in choir and a cappella, was elected Cum Laude, and voted by classmates to have the best vocabulary. Unfortunately, he spent his last 3 years in a nursing home suffering from Parkinson’s disease and dementia. He leaves his wife and a son.

Richard served in the Army Signal Corps during WWII and attended Stockbridge School of Agriculture in Amherst and then worked as personnel manager for Consolidated Cigar Corp while living in Whatley MA. He served the town as fire chief and was a member of the Congregational Church, Grange, school committee, and Lions Club. He is survived by his wife, 4 sons, and 7 grandchildren.

Howard (Buzz) Spellman reports he is strong enough to do a full hour of aerobics once a week and that he still drives a car. He learned to cook and takes care of wife Mollie, who came out of the hospital in ’11. They live in Acadia CA just north of LA. Buzz enjoys movies and books and regrets that he is not well enough to play golf anymore with his grandson or to come to reunions.

I had a long phone conversation with Dick Towne, one of our better golfers, who lives in Beaverdam VA. He is still in good health after successful bypass surgery15 years ago. He doesn’t golf much because his golfing group gets up at 5:30 am to play. Both he and wife Anne take care of abandoned dogs. Right now they have 4 of their own inside the house, as well as 4 others in a kennel near their home and 10 in another kennel at a friend’s house. This keeps Dick up late and not too eager to get up early in the morning. Dick, you’d better find some time to sharpen your golf game for our return match with me, Inga, Cal Swan, and Carnot Evans.

Inga and I are still trying to play the top 100 golf courses. Realizing that the current list is difficult to get on because they are mostly private, we started counting any course that has been on the top 100 list in the US or the world since 1985 by Golf Digest or Golf Magazine, which do the rankings. At the end of ’11, we have played 75 but still hope to reach the magic 100 by the time I reach 100.

At the end of ’11, 55 members of our graduating class of 138 are still alive. Congratulations on having good genes, perhaps a healthy lifestyle, and good fortune to be one of 40% survivors: 71 are deceased, 7 are lost, and 5 have been removed from the class list by request. The total class list has 68 with the addition of 13 who had been with the class initially but left Mt Hermon to go to other schools or were added to the class list later.

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BETTY BOLGER FLEMING 456 Riverside Dr Princeton NJ 08540-5421 bettyb.fleming@verizon.net

All of us knew Sunny Sundt-Busch, since she led us on every singing occasion, even those of us who could not sing a note. Her son Paul Murtha ’69 was featured in the NMH Magazine ’09 for his work in northern Ecuador, improving education for young girls. Sunny recently wrote a wonderful tribute to her years at Northfield and made it amply clear how much those years meant to her.

One of the nice things about being a class secretary is that you occasionally get to know a classmate you never knew while in Northfield. Such is my case with Alice Elder Leake, who has been a big booster to me as I try to track down the news.

Although she had no news to report this time around, she wrote to ask about my granddaughter (3). Now that’s a real friend.

When the alphabet determined our seating at Northfield, I sat next to Barbara Boger Ramsdell.

I met her family once after Northfield, but we lost contact for quite a few years. In my first years as class secretary, Bobbie responded to a call for news. That’s when I learned about her years of struggling with hearing loss that joyously returned after an ocular implant. Sadly, I later learned about the death of her husband. Bobbie came to the rescue again this year when most of my classmates appeared to be dealing with the intricacies of the holidays. She reports that she misses having David around after 61 years of marriage. She met David when she was 8 and he was 12. She is doing well and feels blessed to be well looked after by her kids, and admits to devouring the NMH Magazine.

Joan Thompson Baker was in my dorm and was a very special friend to my roommate, Pat Into

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Spencer. Widowed recently, Joan has settled down in a retirement community and is enjoying her new surroundings. Classmates will be interested in her comments: “Somehow it came out at some gathering that there are 5 NMH alums in my church here in Middlebury. I knew Stan Mattson (new president of C S Lewis College) when in Simsbury. He’s a most interesting man. I do hope he’s successful. I’m sorry that I don’t have any juicy news, but life is good here at The Lodge and I feel very blessed to be able to be here.” By the way, I am indebted to Joan for her advice. I asked if she thought that it would be considered bragging if I mentioned here that my granddaughter has just been accepted at Yale, and here is her spirited response: “By all means brag about your granddaughter’s acceptance at Yale.

That’s good news—not bragging.” Thank you, Joan.

Elaine Phillips Spire, also from Revell Holton, reports that her children and grandchildren are doing well and have interesting careers. Elaine is no longer driving and is learning to do without it. It’s not easy, but she is supported by a host of friends who enable her to go to museums, bridge, and concerts. Plus, her complex has a caretaker who is very good to her. Elaine looks forward to our class news and says that she counts her blessings every day.

Joan Crowther Walther heard from Audrey Farr Watters and Elaine Wilson Kuck at Christmas. She and Elaine had a great time talking about memories of Northfield. “Love to read the class notes from ’44, ’45, and ’46. Having my hip replaced in Jan, so I’ll be ready to start my walking soon after.”

Here’s an interesting note from Millie Welch Clough: “I hope you will get lots of responses but since we mostly do less in our 80s I am probably like a lot of classmates and don’t feel I do anything newsworthy. I live alone and except for 1 daughter, who travels up here for medical appointments, I only see most of my daughters and their families on holidays. My 5 living daughters and 7 grandchildren live in VA, Boston, NY, Oregon, and 5 in CA but not very close to me. Genealogy is my hobby, and I hope to publish my grandmother’s book, The Life of Edith Day Allen, containing her stories, journals, and diaries soon. I come east each summer to our family camp in VT, usually go to Salt Lake City with friends for a week in Mar (for genealogy), and this year took a cruise with a friend up the coast of Norway. Lois Magoon Rivers and I usually get together once a year for an afternoon, but we missed last year.”

Thank you, Millie, and that’s all my news as well.

Except I must say that I am following the example of the MH class secretary, Bill Haslun, who no longer posts obituaries in his class column. Please look for ours now at the end of class notes. In ending, I’d like to add that Bill has been a wonderful mentor to me, and he is married to our own Jane Everett Haslun. So there’s another friend I acquired as class secretary. Fellow classmates, I’m looking forward to getting to know more of you, so please send news.

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BILL HASLUN 43 Sawmill Park Southwick MA 01077-9355 genebuff3@juno.com

Hope the year is going well, and you are ready for summer. The news has not been brisk, but here is what I have. Bob Mulcahy checked in. He plays golf twice a week and shoots in the 90s with regularity. Not bad, Bob. He is thinking about writing a new book, this time a murder mystery. He complained about the dry spell in an email last Oct. I responded that we were going to get a storm. Little did I know that we would have 15" of snow and terrible tree damage; 800,000 homes were without electricity here in CT, some for 10 days. As of this writing in Dec, the FEMA, state, and local highway crews are still cleaning up. You had to be here to believe it.

Bob Wilkinson is well and continues his adjunct teaching at George Washington in DC and spends time on Martha’s Vineyard in the summer with wife Carolyn and family members. I continue my great friendship with John Jones. We manage to do lunch about twice a month. I told John that at long last I had an email from John Goldsberry. But I couldn’t open it, much to my chagrin. I responded and told John to try again. Many in the class would love to hear what John has been doing these many years.

Big Dan Richardson has gone silent, but with an election coming up, I am sure he will be active again soon. I called Rod Scheffer and Claudia to see how our mountain man was doing. Very nicely, I would say. Except for felling trees, Rod still hauls, cuts, and splits many cords of wood, and that splitting is with wedges, not machine. If you can beat that for perseverance, let me know. I am tired thinking about it.

As for Jane and me, we have moved 20 minutes from our home of 44 years to a retirement community. We have a lovely cottage on a campus of 129 such, plus an apartment building available in our latter years. Stay well, and have a great summer.

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When I think of the Northfield campus, Sage Chapel comes to mind, not only because of the beauty of the building but because it was, in many ways, the center, even the soul, of the school. When my daughter Beth and I visited the campus a few years ago and found the chapel closed because it was considered to be structurally unsafe, I was sad indeed. All furnishings—the pews, the lighting, everything—had been removed. The building was an empty shell. And later, the campus itself was vacated: yet more sadness.

Beth and I recently visited the campus on a sunny Nov afternoon. We saw the well-kept lawns and all the handsome buildings, but something had changed. The campus was no longer deserted.

Men were at work restoring the interior of the Auditorium. When we asked about the chapel, 2 of them very kindly interrupted their work to take us inside. It has been completely restored, including freshly varnished pews. Everything is much as you and I remember it from our student days, other than the large pipe organ that was installed sometime during the ’90s. We were told of the extensive restoration under way in many of the buildings, in anticipation of the ’13 arrival of students who will attend the new C. S. Lewis College.

May our beloved campus have every success in its new life. I am glad that students will be on the campus once again where they will be able to enjoy its natural and architectural beauty and to benefit from the inspiration that Sage Chapel can provide.

It has been my privilege to serve as your class correspondent for almost 8 years, but now it is time to ask someone else to take over. Both my elderly computer and I are no longer up to the job. I hope that one of you will volunteer. It is a pleasant thing to do and so very important to maintain our connections with one another and with our school.

My best wishes to you all. Please keep in touch.

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CHARLES A. KENNEDY PO Box 112 Newbury NH 03255-0112 chask@myfairpoint.net

This June marks our 65th reunion—23,725 days since graduation, but who’s counting? That’s a lot of catching up to do, and a number of us are already planning to be there: Andy Anderson, Chris Armen, Bob Bashian, George Becker, Steve Berman, Roly Coates, Jack Daggett, David Gray, Chuck Kennedy, and Bob Lewis have al-

ready indicated they’re coming. So check the NMH website for details and start packing.

A couple of you have commented on “lessons learned” at Hermon: David Gray remembered how much he learned while singing with Al Raymond and Carleton L’Hommedieu ’18 as he listened to Christmas music this year. Andy Anderson was reminded of “Laffin’ Louie” Smith (aka LSMFT— Louis Smith, My Favorite Teacher) when he spotted a doubly split infinitive in his reading. But, like others of us who had to memorize grammar rules for those themes, Andy skipped freshman English when he got to Johns Hopkins.

Jack Daggett will retire as our class gift chair at reunion along with his crack team of Roly Coates and Bill Samardak. Jack will start fundraising

class notes

for his class at Bowdoin, so his talents will not be wasted. Thanks to Jack and his crew for their past years of service to the class and school. Let’s give them a proper send-off by setting a new record for our class giving at reunion.

George Becker will play a concert of “organ lite” music at reunion, another reason to make the trip back. You can get a preview on his YouTube channel: sfbonedoc.

Bob Bashian recalls the measles outbreak of ’46 that kept him from Sacred Concert. Were any of you involved in that epidemic or have memories of life at the infirmary?

Speaking of medical matters, Dave Giordano is still on the board of an acute care facility as well as on the emeritus staff of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, one of the top 50 in the nation. In his spare time, he sails his 30' Catalina several times a week. Eye troubles limit his traveling, so he will miss reunion.

Chuck Miller spent the first part of this year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the Nyankunde Hospital. In the past decade, Chuck has made 35 trips all over the world with the medical teams of Samaritan’s Purse. He made several trips to Haiti after the earthquake and cholera outbreak.

Shirley and Steve Berman will take a break from volunteering in CT to enjoy March in FL before coming to reunion.

Roly Coates and Liz made their annual March Mooch trip from NH to FL, stopping en route to see Ev Clement and Jack Daggett and hoping for invitations from classmates in FL. David Gray continues his publishing ventures, editing a volume by Gordon Heaton, Striving for Wisdom. David and Liz had a pleasant surprise when their long misplaced wedding pictures were discovered in an attic, providing a lovely set of memories and the shock of how young they looked back then.

On a sadder note, word came of the passing of Don Allen on 12/31/10, just a year ago as this is being written. As the yearbook noted, he was “a small package but fully packed with energy and vigor.”

Thanks to those of you who sent Christmas cards with news for this column. See you at reunion.

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JAN HIBBS TESTA 1926 Parkwood Dr Scotch Plains NJ 07076-2618 hillbeech@aol.com PHIL BAKER 1900 N Signal Hills Dr Kirkwood MO 63122-6831 bakpn30@earthlink.net

From Jan: Hester Watson Farmer asks if I can believe we are in our 80s now. No, I can’t, and appar-

ently neither can Hester, who says she doesn’t feel old and she certainly isn’t acting old, either. There was the annual winter FL sojourn to swim and play, then in June ’11 she and Bill flew to Seattle for an Alaskan cruise. July saw the entire family together in the Cornell Chapel for the wedding of grandson Phillip. From the wedding pictures, I guarantee Hester doesn’t show those 80-some years at all. In Aug the family gathered again on NJ’s Long Beach Island.

Joan McCain Hurst spent Easter ’11 with her 4 grandsons. Joan spent the summer at Hursthill in NY, and the boys came to visit again, as did their mother, her daughter Julia. Another summer visitor was granddaughter Anna for grape jelly making.

Joan still performs with the dancing group from her retirement community and has added 2 new churchrelated activities. Lunches and outings with friends and family activities add up to an active and very happy lifestyle. Joan was voted “most friendly” by the class of ’48, and it seems that hasn’t changed one bit.

Marjorie Ingham Stahl-Warren reported on her trip to China, which was planned around the participation of her daughter’s husband in the International Triathlon events. Marge, a sr triathlon champion herself, introduced him to the sport.

While in China they walked the Great Wall. More mountain climbing and visits to the Pacific NW were also part of Marge’s year. She had planned to return to MD to live, but a cold winter saw Marge buying a home on FL’s gulf coast.

News from campus is exciting: a new head of school. I look forward to meeting him at reunion.

It’s been a good year for NMH, with 665 students enrolled from 32 states and 44 countries. With 95 faculty members teaching 186 academic classes and an average class size of just 12, NMH is carrying on the excellent student education we experienced way back when. Those students are bright, too, with the combined SAT for the class of ’11 standing at 1,854. Don’t forget your gifts support more than 34% of the student body receiving financial aid. If you haven’t sent a check to our school this fiscal year, please do so. If you intend your gift for the Class of ’48 Scholarship Fund, be sure to mark your check as such, and thank you.

Sadly, our class numbers have diminished again with the passing of several classmates. Dorothy LaGuardia Gillespie, Julia VanFleet Gurian, Joyce Phillips McCann, and Margaret Hamlin Simons are remembered fondly. As bright and

lovely young women, they added much to our school years, and they went on to productive lives.

Our warm sympathy goes to their families.

I can’t count the number of new knees and hips we have in the class of ’48, but I think Amy Blatchford Hecht might be the only classmate with a new shoulder. Amy’s reverse shoulder replacement in Aug ’11 required a long and hard recovery period and she stayed in the skilled nursing facility at their residence for 7 weeks. In Oct ’11, she wrote that

her shoulder is much better and that the reverse shoulder replacement is amazing. She can do almost anything, which is good news indeed.

Callie Nakos McCrocklin says all the cooking experience she had in East Hall is still in use. For the 20th year, Callie was chef for the Langsford Center’s annual holiday party, although she is threatening to retire after next year. This is a family business run by son Steve. She was planning to recoup with her family in Cape Santa Maria, Long Island, Bahamas, for a much-needed 2-week R & R in Dec ’11.

Marjorie Bowen Hunt spent Christmas ’11 in London once again with her daughter’s family, but 4-legged best friend Atticus stayed home. Marge noted the time lag in the notes, as I’m sure you’ve all noticed, but with the magazine published just twice a year and with publication 5 to 6 months after the column is due, it makes the news somewhat dated.

However, my thought is that old news is better than none, and I hope you will still enjoy reading the news I’ve gathered. Christmas ’11 messages not yet received will be in the column due in the spring for publication in late fall of ’12. This is a good time for my request. Do include your class sec on your holiday newsletter list. We all want to hear from you.

Joan Clausen Vander Vliet lived in historic S Deerfield for 11 years, but with her activities centered in Greenfield, she decided to purchase a condo there and moved in Jan ’12. The warming center for the homeless she worked on last year in a church built in 1870 could not meet safety systems required today, so her focus now is “housing first” or finding homes for those in need rather than the shelter. She has also taken on a leadership role in the MA Woman’s Home Missionary Union, continues as a volunteer with Music in Deerfield, and has become more involved with NMH. A highlight of my year was a granddaughter’s beautiful outdoor wedding in July with my greatgrandson (3½) making a very handsome if somewhat reluctant ring bearer. Planning NMH Travellers is still fun for me, and I urge you to think about the great trip to Spain in Sept ’12. We made 2 lovely visits to NH in July and Oct and are still spending time between Newport Coast CA and NJ. Walking our own 4-legged “best friend” Sparky is a major occupation for me, and I’m happy to report these old bones are still up to the task. Thanksgiving saw us in CA with youngest grandson Nicholas, home for his 1st visit from UCLA. Life is good, so enjoy every day.

From Phil: Last Christmas we had a houseful of family, including children, grandchildren, and 2 great-grands. It was wonderful. This is written on 12/31/11 as Sandy and I prepare to spend the early part of New Year’s Eve with longtime friends living in a nursing home.

It appears that with Charles Tierney at the helm, the school is in very good hands. I just hung the attractive NMH ’12 calendar with its mostly familiar photos, which I admit doesn’t describe

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January’s “Cold Associative.”

I continue involvement in the Civil War Roundtable of St Louis. As an amateur historian, I commend 2 ’11 books: Up From the Battlefields Rising by Randall Fuller and 1861: The Civil War Awakening by Adam Goodheart. Both focus on changing public understandings, rather than generals and battles. The Fuller book relates to NE. I have a request. Because computers weren’t around when we graduated, I have only a handful of email addresses from among 130+ surviving classmates. If you don’t now receive my very occasional emails but are capable of doing so, I would greatly value being able to add your email to the few I have—for class news gathering only. Please email me at bakpn30@earthlink.net.

Joan and Ted Dow see a lot of deer in their W Townsend MA yard and sent a wonderful picture of 15 of them. They sold their boat of 20 years and also had a houseful of children and grands for a wonderful Christmas. Still enjoying good health, they traveled to the Grand Tetons in May and made reservations for 2 weeks in London in 5/12.

Joanne and Bob Ball live in Avon CT and were involved in the extended loss of electricity experienced by tens of thousands of residents in central CT and parts of MA in late ’11. Bob’s interests focus on collectibles and on the military. I recently learned he writes articles for Krause Publishing and that over time he has put together 10 books—firearms (3), military medals (2), shelf and wall cloth (1), nautical antiques (1), cowboy collectibles (2), and Texas collectibles (1). Very impressive.

Charlie Kellogg reports from Gilford NH that having attained middle age (81), he’s doing well and says that while his tennis isn’t what it used to be, his skiing hasn’t suffered the ravages of time. He also notes that his health is good, and that he is happy.

As one who can only lurch up and down our street now and then, I think Charlie would be a shoo-in candidate for class athlete.

and 2 children joined them in the summer for a trip to Boston and ME, visiting relatives along the way.

Then to Lake George for several days, and finally a 3-day sail on a windjammer out of Camden ME. Ann Pattison Casey moved back to Cincinnati in the fall. She bought a condo not far from her old home on Garden Pl. I have her new address if you’d like to be in touch. Corky went to CA for 6 weeks over the holidays and sends love to all of the ’49ers.

Carroll McConnell Manning had a surprise treat while visiting son Tom in Gloucester MA in Nov. She had a great visit with Libby Howe Verrill, who was their house guest. Betsy Greensmith Dole and her husband received honorary doctorates from Olivet College at the school’s commencement in May. They both served on the board of trustees and Betsy served 5 years as chair of the board, the first woman to serve in that position. While there, they discovered that Helen King Gethman served as alumni secretary at Olivet College after she retired from teaching French at Northfield in ’50. Betsy met her there in ’57.

I received a newsy letter from Joyce Heissenbuttel Neill. In April she and Clark headed to FL for Club Med, their semi-annual reunion/vacation with their son’s family. Lots of sun, swimming, golf, plus super programs for kids. In July, they went to Wooster OH to enjoy Ohio Light Opera productions. Clark chairs the curling club’s men’s invitational summer competition and became a member of their church’s stewardship committee. The highlight of Joyce’s year was a fabulous birthday party—Farewell to the 70s Fiesta.

Julie Whitehead Olson walks every day, exercises in the pool, and has given up the chairmanship of 1 committee and taken up work on several others.

She hopes to come to our next reunion. She says: “The main thing I like about living in a retirement community is that I can do the things I want to do rather the things I have to do.”

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CAROLYN “CARRIE” NOBLE SANTORO 88 Henry Ave Harrison NY 10528-4421 drsantoro@verizon.net

I received a lovely note from Carol Hulbert Maxwell. She and husband Dick live in Laguna Beach CA, where they are involved in environmental issues. They are “thriving and ever so thankful to be in basically excellent health.” They have 3 children. Daughter Amy and husband have 2 kids—a high school senior and a son who is a college junior hoping to go on to medical school. Son Peter is a trainer at the local YMCA, whom Carol and Dick see regularly as Y members. Son Woody, his wife,

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JIM HANCHETT 300 First Ave, Apt 8B New York NY 10009-1844 jch46@cornell.edu

DAVID DURHAM 149 Ontario St. Honeoye Falls NY 14472-1139 dedur@aol.com

A wild wind of Aug, like Hurricane Irene, might be expected to ruffle Martha’s Vineyard a bit, but Don Mayhew reports “nothing of any account at all” except for a rotten tree blown into the crotch of another tree at his place. He notes that if the wind is “a little south of northwest, we don’t get quite so much.”

Quick memory check: name one NE secondary school that won 5 of its 8 soccer games, lost 2,

and tied 1 in ’48: Well, it was captained by our Bill Browning, played on the field adjoining

Crossley (and in a quagmire at Deerfield) and outscored all foes, 19–7. Bill (Ann Arbor MI) recalls running in the Bemis Pie Race. The front runners were mostly our NMH sports Hall of Famers, undefeated in dual cross-country competition for the 13th consecutive year and winners of the NE interscholastic track meet. Remember?

Everyone in our age group, Bill has observed, is slowing down. He also recalls T.D. (aka Thomas Donovan, English master). T.D., says Bill “was a bantam rooster who truly ruled the barnyard. I was truly intimidated by the little man. He put the fear of God in me in terms of doing my homework.”

Ken Hungerford (Amesbury MA) is proud of the salute he received from the American Legion of CT last summer. He was chosen Legionnaire of the Year, based on a nomination by the HayesVelhage Post No. 96 of West Hartford. That’s the Legion of CT’s highest individual award. He’s been in touch with Grant Law, moved a while back to Scarborough ME near daughter Allison.

Paul Rikert reports on Sacred Concert ’11, when he held the music for Paul Jaques. John Bassette ’51, Roland Coates ’47, and Dave Powell ’48, who also lent their considerable talents.

Paul notes there were a record 4 Rikerts on the ski slopes of CO in the winter of 2010–11. Early in the slope season, he finished 3rd in a MA slalom race and 2nd in another in NY. He says he ran (and walked a bit) in the ’10 Pie Race. “I’m glad they didn’t start the race any later,” saith Paul. “I hate running in the dark, and flashlights are so heavy.”

Leon Farwell (Farmingdale ME) is pleased with the old school on the hill. “I like the way it’s going,” he says, after a visit when he learned of faculty and student mentoring of new students. “I think it’s wonderful,” says the noted scholar, who maintains he was admitted to Hermon despite having been expelled from Sunday school. Lee’s fair lady Sheila threw him a big 80th birthday bash. It seemed to him only right to reply in kind, but spring chicken Sheila won’t be 80 for another 10 years. So there will be an 80th for her well in advance.

Harland Williams (Syosset NY) tells of more doctoring than ever since “things are catching up with me.” But, says he stoically, “that’s to be expected at this time of life.” Meanwhile, he’s been elected vice commodore of his Coast Guard Auxiliary flotilla.

Bill Mellin (Houston, TX) was 1 of 10,000 mature athletes drawn to the Summer National Senior Games in his adopted hometown. The participants, age 50 and over, came from all over the US. Some were in their 90s. Of the 686 swimmers, Bill was 4th out of 20 in the 100 freestyle for the 80–84 age group. He was 6th in the 200 freestyle and 50 freestyle. Then he and spouse Fran headed out for a 6-week motor trek to NH and back.

class notes

Harry MacLaughlin (Katonah NY), one of the 1st of ’49 to reach 81 (remember, he was a PG), reports continuing good health but admits to frustration with the world situation. Jack Shultis (Manahawkin NJ), reached shortly before Thanksgiving, reported that he was largely housebound due to the end of the golf season. But there were plenty of leaves to rake.

Dick Stanley (Mequon WI) checks in with 4 adult children and 11 grandlings.

Ken Hungerford kindly did some leg work for the Annual Fund and reports that Wayne French is editor of the Orleans VT Reflections newspaper with all the local news that’s fit to print. He was still living next door to twin Art French (in their parents’ 150-year-old home). Fred Glotzer (Norwalk CT) remains on the job. He says it keeps him mentally alert. Barry Stein (Cambridge MA) was settling for part-time work and spends what time he can on the water. Don Swicker (South Deerfield MA) says work around home and yard keeps him active. Howard Thompson (Darien CT) is a dedicated walker when the weather is clement.

Bob Kay (Philadelphia), a sincere critic of education in the US, suggests other schools “follow the lead of a British university where the hardestworking and probably best-educated kids in the history of academia were able to be excused from all tests as a reward for demonstrated learning by their discussion, arguments, and questions and good papers in regular courses. They did not, of course, have to cope with useless courses like algebra and plane g.” What would Harry Snow say to that?

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JANET-MARIE FITZGERALD WHITLEY 6794 Willow Rd Vacaville CA 95687 janwhitley@aol.com

ROBERT C. WHITE 100 Old Amherst Rd Sunderland MA 01375-9558 rcwhite@admin.umass.edu

From Jan: I am writing this on New Year’s Day from my office in my new home. Please note the change of address above. We moved in Nov ’11, even though we have no kitchen appliances except refrigerator and microwave. Son Doug is making the cabinets but is busy planting 200 acres of hay crops. Husband Gene fell in May and destroyed his left knee. He gets a new one on 1/5/12. After 48 years, I finally retired from the City of Vacaville.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed my work, I love being able to do what I want, when I want, and with the new home there is lots to do.

Joan Abbott passed away in Feb ’11 as reported

in the last magazine. I would have reported to the class but didn’t know about it until reading it. Joan started out in Hillside, and then I believe moved to Marquand. She was a great person.

Jane Heywood Brown is planning another trip in ’12 with sister Margie Heywood ’43 to Ft Meyers FL. In Oct ’11 the 4 living sisters took off for their annual get-together—this time at French Lick IN. Sister Harriet “HaHa” Heywood Stambaugh ’45 lives in Indianapolis, so they got to see her family down to her great-grandchildren.

Janie keeps busy with church activities—Ms Fixits, flower guild, altar guild, fairs, etc. She is in good health and gets in a lot of golf.

Marion Clausen Gray’s sister Joan Clausen Drorbaugh ’47 served on the committee to select the new headmaster of NMH. Marion and Woody are doing well. After 47 years of good friends, gorgeous scenery, and weather in AZ, Beverly Billinger Shaver and husband moved to Evanston IL to be near children and grandchildren. If any NMH alums are near 425 Davis St, they’d love to see you. I know it is difficult to make these changes. We had to sell our summer MA home to be closer to family in these “twilight years.”

Joan Bliss Wilson had a great time going to and singing in Sacred Concert ’11. This was her 1st time back for the event. Now that she lives only 2 hours away from campus, she is tempted to do it again, as long as it comes at a time when some grandchild isn’t graduating. To her knowledge, no one else from our class was there. She found the campus beautiful and well kept, as well as the buildings.

Barbara Bergwall Nicholls apologized for not keeping in touch. Her 1st husband died in ’88 and her 2nd died in ’10. She went to Peru in ’11. She has 11 grandchildren and 2 great-grands. Travel, bridge, and tennis keep her busy after her church work. She says Sun City FL is a great place to retire.

Katherine Jente Siebel lives in LA, where she teaches piano and had a recital at her home in Dec ’11. Her students participated in a jazz festival and won a variety of prizes. They will play again in Feb ’12. Her church choir joined with another church choir and performed “Christmas Oratorio” by SaintSaens with string orchestra and harp. She enjoys the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra concerts and musical shows put on by traveling companies from NY. She continues to play competitive bridge and extends an invitation to all classmates to visit her.

Margaret Brown Fleming sent her Xmas letter penned by her cat Maui. This cat has a literary career ahead. Margaret and John swim at a health club every morning, do activities at church, work on their garden, and visit grandchildren via Skype. John is building a greenhouse over what was their lap pool, where they plan to grow lots of vegetables. John is working with teens in their church to make a documentary about immigration issues.

Jean Cook Glidden’s daughter Jennifer is off

to Harrisburg PA with a new job with a large staff.

Daughter Victoria is still in OR but just bought a condo in a beautiful FL community at about 20% below ’80 prices. This is their 2nd condo and will be a rental. Daughter Beth and son Nikolas are doing well. Nikolas is learning to ride a bicycle. This is the child that was born many months premature. Beth’s husband gave up engineering and is pursuing a nursing career. Jean and Dick go to the gym regularly, and when I told her I do zumba with Curves, she said she is going to up her treadmill speed. Jean reports that Lois Seekamp Dole makes soap and is internationally known. So Lois, let me know what this means. Husband George is semiretired and involved in Hospice and jobs for neighbors.

Hope this finds you and yours happy and healthy.

Please send current email addresses to me at janwhitley@aol.com.

From Bob: Recently, I received a note from Nancy Carlough Askin ’53 with the sad news that her brother, Pete Carlough to us, passed away in Nov. As you may recall, Pete had been living with diabetes, and in spite of being a double amputee, “had served his community actively” in many capacities for many years. His memorial service was held this month in Burlington “with standing room only” in his church where the service was held. Nancy shared that it was “a marvelous tribute to someone who gave his all to volunteering.” (To understand the breadth of that statement, please go to the web under Winfield A. Carlough.) Pete, Nancy, and I were from the same hometown, Ramsey NJ, where we attended the same grammar school. As a result of his dad, Winfield Carlough ’24, both of us attended Mt Hermon, and as you’ve heard repeated over and over, “One of the best decisions that I’ve made over a lifetime.” Pete lived the “Head, Heart, and Hand” while on campus and never stopped throughout his entire life. His passing leaves a hole in our midst.

Richard Gilder, who had the good fortune to have Pete visit him in ME with other classmates the very month that he passed away, has again demonstrated his strong support for NMH through a gift to the campus arts and theater programs, as reported in the last issue of the NMH Magazine.

Dick is renowned as being one of NYC’s outstanding philanthropists, including being one of those instrumental in the renewal of Central Park and the establishment of the Central Park Conservancy.

Eugene Erickson sent a note apologizing for missing our last reunion due to a commitment to attend a wedding. Gene reports that he is now vice commander of the local Marine Corps League, but apparently is outranked by his wife Marty, who is president of the unit’s auxiliary.

I received a book in the mail, Finding the Treasure: Letters from a Global Monk, by Augustine (Bruce) Roberts. He has been a Trappist monk since the ’50s. The 2nd chapter is titled “New England-Valley Falls, Mount Hermon: A Highway

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of the Heart, and New Haven.” He came to Hermon as the son of a missionary Episcopal bishop serving in China, served as a deacon here, then went on to Yale, where he converted to Catholicism.

“These letters from a global monk will not disappoint anyone fascinated by the paradox of a monk who, rooted by vow to his monastery, becomes a globetrotter precisely out of deep obedience.”

Another example of how little we knew of the “trials” experienced by some of our classmates. Go online to review or to read.

For those of you seeking out these pages, note that our class keeps getting closer to the beginning of the listings. Isn’t it time that you send some news for the column while there is still a readership?

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PAT MCCORMICK HOEHING 7125 San Benito Dr Sylvania OH 43560-1129 sylv.snail@bex.net

Here’s the scoop on the 18 gals who attended our 60th reunion in ’11.

Jean Abbey Wrisley, with son Mike and 2 grandchildren, traveled to Sweden last summer ’11 to visit son Brad and family. Jean now lives in Ft Edward NY. Retirement finds Syd Baldwin WilsonSmith busy and satisfied with community, church, family, and friends. Following 17 years with child protective services for NH, she spent several more facilitating parent discussions.

Dot Snyder Hall attended with daughter Denise.

Dot still lives in the same Philadelphia house she and Wes moved into as newlyweds. Wes died in ’08, but Dot continues to enjoy travel trailer activities in conjunction with a travel club. Barbara Foss Wells has been busy assisting seniors in Wellesley Hills MA. She has 3 grandchildren, one of whom had the honor of playing the viola at Carnegie Hall.

Although humble, Barbara was understandably

Northfield women from the class of ’51 gathered during reunion. From left to right: Carol Maxham Whittall (sitting alone on bench), Nancy Collier (standing at end of table), Rae Pullen Alexakos, Pat McCormick Hoehing, Dorothy Snyder Hall, and Jean Abbey Wrisley (seated), and Ann Mitchell Seemann and Laura Salas Flores (standing in back).

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proud of this accomplishment. Rae Pullen Alexakos and Leo spend winters in Sarasota and summers in Quechee VT. Their 12 grandchildren, ranging from 9 months to 28 years, keep them young. Rae’s interest in kayaking helps.

Laura “Lukky” Salas Flores volunteers at a community soup kitchen in Salisbury CT, is active in Rotary, and enjoys maintaining contact with foreign students she once housed. Katharine Purrington embraces life and the many cultural events in historic Williamsburg VA. It was good to see Judy Webb Danforth and her East Gould roommate Dorothy “Duffy/Dee” Birge Keller. Judy actively promotes cultural activities in Buffalo NY. She invites you to stay at her B&B while you enjoy the city’s history as observed by participants at the National Trust for Historic Preservation conference in Oct ’11. Dee and her husband have spent many years as educational missionaries in Turkey, where Dee grew up. They taught at Manchester College in IN and have served as study abroad coordinators in Japan, China, and India. They live in Brattleboro VT and enjoy church and interfaith volunteer activities.

Carol Maxham Whittall retired from nursing in ’10. Church volunteer work and being on the church vestry contribute to a satisfying and busy life.

Ann Mitchell Seemann and Nancy “Nina” Collier meet a couple times a week for coffee. Ann is in choral groups at the Unitarian Church in Wakefield RI and in the Jamestown RI Community Chorus.

Nina feels a special connection to the C. S. Lewis College. She lived in C. S. Lewis’s rooms while at Magdalen College a few years ago.

Mary Ann Efird Higgins and Al Higgins ’50 trek from ME to NMH frequently as retired faculty and class teachers for ’61. They were honored to be adopted class teachers by the class of ’59. It has been inspiring for them to keep in touch with these students over the years. Mary Ann and Al participated in a mini Mountain Day last fall at Mt Blue State Park in Weld ME. Speaking of adopted class

teachers, our own Sally Curtis joined us in the festivities. Her ability to remember us after 60 years is amazing. Thanks for coming, Sally. We love you to the length of “pi.”

Adrienne “Jonni” Audette Feige, Judy Ives Hubbel, Marilyn “Skip” Smith Noll, Shirley Vanderpool Romoser, and I, all highlighted in recent columns, also attended reunion. Thanks to Judy for handling the class treasury these past years.

Please keep your news coming, have a good summer.

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FREDERICK W. MILLER 479 Carleton Ave Glen Ellyn IL 60137-4705 fwcemiller@sbcglobal.net

With sadness, I report the death of 2 of our classmates this past year: Lennie Harris in June, and Hal Holappa in Sept.

Lenard Harris of Randolph MA died 6/12/11.

A 2-year man at Hermon, Lennie roomed with Jack Cheney senior year. Bob Owen writes: “We all recall his many accomplishments on the football field, co-captain, and, with other team members, beat Deerfield 54–12 his senior year. He also excelled in basketball and in track. He was voted the most athletic by the class.” Lennie served in the Marine Corps in the Korean War and worked for the state of MA. He also operated several camps in ME. He last visited campus in the fall of ’10 to be inducted into the MH Athletic Hall of Fame. He is survived by his wife, 6 children, and 8 grandchildren.

Loring “Skip” Pratt (NYC) was sorry to miss our 60th reunion. Son Andrew Pratt ’81 missed his 30th reunion, too. Skip writes: “I’ve been fortunate to have worked for NMH over the years, having served as a trustee and on some committees. I’m sorry to hear about Lennie. He was terrific on our football team and a very nice guy.”

Russ Crowell ’51 and Ed Richter ’51 at their 60th reunion last June.

Stan Poole ’51, Fred Miller ’51, and Bob Burnham ’51 at their 60th reunion last June.

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JULIE TAYLOR CLEMENS 2258 Lamberton Rd Cleveland Heights OH 44118-3552 jtclemens@cs.com

Bruce Laidlaw ’51 and Chet Towne ’51 at their 60th reunion last June.

Harold Holappa of Lynnfield MA died on 9/10/11, 2 days after his 78th birthday. He was bedridden for more than 7 years. He was a 2-year student at Hermon, played baseball, soccer, football, and basketball. His oldest grandchild, Lauren Elizabeth Holappa, attended NHM in 2009–10.

Hal received a bachelor’s from Tufts and graduated from the U of Chicago’s advanced management program. He served in the US Army in Korea and played on the US Army baseball team. He was an emeritus member of the American Chemical Society.

Hal established his own consulting firm, which specialized in the global markets of adhesives, sealants, and coatings. He authored 13 books and held several patents. His obituary carried this information: “With his sparkling personality, wit, and humor, Hal was always ready for an intellectual conversation and always had a firm opinion. He was a man so very proud of his family. Hal loved food, wine, baseball, and tennis, and traveled to 60 countries.

Reading, travel, sports, and cooking complemented his life.” Hal is survived by his wife, their son, 2 daughters, and 5 grandchildren Leif Carlson (Chatham MA) played baseball with Hal for 2 years and writes: “Me being a taciturn Swede, we were verbal opposites, but he was a fine player with a galloping style of running around in the outfield. Always good memories of Hal.” While visiting his children in CO last fall, Bob Owen (Germantown TN) saw Bill Calkin in Golden CO and Jack Cheney in Lander WY. He reports both are doing well.

John Tuley (Nashville TN) had knee replacement in ’10 that temporarily limited his snow skiing and cross-country biking, but he’s back into both now. He writes: “We still do some SCUBA and in the past year did Indonesia and the Great Barrier Reef. We are scheduled to dive in the Maldives this summer ’12. Living in Nashville precludes much NE travel, so it has been some time since I visited NMH. A friend of mine here is trying to raise money for the development of the Northfield campus. Kind of tough getting much interest I believe.

Not good economic times for such.”

Al Ormond (Akron OH) writes that his oldest granddaughter is a freshman at Wheaton College in IL. Al and wife Kathy are well, busy with grandchildren, and winter in Bonita Springs, FL.

BRUCE G. HOLRAN 80 Sycamore Dr, Apt 313 Elizabethtown PA 17022-3016 (10/1–5/31) PO Box 293 Lake Clear NY 12945 (6/1–9/30) bruceholran@comcast.net

From Julie: Perusing Lift Thine Eyes is the perfect way to get in the mood to visit or revisit the NMH of today. Our class has the best reason for that visit—our 60th reunion, June 7–10, 2012.

Have you put it on your calendar and booked airfare and rooms yet? There will be plenty of reminders coming from the reunion planning committee in the next few months. Already many of you have received holiday mailings with friendly reminders and encouragement from classmates.

We will have free room for this reunion in McKinnon, one of the newest dorms on the NMH campus, complete with AC and elevators. In addition, all registration fees for activities, meals, and incidentals are also free for us. How can you beat that? If you ever wished to return but have let other things get in the way, this is the time to make sure you make the effort.

If the dorm is not enticing, there are options nearby. If you have questions about the Fox Inn (already close to full of 1952 reunioners) or other places, Russ Broad can give you details about lodging and costs, so email him at russ.broad@yahoo. com. June is the month of graduations and weddings, but it is also the time for reunions and this is the big one for us.

In our forest (of friends) some of the trees have already fallen. Many Hermonites attended a recent service for Al Parker. Northfield classmates at the minireunion learned that Ann Browne Whisenhunt died earlier in the year, and your scribe was just notified of the death of Margaret Taylor Bliss in 9/11. Margie attended our 50th and was at the small gathering of those who lived in Moore Cottage as sophomores. When I found notes about that gathering, there was an exclamation next to Margie’s name because she was so lively and accomplished. She had many relatives who attended NMH over the years: a son, 2 sisters, 2 nieces, a nephew, and a grandnephew. Margie’s sister sent the announcement and remarked: “Margie loved her 3 years at Northfield.” Thank you Mary Ann Taylor Gross ’48 for sending the news.

I must note again the book about NMH—Lift Thine Eyes. Several wrote that they were enjoying the recent publication, which is a history of the schools.

For those who miss the Northfield campus, let this

be your well-preserved memory trove. It has excellent pictures from over the years and well-researched material. Cynthia McCarthy Zaitzevsky is the author of 2 chapters. Katherine Lowrie has memories of being invited to the Homestead by a member of the Moody family because her grandfather, Charles N. Lowrie, was the landscape architect for both campuses. Kitty wrote to tell Cynthia how much the book meant to her. You can order the book by calling 413-498-3222 or online at www. nmhschool.org/lift-thine-eyes.

Due to our advancing years, news of illness and death are increasing, so this is the time to make a monumental effort to see the people with whom we passed some of the most important years of our lives.

We know some of these friendships have remained strong over the years. This is the time to share a special moment—that of the 60th—and reconnect with those friends. Our 50th was special, with a big turnout. Many reported returning to the 2 campuses for the 1st time since ’52. Numerous classmates talked of how their experience at Northfield or Mt Hermon shaped their lives in meaningful ways. I hope you were there and were a part of these talks. If not, make it a reality for our 60th.

As scribe, I hear from many classmates who want to reach out and share news in the hopes of hearing from other friends. Not everyone wants to communicate this way. Maybe the face-to-face experience is your best way to see friends and reminisce. It is also a time to make some new connections—maybe at the dorm, relaxing together, or at the table Thurs night over the lobster dinner, or at a B & B nearby, or at class activities and discussion groups.

Bruce Holran is updating the list of those planning to attend, but he can only reach those whose emails are in the NMH system. If you know a classmate who isn’t receiving news, contact Bruce at bruceholran@comcast.net.

Mt Hermon ’52 already has a large contingent planning to come as they initiated the Oct minireunions with the lobster dinners. The challenge for the Northfield class is to contact each living classmate and encourage her to attend. Reps from each of the dorms will be calling others in their dorms to encourage them to return. Some will be able to come and others will have decided that they cannot. We accept that and will miss them but would love to update news for the “dorm log” to share at the reunion in June. Muriel Hopkins Beahm has complete contact information for the class. Diana Armen Cowles is the caller for West Gould and Anne “Cokey” Lanoue Weber has agreed to help her. We already have confirmation of attendees from CA, OR, and WA State.

The reunion planning committee appreciates all your help in advance. If you are in the Mt Hermon half of the class, your messages will be welcomed

by Russ Broad russ.broad@yahoo.com and Steve Waters at headvoicew@gmail.com.

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WILL LANGE 1309 Towne Hill Rd E Montpelier VT 05651-4143 willem.lange@comcast.net ABBY “AJ” NICHOLSON HODGES 2300 Totem Trail Minnetonka MN 55305-2242 ajhodges@comcast.net

I’ve heard recently from several classmates who’ve been incommunicado for years. Thanks very much for the news.

From Don Burgess, one of the famous ’53 Caribbean contingent: “After 12 years of retirement and living the good life in The Villages FL, I was elected 1 of 5 Sumter County commissioners in ’09. I’ve found the work challenging but rewarding.

Only problem—my golf handicap suffered. Gail and I will be married 50 years this Feb—2 children, 9 grandchildren. I stay in contact with Dick Beers, who keeps me up to date on classmates.”

Tony Glockler reports that he and wife Bev spent most of Nov on a tour, starting in Istanbul and ending in Aqaba on the Red Sea. Churches and mosques, tiles and mosaics, Roman ruins and Crusader castles; Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan—a very interesting trip.

Some sad news from Ken Lindfors via Bob George that our beloved classmate Bob Denning died in 11/10 from lung cancer. I remember Bob best as a sober presence in a white head-waiter’s jacket standing beside the West Hall entry door. We saw him last at our minireunion on the coast of ME. Bob George left Canada in ’09 “after we lost almost everything in the market, as I am an options trader. Still am, but more subdued and careful.

Anyway, things are going fine and we are doing better than we thought.”

I emailed Bob Dixon about his picture in the Boston Globe and got this back: “Thanks for the heads-up about the picture. I didn’t make it to MH for the Athletic Hall of Fame. Was caught in the snowstorm that came up from the South. Hit whiteouts twice, so I turned back rather than take a chance with the weather. I spent 2 weeks in the Peruvian Andes last summer with 1 of my sons.

Trekked to Machu Picchu, mountain-biked part of the Inca Sacred Trail, kayaked on Lake Titicaca, and trekked up to snow lines at 16,500 ft. It was an exhausting. 2 weeks, but worth every sore muscle.

Best was bonding with my son.”

Bev Bolton Leyden reports that Carol “Kris” Blomquist Brown had a stroke in Nov; could not speak, was very frustrated. At last report, she was home again, with full-time care, and looking forward to contact with NMH classmates.

I’m writing this on Jan 2 with the backyard frozen hard as iron and light snow falling softly past the office window. Had a busy First Night schedule in Burlington and Montpelier, and on New Year’s Day joined several friends for a climb up 4,800-foot Mount Moosilauke in NH. A wonderful day; still enjoying it. I can hardly walk today. But I’m looking forward to a TV shoot in Nicaragua in Feb, a volcano ascent, and maybe Provence in Mar with my sun-loving wife.

From the Alumni Office: Andrea Bear Rugh recently published the book International

Development in Practice based on her decades of experience in major aid programs in Egypt, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. She provides a candid description of the problems practitioners face in the field, reviews education issues in developing countries, and describes 3 in-depth cases that show the studies, planning, and implementation that go into actual projects. Andrea has been a technical advisor for USAID development projects in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa since 1978.

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DENNIS KELLY 668 Main Ave Bay Head NJ 08742-5346 dskelly007@gmail.com

BE JAY FROEHLICH HILL 747 Water St Apt 349 Framingham MA 01701-3236 bhill24@juno.com DAN FRICKER 165 King St Waterville CQ, Canada J0B 3H0 dcfricker@hotmail.com MARGEE WELLS NEWELL 72 Matthew Dr Brunswick ME 04011-3275 jmnewell3@yahoo.com

Will Lange ’53 (2nd from left) and friends on Moosilauke New Year’s Day.

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From Margee: Those of you who read the death notices in the back of the Dec magazine already know of the death of Astrid Hagenguth. Astrid died suddenly in her NY apartment in early Apr. Since she had complained to neighbors of indiges-

tion, it is assumed that she died of a heart attack.

Astrid was my roommate for 2 years at Northfield and a beloved lifelong friend. You may read about her accomplishments in our 50th reunion class notes. She was a bright, creative thinker and very articulate. As a voracious reader, Astrid particularly enjoyed nonfiction books about the modern world.

She wanted to make a difference and she did in her hometown of Pittsfield MA. Her dream was to see the downtown revitalized. Because she believed in possibilities, she definitely did not subscribe to the mantra “it can’t be done.” She launched the Elm Street Project, which involved, among other things, a half-mile of tree planting, and wrote the master plan to make Pittsfield a more bike-friendly community. For all Astrid’s accomplishments, her greatest joy was to brighten a fellow pedestrian’s day with a smile and encouraging words as she walked the streets of Pittsfield and NYC. Debbie Fryer Gorin attended a luncheon at Fairleigh Dickinson U hosted by the NMH Alumni Association and Jan Hibbs Testa ’48 and Dorrie Krakower Susser ’56. She enjoyed visiting with other Northfield alumnae, including classmate Marcia Samuel. Debbie brought a friend with her whom she had trained as a teacher 35 years ago.

Audrey Higgins Rich is raving about the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD at their local movie theater. Her youngest daughter, Karen Rich, and husband Christopher Fecteau, are running an opera company in NYC. The website is www.dellarteopera.org. Middle child Marilyn is a medical social worker near Portland OR during the week and a horsewoman in Eagle Creek OR on the weekend. Son Jim is a grant writer and lives next door.

She reports that “all is well. Being on the church board of deacons, Springfield Garden Club, and delivering surplus food to homeless shelters are activities that keep me busy.”

Jim and I are more settled in our place in Brunswick and beginning to find satisfying ways to serve. We enjoy being in a college town. Please send news to BeJay or me and don’t forget to give to the Annual Fund.

From Dennis: With this column I have more sad news to report. Jack Wing passed away from the effects of cancer 8/7/11. Jack spent 4 years on the hill. He played football 4 years, earning his letter senior year, was a wrestler, and played basketball and lacrosse. Jack went on to Union College and then earned his law degree at George Washington U. After a hitch with the Military Intelligence Corps, Jack started work with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a trial lawyer. In ’68, he joined the stock brokerage firm of A. G. Becker and rose to become president from ’75 to ’80. During this period Stan Peck also joined A. G. Becker and worked for Jack. In ’81, Jack joined the Chicago Corp, where he rose to CEO and managed to grow the firm into a major, full-service regional investment bank and brokerage firm. He later became a

class notes

professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and founded a master’s program focused on financial markets. He lived in Evanston IL and is survived by his wife of 47 years, a son, 2 daughters, and 9 grandchildren. I spoke with Jack a few years ago to try and persuade him to return to our 50th reunion and also wrote him a letter, but he had too many things going on at that time to return to NMH. I spoke with our marathon man Dan Fricker to see whether he and his wife were planning to run in the NY Marathon. Dan said that he was going to pass this year but both he and his wife were contemplating flying to Greece to run the original marathon from Marathon, Greece, to Athens, in which an ancient messenger ran to warn the government of the approach of the Persians and then dropped dead. We sure hope the same fate does not await Dan or his wife.

I had a nice phone call from Dave Jansky recently. Dave was in Charlottesville VA to attend the annual Jansky Lectures at UVA. Dave’s father, Karl Jansky, is considered the father of radioastronomy after his work at Bell Labs in the early ’30s, and each year a leading scientist in the field is given an award and asked to present a lecture to fellow scientists at UVA. A few miles away in Green Bank WV is the world’s largest single radio telescope that is the 2nd-largest movable object on earth, outside an aircraft carrier. Debbie Fryer Gorin reports that she inspected that telescope on a side trip while at the Greenbrier in WV in 10/11. Last summer Dave drove out to Colorado Springs to visit a son, and then on to Phoenix AZ to visit his sister, Anne Jansky Parsons ’50. On the way he visited the very large array of radio telescopes in the Socorro desert about 50 miles sw of Albuquerque NM. There are about a dozen huge dish antennae mounted on railroad trucks moved on a “Y”-shaped railroad track that can position the antennae to detect objects in outer space that cannot be seen with optical telescopes. In the center of this array is a small museum dedicated to Dave’s father. Dave has always been a baseball enthusiast and has umpired Little League baseball teams for the past 40 years. He also photographs minor league baseball parks all over the country. Last summer he photographed 25 more to add to his collection of more than 150.

I had a nice note from Ralph Perry, who lives in Pasadena CA and practices law in downtown LA. He reports that Phil Mckean and wife Debbie Adams McKean ’56 have decamped ME to resettle in nearby Pomona CA to be near their children. He and Debbie attend the same church where Ralph sings in the choir. Phil plans to keep his place in Cushing ME as a summer retreat.

I also had a call from our old friend Fred Rice.

Fred has moved form Cape Elizabeth ME to Old Orchard Beach ME and is trying to sell his beautiful trawler yacht. I put him in touch with a yacht broker friend of mine who indicated that he could sell it easily. Fred will be traveling this winter to Hilton

Head SC, where I will be looking after my rental house in the Sea Pines Plantation. We plan to get together sometime in Jan. In early Oct, I sponsored a reunion in Hilton Head of my childhood friends from Little Silver Point in Little Silver NJ. Nine people came, along with spouses and significant others. Carol Ravndal Burnette ’53 and her twin brother Chris Ravndal ’53 came. Carol and husband Dick live in Lakeland FL, and Chris and his wife have retired to Yellow Springs OH, a college town. As it turns out, we have all known and kept in touch with each other for more than 70 years. It was great fun.

The last weekend in Oct I traveled to NMH for the annual D L Moody Society luncheon. While there, I phoned Ginny Reed Fisher, wife of our classmate Ken Fisher, who passed away 2 years ago.

Ginny lives on her farm in West Brattleboro VT. I thought I could talk her into sharing a cup of coffee with me before my long drive back to Bay Head NJ. She was enjoying a telecast of the Metropolitan Opera Company performance in a theater in Brattleboro and couldn’t make it. It was just as well because as I was leaving NMH, a freak and severe snowstorm hit the Northeast. It took me 10 hours to drive home as opposed to the usual 5 hours.

Thank you all for contributing, not only to the Annual Fund but also to the McVeigh Scholarship fund that we set up to honor our old track and cross-country coach, French teacher, and dorm head, Fred McVeigh. I hope to provide the latest financial status of the fund in the fall magazine. Please keep the phone calls and notes coming.

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DONALD HILLER 102 Javelin Ct Cary NC 27513-5110 dhiller@nc.rr.com LISA TUTTLE EDGE 1110 Cooperskill Rd Cherry Hill NJ 08034 (11/1–5/31) 180 Main St Chatham MA 02633-2424 (6/1–10/31) etedge@aol.com DON FREEMAN 23 Avery Brook Rd, PO Box 132 Heath MA 01346-0132 d.freeman4@verizon.net

From Lisa: Please update your email address with the school so we can communicate.

Sylvia Barnard is surviving retirement, tutoring Latin 2 days a week as a volunteer at a small independent day school without a Latin teacher.

She went on a Christmas Markets trip that was

advertised in an NMH brochure, but nobody else from NMH went; however, she enjoyed the people who did go. She is going to Israel in Apr with the Episcopal Diocese of Albany and has been taking preparatory classes at church. She is preparing a poetry manuscript for a very good self-publishing outlet in Troy. Daughter Siobhan Reagan Roth ’87 is still commuting from northern Manhattan to teach at St Luke’s in New Canaan, but her husband is now at the Cathedral School attached to St John the Divine.

Janet Bear McTavish is working on the largest quilt project of her life. The idea came from a dream. It is a Peace Labyrinth—a labyrinth lined with quilt panels (about 45 of them, 7.5 feet high) depicting all the world’s major religions (with roots back thousands of years) and faiths (such as a faith in science) going back to the Vedas and Hinduism and up through modern day’s new offshoots—all of which center their faith on a belief in the importance of living by the Golden Rule. “Hopefully, it will provide some basic information that will counteract the fear out there toward diversity that leads to negativity, war, and worse. As I research each of these basic beliefs, I am increasingly aware of how much alike they all are. About 50 people are helping me so far and more will participate when it is dedicated on 5/11/12. From there, the plan is to take it on the road to other communities.”

As of 2/1/12, Mary Senter Hart will be at OceanView in Falmouth ME living in a freestanding cottage with a garage, 2 bedrooms, and 2 baths. “I am really looking forward to the move, although I will miss my beautiful spot here on the Damariscotta River, but all of the activities and being very close to Portland and old friends is especially nice. I feel I need to make these decisions before it’s too late, and hopefully, I can do some of the things I want, like travel, while I’m still moving.”

Maggie Peterson (formerly Rusty Jennison, then Peg Benton, then Maggie Green, has lost 2 husbands to cancer and is now married to Dick Peterson) lives on the Olympic Peninsula WA, population 6,000, near the Canadian border. Last summer she had a total knee replacement and has recovered nicely. Son Ted is a chef at a retirement facility in Boulder CO. Greg is on the faculty at U of AR, and Cecilia teaches high school physics.

Husband Dick is an accomplished woodworker.

Maggie and Dick have 6 grandchildren.

In April and May Lisa Edge and Don visited Barcelona, Madrid, and Benissa, a beautiful village in Alicante, where college roommate Susan Walker-Mueller and her husband have retired.

“Then we spent 10 days in our favorite city, Paris.

In Jan ’12, we’re going to London for a week with 4 Philadelphia friends. In ’12 my hometown of Chatham MA celebrates its 300th anniversary, and Don has been active organizing events. A good year to visit. We’ll take you out on the boat or you can

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Jenny Johnson, Reverdy Johnson ’55, Dave Ganly ’55, and Norene Ganly in San Bernardino CA last June.

sit on the deck and gaze at the ocean and the newly reestablished barrier beach.”

From Don: Marty Zimmerman has been married to Judi for more than 48 years and they have 2 children. Marty and Judi lived in CT until ’78, then moved to NJ, and in ’04 they retired and moved to the Tampa area along with their widowed daughter and 2 daughters. Their son has worked for the Department of State since he graduated from college and has been stationed in Colombia, Ecuador, San Diego, Peru, Afghanistan, and Williamsburg VA. Now he is in Honduras with their 2 younger grandchildren. Marty wants to hear from classmates; his address is 1800 Cadway Ct, Trinity FL 34655.

In 6/11, Svein Arber retired from both of his teaching jobs in San Francisco and moved to Northampton MA, where he now lives in his condo in the heart of town. Svein looks forward to savoring the delights of the Pioneer Valley, including, of course, key events at our alma mater. He invites anyone passing through his new part of the world to drop by for coffee or a cocktail. Svein can be reached by email at sra23@cornell.edu.

Woods Davis writes: “I am playing lots of golf in AZ and MN. We live in a small town called Ely MN in the summer and Green Valley AZ in the winter. Good weather all around us.”

Reverdy Johnson reports that he and Dave Ganly renewed their friendship. Last June, Reverdy and wife Jenny enjoyed dinner with Dave and wife Norene in San Bernardino County CA, where Dave is a federal administrative law judge. In Aug, Dave and Norene spent several days with Reverdy and Jenny at their home in the Napa Valley, where Reverdy maintains his law office as well as a commercial vineyard. Reverdy also reports the birth of a grandson, Reverdy Joseph Johnson, to his son, Reverdy P. Johnson ’92, and daughter-in-law Alexis on 8/10/11.

Sharon and Dick Fitts report that they spent Thanksgiving ’11 in NH with their daughter Chris and her family and with son Doug Fitts ’87. In 9/11, Dick and Sharon flew to Rome and sailed on the Royal Clipper (the largest full-rigged clipper ship in the world) down the western coast of Italy with stops on the Amalfi coast, Sicily, Corfu, Greece, and up the Adriatic Sea. They spent a few days in Venice and then visited Lake Como, Lake Maggiore, and

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Milan. The most outstanding stops, Dick writes, where Phil ’54 and I now live in Claremont. We were a tour of the Vatican and watching a rehearsal are residents at Pilgrim Place, a long-established at the La Scala opera house in Milan. intentional ecumenical retirement community Joan and Dick Weed enjoyed visiting son Geoff for 350 individuals and couples who have folWeed ’87 in Chicago last Oct and also visited lowed vocations in the church or nonprofit chariMontreal. They would love to see NMH folks who table organizations. Leaving ME in late Apr, we find themselves near their residence in Charlotte VT. drove cross-country with strategic stops along the The University of Rochester Press has published way, including our 1st visit to the Grand Canyon, the first 2 volumes of Ben Lindfors’s biograand moved into our new condo. We went back to phy of Ira Aldridge: Ira Aldridge: The Early Years, ME for the summer, where we and our children, 1807–1833 and Ira Aldridge: The Vagabond Years, Tom McKean ‘84 from Santa Barbara CA and 1833–1852. Ben is now working on a final volume: Susannah McKean Nicklin ’87 from England, Ira Aldridge: The Glory Years, 1852–1867. He spent a are maintaining our house in Cushing for sumweek in Brussels, Belgium, in 10/11 digging up more mers and future generations. I retired from my data on Aldridge’s first continental tour. role as deacon in the Diocese of ME in Apr and Arthur Goldberg writes: “My news is that except am now exploring a new relationship with All for the usual aches, pains, etc., life is very involved, Saints’ Episcopal Church in Pasadena. Just before especially with art and music and a continued art our move west, I was diagnosed with a rare form relationship with NMH for our 60th reunion. My 7 of treatable skin lymphoma, and after minor surgrandchildren are great—one is hoping to go to NMH.” gery have gratefully received a clean bill of health.

Margaret and Don Freeman continue working In Jan, I am looking forward to joining NMH staff on the restoration and maintenance of their large— in hosting a regional program for NSFG alumnae and drafty—18th-century house in Heath MA. in So CA—“Honoring Our Traditions.” It will be Margaret gave a series of academic lectures in China held at Scripps College, close to our home. during ’11 while Don continues work in town poliThe Class of ’56 had its 3rd annual pre-vespers tics and sings tenor in local choral groups. dinner in NYC, characterized by Dorrie Krakower Bill Kolb and Melinda were in Charleston SC Susser as “a small but merry gathering” of 17, in 5/11 for Melinda’s son’s wedding to Amanda including spouses and friends, who enjoyed listenHorrigan. Amanda is in charge of residents this year ing to traditional NMH music as well as selecin the USC (CA) hospital system. During the sumtions from Vivaldi’s “Gloria.” Those representing mer, Bill and Melinda flew to Spartanburg SC to Northfield were: Benita Pierce, Pat Fagin visit Bill’s daughter Linda and partner Bill.

Scott, and Dorrie. Hermonites present were: John Ernie Imhoff keeps in touch with Rich Rice.

McClintock, Walt Jones, Bruce Zimmerli, Dave Rich’s theater program WordBRIDGE Playwrights Tait, and John Mitchell. Our honorary class memLaboratory, which he founded in ’94, provides bers Marggie Slichter ’84 and Josie Rigby, also aspiring young playwrights a program to help them joined the group. develop their art through collaboration with seaDorrie and Bob, both in good health, look forsoned professionals. WordBRIDGE has created a ward to a trip to Cambodia early in ’12, where they partnership with Center Stage, an important profeswill take a wooden barge down the Mekong River sional theater in Baltimore. Ernie and Hilda celfrom Angkor Wat to Saigon. We’ll look forward ebrated Thanksgiving ’11 with 28 people. to photos in our next column, Dorrie. Sandra Dave Guarnaccia writes: “Still working and “Sandy” Johnson Van Hoven’s holiday letter was have new added responsibilities. Enjoying life here filled with photos of family gatherings. in AR. Doing a lot of travel that is work-related.”

Lynda Gregorian Christian’s son, Doug (49) has been diagnosed with Susac syndrome, “a rare neurological disease that has led to swelling of the NMH brain, the degradation of a retina and the cochlea NELSON LEBO of one ear.” Fortunately, Doug is being treated 1046 Millers Falls Rd by excellent neurologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Northfield MA 01360-9622 Hospital in Boston and Lynda reports that his walknlebo@nmhschool.org ing has improved since his hospitalization. He is

being transferred to a rehab hospital for continuing treatment and therapy. Lynda and John were part of DEBBY ADAMS MCKEAN a ’56 gathering held at the home of Benita Pierce 633 Leyden Ln #203 last summer, which was also attended by Joyce Claremont CA 91711 Moore Arthur ’57 and husband Bob. deborah.mckean39@gmail.com Sue Chandler continues to enjoy living in NYC

in her retirement. She shared news that Sharon Wright recently suffered a stroke while at her workMy news comes to you early in ’12 from sunny CA, place and will be undergoing intensive rehab toward

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a positive recovery. Speaking of positive recoveries, Evie Walsh Stevenson is recovering well from her fractured pelvis, which occurred shortly after our 55th reunion in 6/11.

Betsy Tanger Eggleston writes that in spite of 2 new knees, she continues to live on and run a farm in the Shenandoah Valley of VA. She also works part-time at a Lifelong Learning Institute as an instructor in the history of local antiques and architectural history. Another new interest of Betsy’s is her association with the Roads Scholar organization. Through their program, she took a garden tour in Canada in ’11 and will travel to Ireland in spring ’12. In 6/12, Betsy will be the assistant director of their Bach Festival in VA. I had the great pleasure of attending an earlymorning Easter sunrise service on the ME coast with Elaine Tetreault Smith and Bill, who are now the happy grandparents of twin boys born in 6/11 to Emily and Stephen Smith ’90 in Alexandria VA. Elaine writes that she and Bob enjoyed an ’11 trip to the Pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt; St Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, and a cruise on the Bosporus in Turkey; Ephesus in Kusadasi; the Acropolis and Temple of Poseidon in Greece; and Naples, Pompeii, and the Amalfi coast in Italy.

Phil and I and Thorpe and Lucinda “Lu” Young Kelly joined those joyfully celebrating 50 years of marriage in ’11. Congratulations to all who have experienced this milestone event. The Kelleys’ family treated them to a memorable dinner, after which Lu and Thorpe “eloped” to Palm Springs for a week.

Phil and I, too, were feted by our family and friends in ME and now look forward to celebrating our marriage with a trip to Israel and Palestine in 6/12 as members of a group being led by members of our CA community who are former residents of Jerusalem.

Keep the letters/emails/photos coming during the days ahead and a joyous, healthy, and productive year to each one of you.

From Nelson: Christmas Vespers was held in Memorial Chapel with the usual 2 services on 12/ 4. At the reception for alumni and guests before the 3:30 service, Bill Wilsen and I talked at length. He was east from IL for Thanksgiving and decided that he just had to stay to attend Vespers. He reported his enjoyment to me after the service. The offcampus Vespers service was held 12/16 in NYC. A group of approximately 18 Northfield and Mt Hermon classmates, along with some spouses and friends, gathered at a nearby restaurant and then walked to the church to enjoy the concert. It was reported to be a packed house.

From Frank Thoms: “My wife and I are off to live in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, in early Jan. We hope to sell our loft in Lowell MA (if not, we’ll rent it) and both of our cars as well. By next June, our new architect-designed home will be ready to move into. I can’t tell you what a change this will be and how excited we are. I will certainly miss being

in NE, as it’s been my home. Yet, I am eager to live in the world anew.”

Steve Clapp reports the following: “Four of my Peace Corps colleagues and I were nominated for the Sargent Shriver Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award presented at the Peace Corps 50th anniversary celebration in Washington, DC, in late Sept. We didn’t win the award, but that’s not the point. We were nominated because one of our former schoolboys, Atiku Abubakar, became vice president of Nigeria and founded the new American University of Nigeria in Yola, the remote provincial capital, where we taught. We were nominated for the Shriver Award because of our role in inspiring Atiku to found a private university in Africa. Atiku himself was presented with a Global Citizen Award for his service to higher education in Nigeria.”

John McClintock, Bruce Zimmerli, Dave Tait,

and I attended the “fateful” homecoming on 10/30.

It started snowing about 3 pm and the roads were treacherous by 5 so that I didn’t even return the 2 miles to campus to attend the Athletic Hall of Fame dinner. By midnight, electricity was out throughout the valley and was restored in as little as 24 hrs (me) and as long as 6 days for some others.

This has been quite a year for weather in western MA, with near-record snowfall, a devastating tornado in the Springfield area in June, record flooding in the western MA hills in late Aug, the infamous Oct snowstorm, record rainfall for the year, and extremely mild temperatures in Nov and Dec. What will ’12 bring?

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DAVID C WILLIAMS 619 East Side Dr, PO Box 6 Alton NH 03809-0006 revdcwms@metrocast.net

BARBARA TUTTLE 4206 Zuni Dr Austin TX 78759-4249 hrty2tutl@sbcglobal.net

From Barb: Here’s something I’m excited about—

seeing my peers at our 55th next month—just weeks away. My husband Sterling will be attending with me. Our new online home for ’57 contains comments from classmates, forums, and up-to-date reunion news. Any “news notes” are there, often with pictures. If you haven’t checked it out, or joined the site, please do so by going to www.classcreator.com/Mount-HermonMassachusetts-Northfield-Mount-Hermon-1957/ index.cfm and follow the simple steps. Not a techie?

Lloyd Mitchell has info there that will help. You can determine your level of participation in existing conversations and certainly feel free to inaugurate others. All free, no strings, no spam, no commercial ties, managed by the ’57 crowd. Note the tab

for forums. And, especially, get news about the upcoming reunion and who’s coming. We’d like so much to know what is going on with you and yours, whether or not you will joining us in June.

We hope you are planning for the full 4-day event.

We’ll be starting on Thurs evening with social time and dinner at a lovely, moderate local restaurant.

We’ll be staying at one of the NMH new cottages, which is accessible and has space for get-togethers also. NMH will arrange time for a tour at our lovely Northfield campus. The new owners understand our attachments to it. Also, Round Top and other sites remain part of NMH in the agreements.

One thing about reunions of elders. Whether old friends come or not, it doesn’t seem to matter.

Getting caught up with each other’s lives and learning is such a blessing at this age of wisdom.

One of our themes among the planners has been, “So how did it all turn out, those plans you made 50+ years ago?” However it turned out, we are, all of us, fascinating people who have lived long and unique life journeys. And it is fun to share.

Look forward to seeing you. And, if you are not able to make the trip this year, please join us online. Our self-managed ’57 Northfield and Mt Hermon website will be a permanent fixture for all subsequent reunions.

From Dave: We’ll all be gathering at the NMH campus for our 55th reunion come 6/10/12, so we can catch up on each other then. If you haven’t registered, please do—now. Sat night is the banquet, and if you can only make it for that event, it will be well worth your time, and ours. I think our memorial service will be just before the banquet.

In the meantime, Lloyd Mitchell and Brad Cook are alive and well. Pat and I spent 2 days last Nov with Lloyd at his home just north of Philadelphia, and the highlight of all that reminiscing was a day trip to the National Military Park at Gettysburg. If you haven’t done that, we’d highly recommend it—museum, battlefield, and panorama. Make a whole day of it, and pay the extra price for a guided tour. Lloyd is retired and enjoying it; his wife Sarah is doing some “interim” advocacy legal work for the state of Iowa; and their lives are filled with siblings and offspring.

Brad still owns a couple of restaurants in the Lakes Region of NH and persists with his law work in the big city of Boston. He hosts several Hispanic young men and women, assisting with their education and vocations. He, like Lloyd, is committed to being with us at reunion #55 and giving generously to our Annual Fund.

Pat and I did an extended business and pleasure trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Richmond at Thanksgiving ’11, gathering the entire Williams clan for turkey day at my sister’s home in suburban Richmond.

My “business” now is with our United Church Funds, the investment managers in NY who steward

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the endowment monies of our denomination (UCC), its conferences, associations, and local churches.

I’m the regional representative for NE and NY, doing what I’ve always loved to do—networking.

Pat and I attended our UCC General Synod in Tampa last June. I do the annual meetings of the NE and NY conferences and do UCF presentations to local church financial leaders en route—even in PA and VA. My testimony in all this is: “If you love your work, why quit? Just make sure you keep finding ways to enjoy life, and spend time with your families.”

Aside from the notice of Bob Pease’s tragic death earlier in ’11, I did hear that Bob Burnett ’58 passed away in 12/11 after a heroic battle with an aggressive brain tumor. You may remember him as a cross-country runner and pole vaulter, and we’ll never forget him as one of The Highwaymen—the folk group founded at their fraternity at Wesleyan.

They made the folk song “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” a gold record phenomenon.

Please pay attention to all the NMH messages that come along—things are really going along well on the old campus. Please keep us posted on what is going on in your lives. The magazine is only published twice a year now, so the news is sometimes “olde” when you get it, but we have electronic options to keep it more current.

Hope to see you on campus in June ’12.

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CLAIRE KURTGIS-HUNTER 7595 Solimar Cir Boca Raton FL 33433-1034 mizzengift@bellsouth.net WILLIAM HAWLEY PO Box 91927 Anchorage AK 99509-1927 hawleys@acsalaska.net

From Claire: It is with regret that we hear from Mary Myers Samia that her husband of 51 years

passed away on 9/22/11, after a courageous fight with pancreatic cancer. Mary has moved to West Boylston MA, and would love to hear from you.

Her email is RJMMSamia@aol.com.

Cindy Crane Durham says that nothing of great magnitude has occurred lately, other than shoulder damage as a result of a spill over the dog. She enjoys attending the St Louis Symphony but says that none of the world’s choruses can better our little school’s “Dost Thou Remember?” She’s so right about that. She is also thinking of trying to publish some of her free verse in a wee booklet.

Helen Englebrecht Ownby and Dennis are finally in their new home in St Mary’s GA. Dennis still sees patients and works at the med school near their former home in Evans GA, a 4-hour commute.

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While they wait for their home there to be sold, Helen reports with relief: no more bringing “multiple U-Hauls back and forth for over a year.” She has enjoyed fishing but has had “enough of sea trout for multiple dinners” for a while. They have a new grandson Colin (1), who joins older brother Dylan (4). Both boys love trains and visited Helen last summer, coming from MD by train. Daughter Kathy continues teaching in Daegu, South Korea, and has visited Cambodia and Thailand. A travel lover herself, Helen accompanied Dennis on some med trips this past year, including Aruba and Cancun. Always an avid cat-lover, Helen bemoans the recent loss of a family fave, so she and Dennis are currently down to being a 1-cat family.

After 30 years of trying to secure rooms at the historic Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, Astrid Lundberg Naviaux was able to snag 7 rooms to house 12 of her immediate family plus 8 more of the family—so the 20 had a ball together for 3 days over Thanksgiving. Apparently, the well-known hotel offers a lottery but you have to sign up a year and a day (sounds like a fairy tale) beforehand for reservations by lottery. Her tenacity paid off. What a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving and what a magnificent venue.

Faith Vandenbergh Stone Dube is retired and divides her year between Seattle and St Petersburg FL, finding that she’s adding more weeks at the FL end each year. She plans to get together with Marlene Alpert Tein ’57 in Boca Raton FL. She and Marlene were childhood friends in Cortland NY and went to the same school K–6. They even shared East Hall together in their years at Northfield.

She raised her 4 children in Guilford VT, and today they are divided between living in Boston and Seattle. She enjoys her 6 grandkids. Reminiscing, Faith writes: “Often I have melancholy dreams of Northfield, particularly of East Hall—returning there from vacations to the freshly waxed floors and smell of ‘alpha-pine.’ It would be grand to hear from other East Hallers, especially those from ’53–’59. How we could reminisce about our iconic dorm residents such as ‘O.E.B.,’ Dr. Rachel King, and Miss Scott.”

As usual, the travel bug bit Jane Hougen Fast, and she was running throughout ’11. It started with a Jan birthday party she gave herself; then in Feb, she took off for Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Viet

Nam, and Laos) reporting it as a “ most interesting learning experience.” Got home, did the laundry, and then took a group to Springfield MO’s sister city, Tlaquepaque, Mexico. Jane loves Mexico—the color, flair, and life fascinates. She had a reunion in DC of the International School of Geneva. Later Jane returned east again to care for her sister-inlaw in Williamsburg, but was hampered by a nasty case of pneumonia. The rest of the summer was the usual: staying close to the AC. She watched the grass and plants die of drought, sailed, and participated with “Seniors as Stars,” a group of hams who present plays around town. She shared Christmas with her son and family in NC and her brother in Williamsburg VA. In ’12, she’s off to China, France, South Africa, and—who knows? She sends everyone health, peace, and joy in ’12.

Peggy Herron Haring writes from Kailua,HI: “Been learning a lot these days: 1. It’s too late for a Rick Steves Tour. We loved the small group tour of England, but it’s just too hard to drag even lightly packed bags up those Georgian townhouse stairs.

We did Belgium on our own. 2. When biking, always choose the most boring but safest option.

Two weeks after recovering from the trip to Europe, I made a wrong move and crashed my bicycle, thereby breaking my ankle. The next time I fly, I’ll light up all the alarms with my steel plate and 6 screws.”

A word from your humble secretary: Christmas is over and a new year is about to dawn—we are praying it’ll be a better one all around the world and here at home. I am not teaching this spring term—Paul says: “Honey, how many semesters do I have left? How about you take off from teaching for a while?” So here I am, with nothing to do except clean out the garage, the closets, and the fridge. But I have a great time with Paul, and we find ourselves actually busier than ever—doing stuff, entertaining friends on our paradise isle of Nantucket in summers and fall, and enjoying sunny FL for half the year. Can’t beat it—and perhaps I’ll enjoy grading no essays for a while. I’ll let you know.

From Bill: As all of you who have email know, our class president Bob Burnett died on 12/6/11.

Bob had an outstanding professional career as a lawyer and musician and a wonderful personal life. He is survived by his wife Kathy, son Michael, daughters Melissa and Kathleen, and 9 grandchildren.

Astrid Lundberg Naviaux ’58, seated, and her family celebrated Thanksgiving ’11 at Yosemite National Park.

Dale Bailey ’58 and Dave Eberhardt ’58 at the KendallJackson winery.

class notes

The obituary may be found at www.legacy.com/ obituaries/theday/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory& pid=154951782. John LeBaron put it best when he wrote that Bob was among the best and most decent leaders at Mt Hermon and that his subsequent achievements demonstrate that these qualities never escaped him.

Trevor Dupuy has recovered from back surgery and a broken thumb and is about to venture forth on the tennis courts again. He and Linda Shaffer Dupuy ’59 are thinking about moving to San Antonio, where their daughter lives. Trevor continues to be busy with Tea Party activities.

Dave Eberhardt traveled to CA to visit Arlene and Dale “Beetle” Bailey last fall. They memorialized their visit to the Kendall-Jackson winery in Santa Rosa with a picture. They also toured San Francisco with Tinker Green ’59. The tour included a visit to Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s ’37 City Lights Bookstore in North Beach, where Dave left a book of his poems inscribed to Lawrence, which they were assured would be delivered to him.

Bruce Larsen is going into his 2nd (and last) year as chair of the Santa Fe County Republican Party. Bruce and Mary-Anne received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts (Contributors) in Oct. Bruce is traveling to Cuba in Feb and thinking of Burma in Nov. If any of you have been to Burma and have suggestions, Bruce would very much like to hear from you at bealofsf@gmail.com.

John Lowrie retired as a sr vp at Reynolds Metals in ’00 after managing their consumer products business for a decade. John is currently involved in planning his 50th reunion at Cornell as a member of the class officer’s council and the reunion committee.

He reports that those activities plus winters in FL, golf, and bridge help to keep Father Time at bay.

Bob Starzel retired in Oct for the “final (4th) time.” Once in the railroad business, Bob was practicing law in CA with Holme, Roberts & Owen, the highly regarded Denver firm he had worked with in the early ’70s. Bob writes that he has enough books now to start a library and that “this is the time for a life of contemplation.” In a recent discussion with John Stone, Bob related that he is now exec vp of Starcourt Enterprises, a conglomerate with housesitting, dog-walking, gardening, and other enterprises of interest.

Betsy and I (Bill Hawley, your reporter) recently returned from a lengthy boat trip on the upper Amazon and visits to Lake Titicaca, Lima, Peru, and La Paz, Bolivia. It was an outstanding break from the below-zero temperatures and large amounts of snow we have been having in Anchorage this year.

Please update your email address with the school so we can stay in touch. You can do so at www. nmhschool.org/stay-touch.

From the Alumni Office: Evan Freund writes that he and wife Nan live on the South Side of Chicago, where Nan has a full-time practice as an

educational therapist. Evan consults to nonprofits as part of Executive Service Corps of Chicago, along with 250 other volunteer consultants and coaches, and is a member of Rotary/One, where he assists in community and world service activities. He invites anyone traveling in the Chicago area to be in touch at efreund@chicagobooth.edu.

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NANCY BISSELL GOLDCAMP 2002 Chantilly Dr Sierra Vista AZ 85635-4866 ngoldcamp@cox.net

PETER WELSH 10246 Old Shiloh Rd Pefferlaw ON, Canada L0E 1N0 peter@cantope.ca

From Nancy: Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. Among other things, it brings news from friends from all corners of the globe, including some classmates. Chris and Sue Hay Kapsalis had a wonderful trip to Scotland during 10/11, visiting some of the usual sights with a tour group and, before that, exploring “some of the area to the northeast of Edinburgh, where Clan Hay had some roots (castles). One has been in ruins since it was destroyed around 1600 when the owners were declared outlaws during the Protestant Reformation.

It’s now a nice hiking spot. The other Hay castle we explored has been in the family for 650 years.”

Emily Smith FitzRandolph retired in June and has moved out of the suburbs into a smaller and newer house in the historic Baker section of Denver. She joined an Anglican Mission church in her neighborhood and traveled to many parts of the US, visiting friends and family members. Nancy Johnson managed to have her hip replaced in between taking piano lessons and going to work a few days a week and to concerts and operas. In Oct she went on a great performances tour of northern Italy, going to operas in Venice, Milan, and Parma.

Jim H’59 and Barb Mackin Kondras decided that last summer would be their last for work-camping. The physical strains were getting to them, and their grandkids needed chauffeuring to and from their summer activities. They’re in the Southwest now, and we’ll have our dinner get-together later this week. David and Ginger McCann Giammattei enjoyed visiting their grandsons, 2 are now at VA Tech, and family and friends up and down the East Coast. In 5/11 Ginger retired for the 2nd time, this from being nurse admin at the Lebanon PA Free Clinic. She’s glad to have more time for home and travel activities.

Linda Haines Cole’s 50th reunion reminiscences are worth sharing. “Prior to going to reunion,

I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t been back to the campuses for 25 years, and at the 25th we stayed in Center Gould, my dorm for 3 years. I didn’t look forward to spending the weekend on the Hermon campus, which I didn’t know well, and in Crossley, which I remembered as being the huge dorm sitting up on the hill above where we used to wait for the bus to take us back across the river.

“I was pleasantly surprised. The NMH campus looked beautiful and was full of life. In fact, when we went back to Round Top for the memorial service, the Northfield campus looked empty.

Although the campus is being maintained, it came to my attention that the physical campus doesn’t make a school; it’s the activity and feeling of life that’s so important. A vivid memory of the weekend is of late Sat afternoon, which was sunny and beautiful, and 3 of us were sitting on the patio outside Blake Student Center chatting. While sitting there I looked over the campus toward the river. It was a serene sight. All of a sudden, the carillon at the Rhodes Arts Center starting ‘singing.’ What a feeling. And what a thrill to be able to sing familiar hymns and also the Northfield Benediction in Memorial Chapel. Yes, there is a chapel that is as beautiful as Sage Chapel.

“Most important, I didn’t feel that they just moved the Northfield students to the Mt Hermon campus. Instead, they have truly joined the schools, merging traditions from both schools into one wonderful new school. It gave me a feeling of completeness. Spending time reminiscing and catching up on 25 years of life with our classmates was fun. But just as important was spending time with other classmates, men and women I hadn’t known while I was a student. I do look forward to seeing them again at future reunions.”

After reunion Carolyn Dempsey Hewitt, Eleanor Smith Clark, and I had a minireunion in Windsor Locks CT. Nancy Holbrook Ayers had hoped to join us but couldn’t make it in from AZ. I caught them up on reunion happenings, and we spent more than 4 hours catching up on news and poring over the ’59 yearbook and the 50th reunion class book. What fun. Carolyn lives in FL and is a golfer. Eleanor lives in CT, plays tennis, and knits.

Both like to read. Of course we all talked about our grandchildren. Hopefully, it won’t be as long before

Bill Batty ’59 enjoying retirement on the Cape.

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we see each other again. Our waitress was about 20.

She was so amazed that we went to school together more than 50 years ago. She did a “double-take” when we told her.

From Peter: Well, back-to-back less than what I expect of an active class secretary. My computer woes continued, although I now have a Mac and am slowly getting up to speed. Emily Tucker Dunlap, John Warn, and Tom Baxter all wrote to say they noticed my absence, and Frank Partel brought the news of Brad Burnham ’39 passing (Dave Burnham’s older brother). Randy Foster brought news of the Pie Race, and Baird Eaton also inquired as to my status.

Jane and Neville Davison celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1/12. Congratulations and good health.

Dave Lunde wrote but nothing from faithful contributor Dan Waugh or anyone else for that matter. Part of the success of any class notes is input from class members. Cheers.

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HANNAH SIBLEY GRAY 306 Cotuit Bay Dr Cotuit MA 02635-2916 hsgray@verizon.net SARAH MAHONEY RUGGLES 2945 Ash Meadows Blvd Zanesville OH 43701-9795 sruggles@columbus.rr.com AL CHASE 1141 Kumukumu St Apt A Honolulu HI 96825-2645 nmh60uh66@yahoo.com

From Sally: Jane English took a 3rd trip to Greenland in July, where she worked with Angaangaq and other native Greenlanders to create a healing center that merges traditional ceremonies with modern medicine and psychology. Healing is needed for the indigenous people who have been thoroughly colonized over the past 200 years. See www.icewisdom.com. Jane continues creating an Ice Wisdom calendar that joins traditional wisdom of Greenland with photos that she and other photographers have taken there. At home in VT, Jane volunteers at Earth Walk Vermont, a program for children 6 to 15 who go to school in the woods of Goddard College 1 day a week through the school year. You can see the program—and photos of Jane in the slideshow—at www.earthwalkvermont.org.

Katy Gordon Kline taught last summer at the Summer Institute for Museum Studies at the Smith College Museum of Art; then they closed their house in ME and headed to Williamstown, where

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she is serving as interim director of the Williams College Museum of Art. “Since I wasn’t looking forward to retirement, I’ve been glad to put off those demons for a while, though clearly I’ll have to face them soon.” Katy sings with the Northern Berkshire Chorale, which brings back happy thoughts of Christmas Vespers.

Lynn Barry Vardakis spent Mar through early Oct on the Cape to be near her mother, who died at 92. Lynn writes: “I was glad to be available for my mother during this last transition. At the memorial service, we gave out daffodil bulbs, a symbol of Wales, in her memory and to honor that part of her heritage. It will be wonderful to see if our plantings were successful. I’m hoping for an ongoing tribute.”

Look for the next email blast from Happy Gray.

We want to hear from more of you.

From Al: John Diefenbach has a new photography assignment for Walt Disney documenting the story of Disney’s new theme park in Shanghai, China. He has a broad scope, covering not only Disney’s design and construction activities, but also the work of Disney’s partners. John traveled to China 3 times last year. He expects to average 5 trips a year over the next 3 to 4 years. His website doesn’t include the Disney work, but may be of interest, at www.jdphotog.com.

Paul Sheldon was arrested on Hiroshima Day for civil disobedience at the site of the world’s largest nuclear weapons producer. During fall semester, Paul and wife Fran hiked and camped the 100 miles from Newark DE to the White House in support of GMO labeling of our food. He also was involved in Occupy Philadelphia.

Robert Anderson has written and published 3 e-book mysteries. Golf Mystery is a love story, a golf story, and a particularly gruesome murder story. Christmas Mystery is about a young girl who returns home from a school remarkably similar to the Northfield Seminary to a round of house parties, fox hunts, and the mysterious death of her grandfather. Duel in Vermont is, oddly enough, about a recent duel in VT. His blog is sportingmystery. wordpress.com.

Bob Ganley and wife Nancy are well. They enjoyed a Mediterranean cruise last Oct and spend their weekends on the Cape. Bob says he is working as hard as ever with his CPA firm.

Don Gibbs reports that he is 14 years into retirement and things have pretty much settled into a routine. Bill Dowden writes that he is too busy to retire. He and Lynn celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last Oct. They moved their business, Coastal Pond Supply and Coastal Fountain Supply, across the street to a bigger, better, and cheaper location. Bill is a member of the Patriot Guard Riders, a group that does wonderful and meaningful things for our veterans and their families. In his spare time, Bill is active in Rotary.

The heavy snow during the winter of ’11 in MA

convinced Wilfred Holton to retire from his teaching and research position at Northeastern. Last May, he and Susan sold their house in 6 days and moved into a small nonprofit retirement community in Jamaica Plain near their old neighborhood. They were both elected to offices in the residents’ association and started serving in Jan. Will stays busy as president of the Partnership of the Historic Bostons.

Planning for the ’12 programs on women in early MA has already begun. You can email will at wilfredholton@comcast.net.

David Parker also has a new email address: dlparker3039@gmail.com.

The great Class of ’60 Scholarship was renewed for a sophomore female student from VT for this year.

From the Alumni Office: Doug Wilson writes: “Many of you are aware that I had a pacemaker installed recently. The good news is that things went well after the operation. They kept close tabs on me because I have a device at home that reads the pacemaker and sends reports to my cardiologist over the phone. Then things began to change, and earlier this week I went in for an examination; my heart was in fibrillation mode about 100% of the time. In addition, I’ve started to have swelling in the lower part of my legs. All in all, it was clear that my heart was starting to fail a bit. Soooo, now they will do a heart ablation. As I understand it, they will bypass the part(s) of the heart that drive its beating regularity and speed, then switch those responsibilities over to the pacemaker.

“I am sending this information because I want you to hear it from me now rather than through the rumor mill later. My read on all of this is, 1st, it’s good to live in an era when such medical knowledge and devices exist, and, 2nd, to loudly say, ‘Go pacemaker.’”

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GRETEL PORTER P.O. Box 369 Damariscotta ME 04543 sangam1008@yahoo.com CRAIG WALLEY 573 S 6th St Columbus OH 43206-1272 bozocraig@aol.com

From Gretel: Dig and delve. Reviving old friend-

ships is a blessing of old age, an unexpected perk.

Communication is key.

From Kay Dinolt Frank: “I am still thinking back to our 50th reunion with great warmth and good feelings. Wondering how some of us can get together soon for a minireunion. Hoping for a kinder, gentler nation and world and looking forward to more time trying to make that happen as I continue to cut back on work. Would love to see anyone who makes it to the West Coast. I offer a

class notes

warm bed if you come to Seattle.”

Susan Swartwood Berk (Cleveland): “It took me weeks to recover from the reunion—from seeing my good buddies, laughing, and remembering how cool we all were back then to coming back to the real world and mundane existence.”

Sally Johnson Ackerman (Chatham MA) sent encouragement to Gretel and good news that Kate Alling Throop is recovering well from health problems. Look forward to seeing Kate at our 55th or sooner at a minireunion. (Sally, besides Charlie Chaplin, you resemble mime Marcel Marceau on a tightrope. Adorable.)

Ayo Oum “Robyn” Shanti (NYC): “Reunion was great seeing everyone enjoy themselves, reconnect, and discover new friends. My regret as co-chair was no time to hang out. Our experience 50 years ago made it easy to share ourselves and our diverse journeys. I attended NYC Christmas Vespers in a large beautiful church with high arches just off Broadway. Wonderful voices, especially the soloists.

Memories soared at hearing “Dost Thou Remember?”

I watched the choir with an open mind but our former discipline of dress, rising on signal, and moving in step down the aisle was absent.” To keep in touch, Ayo will set up a Facebook group for the class of ’61 and also sign up for Skype Plus, so anyone on Skype can join her for video-conferencing. If interested, email Ayo at ayo61nmh@yahoo.com, and she’ll send info and instructions.

Penny Goss McLaughlin ’62 would like to reconnect with Trina Wynkoop Simmons. Contact Penny at tiptonhaynes@embargmail.com.

Lois Isenman (San Francisco) with partner Joel visited me in ME. Said Lois: “All those years collapsed so easily.” Also in touch with Deb Bertsch Jones and her brother Chuck Bertsch ’60. Just reach out and see—we are all family. Please send news.

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SUE SAUNDERS CHANDLER 3/50 Walsh Street South Yarra Victoria, 3141 Australia susanchandler1@mac.com

Here it comes. Our 50th reunion June 7–10. It should be a great occasion, and I hope to see you there. Cindy Kidder, our reunion chair, writes: “With our banner 50th year finally here, the excitement about reunion is palpable. Class committee callers report long conversations with classmates that reveal the broad diversity of the paths of our lives. Be sure to order a copy of the class 50th reunion yearbook—you will be thrilled to see the places we’ve been, the things that we’ve done (with apologies to Dr. Seuss).

“Reunion weekend will be full of opportunities to connect with old friends and discover other classmates with similar interests and life experiences.

While we don’t want to overschedule your time, we want you to know about some special activities we hope you’ll find exciting: “Pre-reunion hike—join Kit Durgin for an easy day hike along the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail on Wed 6/6, and then the next morning, climb Mt Monadnock. Current NMH students do the latter every Mountain Day. Let’s show them we’re still up to it. You can do both days or just 1. We’ll send you all the info you need.

“Thurs night Lobster Dinner—just for us.”

“Meet the school’s new head, Peter Fayroian.”

“Alumnae/i college panels led by classmates.”

“Join fellow Northfielders at the Fri NSFG luncheon.”

“Sat class memorial service in Sage Chapel.”

“Feast and reminisce at our class dinner Sat night.”

“Sing with the alumnae/i choir at Sun service.”

Meantime, we will visit exhibits that feature the artistic and literary accomplishments of classmates and meet current NMH students. We’ll have an opportunity to engage with the changes and outcomes that have marked the school’s recent history.

Come for a day or for 4—you will be glad you did.

From the Alumni Office: We received news at deadline of the death of Sara “Sally” Walbridge’s mother Jean (98) on 2/7/1. She was grandmother of Alex Moore O’Connolly ’92 and aunt of Carol Van Etten ’69. Our condolences to Sally and her family.

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why am I bringing this up? Well, if you have not noticed, there will be a rather iconic (Dare I say ironic—it depends on your perspective.) meeting of your age peers coming up soon—our 50th reunion. If you have not already done so, let me take this last opportunity to encourage you to change your mind and come and share some memories, reconnect with old friends, or make new ones amongst your age peers. The committee and the school have made it rather easy to do this, so get off the couch, and come for goodness’ sake. Oh, yes, and if you haven’t done so already, order up a copy of our 50th reunion class book—they’re going fast.

See you in June.

As I write this in Dec ’11, I received the sad news of the death of 2 classmates. On 10/ 22/11 Charlie Reichart, after a short illness, passed away in Rutland VT, where he had long lived. Charlie graduated from Dartmouth and earned a master’s in economics from Wharton. As I have heard over the years, and his obituary noted, he waged a lifelong battle against schizophrenia with bravery and determination. What I remember best of Charlie was his easy manner and ready smile as we shared a stage in the spring of ’62. May the Flowers Bloom in the Spring in his honor.

In addition, I received late word of Frank Maurer’s death on 2/24/10 in the Columbus OH area. Frank is survived by his wife and 2 daughters. He retired after 40 years in sales for the packaging industry.

MH

E. SCOTT CALVERT 8714 Second Ave Silver Spring MD 20910-2733 scalvert@his.com

Have you ever wondered why you don’t necessarily identify with BD or Zonker, or the other Doonesbury characters for that matter? Some would argue it is because you are not a boomer. We don’t likely think about it much, but because we were born before ’46, we’re defined as the generation before, sometimes called the Silent Generation or WW II Generation. While we may have shared experiences with the Boomers, the demographers tell us that we are more defined by our parents’ experience in the Depression and WW II than by “Sex, Love & Rock & Roll.” You may, or may not buy into this, but the truth is that unless you stayed on for graduate work, you didn’t really go to college during the ’60s. You remember exactly where you were when you heard that Kennedy was shot, and you might even know who The Weavers were and what they sang. And “The Green Door” was a song, which you might have learned to dance to.

Like it or not, your generation is defined by when you are born, and you have natural affinity to those of like lineage. The older you get, the more important age peers become, not to mention the unfortunate truth that this is a diminishing resource. So

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DIANE SEWALL CHAISSON

25 Williams St N Grafton MA 01536-1237 diane@meadowlarks-farm.net WILLARD THOMEN

417 Nicholson St Joliet IL 60435-7043 wthomen@stfrancis.edu

From Diane: Only a couple of issues left before reunion. We are moving along with planning. John Gamel and Debby Eaton Peck have opened a Class of ’63 Scholarship Fund. We hope you will help us fund it for the future. As of the end of ’11, there are at least 40 Northfield classmates planning to return for the 50th. I know there are more of you out there.

My news since the last issue: We had a scare with our oldest grandson in spring ’11. He had a benign brain tumor that was removed, but had bad complications due to drug reactions. Bill and I spent a month in MN to help with child care during his recovery. We drove out and visited with my mother in WI, 92 and going strong, and stopped at the R&R Hall of Fame in OH on the way home. I had

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Lydia Davis ’63.

lunch with Barbara Young in MN and caught up with her family news. She is still involved with special education and concerned about cuts in this era of downsizing of public funding.

Daughter Nicole’s family was here for Thanksgiving, giving us another look at our grandson to make sure all was still well. Dec found us on the RC Oasis of the Seas in the eastern Caribbean (biggest ship out there) and then 4 days in Stuart FL. What a strange intro to the Christmas season. Listening to my Vespers CD did help when I returned.

Lydia Davis writes: “‘One Earth So Green and Round’ is in the running for a Grammy. I am busy with a new songwriting project—‘We Can Make a Difference’—about character building. We certainly had good guidance in character formation at Northfield. My roommate Wendy French Palm helped me with boundaries, integrity, compassion, self-reliance. Oh, what a people pleaser I was back in the day.” Lydia is a deacon and choir alto and soprano at Cornwall Presbyterian Church. Her daughter is working on her 2nd jazz/original album in France, where she has lived since ’93. Lydia does volunteer performances for social justice and environmental causes whenever possible. Check in on Lydia at www.LydiaAdamsDavis.com.

Priscilla “Cilla” Smalzel Delas celebrated Thanksgiving in France with a neighborhood group of Unitarians. “That was a lovely evening with a beautifully baked turkey and so many veggies, cheeses, wines, and desserts, one properly flambéed.

It wasn’t NE, but we do what we can.” She’s just moved from a converted 19th-century coach house, where she lived almost 30 years, so Thanksgiving was also a housewarming with her daughters, college-era friends, and their grandchildren. They all hope it will become a lifelong tradition.

Carol Waaser retired on 1/28/11 after 28 years on the staff of Actors’ Equity Association, where she served in a number of positions, including acting executive director for the last 14 months. In May, Carol cycled through Italy for 4 weeks, following the route of Garibaldi’s march, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. They started in Marsala on the west coast of Sicily and ended in Turin. “The history and politics were fascinating—we were greeted by the mayors of several towns and cities and joined in some celebrations.

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The cycling was extremely challenging—more climbing than any of us had expected—and the climbs were steep. Of course the food and wines were terrific.” Carol planned a short cycling trip in Patagonia for 1/12. She remains a trustee of the Actors’ Equity pension and health trust funds, serves on the nominating committee of the Tony Awards, and does advocacy and public policy work on behalf of cycling.

Carol went to the Christmas Vespers in NYC and saw Lydia Davis. She also went to a Northfield School for Girls Tea. “Among other things, we were asked how we would define a Northfield girl. I noted that, although it might only apply to the class of ’63, the definition ought to include fun-loving and rebellious.”

Mimi Woodcock Karlsson retired last Mar after 42 years with the US EPA Atlantic Ecology Division. She writes: “I had a wonderful career, 17 peer-reviewed scientific publications to my name, and, I’m proud to say, as a union president for more than 20 years played a role in preventing a 56% cut in EPA’s budget in the Contract “ON” America, causing Newt Gingrich’s eventual banishment from Congress. Now that I am freed from the Hatch Act, I can’t wait for the ’12 campaign season.” After retiring, she raised 2 litters of Portuguese water dogs and placed the last pup a week before leaving for a trip to French Polynesia, where they toured Tahiti and then boarded the cruise ship Paul Gauguin for a luxurious cruise to the Society Islands, including Bora Bora; 2011 was filled with environmental battles, including defeating a developer’s assault on local zoning law in Little Compton RI. “I don’t plan to give up my environmentalist role until I’m feeble and in a home somewhere. Dealing with sneaky, nasty politics sure helps to keep the mind nimble at our age.” Mimi planned to see Bob and Dee Freund Borden and Debby Jenks over the holidays.

Sue Hemenway Nealon retired in 1/11 after 41 years in education, primarily in preschool special ed classrooms, but was an administrator her last 7 years. She walks for exercise every day, reads, travels to Boston to see her children (2 daughters who are social workers) and grandchildren, and has been more involved in music at her church. Sue is now happily single. She is in touch with Ellen Matthews Woodward, Flo Brereton Baerren, and Carol Fishman Czaja. “I totally loved our emails at this time last year and am now planning to attend our 50th reunion—my first—in ’13.”

From Will: As I write these notes, I am enjoying the sounds of Christmas Vespers from 1960–62.

Eric Erlandsen (aka Sir Despard Murgatroyd, for those of you who remember Ruddigore) writes from Kaiserslautern, Germany, where he has been living since ’96, singing with the local opera house chorus, with occasional solo roles, until his retirement last yr. Previously he sang at the Metropolitan Opera in the extra chorus from 1975 to 1996, with the NYC Opera in Turandot and Mefistofele, with the Bayreuth Festspiel summer ’91, and the Frankfurt

Opera as guest chorister (’95–’96). “It is indeed remarkable how Mr. Raymond was able to instill so many of us with such enthusiasm for music.” He is looking forward to attending our 50th in ’13.

David “Grappler” Gregory will be back for the 50th. After teaching in private and public schools for 42 yrs, he and wife Sandy have retired. They live in Stamford CT and enjoy the challenges of a precocious “spitfire” granddaughter, who lives in Brooklyn. Their daughter lives on Long Island. They anticipate moving to eastern CT in the near future.

Periodically, Dave has made it back to Hermon for football games and wrestling matches. Talking with the students, he finds the campus seems strong, but he misses some of the traditions that have fallen by the wayside.

From FL, Lloyd Jones fished several PVA bass tournaments in ’11, placing 1st out of 51 in a team event at Central FL PVA US Open. He also participated in 3 FL disabled angler events and 4 events on the NE PVA bass trail. He continues to play duplicate bridge on a regular basis and really enjoys his Kindle. He and wife Anne enjoyed a10-day cruise of the southern Caribbean last winter and will be taking a cruise of the eastern Caribbean in March.

They enjoy a harvest of produce from their gardens and orchard in Harpswell ME each fall and from their orchard in Edgewater FL in the winter.

From San Antonio TX, Robert Milk is an administrator at UTSA and teaches a foundations course in bilingual studies. He is thinking of retiring from administration after this year and continuing to teach half-time. In remembering Mr. Raymond: “I think of him often, with his gentle smile and warm demeanor masking his infinite patience in a never-ending quest for perfection.”

Writing on his 1st wedding anniversary in Oct from Port of Spain, Trinidad, Ricker Winsor is working hard with students there yet manages to get in a lot of painting (14 in the works at writing) and guitar practice at the same time. He debuted with his guitar at the school’s international event in front of 1,000 people with his country blues.

He says it’s valuable for them to hear this style of music, since they are exposed only to rap. Trinidad has been under a “state of emergency” since he and wife Jovita arrived. He can only paint in places

George Whitehead ’63, right, received the Salisbury Award from Art Cooley, chairman of the board of trustees of Salisbury U.

class notes

considered “safe,” which is quite limited. Still, he says life is good there: The people are great, proud of their culture and country. He looks forward to a summer vacation in Indonesia with his Indonesian stepdaughter, in-laws, and friends. VT landscapes still “pop up” among his tropical paintings.

We continue to look for volunteers from sports teams, work programs, choirs and Glee Club, band, theater, deacons, and dorm reps to contact classmates and urge them to return for our 50th reunion.

Personal contact is very important in helping to bring back classmates. Thank you for your help.

From the Alumni Office: George Whitehead

received the Salisbury Award from his hometown of Salisbury MD in recognition of his service to the community. The award honors those who have contributed to “the happiness, prosperity, intellectual advancement or moral growth of the community.”

In addition to the many service organizations he brought to the area, including AmeriCorps, George is known for securing the All-American City and 100 Best Communities for Young People designations for Salisbury. George was a social psychology professor and former department chair at Salisbury U.

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EASTY (ROBERT) EASTMAN PO Box 218 Shaftsbury VT 05262-0218 rheastman4@comcast.net

PAMELA STREET WALTON PO Box 33 Spofford NH 03462-0033 pawalton@myfairpoint.net

From Pam: In Nov, several Northfield ’64 women and one NMH daughter ventured onto our former campus for a 65th birthday weekend of nostalgia. Organized by Gail Myers Pare, those who attended included Linnea Powell White, Jean Thompson, Lydia Sarles Merchant, Kit Andrews, Mary Savage Raub, Mary’s daughter Jennifer Raub ’97, Kathy Childs Jones, and me, Pam Street Walton. Sleeping in dorm beds in MerrillKeep reminded us of our advancing years, but our spirits were rejuvenated that weekend as we viewed film footage of the class of ’64, devoured birthday cake, and, of course, toured the campus. Russell Sage Chapel was once again in pristine condition, and we viewed the auditorium with scaffolding to the ceiling for interior restoration work. The renovation of the buildings and heating system is well under way and the representatives of C. S. Lewis College are hopeful that the college will open in ’13. I encourage everyone to view photos of the weekend by going to our class website home page (northfieldandmounthermon1964.com).

Linnea Powell White not only visited campus in Nov, but after being informed of the C. S. Lewis Foundation’s plans, returned with her son (who attended NMH for 2 years on the Northfield campus) for the C. S. Lewis Christmas Carol Service on Dec 10. They were thrilled to see and feel Russell Sage Chapel resonate its spiritual message as it did when we were students. To quote Linnea: “What a wonderful service: I would encourage anyone who loves the Northfield campus to attend next year.” In retirement, Linnea enjoys yoga, gardening, and canning; has time to ride horses with her daughter; and spends more time with her grandchildren and husband on the picturesque family farm on the West Canada Creek in NY. Another minireunion member Jean Thompson hopes C. S. Lewis will be amenable to additional overnights on campus. Reflecting the feelings for most of us, Jean writes: “Northfield was a special place while we were there…and still holds a special place in my heart.” After graduating from Drew U in ’68, Jean followed in the footsteps of her mother, Helen Vorce Thompson ’28, and taught Latin for 37 years (as well as business English and mythology many years) in a small high school in northeastern VT. She sings in the choir (typical for a Northfield alum) of the Methodist Church in Lydon VT. Early retirement in ’05 has allowed Jean more time for church activities, quilting, reading, relaxing with her canine and feline family members, and reconnecting with several friends from Northfield days.

In Nov, due to back problems, Lydia Sarles Merchant retired from Siemens Healthcare. She was a hematology technical application specialist with a territory extending from Cape Cod to Bar Harbor ME. Now she can relax and is especially looking forward to our reunion in ’14.

Kathy Childs Jones continues her association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she is trained to give guided tours of the permanent collection. One goal she has set for 2012 is to meet Bob and Gayle Landgraf Leaversuch in Boston for an MFA tour and lunch. Bob and Gayle welcomed a 2nd grandson on 10/14/11.

In June ’11, Alison Phillips Cushing attended the 50th reunion for the class of ’61 with her sister, Gail Phillips Fairfield ’61, and had such a good time she will definitely attend our 50th. Alison was especially impressed with the restoration of Sage Chapel. It was open for returning alumnae/i with an alumnus playing the organ. Alison and Randy have sold their condo in Wilmington VT but continue to visit the area. They volunteered to help Wilmington clean up following the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene, which inundated the downtown district in late Aug. Heard that Kathy Marsh traveled to Turkey in Oct ’11 and had a wonderful time. She continues to work part-time at Emerson College.

In response to my Dec e-blast, Dana Hastings

Murphy wrote that after 2 delightful months in Nottingham, UK, taking a course in journalism, she was back in Flagler Beach FL. She works full-time as a publisher of news magazines. She was wondering how many of our classmates are retired vs. still working. Perhaps we can add a working vs. retired tally to our reunion website?

Bob and Sue Creasy Case continue to love living in Madison WI. She is still working, developing the multistate bar exam used to license lawyers throughout the US. For 25 years prior to that, she worked on the US medical licensing exam. After doctors and lawyers, can Indian chiefs be far behind? Sue logged 130,000 miles on Delta Airlines in ’11, which she said left little time for other endeavors. But they did see their 2 daughters and 5 grandchildren often. The oldest grandchild is graduating from Virginia Tech this year. Meanwhile, Sue’s dad (92) also lives in Madison and keeps them grounded on what aging is really all about.

Marcia Eastman Congdon had already left NH for their winter home in AZ, so she missed our 65th birthday minireunion. They were disappointed last summer when they visited campus and found all roads blocked due to construction. Marcia is busy this winter creating silver jewelry and also knitting, sewing, and crocheting for charity.

Dorrie Hutchins responded to my plea for news with a summary of the past 47 years. From NMH she went to Drew, spent junior year in Scotland, then worked in a bookstore in Wellesley MA after graduation. In ’71 she became a ski bum in CO for a year, worked in a small mountain town, pumped gas in Frisco, and then moved to Denver. Later she began her career with computers—first at Data General, then Digital Equipment Corp, Cullinane, and Prime—all have since gone out of business.

She held various positions with the local Meals on Wheels program for many years. Now retired, she has lived almost 20 years with her partner and cat in a small town outside Worcester MA. While listening to Christmas Vespers on her PC, Karen Holvick Deitemeyer wrote the following:

Members of the class of ’64 gathered last Nov for a Merrill-Keep minireunion. Seated: Linnea Powell White, Pam Street Walton, Kathy Childs Jones, and Kit Andrews. Standing: Jennifer Raub ’97, Mary Savage Raub, Lydia Sarles Merchant, Gail Myers Pare, and Jean Thompson.

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“This past year has been filled with lots of volunteer work. In the spring, I was survivor chair of our local American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event; in the fall I was education and advocacy chair for the ACS Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in Orlando FL; throughout the year I have continued as chair of our local Tobacco-Free Program Partnership; I serve on the leadership board for the American Lung Association and also on their Asthma Run/Walk committee. But the most exciting times for me were my 2 trips to Washington DC to represent EFFORTS, an online support group for COPD patients, and then to attend the 2nd national COPD Conference, where approximately 350 researchers, clinicians, and patients shared the advances made in COPD during the past 10 years and to set goals for the next decade. I was also asked to be part of a workshop panel discussion on advocacy. I came away feeling very hopeful that a cure will be found in my lifetime. COPD is now the 3rd leading cause of death in the US and is estimated to affect 24 million people, 12 million of whom do not even know they have it yet. A simple spirometry test in a physician’s office can diagnose it much earlier than waiting for the patient to become symptomatic. If you have ever smoked, please ask for the test.” Karen and Bill enjoyed a family vacation at Cocoa Beach with their children and grandchildren, and Karen has promised Bill to spend more time on their sailboat now that the boat is closer to home and near their son’s home. Karen and Bill celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary this fall.

Finally, I must apologize to Margaret McCasland, who wrote several months ago, and I somehow missed adding her comments to the last column.

She spent 5 weeks in Australia in ’11 to meet her new grandson, James, born 12/13/10 to Anne McCasland-Pexton ’93 and husband Simon and to celebrate grandson Henry’s (5) birthday. Son Scott is a computer guru in Ithaca NY. Margaret is dismayed by the effects of global warming. To quote her: “Regular trips down under have inspired me to work on ways to slow ‘Global Climate Disruption’ (as I write, northern Canada has had an exceptionally warm winter, and we are having sub-zero weather, so climate disruption seems a better term than warming). Here in NH, Ken and I enjoyed but

Eliza Childs ’67, Will Melton ’67, and Kathy Childs Jones ’64 at Kathy’s 65th birthday party.

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were concerned by the 10/30/11 20" snowstorm that caused so much damage in the Northeast.

Remember that our 50th reunion is right around the corner…just a couple years…you know how fast time flies. A few more class tidbits. Anne Wadleigh McAnulty sold her Cape house, so she rented a Cape cottage to enjoy the late summer days. Marjorie Witty posted info on our reunion website, including a remembrance of several teachers; if you are still delinquent and haven’t done so as yet, make it a New Year’s resolution to join us at northfieldandmounthermon1964.com.

From Easty: I am now completely retired. You can expect to hear more from me as we approach our 50th reunion. Sally and I now have our 1st grandchild and as many of you know, spoiling them is great fun. Via email Bill Saunders is “retiring happy daughter (teacher in NYC), son (filmmaker/ photographer/actor in LA), and wife (professor and therapist). Thinks of NMH time as perhaps the most soul-feeding period of his life. Just driving through the Pioneer Valley is enough to feel at home.”

From Dana Walston: “All 3 children married, 3 grandchildren. Enjoy visiting them in MI, MD, and MA. Still enjoy retirement; making furniture, driving my Miata in the mountains of NY, VT, and NH, and sailing on Buzzards Bay and other NE waters.” From John Carl: “I got a new hip for Christmas. I’m looking forward to returning to tennis and being able to do the 2-step in double time again. Everyone has always told me I needed to be ‘hipper.’” Mark Macomber plans to retire after 35+ years in banking. He ran into Dwight Keeney while vacationing in Southwest Harbor ME (Mt Desert Island). “He and wife Ellen have a vacation home on Deer Island, but it was a surprise to see him in a coffee shop where we were having breakfast. He’s hard to miss as you may recall.”

By now all of you should have received information regarding the establishment of the Class of 1964 Scholarship Fund. I hope all of you will do what you can to help make this a significant gift that will go on long after we are gone. If you have not joined our class website, do it today at www.northfieldandmounthermon1964.com.

Write soon and send money.

Betty Naughton ’65 with proboscis monkey in Borneo.

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WENDY SWANSON-AVIRGAN 106 Blueberry Dr Stamford CT 06902-1828 wsavirgan@aol.com HENRI RAUSCHENBACH 2 Endicott Lane, PO Box 1064 Brewster MA 02631-7064 henri.rauschenbach@comcast.net

From Wendy: Tony Cantore visited friends Ken and Sylvia Walker in CA last summer and reminisced about the summer of ’63 that he spent working for Ken, the school’s public information officer at the time, in Revell Hall, developing and cataloging photographs of the schools: “It was the same summer that Bruce Johnson worked the conferences at Northfield and we would all gather at the pool at the Northfield Inn in the evening about 7 pm. Bruce would bring his guitar and we would all sing our favorite folk songs and/or swim. That was the summer we organized a Roman Toga Party at the Inman Ice Skating Shelter, which ended with a hayride through the countryside. Debbie Kiendl had just arrived, and I was set up as her blind date to that party.” Tony saw Margaret McGowan in the underground passageway between the capitol and legislative office building in Albany recently, but she was rushing to a meeting and couldn’t stop to talk. Son Matthew and wife Laura had Tony’s 1st granddaughter in Sept, joining 2 older brothers. Matt works for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.

Younger son Mike is in the 3rd year of a doctoral fellowship in materials eng at UC Santa Barbara.

Abigail Crine is looking forward to the July birthday celebration on campus. She would be glad to talk about launching new careers to anyone interested. Hers is Boomer Vitality at www.boomervitality.me, which she is doing in addition to a full-time job at Brandeis. “I am excited about this new look toward aging forward.”

Brad Fitzgerald and Lisa went back to MA in Aug to visit his parents near Greenfield and then decided to go see Dave Stone and Tony Cantore in Albany. Tony, who is now a public employees’ lobbyist at the state capitol after having been involved in state politics for many years, gave them a splendid tour of the capitol. They met Dave for lunch and shared NMH stories and caught up on each other’s doings over the past few years. Dave is about to retire from the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany, where he has worked since the summer of ’91. He notes that next Feb will be the 1st time he hasn’t worked since he was 14, if you include the Mt Hermon work program. Lisa and Brad average 8 gigs a month with their rock and bluegrass band, Myakka (www.myakkamusic.com).

Tom Lemire responded to the class birthday

class notes

materials industry and will continue for a couple more years. Heard form Bob Van Wyck, who comes to Boston from Phoenix fairly regularly. We hope to catch up on one of those trips.

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Members of the class of ’65 gathered for a dinner at Locke-Ober in Boston last Nov. Left to right: Jed Olmstead, Mark Vonnegut, Martin Dardani, Mark Boeing, Tim Schiavoni, John Eagar, Henri Rauschenbach, Brian Ackerman, Christopher Parker, Peter Barber, and Matt Couzens.

party invitation, “I’ll be there. Always love a good reason to come back to NE.” Tom lives in Irvine CA. Candace Lindsay spent 2 weeks in ME last July, and during that time, she and Jeanne Moon drove up to see Richard and Candace Reed Stern in Castine. Then upon arriving at the airport in Portland for her flight home to AZ, she saw Sally Atwood Hamilton, who was busy working away on her computer on class notes in the Portland airport.

Betty Naughton went to Borneo for 3 weeks in Apr/May ’11. “I got to see undisturbed primary rain forest, 7 species of primates in the wild, civets, leopard cats, fresh elephant tracks near my cabin, 5 species of hornbills, huge flying fox fruit bats, green sea turtles laying eggs and hatchlings being released in the moonlight, and lots more. Also saw hundreds of miles of palm oil plantations and the effects of 150 years of deforestation as a result of the more developed countries’ demand for tropical hardwoods, rubber, palm oil, and other rain forest products.” Betty works part-time in Boulder CO as a seasonal naturalist, leading groups on nature hikes into the foothills and also doing presentations on topics like bears and mountain lions. Betty did “bear sitting” this fall when bears were in town, keeping people safe from bears and bears safe from people, and trying to get residents to stop unintentionally attracting bears with bird feeders, unsecured trash, etc. She did peregrine and prairie falcon nest monitoring and eco-stewarding in foothills close to home. She still sings in Resonance women’s chorus with 135 other women.

In Oct, Bruce Johnson had dinner with Henri Rauschenbach, a lobbyist with many large business clients who have dealings with the state of MA. He is also the director of alumni affairs for the Cape Cod Sea Camps on Cape Cod. He has been associated with CCSC since age 16.

Tanya Trinkaus Glass hopes to attend the class birthday party in July. In Dec she wrote: “Den and I and some northern friends plan to eat out on our terrace in the Naples FL sunshine where everything is green, the hibiscus and bougainvillea are blooming, and the waves are gently breaking against the Gulf of Mexico beach nearby.”

After 35 years, George Yu recently stopped

Sandy and Dave Stone ’65 (right) with friends at Dave’s retirement celebration in Jan ’12.

doing urological cancers and reconstructive surgery and now specializes in sex hormones in aging and health. He still sees patients and speaks worldwide on menopause and andropause.

In Nov your correspondent, Wendy Swanson Avirgan, took a day off from her job as a legal assistant to meet Constance Boardman ’64 at the Madison NJ train station, and we drove to Fairleigh-Dickinson for a Northfield girls’ luncheon. We enjoyed reminiscing with other alums and hearing about the school.

One highlight was watching the video “Promise to Keep,” filmed in ’64 as a promotional tool for the schools, which includes many photos of teachers and administrators we knew, as well as classmates, including Anne Winter Forsyth teaching a “rural work” class. Oh, the memories it brought back. The event was a lot of fun, and if one is scheduled near where you live, I’d recommend you attend.

From Henri: One can only remember the great talks about the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates and the creation of the Fertile Crescent.

Well—a dinner held at Locke-Ober in Boston in late Nov created a lot of fertile if not idle chatter with the confluence of these various and assorted members of the Mt Hermon class of ’65: Mark Vonnegut (a practicing pediatrician in Quincy), Martin Dardani (retired), Mark Boeing (runs John E Boeing near Concord), Tim Schiavoni (practicing law in Haverhill MA)) John Eagar (runs a transportation business on Cape Cod), Henri Rauschenbach (a consultant/lobbyist in Boston), Brian Ackerman (soccer-playing psychiatrist), Christopher Parker (Boston/Beverly lawyer), Peter Barber (retired) , Matt Couzens (retired), and Jed Olmstead (practicing radiologist in NH).

Missing the dinner but expressing a desire to attend the next one were folks like Ted Skowronski.

He lives in Southbury CT and practices law parttime. He admits to playing a lot of golf. He gave a special shoutout to Peter Barber. He is also planning to attend the class of 65’s birthday party that Bruce Johnson and others are organizing. Dave Zimmerman was unable to attend but was patched in to the dinner by Schiavoni and passed around the room. What a way to travel. Tom Lemire emailed and suggested that living in CA created some difficulty in getting to Locke-Ober. He believed there might have been colorful stories to be told. That is very true. He is working in the advanced composites

JEAN PENNEY WHEELER 77 Old Ferry Rd Deer Isle ME 04627-3330 theinn@ferrylanding.com

FRANK SAPIENZA 425 Washington St, Apt 6 Brookline MA 02446-6128 sapienzafc@cdm.com

From Jean: Greetings from the UK as ’12 begins with fireworks. I am helping out with a new addition to my daughter’s family (Katherine Borntraeger-Wheeler Nisbet aka Cricket ’00 ).

My return will have me heading straight to Sugarloaf, where I continue to coach children’s skiing. Love it .

We had an exhilarating reunion in June, well documented by Frank Sapienza in the last issue, and then we had an energetic planning weekend at my house in Oct that yielded some fine ideas. These included regional gatherings, planned over the next months, for the sole purpose of reacquainting ourselves with one another. I trust you all received the letter from me and co-chair Jim Weiss and will continue to reinforce us with enthusiasm and ideas.

I appreciate all your news and hope you will send more often.

Reunion weekend began with me visiting Betty Hain Andretta and husband Bob for the wedding of their son in Annapolis, which reminded me of the depth of the friendships we made at Northfield.

Ben Blake sailed by my house in Aug—we didn’t ever connect for dinner but will plan for summer ’12.

Nancy and Jim Weiss came to visit and enjoyed a special garden and E. B White’s house with me.

Barbara Tweedle Freedman and husband Barry moved to a residence in NH and are more organized already than I am after 15 years in our house.

Barbara received the Lamplighter Award, the highest

Jean Penney Wheeler ’66 with daughter Katherine Borntraeger-Wheeler Nisbet ’00, granddaughter Liesel (class of 2026), and grandson Hugh (class of 2030).

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communication, possible panel discussions on our next professions, and ideas for our class gift. All these will be coming your way. Want to thank our committee members Jennifer Stevens Dunmire, Day Merrill, Wil Everhart, Peter Fulton, Dan Cole, Barbara Tweedle Freedman, Suzanne Steenburg Hill, Constance Kane, and Susanne Rheault, for

their ideas and input. You’ll be hearing from us. Be well.

In Oct, Barbara Hazard, Lois Lake Church, Jim Weiss, David Edsall, Jean Penney Wheeler, and Frank Sapienza met on Deer Isle ME to do some reunion planning for the class of ’66.

alumni award given by NMH, at reunion, well deserved for her devotion to the Board of Trustees during a challenging time. We are fortunate that Barbara continues to give our school her positive energy and thoughtful insight in a different capacity.

I was saddened to receive a notice of the death of Sherry Clark Wilson. Our sympathy to her family.

Notes from other classmates—from Day Merrill: “Best. Reunion. Ever. Highlights: Peter’s amazing poetry, impromptu tour of Sage Chapel and getting to sing the Northfield Benediction in that space, the sermon re Northfield always living in our hearts, and a great class meeting. Can’t wait to start planning for a rocking 50th.” Susie Rheault writes from Swaziland, where she is working on a project to try to stem the tide of a 27% HIV prevalence rate. “I do indeed miss being a part of what sounds like much fun. “ (Susie’s orphanage project is worth learning about. Contact me if you’d like her newsletter.) Angelika Howard Clark was sorry to miss reunion. She writes: “I am re-engineering myself, and had obligations that week.”

Mary-Jeanne Newton Buttrey works as an MD in China but plans to be close enough to attend our 50th. Jennifer Risley Moon writes from her West Coast fishing community home to say that my ME island sounds much like her community.

She hopes to make the trek east in ’16. Please stay in touch. Carpe Diem.

From Frank: Want you to know that since our last reunion a small but dedicated crew has been planning our next big event—our 50th. Jean Penney Wheeler graciously hosted us at her inn (The Inn at Ferry’s Landing) on Deer Isle ME. It was a beautiful setting and a terrific time. A small group of us, including Jim Weiss, Lois Lake Church, Barbara Hazard, Stuart Bennett, Dave Edsall, and moi were there, and we had a super

time. We ate extremely well—lobster right out of Jean’s neighbor’s traps—toured Deer Isle, went on a nature walk through a lush, “primeval” forest that ended up on a sandy beach. Then we waded across some frigid water to a small moss-covered island—great adventure and fun. We also did some planning for our 50th, i.e., small regional gatherings, events and activities, locating lost classmates, events and speakers for our reunion, promoting electronic

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DONNA EATON-MAHONEY 97 Gifford St Falmouth MA 02540-3306 dmeato@aol.com

DANA L GORDON 106 Westphal St W Hartford CT 06110-1183 mounthermon1967@comcast.net

Will Ackerman spent a couple of months in Australia last fall producing 2 piano recordings, touring, and diving with wife Susan in the Great Barrier Reef, then returned to the US with a parasite that it took a doctor in a dusty little village in Costa Rica to cure. Susan’s organic garden at their home in VT kept them close to home for the spring and summer while Will had 9 recording projects to produce in the studio in ’11. Fall brought trips to Canada, Lake Placid, and then a couple of weeks of concerts and radio shows in Spain. The big news is that Will is doing the soundtrack for Clark Peterson’s film adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet.

Storm Scott reports youngest son Alex is working hard to get Sarasota wholesale pizza and lasagna business, Gluten Free by Beverly, off the ground.

Daughter April is also doing well in the food service industry. Her son is a 1st-year student at Full Sail in Winter Park FL. Last summer Storm and Alex visited son Adam and his family in London. While in Europe, the Scotts spent time at the home of Daniel and Janet Blair Atlan in Nancy, France.

Storm says: “One evening over a fabulous French dinner, we happened to be talking about our birthplaces, and to our surprise, Janet and I had been born within about 6 weeks of one another in the same hospital in Cooperstown NY. Her father was an intern there, and, of course, delivered Janet. After talking with my mother, I found that he delivered me as well.” The Atlans spend about half the year at their winter home in Valdosta GA, where a lot of Janet’s family lives.

Janet is retired from teaching English in a French university and Daniel is retired from human resources in the steel industry. They have 2 sons and 4 grandchildren. The Atlans will be back in France in June so

won’t be at the reunion but send best wishes to all.

Kori Hedman Calvert could miss the reunion as she and husband Scott ’62 may be in the middle of moving to OR. One classmate who’s looking forward to attending his 1st reunion is Jeff Neuberth. Schedule conflicts with major sailing regattas have kept him away up to now. The only classmate he’s had any contact with in the recent past has been Charlie Watt. They were colleagues in the same firm for a few years.

Ross Mason is planning to come for his 1st reunion from his home in Jamestown NC, where he lives with canine best friend Layla, whom he rescued from a dumpster 13 years ago. Ross has spent more than half his working life at WGHP Fox 8 TV in High Point NC. Now a grandfather, Ross still races bicycles but tries not to enter any races with the younger (<45) guys.

Another likely reunion 1st timer is Steve Billias, who now lives in Deerfield. He and wife Bela moved east from CA in ’04 and built the Shintaido Farm, a center for the practice of a type of Japanese body movement and martial art. Besides their own practice, they rent space to other groups for dance, Tai Chi, meditation, etc., and a farmer grows organic veggies on their front acres. Steve is a communications writer for Health New England. Over the years he’s had a few books published in the fantasy genre and sold a couple of ideas to Hollywood that were never made into movies. Steve is working on another book.

Lissa “Mary” Perrin has lived in Ann Arbor MI since ’72, when she moved there for grad school at the U of MI. Since ’74, she’s been a clinical social worker doing psychotherapy with adults in a variety of mental health settings. Lissa was married, divorced, and has 2 grown children and 1 grandchild. She stays in touch with Deerfield childhood friends Gillian Hirth Morrell and Carol Ball.

Another 1st-time grandparent is Brad Waterman with the arrival of a grandson in 4/11.

They’ll have some catching up to do to keep pace with Glenn Schwarcz, who figures to be the class leader with 26. One of Glenn’s sons just made partner in a CPA firm in Manhattan, another is a rabbinical student, and a 3rd is a manager of a major institution in Chicago. Most of his 5 daughters work as pharmacy aides. Glenn is medical director at Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg NY, running the Columbia U geriatric psychiatry fellowship there. He recently published 2 articles describing the novel use of a synthetic cannabinoid stimulator to treat refractory schizophrenia. He also continues his evening private practice in psychopharmacology and general medicine, where his wife is his office manager. He still kayaks all day once a week, roller blades an hour each day, jogs, bikes, and skis.

Kathryn Cole Gibbons works part-time as an editor and writer in Bermuda. Husband Grant is a member of parliament and both are involved

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in local politics. She is working on developing a health-care strategy for the One Bermuda Alliance, an alternative to the government plan. They’re finishing several years of renovations to their house and escape to their NYC apt as often as they can. Both sons graduated from college last year and are working in Bermuda and are living at home. If any classmates travel to Bermuda, Kathy says to look her up.

John Mudge is thinking green. He can look across his field to a hill in VT from the NH house he built in ’07. He mostly heats it with wood, and 33% of his electricity comes from solar panels. He makes his living from writing and consulting. John’s home-office companion is his dog, who spends the day sleeping at his feet beneath the desk.

Max Millard self-published a book, In the Black World: 1907–1932, co-authored with the late Thomas C. Fleming, the nation’s oldest black journalist when he retired in ’05 at age 97. The book tells of Fleming’s early life in Jacksonville, Harlem, and Chico CA, and his years working on West Coast ships and railroads. A free PDF of the book is available at www.maxmillard.com.

It was like “Wild Kingdom” when Irma-Riitta Simonsuuri Jarvinen visited Gene Harmon in CA. They encountered tarantulas while hiking on Mt Diablo; a fox sauntered by Gene’s home in Walnut Creek; they spotted a humpback and a school of orcas in Monterey Bay and elephant seals at Big Sur. En route to Hearst Castle, they noticed zebras through the spyglass, descendants of specimens from Hearst’s menagerie. Driving to the Pinnacles National Monument, they came across a flock of wild turkeys being herded by 2 coyotes intent on lunch.

Bill “Winks” Whitaker spent a year in the Peace Corps, teaching chemistry in a boarding school in Uganda. He just completed 40 years at Lucite International, where he’s a business director, managing their global resins business. He lives outside Memphis TN. As he gets closer to retirement, he’s focusing on spending time with family, including his son, an art director with a major ad agency in Memphis; his daughter, a director of a chimpanzee sanctuary in LA; and his grandson (3). Bill and wife Cathy have led 3 teams in the past 5 years to Maua, Kenya, to work at a Methodist hospital and the surrounding community to help empower AIDS orphans and to build housing for them. He started running competitively again 12 years ago and has run a number of marathons, including Boston, where he had an opportunity to talk to Frank Shorter ’65.

Melinda Hatheway Kantor lives in Calais VT with husband Jeffrey. Their 2 daughters live in CA and DC. One does jewelry design and the other is an audiologist. Melinda is thoroughly immersed in the arts, designing costumes for performers.

She plays traditional music with the VT Fiddle Orchestra and its subsets. Selling 1 of her paintings

Those who say they plan to be there include Skip Carino and Patricia Watson Bartlett.

Last June, Jean McBean Koenig and husband

In Sept, members of the class of ’67 visited Elaine and Carroll Bailey: Dana Gordon, Vin Kennedy, Wendy Alderman Cohen, Peter Higgins, Donna Eaton Mahoney, Aaron Newton, Elaine Rankin Bailey ’55, Becky Parfitt Kennedy, Carroll Bailey, and Chuck Streeter. (Present but not pictured: Robin Whyte Reisman.)

gave her encouragement, and she does colored pencil and watercolor drawings.

Roy Taylor and wife Nina, a staff physician at Northern IL U student health services, have 2 kids. Amanda (15) is into theater and choirs, voice and dance lessons. RJ (18) is at St Louis U in the international studies honors program, and studying Spanish, Chinese, French, and a little Ukrainian on the side. Roy is making progress with the bio-plastics business, still welcoming investors, and believes ’12 will be the make or break year. He sings with the church contemporary choir, which does modern arrangements of old hymnal standards. Next up may be some community theater come summer.

Roy hopes to be at reunion.

Retirement for Wendy Alderman Cohen comes 3 weeks after reunion. Between them, Wendy and husband Jeff have taught for 67 years and are looking forward to moving to Cape Cod, where Wendy anticipates volunteering at NMH and a new church.

Martha Ratcliffe Rix has settled into retirement and has never been in a better space. She was heartbroken to learn Saab was going out of business, having owned 3 from ’68 to last year, when she retired her last one, which had served her for 12 years. She wishes joy and prosperity to all classmates.

Mark Blaisdell retired in Dec after 40+ years in the insurance industry. He and wife Nancy will do some traveling, starting with a trip to HI from their home in southern NH. Daughter Amy is back home while writing her master’s thesis for a degree in world health promotion from the University of Bergen (Norway).

Tom Hanna remains unretired (or pre-retired) with no plans to change that status, although he takes lots of vacation.

The semiretirement that Jim Smolen liked so much has ended. Following the departure of his immediate supervisor in the controller’s office at Rice U, Jim has taken over her position. He’s also joined the Rice Masters Swimming Club and started swimming competitively again. Jim has competed in the 50-yard freestyle, 50 butterfly, 100 freestyle, and 100 individual medley. He urges everyone to attend reunion this year.

Steve bought a farm in southwestern MO. They spent the summer settling his parents and sister into the farmhouse while building a new home half a mile away. The incredible view of the Ozarks more than compensates for the long gravel lane and the distance from civilization. Steve works part-time, mostly from home, as exec dir of the Poultry Science Association, leaving him afternoons to reclaim the land in preparation for raising beef cattle. Jean helps care for his parents, gardens, cooks, and plays cello in the So Ozarks Chamber Orchestra. Daughter Kate, husband, and 2 grandsons live in Denver; son Will, wife, and 1 grandson live in Kansas City; and son Dan is in Corpus Christi. Both boys work for Kiewit Corp., one of the largest North American construction and mining companies. Jean and Steve feel blessed to have found an ideal situation for everyone. Jean’s mom and brothers are still in VT, so she may combine a trip home with reunion.

In Sept, class teachers Carroll and Elaine Rankin Bailey ’55 hosted a minireunion at their home in Andover MA. Wendy Alderman Cohen, Robin Whyte Reisman, Donna Eaton Mahoney, Vin and Becky Parfitt Kennedy, Chuck Streeter, Peter Higgins, Dana Gordon, and Aaron Newton

enjoyed the hospitality. Aaron reports that his only news is he is planning to be at reunion. As usual, he’s being modest. He was at the Baileys because he was in western MA to donate his skills to repairing the homes of 2 families that had been severely damaged in the summer storms.

Another minireunion took place in Dec in Sarasota FL, when Judy Boice and Jean Walker met for lunch and shopping. They picked up as if 45 years had not transpired since their last meeting.

Last year brought mixed blessings for Kit Williams Krents. Her grandson, born 2 months early, is thriving. His father Jamie is a marketing executive at the Verve label of Universal Music in NYC and also plays bass guitar in a successful wedding band. Son Will married in ’10 and lives in Shanghai, where he works for W R Grace. Son Michael recently received his JD/MBA from U of MD and is looking to follow his father and grandfather in a law career. Sadly, Kit’s husband, Milton Gwirtzman, died last July from metastatic melanoma. He had been a lawyer, author, advisor, and speechwriter for all 3 Kennedy brothers and others.

As many may recall, first husband Hal Krents died in ’87. Kit doesn’t find widowhood gets easier with practice. Kit’s career as admin dir at the DC law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP keeps her hopping, and she has rediscovered tennis with a vengeance. She enjoyed a visit from Eliza Childs last year and hopes to make it to reunion.

Elizabeth Moore O’Meara sends greetings from

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NC, where she and husband Tom moved in ’99 after working and raising their 2 sons in ME and VT. Liz retired in ’10 from teaching pre-K through 4th grade, reading recovery, and academically gifted.

Her current project is training their mini golden doodle as a therapy dog, which will keep her working with both children and the elderly. Tom is a family practitioner. They enjoy sailing and travel and have taken barefoot cruises to a variety of locations. Son Michael is an architect in Manhattan, and son Matthew, an engineer, owns a custom woodworking business in San Diego, where he lives with his wife and their only grandchild. Liz has a great appreciation for the education, experiences, and memories she carries from those years at Northfield.

Sheila Morse traveled with boss Swanee Hunt to the desert in Rajasthan, India, to camp, ride camels, and shop, then returned to Delhi to attend a conference convened by the Dalai Lama. She’d never been in such a luxurious hotel as the Taj Palace in Delhi nor anyplace as surprisingly cold as the desert. Later they were asked to set a 5-year agenda to work on alleviating world poverty, a goal perhaps too ambitious even for the Hunt Alternatives Fund, www.huntalternatives.org. A high point for Sheila was when 2 Women Waging Peace Network members were among the 3 recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. Another high point was finalizing plans to retire at the end of 6/12 and enjoy their VT home, spend more time with partner Dick, and return to traveling to Italy and Israel more frequently. Sons Joshua and Jonathan traveled to S Africa to visit their father in late summer. Jonathan is now employed at Hunt as well.

She’s looking forward to spending time with NMH friends in June. Their home is 20 minutes from campus, and they have extra bedrooms if anyone needs accommodations.

For the first time in 31 years, Bruce Burnside and his 3 daughters weren’t together for Christmas but did spend Thanksgiving together. Bruce finetuned his main recording studio before recording more of the fretted instruments and vocals for his orchestrated Civil War CD. He commissioned a new banjo and has written several songs for that project. He’s also been thinking about writing a book on the life of Dan Emmitt,19th-century composer of such standards as “Old Dan Tucker” and “Dixie.” All he needs is an interested publisher.

Bruce will probably also go back to the drawing board to illustrate his book If I Had a Friend.

One never knows what precipitates a classmate contact. Liz Schoen Burgess ’66 wanted to return a hole punch she borrowed from Wendy Syer over 45 yrs ago. Wendy is the asst dir of international education at the U of TN in Knoxville. She would like to trade the stress and work to travel the world but reports she is still happily married and trying to encourage her son (25) to become independent.

Lawyer-turned-underwater videographer Jay

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Garbose says sea conditions were less than optimal for a while, so his wetsuit stayed dry longer that he would like, but he put the free time to use relandscaping the yard, replacing a bathroom sink and faucets and 2 electrical boxes for outside lighting, digging a 20-foot French drain for the outside shower, and surfacing the front entrance with marble pavers—not skills he learned at NMH. Jay says he enjoys the contacts with classmates through Facebook. Join him and nearly 100 others by entering Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1967 in the Facebook search window.

And for the latest news with pictures, check out our web page at www.nmh1967.com.

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KRIS ALEXANDER ESCHAUZIER 49 W Lynne Ave Portland ME 04103-1656 pkeschauz@maine.rr.com PETER L. ESCHAUZIER 49 W Lynne Ave Portland ME 04103-1656 pkeschauz@maine.rr.com

MARK G. AUERBACH PO Box 60784 Longmeadow MA 01116-0784 mgauerbach@gmail.com

Steve Cole’s son Andrew ’12 has been accepted early decision to Elon in NC. Older son Taylor graduates with a degree in music this May. He will be shadowing Sheila Heffernon at NMH over winter break to get a taste of 24/7 boarding school life.

Steve does consulting work when not traveling— he and wife Chris had a great 2-week sailing trip off the Amalfi coast this fall with 2 other couples.

Chris is consulting in public education after 30 years at JPMorgan Chase and other financial institutions. “While we are still in Wilmette outside of Chicago, we have a winter home in Naples FL for any classmates who want some sun.”

Steve Cone authored another book, Steal These Ideas: Marketing Secrets That Will Make You a Star.

Second Edition. You can check it out on Amazon.

Class teachers Jeanne and Dale Conly ’52 celebrated their 50th anniversary on Nantucket with all the family last Aug. “Yes, we made it through 39 of those years enjoying working with great teenagers like you all. Fondly, Dale and Jeanne.”

Doreen Davenport Rasteiro spent a few hours on the NMH campus with a co-worker whose daughter is looking at schools—many new and beautiful buildings. Both were impressed, which made Doreen quite proud.

Susan Donaldson James is still churning out stories for ABCNews.com, her late-in-life career.

Son Alexander, who works for iMentor in the NYC Schools, was married in Sept, and daughter Megan is a reporter for VT’s Seven Days newspaper. “Life is good, even at 61.”

Ted Finlayson-Schueler writes: “I guess 43 years is long enough to gather news.” He earned two bachelor’s degrees from Syracuse and is now stalled in a PhD program there in disability studies. His wife of 32 years is a bilingual school psychologist in the Syracuse School District, working with Spanishspeaking kids and refugee children. They have a son (24) and a daughter (21). “By a strange string of coincidences, I have become a school bus safety expert, and I write training curricula and operation manuals, do consulting for government agencies at the state and local level, and serve as an expert witness in civil cases.” They are active in their church and sing in the alumni choir at Sacred Concert, where Ted always runs into classmates Jay Ward and Steve Tower.

Jay Garbose ’67, brother of our classmate David Garbose, who died shortly after graduation, found our class banner and posted a photo of it to our Facebook page.

Wendy Golenbock reports that her son, a senior captain of the MIT soccer team, was selected as an all-league first-team pick and played in the regional Division III NEISL all-star game, where he scored the winning goal. Wendy is an educational consultant, giving college guidance and teaching SAT study skills, and enjoys spending time on Facebook with NMH friends.

John Hansbury has been named co-president of the board of directors of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. You can read more at www.ocrf.org.

George Hansen lives in the Kansas City area with wife Carol. His 4 daughters are all in the area: 2 are attorneys, 1 is a PhD, and 1 is completing her medical education. He writes: “This was a great year, as we became grandparents for the 1st time with 2 of our daughters having little boys. I sold my latest technology business to Google in Sept. I teach part-time at the U of KS, work in the mentoring program at the U of MO at KC, and actively and passively invest.”

Stephen Holt reminded me that the late, lamented Doug Barrett captioned his yearbook pic with the Matthew Arnold line, “Journalism is literature in a hurry,” but neither he nor Doug could have foreseen the hurry-scurry of getting up by 5 am each day to post the latest tidbits for the 60,000 readers of Steve’s Kindle Nation Daily blog. “It’s an astonishingly great gig that allows me to help authors connect with readers in fun new ways, but that won’t keep me from whining about how it doesn’t leave me enough time for, well, literature…or for life, love, my kids, and my excellent grandson Callum.”

Gary Hopson married Shelley Cabbell on 7/6/11.

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He’s still with Amtrak and United Transportation Union, representing conductors in NE and NY, although they live in MD. In their free time, they tour Civil War sites on motorcycle and plan to refurbish a cabin power boat for long cruises in a decidedly southerly direction. Gary says he’s having too much fun to retire.

Jonathan Ives has completed 32 years teaching at Lolo School in Missoula MT. He went to LA last year to visit with Julian Decyk.

Barbara Kane Russell’s husband and son spent Christmas ’11 in Paris after a week’s stay in Armissan. Bill heads Vanderbilt’s division of pediatric endocrinology, and they bid on the Armissan vacation at a silent auction benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Barbara says: “talk about a win-win.”

Janis Lieff Abrahms Spring is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Westport CT and author of 3 well-received books (www.janisaspring.com).

She has 4 grandchildren.

John Maynard and Mark Auerbach met up over coffee. Jack is the moderator/instructor of the online discussion group on Islamic civilization hosted by the graduate alumni assoc at Harvard.

He has conducted research in 9 Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries, specializing in written and unwritten land law codes. He is a blogger in Amherst MA and has a son and a grandson.

Marion McCollom Hampton enjoys life in the Boston area, where she is busy at a growing firm that advises large and complex family companies.

Marion also plays tennis in several different leagues.

She has a daughter in 7th grade.

Judy Molesworth Darnell and Elisabeth “Betsy” Cornell had 2 minireunions in fall ’11 while Judy was in Chicago twice. “Their hospitality was wonderful and the political discussions rich.” Judy reconnected via Facebook with Carol Bolton Dane, and they plan a reunion soon. Facebook also helped facilitate a 10/11 reunion between Carol and Kris Alexander Eschauzier when the cruise ship Carol and husband Edward were on stopped over in Portland ME. Bill Newman hosted a dinner for class members, spouses, and partners in Washington DC in 10/11. Those attending included Al Dyson ’69, Don Stanton, Alison Ely Barschdorf, Rafe Sagalyn, Gary Hopson, Deborah Sliz, Rendell Davis, and Marjorie Swett. In Aug, Bill arranged a coffee with Mark Auerbach, Fred Cook, and Rich Staples

when Mark was in town for an event.

Walter North is in Cairo as the head of the USAID program in Egypt, supporting Egyptians as they work their way through a difficult political and economic transition. He says the situation is fragile but the courage and dignity of the Egyptian people has been inspiring.

Stephen Peck and Betsy Rugg Peck ’72 announced the 9/24/11 marriage of daughter Sarah to Sean Morrison.

Betsy “Ali” Rose has a new website: www.bet-

syrosemusic.org.

Mark Sorensen writes: “I have been deeply involved in American Indian education for the past 36 years. I would like to say that over the years I have been gratified with how NMH has made an effort to reach out to invite Native American students. My wife Kate and I have lived most of that time on a solar-powered ranch in the Painted Desert adjacent to the Navajo Nation near Flagstaff AZ. Ten years ago we co-founded an elementary charter school on the edge of the Navajo Nation.

We serve Native American students, mostly Navajo but some Hopi and Apache as well. Our website www.starschool.org tells the story. I would invite all NMHers who are traveling in our area to visit.”

Nice to reconnect with Susan “Pogo” Sperry Maple via Facebook after losing track of her for quite a while. She and her husband and 2 daughters live in the Houston area.

Don Stanton and his wife bumped into Bill Newman on the Washington Metro. Bill connected Don with his old Hayden roommate Bob “Buck” Brown. Don just completed a year as a deputy assistant secretary of defense for transportation policy in the Office of Secretary of Defense Logistics, working on transportation issues, getting supplies into Afghanistan, and the transition of Iraq from Defense to the State Department.

Richard Staples, a RI foreclosure prevention rep at Fannie Mae, was named to the board of directors at AbilityPLUS, a nonprofit that manages the adaptive snow sports program in NH’s Mt Washington Valley. He’s been a volunteer there for more than a decade.

Nancy Stevens and Mark Auerbach met up for coffee over the summer ’11. Her daughter co-wrote the musical Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which premiered to great notices at the ’11 NY Musical Theatre Festival last fall; it won the most honors at the festival’s Awards of Excellence.

Ruth Stevens was named one of the 50 most influential people in sales lead mgmt in ’11 by the Sales Lead Management Assn. Ruth authored a book, Maximizing Lead Generation, about bringing science and systemization to sales lead generation.

Steve Tower writes: “Much of my personal life has revolved around family, especially this past year because Heather ’73 lost both her parents and our children Christopher ’05 and Sara ’07 are planning to graduate this year. My professional life as director of education has revolved around my co-ownership of the Keene NH Sylvan Learning Center. Singing (and being on the board of directors) of the Amherst Da Camera Singers, directing the local church choir (with Heather’s help selecting music), BSA assignments (like popcorn sales and advancement), working to Save the Schell Bridge in Northfield, and our house in Northfield more than fill any gaps there might be.”

Randall Volkert checked in after 43 years filled with ups and downs, global travels, and more.

He took an extra year at NMH, but left to finish high school at his old public school. He went to Middlebury, entered the Air Force in ’69, and ended up in a variety of stations from NM to Germany. He left the military in ’77 to return to school; graduated in ’82, and worked in a variety of jobs from postal worker to bakery worker to cheese-factory worker. He returned to the Air Force in ’85, finished a master’s, and worked in a variety of jobs. He’s now in Chicopee MA. He worked for the Northampton VA Medical Center helping vets work toward their GEDs. He also began work on a doctorate. He’s now retired, married, and has an adopted son Joey. (He sent Mark a long update— too much to print here. Mark will email it to anyone who wants to reconnect with Randall.)

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SUE PINEO STOWBRIDGE PO Box 29 Silver Lake NH 03875-0026 nfld69@aol.com

Despite the holiday rush, several folks sent news for publication in the next edition. Special thanks to those who remembered to write their news in a usable format, which minimized the time needed to create this column on New Year’s Day. Nancy Clark McGrath vacationed in Greece (no riots in sight) after speaking to the Hellenic Dietetic Association on weight and exercise, including information on gastric bypass marathoners—an emerging clientele. Daughter Mary is a junior at Smith College and son John graduated from UNH and landed a job in Boston. There is more about her work at www.nancyclarkrd.com.

Rita Dudley-Grant is on the coordinating committee for the Caribbean Regional Conference of Psychology held in Nassau. This conference served as the kickoff for the Caribbean Region Psychological Association, the first of its kind in the Caribbean, so they are all excited and proud. They hope to make a difference for the health and mental well-being of Caribbean people in the region and the diaspora. Rita says she takes her commitment to maintaining a global perspective, honed at Northfield, forward into her professional life.

We enjoyed a visit from Chris Fleuriel in Aug. She made it home to Augusta ME just before Hurricane Irene slammed into NE. Shortly after, she reported that 3 representatives of the National Cemetery Commission visited VA to conduct research in the 2 cemeteries there. Chris noticed that 1 woman was wearing a Northfield class ring.

It had belonged to the woman’s mother, class of ’47.

Chris has a well-established gift for running into people with Northfield connections.

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Marti Hall Malabad reports that she and her husband celebrated 40 years of marriage and are enjoying good health, the sale of their most recent house, and the remodeling of their original house. They expect to move back there in ’12. They love spending time with their 2 grandchildren when not traveling, sailing, hiking, biking, or enjoying the outdoors. Marti is in touch with Ann Pettengill Shea and enjoyed a long phone chat with Anne Dain-Goeschi.

Melinda Herron says hello from across the pond.

She lives in the greater Paris area and is in her 11th year working as in-house translator for Kohler, France, the plumbing company. Merinda Herron has her own pediatrics practice in midtown Atlanta, and the 2 celebrated their birthday together again in Jan, this year in Atlanta.

Becky Shafer Tuuk’s son Jonathan graduated from Purdue with an electrical engineering degree and minors in Spanish and history. He joins the throngs in the job hunt and is living at home with sister Jennifer, pending landing full-time jobs. Becky and husband Roger are adjusting to having the kids back at home but manage occasional getaways. On the brighter side, they have built-in people to shovel snow and water plants. Becky still teaches ESL students K–12, 2 days a week, and finds the job fulfilling; it also offers a flexible schedule. Once a month they travel to IN to help Becky’s parents (98 and 101). Her husband’s parents, in their 80s, are closer to home but also need help. In ’11, they enjoyed visits with Don and Faith Goodwin Hodgkins and with Libby Leonard Siegmund and her husband.

(Libby’s son married in Oct.) Carol Ward closed her ob/gyn office after 27 years of practice. She figures being on call every other night equals almost 5,000 nights, so she deserves a rest. Carol is doing a little teaching and a little credentials work. One son just got his PhD in environmental engineering (water) and the other works in wind power; both are on the West Coast.

She says: “No grandbabies yet, but we are ever hopeful.” She sees Barbara Deinhardt and Katie Marshall Greenman and reports both are doing well.

Molly Wheeler May is finally able to devote time to her passions: making photographs, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and snowshoeing in the Four Corners area of the Southwest. She says photography and exploring may develop into a new career. She is getting to know her 4 grandchildren, who live “across the pasture” with daughter Cora and her husband. Daughter Sarah, who lives nearby, shares many of the same outdoor interests, so they wander together whenever possible.

That’s all the news for now, in the deep midwinter. Of course, by the time you read this in print, much will have changed, including the season.

There is also breaking news that will be available in the next column. Stay tuned, and don’t wait for my next begging email to send your news.

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PETER KROPP 150 Seaview Rd Brewster MA 02631-1532 pkropp@cape.com

It has been a slow news time. Classmates, this column is only as good as we all make it together, so please take a few minutes to send me an email with your news for the next column. Thanks.

Our MH ’69 class banner has continued its journey around the world, as it has recently been in Burma, Nepal, (4,600 meters above sea level), Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, and New Zealand, among others. We have the besttraveled class banner ever.

Steve Shapiro found classmate Roger La Hart, who is a banker in CO, Roland Leong and Bill Bretschger in Nov. Bob Linderman checked in from the West Coast and shared that he is not happy with the current national debate.

Paul Murtha continues his work with Mountains of Hope Foundation and just finished a tour of PA with the director of education for northern Ecuador, visiting innovative educational programs, including 2 Waldorf schools, community colleges, and a bilingual inner-city school. When Paul returns to Ecuador in 1/12, he will report to the president of Ecuador to introduce better models of hands-on educational methodologies.

Roger Long is a Facebook friend who shares his sailing experience on his boat Strider. Check out Roger and Facebook to see what he is up to.

Al Gilbert has continued his singing career, which started with the MH choir; he’s been with the Golden Gate Men’s Chorus since ’96; George Chaltas attended their version of Christmas Vespers in Dec. Bob Jackson reports that he is CEO of a healthcare group providing services in underserved counties in rural AL. Lots of challenges and blessings.

The Bay Area group of MH ’69ers is a strong and vital group, and there is talk of a minireunion in the Bay Area in the fall of ’12. Stay tuned.

Just watched the Patriots clinch the number 1 seed in the AFC. By the time this is published the Super Bowl will be history. Until next time. On the Cape.

From the Alumni Office: Golf writer James Bartlett has a 2nd book coming out in spring ’12.

Mastering Golf ’s Toughest Shots was written with the Professional Caddie Association of Palm Coast FL, as was his 1st book, Think Like a Caddie…Play Like a Pro, published in ’10. Bartlett is a former editor of Golfweek, longtime golf columnist for Forbes magazine, and the author of the Hacker series of golf mystery novels published by Yeoman House Books.

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DEBORAH PERSONS BROOKE 68 Hidden Bay Drive South Dartmouth MA 02748 dpbrooke@gmail.com

Martha Nace Johnson writes that she has been living in Annapolis MD since ’88. Daughter Anna graduated from Yale and has been involved in sustainable agriculture. Son Lucas just graduated from Stanford and is leaving for Austin TX, where he intends to join the music scene. He plays drums and keyboard and hopes to compose. He’ll pay his rent, he hopes, by getting church gigs. He has studied pipe organ for 8 years. Martha admits: “I used to attend his lessons on Sat mornings—he studied with the organist at the US Naval Academy and played in the chapel on campus—and it reminded me so much of Northfield. I would practically cry, except he would have been mortified at my behavior.”

Husband Steve is in semiretirement, working from home and writing a book on political philosophy.

Martha is the administrator of the General Services Administration in DC. “I was confirmed unanimously by the Senate in Feb ’10 and am thrilled to be in the Obama administration.” Her agency is in great demand in this budget situation, as its customers (all the rest of government) need to find efficiencies in their buildings, fleets, spending, etc. “We have particularly chosen to pursue a zero environmental footprint. If we don’t do it, the government won’t have a prayer to be significantly sustainable. So, it is all very good work.”

Martha is often asked how she got this job. “I know that the strongest skill I bring to bear is communications—undergirded by all that writing in Miss Palmer’s English class. And, I often look at my bookshelf at home and think of her. Her family sent me her collection of books on Emily Dickinson.”

Martha stays in touch with Pauline Asper and Linda Keniston.

Her memories of Northfield include listening to a Bread and Roses speaker (a women’s collective in Boston). It was the first she had ever heard of the women’s movement. She also remembers being in total awe of the older girls and enjoying the visit from the hall “cop” each night before lights-out.

Martha still has her class hat in her closet.

Laurie Reich Kiely attended Christmas Vespers at NMH with her husband Neil Kiely, Ellen Frost, Margaret Wilson, Spencer Burdge, Alex Lotocki de Veligost, and Michael Verrilli.

Laurie remembers walking to the bookstore and sitting in the back booth with friends, eating Twinkies or a Hostess treat. She loved walking in the woods and finding a hidden spot overlooking the Connecticut River. She remembers walking to Rua’s and the penny candy store on Main St. She loved the dinnertable discussions in the Center Gould that were usually about what was going on in

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the world outside Northfield. And, she remembers lots of thought-provoking discussions in Bible class.

Claire “Sammi” Schmidt Jones has been in CA since ’72, and has been married for more than 20 years. She worked for AT&T/Bell companies in sales for 27 years. Now she is working for NEC Corporation America, managing the phone systems, with Bugs Bunny, on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank. She has seen a lot of celebrities and stars with broken phones, but: “What goes on at the Lot, stays on the Lot.” Claire spends her weekends riding her quarter horse mare on a ranch in Chatsworth, where many westerns were filmed. She recently unearthed her denim skirt, “which looked about 12 inches long,” and her peach and aqua dummy uniforms. Her wardrobe would be complete if she could find 1 of our red or green swimsuits.

I have reconnected with Derek Cavanaugh, who also was at the U of Penn with me. He purchased a house in Westport MA, which is where I work, still buying books and cards for a wonderful independent book/gift shop.

Please keep the emails, letters, and phone calls coming. Also remember that whether you choose to submit news or not, you can join and search the NMH alumni database at https://community.nmhschool.org. It is an easy way to get and stay in touch.

Please consider adding your email address, as it will make it easier for me to share news with you.

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NEIL KIELY 111 Ferry Rd Bristol RI 02809-2902 neil@marketinginmotion.com

In my last column, I mentioned a minireunion planned for 8/11. The driving force was firsttime reunion attendee (40th) Eugene “Geno” Ward. Twelve classmates registered for a 3-day, 2-night adventure in the White Mountains of NH. Participants included: Gene Ward, Alex Lotocki de Veligost, Andy Perry, Mark Carta, Bill Brundage, Tom McCarty, Jon Romig, Steve Johnson, Bruce Berk, Jake Duvall, and Neil Kiely. Robert Horne was scheduled to join us but a last-minute family issue prevented his participation. We met at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center and were then driven by AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) van to the beginning of the Airline Trail.

We hiked more than 18 miles in the course of the 3 days, most of it above the tree line. Five of the highest peaks in the state include: Washington (6,288’), Adams (5,799’), Jefferson (5,712’), Monroe (5,372’), and Madison (5,366’). We stayed in Madison and Lake of the Clouds AMC huts. It was an incredible experience but probably the most physically demanding 3 days of my life. It was the

first time anyone had seen Tom, Bill, or Jon in 41 years, so having them participate was terrific.

Although there were varying degrees of ability and experience on the trip, everyone was wonderful about not pushing too hard and enjoying our time together. We ate breakfast and dinner together in the huts. They were delicious and plentiful. The weather was unusually spectacular. We had all prepared for the worst—rain, snow, cold. According to those in our group who have hiked this area in Aug, we were very fortunate to not experience the severe conditions that are possible. We hit some drizzle as we came down through the clouds, but that was a minor inconvenience. After the trip, we had lunch at Smokehouse right outside No Conway, where we laughed, told stories, received souvenirs courtesy of Gene, and promised to make this an annual event.

The “hiker friendly” restaurant was kind enough to give us a private room, which was a good idea as we were more than a little “gamey.”

As we all talked about at the last reunion, we plan to have more minireunions going forward. There is a trip to ME in the works to climb Mt Katahdin and go white-water rafting later this summer. In addition, the 6 MH and N ’70 attendees at Vespers agreed that since we have so much fun when we get together, we really should make a concerted effort to plan minireunions. Ideas are being discussed for events that would appeal to a wider range of classmates (male and female) and would not have limitations on the number of participants. If you have any thoughts (and they don’t have to be in NE), please drop me an email.

The Alumni Office is trying to start an NMH Club of Southern New England. If that happens, we would have access to some interesting and enjoyable events for all.

Mark Carta is opening his own law firm. The new firm, Carta, McAlister & Moore, will locate in Darien CT and concentrate on employment law and commercial litigation.

In my last column, I mentioned Tom Baldwin’s unusual lifestyle. He has been in RI since 8/31/11, right after Hurricane Irene did so much damage in

NE. He works as an independent insurance adjuster, making sure that the field adjusters properly (and quickly) document and remedy residential insurance claims. He drove here from Oklahoma City.

Other than a short stint home for Christmas, he has been here ever since. He will complete his work here in Jan. He only gets paid when he is in the field working and commented: “It is strange to make my living as a result of disasters, which cause physical, emotional, and financial pain to our customers.” I have enjoyed reconnecting with Tom over the last couple of months. He also attended Homecoming and Christmas Vespers on campus. His mother used to work at the school and still lives on Main St in Northfield.

When I returned from Homecoming, I sent a broadcast email to both classes to connect with everyone and share the events of the weekend. What followed was totally unexpected but wonderful. My email generated a great deal of comment and discussion. It started with a response from a Northfield classmate. The back-and-forth went on for a couple of weeks. For the most part, it was a positive dialogue, which demonstrated some of the frustration and misunderstanding that still exists among many classmates about the closing of the Northfield campus. I especially appreciated the insight of Jonathan Blackman, a former trustee, who was able to add his firsthand perspective on the decision-making process over many years. I think the discussion was a valuable exercise and exchange of different ideas and viewpoints—so positive that I have been encouraged by many to share it with the school and/ or with all of you.

This discussion is a perfect example of why it would be helpful and important to have emails for every classmate. You can send yours to me (Northfield to Deborah Brooke) and be included immediately. If you would prefer that I not share your email with the school, I can do that as well; and already have for several classmates. Sorry that this column is so short but I am on deadline and frankly have not heard from any more of you. Hope you we can change that in ’12.

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REBECCA GOHMANN BECHHOLD 4755 Miami Rd Cincinnati OH 45243-4037 rbechhold@gmail.comt

MH ’70 trekkers “take 5” on Mount Jefferson’s Monticello Lawn with Mount Adams in the background.

(L to R): Alex Lotocki de Veligost, Jon Romig, Jake Duvall, Bruce Berk, Neil Kiely, Mark Carta, Steve Johnson, Bill Brundage, Tom McCarty, Andy Perry, and Gene Ward.

From Susan: It’s difficult to imagine, but by the time you read this, the holiday season will be a distant memory, spring will be arriving, the trees will be budding, and summer will be just around the corner. And many of us will be busy making plans and looking forward to some time with children and grandchildren.

Last Sept, Sister Monica “Tinker” Elmer went

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to Durban and Johannesburg, So Africa, with the Spirit of America Band, where it offered free workshops and shows and donated instruments to young people in the surrounding townships. Tinker and Donna-Marie Peters met up at the Northfield School for Girls luncheon put on by the NMH Alum Association in Chatham MA, just a short distance from where Tinker lives, and they were thrilled to see each other.

Thanks to Lisa Paszamant Clark, I have a reunion photo to share. She and the ladies in the picture had a great time walking around to all the dorms at Northfield and taking photos, this one being on the porch at Marquand.

And so, after 8 very enjoyable years, this ends my column for our class. I was delighted to take over and build up the column after it had gone through an inactive period, and I enjoyed immensely communicating with everyone and passing on your news. I hope it contributed to your lives in some way and maybe from time to time brought a smile to your lips. Thanks to all of you who have sent in news over the years, and thanks also to those of you who read and enjoyed hearing from your classmates.

This volunteer job was so much fun because you made it fun. Be well and have a great summer.

From Becky: Thanks to all of you for an overwhelming response. In fact, it was so good that I am forced to edit many of the comments due to space restrictions. I want you to know how much I enjoyed your responses. It confirms what we all know—that Northfield produced incredibly bright, articulate, and highly motivated women who are dedicated to improving the global community.

Alison Elliott and daughter Sarah (soph at Bucknell) visited Suki Whilton Agusti in Alexandria VA. Alison also saw Sue Terry Patrick in NYC. Alison and husband Steve went to Helsinki, St Petersburg, Moscow, and Tallinn (Estonia) this fall, meeting with tech entrepreneurs and investors.

Cynthia Esthimer keeps up via NMH Facebook

Women from the class of ’71 walked around the Northfield campus during reunion. This photo was taken on the steps of Marquand. L to r, starting at the bottom: Sarah Guterman Melling, Janet Bruggemeyer Wilson, Lisa Paszamant Clark, Leigh Hansen, De De Spillane Prisco, Lauren Jarvi, Ginny Geiss, Judi Tremblay Barrett, Gail Ash-Morgan, Sara Anderson, and Cindy Kitchen Hogan.

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page. Inspired, apparently, by her dummy experience, she spent 13 yrs as chef and baker, and then attended Lesley U for a master’s in expressive arts therapies. She spent 25 years directing a program at a private school in Newton. She lives in Hopkinton married to a wonderful woman and enjoys song writing, painting, and outdoor activities.

Cathy Shufro missed reunion due to son’s graduation from U Chicago. She is still a writer (thanks Miss Buckmaster). With a fellowship from International Reporting Project, she will be going to Thailand in Mar to report on health care for undocumented migrants from Burma. She still lives outside New Haven.

Leigh Hansen attended the Northfield luncheon in ME with her mother this summer and met NMH archivist Peter Weis ’78. He confirmed that our class tree is in front of Kenarden. He was able to help her locate the school file of her great-grandmother, which included her application to NSG from Oct 1893.

Leigh has 2 of her textbooks as well, complete with lecture notes. Leigh is an outstanding genealogist.

Jane Linker is restoring a 1762 home in Richmond MA. She hears from old roommate Ginger Mead Schmidt, who has been helping to establish an orphanage for earthquake survivors in Haiti.

Kim Akeret Cookson is a psychologist in LA, where she can walk to her office, and is also director at Southern California Counseling Center, a community-based center serving the entire population. Husband Tony is a writer. Daughter Molly is married and an aspiring actress. Son Nick graduated from the U of Denver. Anyone in LA, please call her at 310-470-8904.

Annie Nashold retired after 20 years at Sarah P. Duke Gardens and is now at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke. She is taking watercolor and collage classes and working toward a botanical illustration certificate at the NC Botanical Garden. Son Jonah is at Haverford. Husband David is an environmental chemist at a Research Triangle institute.

Raul and Debbie Arnold Chavez have had a Costa Rican student living with them for the past 8 years. She is a concert pianist. Son Anthony is in Aspen and son Kyler works for Hyatt also in CO. Debbie is working on her nutrition thesis, teaches computing skills, and does nutrition counseling

Donna-Marie Peters ’71 and Sister Monica “Tinker” Elmer ’71 saw each other at the Cape Cod luncheon for Northfield girls in Aug.

Claudia Istel ’71 and husband Grant Taylor at their daughter’s wedding in Sept ’11.

while pursuing her passion for singing. Raul continues as a financial advisor but now works independently and is thrilled to be doing so.

Marta Ozols Pate is national service program coordinator for Step by Step, a nonprofit in southern WVA. She writes grants, proposals, and oversees AmeriCorps/VISTA workers. These programs are a great opportunity for kids who don’t know what they want to do or have not found employment.

She has been married 24 years and has 4 children— a daughter works for Wal-Mart, a son lives in Dallas, another daughter is in college, and a son is finishing high school.

Donna-Marie Peters teaches at Temple U and also teaches and speaks about racial issues for the Episcopal Diocese of Philadelphia as a member of their Anti-Racism Commission. She thoroughly enjoyed the reunion.

Rebekah Drew Guerra teaches at Boston Trinity Academy. She has 5 children, the youngest a senior in college. Sadly, Rebekah lost both her parents this year. She is also hosting 2 exchange students and helping them with college applications.

Claudia Istel is in her 26th year of teaching high school math in NH. She’s a deacon and clerk at her church and sings in the choir. She also volunteers in 4-H, mainly through her daughter, who is active at the local, county, and state levels. Husband Grant is involved and teaches woodworking and leather crafts.

Their daughter Phoebe was married in CA last Sept.

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DAVID C. ELDREDGE 311 E 10th St, Apt 1B New York NY 10009-5106 d.eldredge@verizon.net

As if the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year’s holiday cycle isn’t exciting enough, Dec brought a surprise visit from Penny Weigand Morgan who, despite having not been seen/heard from in 40+ years, was instantly recognizable: looks marvelous as we all do. Having raised 2 sons and run a family crafts/weaving business in FL, Penny has for some years now been working with artist/designer and international HIV+/AIDS activist/philanthro-

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Penny Weigand Morgan ’71 and Dave Eldredge ’71.

pist Mary Fisher, assisting her good works around the world (check out www.maryfisher.com). Penny splits her time between her home in FL and AZ, when not traveling the world. In town for a showcase of Mary’s latest collection of jewelry, fabrics, and designs, Penny and I spent a great evening catching up over drinks/dinner.

The month’s excitement continued with the arrival of NMH Vespers to NYC, which lured Cindy Kitchen Hogan to town (as well as a visit to Sue Terry Patrick). We met up with Deb and Dave Kjeldsen and Faith Glazier Toraby ’72 for a pre-concert holiday meal. The concert/performance by all was superb, with the venerable church just off Times Square packed.

As ’12 will be well under way by the time this column is printed, I can only hope everyone has enjoyed a happy and (most important) healthy one to date. Please keep news and info flowing for the next column and, as always, if business/pleasure ever brings you to NYC, please be sure to give a shoutout.

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KAREN BESHAR ZAKALIK 397 Woodbridge Ave Buffalo NY 14214-1529 karen.zakalik@gmail.com

TOM SISSON 86 Punchbowl Trail West Kingston, RI 02892-1033 1972nmh@gmail.com

Hello, everyone. I took on the job of secretary 2 months before the Jan 2 deadline. Shortly after that, Karen Beshar Zakalik joined forces with me as co-secretary. We want to thank all the folks who sent us notes. Going forward (please don’t disappoint us) let us know your news, so we can share it with the rest of our classmates. We have helped many classmates reconnect, and we can help you.

Simply write to us using the addresses provided, or send an email to 1972nmh@gmail.com. This account is strictly for class notes and getting you connected (only Karen and I have access).

This version of the class notes has been edited

down quite a bit. If you would like the full version (10,000 words) send us an email, and we will email it to you. Also, check out Tom’s Facebook page. This is used only for classmates. To date, we have more than 100 members of the class of ’72 there. Our 40th reunion is right around the corner, so mark your calendar and sign up now. It is never too late to catch up.

Karen Beshar Zakalik has 2 sons, Samuel (20) and David (18), who are both away at college. She and husband Rick are not enjoying the emptiness.

Karen is looking forward to reunion and encourages everyone to come together and reconnect.

Gwyneth Jones Radloff lives in Arlington VA with her husband Scott. Gwen is an attorney at the general counsel’s office at the USDOT, focusing on safety and economic regulations. Skye “Phillis” Dent changed her name after she co-created an alien race for “Star Trek Voyager.” She writes for television and film and also works full-time as a tenure-track journalism professor. She can be reached via skyedent@aol.com.

Claudia Costanzo has been living in Madrid, Spain, since ’81. In ’07, she founded NO DOOR Artist Communities to promote artist-in-residency programs in the US and Spain, an activity that permits her to develop her own creative life as a fine art photographer. Michael White and wife Liz celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary last year.

They have a daughter and a son. Mike’s been practicing law in AK and Seattle for about 30 years.

Toya Doran Gabeler tells us that she looks back on her days at NMH with pleasure. Her parents didn’t send her; she asked to go. Toya asks that folks from Wallace contact her at toyadgabeler@aol.com.

Joan Elgosin Milnes lives and works in Beverly MA. She is the director of internships and career services for Montserrat College of Art. Faith Glazier Toraby lives in Cos Cob CT. She tries to keep in touch through various NMH events, vespers, and alumni receptions. She will be attending our 40th reunion along with her twins, Jules and Sophia ’07.

Cyndie Spencer and husband Denny Lund have been living in Madison WI for the past 13 years.

They have 2 sons who are at Macalester College, and a daughter, who graduates from high school on reunion weekend. Reed Stewart enjoys FL and does volunteer work in addiction and alcohol abuse.

Reed still gardens and loves the outdoors, which is why he moved to FL. Nancy Klarman moved back to Nashua NH 2 years ago. She has a business, Creative Yankee Enterprises, LLC, which helps others with growing health and wealth through improving nutrition.

Marni Merrill Hoyle has been living in Manchester MA for 30+ years. She’s been involved with Bostonarea high-tech start-ups on the marketing side since ’81. She tries to keep in touch with Toya, Cindy Kitchen Hogan ’71, Lisa Paszmant Clark ’71, and Cyndie Spencer via Facebook.

Peggy Stone writes: “I decided last year that it was high time to stop my workaholic ways and join the ranks of the early retired. After my retirement, Ted and I spent much of the rest of ’10 traveling.

We’re looking forward to the 40th reunion—our tickets are already booked.” Anne Mayer Welch lives with husband Scott, 3 golden retrievers, and 4 Yorkshire terriers in Concord NH. Anne is caring for her mom (83). Recently Anne and Susan Perkins Stark ’74 got together. Anne says her best success is still being a rebel and continuing to wear her heart on her sleeve.

Hope Kaltenthaler Belanger lives in Lexington KY and is in her 27th year of employment at Camp Dresser & McKee as a marketing specialist. Ellyn Spragins has been in Pennington NJ for almost 10 years. After writing 3 Letters to My Younger Self books, she is expanding the letters to self-experience by conducting seminars and workshops. “Can’t wait to see everyone at our reunion in June.”

Steve Wohlgemuth and his kids Leah (22) and Zach (25) climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, and then the trio caught up with wife Holly for a real African safari. Steve hopes to see everyone at the reunion.

Phil Nelson shared that after 32 years in insurance, his job was eliminated in Jan ’10. Since then, he’s been looking for an insurance opportunity in the Cumberland MD area. He continues to enjoy photography, and won 1st prize in the ’11 Islands Magazine annual photo contest.

Reid Whitlock lives and works in Rwanda, where he is the president of the School of Finance and Banking, Kigali, Rwanda. His email is rambomanor@ hotmail.com. Bill Stebbins says this year was “a paradigm shift to how I go about doing things. Great Mountain Day on Mt Tam.” Ric Stobaeus is working on reunion planning and says: “We hope to engage you in the past, present, and future of NMH. Please plan to visit the NMH farm.”

Mary Jo Koclanes Peterson had a great summer biking, kayaking, and gardening. By the end of Aug, she was ready to go back to teaching ESL at Rebound Adult Education. “Love my job.” Dwight Bowler’s career in finance has taken many twists and turns over the past 30 years. The most interesting has been purchasing hydroelectric plants, one of which had to be closed after it was destroyed by Hurricane Irene.

John Raser lives in Ellsworth ME. After completing a course in automotive technology at Eastern ME Community College, he has held various jobs, including volunteer driving. Jane Backus Gelernter is married and has 2 sons. She is an architect and lives in Woodbridge CT. “Once Tom suggested a reunion of the Modos, I was hooked. Looking forward to some serious (or not) singing.” Randy Fox has been living in western KY for more than 20 years.

Currently a global HR projects person for the Rio Tinto mining company, he has been traveling quite a bit to England and Australia in the last 3 years.

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Jay Kaplan is in Orlando FL and has reconnected with NMH and making fundraising phone calls to classmates after a 7-year break. “Everyone has been very gracious and reunion interest is high.”

Ned Schuller writes: “I am still alive with a wife and 2 kids, all employed, and mostly healthy, got a granddaughter, so pretty fortunate overall.” Ned is the history and diversity chair at The Carroll School in Lincoln MA. Channing Harris continues to do campus planning and landscape architecture for a private firm in New Haven. John Morison works at the company his father and grandfather purchased in ’49. John makes precision castings for customers in the aerospace and automotive industries. Erik Lindgren continues to perform with his music ensemble Birdsongs of the Mesozoic and is an active contemporary classical composer.

Cyndie Powers Hall lives in Rockford IL. “I didn’t expect to end up in the Midwest but have come to like it. I still try to spend a bit of each summer at the family cottage on Wellesley Island in the Thousand Islands.” Brad Graves’s youngest has started college, leaving Brad and his wife trying to adjust to being empty nesters. Brad is looking forward to our 40th reunion and hopes that a high percentage of our classmates will attend.

Bill Shea has had the opportunity to spend considerable time at NMH lately in his role as chair of the head search committee for the new head of NMH. In Nov, Bill was named chair-elect of the NMH Board of Trustees and has the privilege of serving with Betsy Compton.

Jim Keller lives in Brooklyn and runs a music publishing company representing Philip Glass, Tom Waits, and others. “I’ve seen Aimee and Crispin Philpott, Dave Eldredge ’71, Margaret Sieck, Nick Biddle, Margaret and Bobby Riesman. I’m sure I’m missing someone. Love to all.”

Sarah Hollman Jennings is director of development for Relief International and is looking forward to globetrotting in ’12. Sarah is in touch with Dee Dee Higgins Nuanes, Lucille Bete Alford, and Dave Eldredge ’71.

Tom Dobbin has been living in St Louis for the last 35 years. As a transplanted midwesterner, he reports that life in St Louis has been good. He and

Tom Riegelman ’72 showing off his latest catch.

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Brent Robie ’72, William “Hank” Bonney ’71, Eric Van ’72, Mal Rosenwald ’71, Erik Lindgren ’72, and Rick Kesseli ’71 at a minireunion.

Craig Ward ’72 with wife Becky and son Michael enjoying a sunny day in Aspen CO.

wife Sheryl are empty nesters. Dwight Montague works for Lowe’s and is watching the local economy slowly sink into the sunset. He also volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and enjoys contra dancing.

Richard Taylor retired this year as superintendent of schools for Grand Isle County in VT. He would like to reconnect with Jack Henderson.

Frank Brewer says hello from Gaithersburg MD, where he is the asst fleet manager at Criswell Automotive. “I’m looking forward to seeing other NMHers on the Mall for more alumni events in DC.” Kenneth Roberts writes: “My life settled down pretty substantially when I moved back to NY after law school and started working at the firm where I have now practiced for 30 years.” Richard Klyce lives in OR and is on career number 3 giving guided motorcycle tours of OR in the summer and sailing in the Keys/Bahamas in the winter.

Sandra Myers Rothenberg had been a psychotherapist with a PhD in psychology but eventually found it more rewarding to shift the primary focus of her work from the psyche to the body. Peter Saul and wife Janice have 3 children. He has run his own transportation logistics company out of Carlisle MA for the past 15 years. Peter spends his spare time refereeing youth and adult hockey games.

Robin Smith-Johnson and husband Greg have 3 sons (19–26). Robin is an adjunct professor in the English dept at Cape Cod Community College. Tod Schadler relocated to Charlotte NC about 3 years ago and switched gears in his career from small-animal practitioner to veterinary academics. His chief hobby is playing guitar.

Dale Lewis runs Park State Bank, a small

community bank in Duluth and Minneapolis. In the height of the economic downturn, he, too, took significant losses. Bisa “Andrea” Williams just finished her 1st year as ambassador to the Republic of Niger. “The work is challenging—and I’m having a blast.” Contact her at bisa.williams2@gmail.com.

Allan Breed has been reproducing American furniture from the Colonial period for collectors and museums around the country. Jay Spence has been working in the family business since ’76. The company has been operating year-round since its founding in ’63, running 5 vessels that provide commuter, whale watch, harbor sightseeing, private parties, and music cruises.

Liz Locke lives in Tampa FL. Married, no children but lots of cats. Colyn Case lives in Hyde Park VT, where he and wife Nancy have a small horse farm. Dorothy “Dee Dee” Higgins Nuanes reports having a wonderful reunion in Paris with Kate Krum Cordier this past Nov. Thanks to Facebook, it is easier to be in touch with many NMH classmates.

Sieglinde Freed won’t be able to make the reunion but she will be there in spirit. Gaye Spaulding Smith and husband David are in FL assisting Gaye’s mother, Joan Stratford Spaulding ’44. “My mom and I reminisce often about our love of Northfield, both school and campus.” John Bleh says his marketing consulting business has recovered from the slump of ’08–’09, and he hopes to see everyone at the reunion.

William Gardner works at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station near Phoenix AZ. Eric Van writes: “No fewer than 7 Hoggers were present at the fabulous 60th birthday party of William “Hank” Bonney ’71. It was reliably estimated that every

Bisa Williams ’72, Deidra Dain ’72, and Lauren Boulware ’72 in Washington DC.

Jim Keller ’72 and A. Crispin Philpott ’72 get together after a concert.

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Reid Whitlock ’72 in Rwanda with one of his students.

famous person in America was within 2 degrees of separation from at least 1 party attendee.”

Bonnie Schwarcz Kurtz is a special education preschool teacher in her hometown close to NYC. She keeps in touch with her roommate of all 4 years at NMH, Ginger Perry Bisplinghoff. David Skinner and wife Dianne live in Bermuda. They have 3 grown children.

Lesley Wright and husband Jim Ellefson grow organic garlic and pumpkins in VT. She recently got a late-night call from Margaret “Moose” Tribe-Bania and exchanges notes once a year with Johanna Boyce. Doug Adair lives in Portland OR and has 2 kids and 4 grandkids. Doug hikes, backpacks, and fishes for trout in the alpine lakes with wife Elaine. “Life is very busy and very good.”

Hank Healey is an education policy and systems advisor in developing countries and is an adjunct professor at Duke Center for International Development. Hank hopes to be able to attend our 40th. Clifford Becker is an emergency medicine doctor. He and his wife have 2 children and live in the suburbs of Atlanta GA. Cliff sees and talks to Jeff Dugas, an internal medicine doctor in Chicago.

Everett “Rett” Reed has been living on the Eastern Shore of MD since ’00. “I have many fond memories of my 2 years at NMH.” Katherine Downs lives in Washington DC and works for the International Finance Corporation, making investments in Latin America.

Jennifer Rice watched daughter Janine graduate from Stanford in June this year. It was a proud moment for mom and Janine, who was raised in Costa Rica and had never attended school in English until Stanford. Crispin Philpott reports:

Steve Wohlgemuth ’72 on Kilimanjaro with his kids Zach and Leah.

“The nefarious midlife antics of the Traumatic Trio (Bob Burke, Nick Biddle, and Crispin) continued in early ’11 with a weeklong assault on Nick’s Pacific Coast home in southern Nicaragua.”

Clayton Tryon lives in Enfield CT and has been with Signature Flight Support, an FBO at Bradley International Airport, for the last 5 years. Brad Sherman plans to attend reunion. Brad and Jan still live in their van and travel. “Everybody needs to come back to NMH for the 40th reunion.”

Thomas Riegelman and wife Susan spent the summer in MT after selling their home in TN. When he isn’t fishing, Tom spends his time tying flies, consulting, and looking for a “real” job.

Craig Ward reports that he and wife Becky will be attending the reunion. Their son Michael is 1 of the top juniors in the country in Nordic combined skiing. Stephanie Bennett Vogt tells us that as a full-fledged empty nester, ’11 will go down as one of the most creative, productive, and gratifying.

After decades of personal and professional reinvention, she is finally figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up.

Toby Wolinsky Liebowitz and husband Moshe live in RI and have 2 grown sons. Toby is a teacher of the deaf and loves life by the water. Jim Polhemus moved to IN from VT 4 years ago. His niece is graduating from high school the same weekend as the reunion, so he’s decided to return and see some people.

Steven Whitney is a financial services practice leader for Maximus, the global government services firm that helps governments improve their service delivery model and cost-effectiveness. He lives in Sudbury MA with wife Susan, daughter Madison, 3 cats, and 3 dogs. Son Evan lives in Portland ME. Harrison Wood does ER/hospital work at the VA Medical Center in Grand Junction CO. “Two sons, no new significant other, daughters-in-law, or grandchildren, and don’t own any guns yet.”

Cecilia Maristany Rosa writes: “I loved NMH and have wonderful memories of my years there.”

She has moved frequently in the last 32 years. She now lives in Kansas City MO. Thomas Sisson lives in RI with wife Debbie.

He runs a large residential summer camp. On 1/12/12, Tom received the ultimate birthday present: the birth of his 1st grandson, Liam Thomas

Dee Dee Higgins Nuanes ’72 with Katy Krum Cordier ’72 in Paris

Sisson. “See you all at the reunion.”

Remember, you can connect with us via email or through Facebook by friending Tom Sisson. The email and FB page were created to serve our class and help us come together for our 40th reunion and beyond. We wish you and your families a happy ’12, and we’ll see you at reunion.

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HEATHER BLANCHARD TOWER 46 Main St Northfield MA 01360-1023 smtower@comcast.net BILL STEWART 28 Wildwood Pl El Cerrito CA 94530-2049 BillStewartNMH73@gmail.com

From Heather: Happy New Year. At least it is as I write this. After a long and difficult year, I’m beginning to emerge back into the mainstream of life. Both my parents died this year, and I’ve been dealing with all the estate issues plus the practical (cleaning out the house). I have met some wonderful people along the way who have helped me through the ordeal. Chris ’05 and Sara ’07 both graduate from college this spring and will be looking for their next steps, after they move their stuff back home.

We get to as many events on campus as possible and have seen some fabulous plays, amazing concerts, and met some wonderful students. Vespers is still the winter event in the arts world, as both the singers and the musicians are pushed to new highs. There are now 3 a cappella groups, 2 world music groups (vocal and instrumental), a jazz band, an orchestra, a chamber orchestra, a band, 3 choral groups, and countless other groups that crop up every year. The arts are alive and well and thriving in the new arts building. Come visit.

Betsy Bullarad Morse writes: “My news is that all of our kids are finished with college, out of the house, and self-sufficient.” Ainsley lives in Allston MA and is working on her PhD in Russian literature.

Alex lives and works in Brooklyn in sales with an IT company that provides certification education in human resources. Rachel is in a nurse practitioner program in New Haven CT. Richard and Betsy have hosted some Muslim high-school exchange students over the past couple of years. Betsy is a nurse practitioner at the Dartmouth Student Health Service, and Richard is chief of pediatric neurology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Betsy has been spending lots of time with her parents in CT, as her mother prepares to leave her life after almost 3 years of living with metastatic breast cancer. Her latest zesty statement was: “I’m going to eat nothing

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but party food for the rest of my life.”

Mark DeGarmo is busier than ever. He has many dance programs happening all the time in NYC and many are with schoolchildren. You can learn more about his activities, festivals, and concerts on his website: info@markdegarmoarts. org. In his quiet and smiling way, he is bringing dance to so many people. Remember the class he led at the last reunion? He’s also been back to campus to work with NMH dancers.

David King sent the best news of the year: 36 years to the day after meeting in a seedy West Village bar, he and Franklin Tartaglione were married on 12/14/11.

Michael Watkins dropped me a line: “Just getting my mail and reading that my freshman roommate Dave Dwight and good friend Edith “Cookie” Smith Hall are deceased. I feel terrible not having stayed in better touch with these 2 wonderful people.” Michael would like to find Dave Mojekwu, hopes to eventually get to Haiti to see Richard Morse ’75, and plans to see Jay Thomas soon.

Carolyn Cockrell has been living in south FL for 20 years. Her nephew David, son of Patricia Cockrell-Roach ’75, is headed to the U of FL this fall. Carolyn is occasionally in touch with Gwen Lee and would love to reconnect with Winnie Huston. Carolyn attended the 20th and 25th reunions and had a fabulous time reconnecting with old friends and getting to know others.

Lynley Cochran Margules had a long illness last spring and was out on disability. She bounced back and now works for the Academy for the Advancement of Children with Autism. She says the iPad rules at this place, where they can sometimes get non-verbal children to communicate through technology. Husband Larry is an optical ultrasound technician, a talented woodworker on the side, and a classic car enthusiast. They own a model-A and a ’57 Thunderbird, a Harley, and a Lotus sports car, and frequently take trips discovering what CA has to offer. Jason is now 26 almost 27 and Adam is 28.

They are busy building their careers. Son Adam is a UC Berkeley grad and a successful website designer and hopes to become a financial planner for a realestate company. Jason is an illustrator and artist.

You can see his work at jasonzuckerman.com.

That’s all for now. Keep the news coming as we ramp up to our 40th.

From Bill: Amanda Ristow Schmidtmann lives in downtown Sebastopol CA with her daughter, where she runs a sewing business and puts on the Herdeljezi Roma Festival. She had a great visit to Iowa last summer.

Bill Stewart enjoys bucolic El Cerrito CA and environs, besieged by kitties, turkeys, and deer. He is on the board of the West Edge Opera and the East Bay Recorder Society, and sings with Kol Truah, a local chorus. He’s looking forward to a recorder

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and choral workshop in Cornwall this spring.

Rob Howland is a consultant in the electric power industry and is working to develop a clean and renewable utility-scale wind-power project near his home in southern VT. His son is a junior at UVM, and his daughter is in Norway as an exchange student. Rob and wife MJ took the empty nest to mean many possibilities and spent the fall of ’11 being tourists in their home state. He is especially impressed with how quickly and skillfully Vermonters repaired the state’s infrastructure after the devastation in Aug from Hurricane Irene. Rob sends regards to friends from NMH and is looking forward to our 40th reunion.

John Lazarus reports that we now have a Facebook page—NMH Class of 1973. So far 51 classmates are on it. John reminds that Facebook is the best and fastest way to communicate with classmates. He will post all our reunion details there.

You can contact him on Facebook or by email at jlaz15@gmail.com.

Greg Burrill describes himself as a substitute teacher, a musician, and a writer/philosopher, who is seeking to live in a way that encourages the whole human family to behave better. He writes: “I like to think that I support NMH wholeheartedly, because of my friendships with you all. I think I won the award as most enthusiastic non-graduate because, for me, it’s all about you guys. I love being around you, and I love our family feeling. And it’s NMH that links us together.”

Mark Spitzer lost his mother (89) in Oct and his father in Nov (just shy of 94). He sends “sincere thanks to the NMH gang that has been of great support to me the past couple of months”: Russell Bragg, Jim Michaels, John Lazarus, Erik Lindgren ’72, Chip Elliot ’72, Steve Michaels ’71, and William Hank Bonney ’71. Mark and Kamila live in rural WV and about 3 months a year travel outside the US, visiting relatives, skiing, white-water canoe/kayak/rafting, climbing. Kamila is working as an independent contractor, and Mark looks for work here and there. July/August ’10 he worked in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, for International SOS. Moira Donovan and Mary Bouvier celebrated their 20th anniversary on 10/12/10 by getting married. Their friend (and renowned artist) Peter Gallo officiated the private ceremony on the grounds of their Donomar Inn in VT. They were joined by 50+ friends and family members for a party after. Moira has a blog: www.ninecentgirl.com. “Writing is my passion and I feel quite fortunate to have found such a perfect outlet.”

Jay Thomas is at U MI-Dearborn, where he teaches large undergrad classes and tries to keep his research alive. One new project is studying environmentally isolated bacteria that seem to degrade plastics. Jay would like to hear what Wayne King thinks of this. For sabbatical, Jay spent 6 weeks in Montréal. “It was crazy cold, made memories of

NMH winters seem rather warm. Enjoyed an ‘open air’ concert during their Nuit Blanch festival by the St Lawrence River at 11pm.” Jay completed his 3d Detroit Marathon this past fall. Jay has been in touch with Tina Dobsevage ’67, sister of David Dobsevage, and has also met 1 of the theater people David worked with in Paris in the early ’80s.

Jay hopes to bring photos of a few costumes David designed to reunion.

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STEPHANIE LYNN GERSON 672 Old Mill Rd #263 Millersville MD 21108 steffilarc@aol.com

Stephanie Gerson writes: Since the last issue, I

spent 5 weeks hiking in VT’s Green Mountain National Forest, renewing both my health and spirit. I tied up an insurance claim involving 2 oil spills and multiple soot and smoke events, during which time 1 of the restoration companies misplaced my entire wardrobe. And by the time you read this, I, as well as most of you, will have reached my 55th birthday. The 5 years ahead will be a landmark for us all, and I wish you all health, happiness, and untold wonders.

This season, I have heard from classmates whose lives vary widely. Some are retiring from work, or empty nested, or in physical transition. Some of you are consistently settled. There are stories of children and careers and travel. And sometimes there is a lot of humor.

Buffie Judd lives in Atlantis FL She writes: “Happy, healthy, vegan, mom, daughter, sister, wife, friend, volunteer, teacher, certified reboundologist, master gardener, soon to be certified in plant nutrition.” Rebounding is a cellular exercise that combines forces of acceleration, deceleration, and gravity, producing an increased g-force on every cell in the body each time one lands on a rebound device, which looks a bit like a mini trampoline, thereby deriving health and fitness. Daughter Coleman just recorded her 1st singing album and

Buffie Judd ’74 with daughter Coleman, at Saturn Recording Studio in West Palm Beach FL, recording Coleman’s first album.

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has performed at the Very Special Arts program in Lake Worth. “The main part of my life is my daughter and her education and enrichment.”

Although she only went to NMH for 1 year, Janet Lidstone Theriault has great memories of her school experience. She lives in Auburn ME, where she works as a school secretary. Husband Ed is a carpenter. They have 3 children and 1 granddaughter. Son Nate is an engineer at Jasco in Rochester NY. Daughter Heather died at age 12 from the flu.

Daughter Zoe (18) spent last summer interning with a model scout and spent the winter working in Miami. Due to frequent requests, Janet now offers wardrobe services for photo shoots around NE. Gregory Baker recently moved to ME from VA to assist his aging mother. His routine includes a morning walk along the coast and some incredible natural photography. Greg ran in the Bemis Pie Race on campus with Al Burnett ’62, whom he keeps in touch with, and Susan Perkins Stark and Peter Weis ’78. Greg strolled through campus and the new Rhodes Arts Center at night. “Cool to see students practicing piano and rehearsing plays—Andover ain’t got anything on NMH.” He also watched NMH hockey practice on the old rink, which may need a facelift. “Basically, my humble impression is that NMH is coming out of the transition phase to 1 campus quite well.” Greg still plays harmonica, and hopes Peter King still has his great band. Son Jamieson Baker ’04 is doing well in Hollywood with the William Morris Agency.

Greg was delighted to see Sheila Heffernon at the girls’ volleyball game after the Pie Race—she has a rehearsal room named after her now. Greg started a Facebook page—NMH-PG’s/One Year SR’s & Friends. Greg is between jobs, but says the quality of life in ME can’t be beat.

Andrew Taber returned stateside after several years in Indonesia, where he was deputy director of the Center for International Forestry Research. He’s now in the Washington DC area, where he took on the leadership of the Mountain Institute, a small environmental nonprofit working in the Himalayas, the Andes, and Appalachia. He previously worked for the NY Zoological Society (now the Wildlife Conservation Society) and subsequently at Wildlife

Greg Baker ’74, right, with Al Burnett ’62, left, after the Bemis Pie Race in ’11. Al’s shirt is from the 100th Pie Race in ’90.

Trust. While abroad, Andy worked with Native Americans on conservation and sustainable wildlife use in the Gran Chaco of Bolivia. He visited with Izoceno Indian kids in the Izozog. The Tabers are now settled in Arlington VA. They have 3 daughters—the oldest in college in NYC. Andy writes: “Thanks to all from NMH who sent thoughts and advice on moving to the DC area.”

After 27 years working as a wildlife biologist in AK, Karen Laing moved back to CA in ’10 to be closer to family. She works for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Sacramento. “I love the wilderness of Alaska and miss my dear friends there, but it’s fun being back in the sunshine after many dark winters.” Her mother just moved to Burlington VT, so Karen hopes to visit NMH 1 of these days.

While still living in Charlotte NC, Andre Fleuriel applied for a position at Autodesk in San Rafael CA. Autodesk is a software company known originally for AutoCAD, software that Andre has been using for about 10 years in his own residential design business. Andre got the job and in June, he and Mark and their miniature dachshund, Tilda, drove to CA. Andre writes: “I love my job and working for Autodesk is amazing. I bring Tilda to work each day. She has become very popular.” Andre lives in the Marina Bay section of Richmond CA, which is an early brownfields redevelopment of the Kaiser Ship Yards on the San Francisco Bay. “US Airways loves my arrangement as I fly back to Charlotte for a week each month to spend time with Mark while he continues to run our picture-framing shop.”

Adam Thomson writes from Canton NC: “I was saddened to learn of my NMH theology teacher Ann Sorenson’s recent passing. She taught an awesome class in existentialism and challenged us to think outside the box in a disciplined and focused way about a topic that was not easy to understand.

Her willingness to take students under her wing was one of her amazing strengths.” Adam recently finished listening to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. A respected M C Escher print collector, Adam advised Steve Jobs on an Escher piece up for bid at Christies NYC in the ’80s. These days, Adam uses a forklift almost daily to move needed supplies around his small industrial woodworking shop.

After 4 years without a vacation, Adam went to LA

Andrew Taber ’74 with Izoceno Indian children and a baby Peccary in the Izozog, Gran Chaco, Bolivia.

to visit relatives in late ’11 and met with pictureframe builders to discuss a framing idea for which he’s working on a patent. Adam won the Irving P. and Nancy F. Grace Scholarship Grant from his local Haywood Community College Foundation in ’11.

After NMH, John Chen graduated from Brown in electrical engineering, and then earned a master’s from Cal Tech. John has been chairman and CEO of Sybase since ’98. During this time, Sybase has become the recognized industry leader in enterprise mobility infrastructure and strengthened its position in data management. Sybase was acquired

by SAP in ’10 and operates as a stand-alone business unit under John’s leadership. Forbes magazine named John one of the Top 25 Notable Chinese Americans in Business. In ’07, John was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in northern CA. He is actively involved in international relations. In ’05, he was appointed to serve on the president’s export council; in ’06 he was appointed co-chair of the Secure Borders and Open Doors Advisory Committee; and John currently chairs the US-China Policy Advisory Roundtable for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In recognition of his leadership in building US-Asia relations, John has received awards from the US-Asia Institute and the US-China Policy Foundation. John is a board member for the Walt Disney Company, a trustee of Cal Tech, and a governor of the San Francisco Symphony.

Jeff Dalton went to Edinburgh, Scotland, in ’83 to work in the University of Edinburgh’s Department of Artificial Intelligence and has been there ever since.

“Probably because Edinburgh has all the things I’d want in a city but isn’t a sprawling mess.”

Claire Bamberg made it to Edinburgh in ’11.

Her son Matthew “Bam” Bamberg-Johnson ’02 won a performance spot at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival through his MFA program at Cal Arts.

“There is nothing like watching your child perform on an international stage to 4-star reviews. Thank you, Dave Rowland.” Claire and family had already booked the trip of a lifetime to Scotland for themselves and her parents. Being able to see Matthew perform while there was icing on the cake. Son Nathaniel (21) won a short story writing award last term. Husband Bob recovered well from his knee

Adam Thomson ’74 riding his forklift, moving carbidetipped cutter heads.

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replacement surgery in Mar, and continues to be a benefactor to the arts and to perform on the rare occasion. Claire is in her 6th year as a minister at the Congregational Church of Plainville, UCC. She still has a small private practice as a marriage and family therapist. She has been in touch with Bill Stewart ’73, Judy Armbruster, John Burnham, Stephanie Gerson, and Kevin Cunningham.

David Foell writes that he was recently reunited with his Overton buddy Holt McChord. A spur-ofthe moment email from Holt as he came to a NYC business meeting resulted in a beer after work in a favorite pub in SoHo, their first meeting in decades.

David writes: “I had some problems recognizing him without the ponytail. The old stories came flooding out of our memories, including many too embarrassing to mention here.”

Jeff Sawyer lives near Madison WI, where he recently became group creative director of advertising at Lands’ End. He oversees digital and print editorial for the brand globally. Jeff also writes a humor blog: www.sawyerspeaks.wordpress.com, and he published a short story in a collection called Humor for a Boomer’s Heart. Jeff has heard from Andre Fleuriel from the jv crew team at NMH, and says he “still remembers bailing out our leaking shell with gym socks as we waited on the Charles River before the big race began.”

Jill Harrington Nichols had an exhibition of her art of sailing and water scenes at the Harborview Market in Black Rock CT over the ’11 winter holiday season. She also worked on a mural, followed by a trip to England for New Year’s ’12.

Carol Montgomery Sherick writes: “I continue to cherish the experience of my 2 years at NMH and warmly remember my wedding there in Memorial Chapel in ’89. My motive now is to work in local ways here in southern NM along the lines of D L Moody. I thank D L Moody for founding NMH on godly values.”

Harry Bick writes: “I remember with fondness my many friends and experiences at NMH.” After NMH, Harry went to North Texas State, where he received a bachelor’s in sociology and shortly after married wife Sandra. They live in Ft Worth TX. For more than 30 years, Harry has been involved in church ministry from church musician and worship

leader to ordained associate pastor. He’s written a couple hundred songs, including congregational worship songs. From ’98 to ’02, Harry was a computer programmer, consulting in Dallas. After the tech crash in ’02, Harry began an online business selling books, sheet music, and movies.

Jonathan Towne lives in Stonington CT and has played clarinet in the Coast Guard Band at the CG Academy in New London for nearly 24 years.

Last summer, the band performed at the biennial conference of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in Taiwan, where they were treated like rock stars. On the return trip, they did a 10-day tour from LA to San Francisco. Jonathan’s wife Rebecca was a bassoonist in the CG Band for 20 years until her retirement. Their 2 children came along on all national tours, so the family had working vacations. Daughter Erika is now applying to colleges. Son Russell goes to the local community college. Russell falls within the autism spectrum disorder and amazes them with how far he has come over the years. Jonathan sees Bob LaFrance, who helped him sail a boat from Bristol RI to Mystic CT. “Anyone visiting the Mystic area is welcome to join us for a sail anytime.”

Jarene Moll Moore works for the state of SC as a licensed professional counselor for the Department of Mental Health. She has been in the field since ’83 after completing her graduate degree at the U of ME. Jarene has 2 sons—one graduated from Hartwick and the other from Bowdoin. Both work and live in Philadelphia. Jarene writes: “I was happy to reconnect with my roommate Lisa Kuniholm, through Facebook.”

Charles Adams lives in Palmer MA and has been working with the mentally challenged for MA for 30 years and will be retiring in July ’12.

“Looking forward to a new start, at what I don’t know, but time will tell. I have a daughter (7), who keeps me young. Would love to hear from all—I’m on Facebook.”

The past 2 years have been full of change and happiness for Anne Lawrence Sallee. She and husband Steve have 5 kids, all over 25 and on their own. They’ve had 2 weddings, a new grandbaby, and an engagement. “No reason to think that ’12 won’t be as wonderful.” Anne has been in south

Liz Johnson Cua ’74 in the surrounding hills of Thimpu, Bhutan, twirling a prayer wheel.

Jonathan Towne ’74 with wife Rebecca at a US Coast Guard Band performance in Glendale CA.

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Steve Meyer ’74 and daughter Justine (12) at the banks of the Vtlava River in Prague during the summer of ’11.

FL since ’95 and living in Oakland Park near Ft Lauderdale since ’03. She is a paralegal in the corporate law department of a large law firm. In ’09, Anne was elected to the city commission to help lead the city of 43,000 in redevelopment. With the help of the Oakland Park Historical Society, she published Images of Oakland Park, a pictorial history of the city. Anne will be sworn in as mayor of Oakland Park in March ’12. Anne adds: “I don’t believe this is the beginning of a long political career, but you just never know.” Anne spent New Year’s weekend in Boston enjoying a Locke-Ober’s dinner and the Boston Ballet’s performance of the Nutcracker.

Lyn Tranfield Bennett continues to work in customer training, focusing on software skills. She is building and managing a program to deliver training via a subscription website for Kronos Inc. Husband David is in his 16th year teaching science at Cushing Academy. Says Lyn: “Eating in the dining hall is like going home sometimes…and the food is better.” Daughter Vera is at Fordham U and just finished a term in Prague. Son Chris is a junior at Cushing. “It is great to have FB to keep in touch with so many of our class and more.”

After arriving at NMH in ’72 from schools in Rome, Italy, and Westchester NY, Reynold “Ron” Bennett enjoyed being a baritone in the choir and recalls the great director Al Raymond. After NMH, Ron studied for a year at the American College in Paris, then a year at the American College of Switzerland, and then transferred to UC Berkeley, where he earned his bachelor’s. He followed that with a JD from Touro Law School on Long Island, passed the FL bar, then went to DC in ’04 and

Anne Lawrence Sallee ’74 and husband Steve at Pinecrest Estate, Bok Tower, in Lake Wales FL.

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Faith Cowgill ’74, far right, with a friend, son Tucker and daughter Sadie at Machu Picchu, Peru, on 12/31/11.

Stephanie Gerson ’74 on the trail to Deer Leap Overlook, Appalachian, and Long Trails, in the Green Mountain National Forest VT last June.

works there as a contract attorney. Ron retains many fond memories of NMH, including biking through a blizzard to Brattleboro VT. Besides the usual teaching, choral directing, and concerts, Bonita Hyman decided to stop living like the typical New Yorker and learned how to drive.

Driver’s license requirements in Germany are more stringent (and expensive) than in the States. Bonnie will be back in the States briefly to sing in the African American Art Song Alliance conference at UC-Irvine. She’s managing to keep her son (13) fed when he’s home (no mean feat—the kid never stops eating). He manages to stay rail thin. (Bonnie says she wouldn’t mind learning that particular trick.)

Chris Matthews writes: “For any of you guys who did a term abroad or have traveled to Spain, this cookbook—From the Kitchens of Seville: Visiting Spain through Authentic Recipes—was created by my wife in ’11.” Chris and Beth enjoyed 6 months of furlough from service in Seville, Spain, by heading to the top of Long John Mountain in Hendersonville NC from July through January ’12.

They then headed back to Seville for another 5-year term for Chris as director of Seminario Teologico Al-Andalus, Santo Domingo, as well as professor, Southern California Seminary, El Cajon CA. They also welcomed their 1st grandchild in ’11. Chris says: “The door is open for traveling NMH friends.”

After summer vacation in the Czech Republic and Provence, Steve Meyer decided to take his family to New Zealand for the ’11 holidays, handily switching from the shortest day of the year to the longest day, with only a 30-hour plane ride (or rides). Steve’s older brother Peter (Gould Academy ’73, where he was a classmate of Stephanie Prior’s ’73 sister, and Kenyon ’78, where he was a classmate of Becky Nash McKay) lives in Napier, New Zealand, on the North Island, and graciously allowed Steve and family to sponge off him. Steve still lives in The Hague, where he is a subsurface learning advisor for Shell Global Solutions.

In ’11 Elizabeth Johnson Cua and husband Chris have been adjusting to the empty nest. Their elder finished up at Georgetown and now works at Price Waterhouse Coopers in DC and is taking grad courses in sports management. Their younger started at Villanova and plays on the tennis team.

Liz and Chris logged a number of miles on trips in ’11. In South Africa, they swam with the sharks and jumped out of planes. They visited Zimbabwe. In Bhutan with her Shanghai-based brother, they met the king and queen. Liz managed a few get-togethers in Boston and in NY with Jan Knight (“Now that is a busy woman—public health nursing in NYC and raising 4 daughters.”). A trip to NMH is on their short list for ’12.

Faith Cowgill spent her winter ’11 holidays at Machu Picchu, Peru. With her son and daughter, she climbed 12,000 feet to the Temple of the Winter Solstice in Cuzco. The next day they took a 2-hour train ride to the Sacred Valley, and then on to Machu Picchu for New Year’s Day ’12. Faith writes: “Peru is amazing. The Andes touch the sky, and Machu Picchu is at the top. It is an incredible place, built in the 1400s as a sacred place for the Incas.”

It’s pretty amazing, the variety and breadth of what we have all accomplished since we were at school. Please take a few minutes to connect with classmates on these Facebook pages: NMH – PG’s/ One Year SR/s & Friends, and Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1974. Thanks to all who wrote in for this issue. I’ve enjoyed corresponding with you, and it’s been fun putting this column together. I hope to hear from more of you down the road. You are the glue that keeps our class together.

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KAREN PERKINS 252 Monte Grigio Dr Pacific Palisades CA 90272 onoclea@verizon.net

I am sad to start off with the news about our friend, Timothy Carroll, who passed away suddenly on 7/22/11. I reported on this in the last column, but I have more information now. After attending NMH, Tim earned a bachelor’s in physics and in earth and planetary sciences at MIT, and then earned a PhD in theoretical astrophysics at UMass. He worked as an astrophysicist in Oxford, England, and then as a naval operations analyst in Washington DC. Finally, Tim earned an MD at the age of 40 from the Medical College of VA. He

joined the Army Reserve and served as a radiologist in Afghanistan and Kosovo. Tim enjoyed geology and history, rowing, hiking, biking, and folk music. Max Hartshorne ’77 wrote a blog about Tim, and this can be accessed at http://blogs.gonomad. com/readuponit/2011/07/tim-carroll-doctor-andrenaissance-man-leaves-this-earth.html. Timothy is survived by his sons, Zephram ’15 and Eli Carroll, his sisters, Nancy ’76 and Diana ’79, and his wife, Jeanette Voas.

On a more cheerful note, Kim Clough Blackwolf would love to be contacted at wolf@ mind.net. Kim lives in Ashland OR and runs 2 companies—1 is landscape maintenance and restoration and the other is a business and services referral company. She also sells vegetables, fruit, and eggs by subscription (sometimes called a CSA) from her urban farm. Kim is involved with social-political projects, such as city deer population reduction and the food bank. Daughter Quinn (15) is a runner and dancer, as well as a straight-A student. Kim would love to find Deirdre Boyd, Jeffrey Miller, and Celeste D’Avingion Kreig again. She invites any NMHers coming to Ashland OR to look her up at Liberty Urban Farm.

Jeffrey Miller writes: “I went kayaking many times this year. In KS we have lovely murky streams, but I work for the USGS Water Resources Division, so I thought I’d check out what our hydrologists are looking at. Surprisingly, there are some very interesting places. I’ve also been getting in some pristine water from springs in MO and planning CO for next year.” His oldest daughter was accepted to KU med school for next year. His middle daughter goes to Washburn U and is developing a love for art. His youngest loves marching band in high school.

Elizabeth Armstrong writes: “My daughter, Rebekah Lofgren ’13, is loving her experience at NMH. She plays field hockey and lacrosse.”

Elizabeth continues to run and swim, and she aspires to a 55 and over master’s triathlon challenge.

Ruth Lapin was on her way home from Belgium when she met up with Ilene Feldman Steele in Saint Pancras Station, where they drank champagne.

Ruth also saw Richard Morse perform at Jazz Fest in New Orleans and SOB’s (club in NYC).

Kimberly Marlowe Hartnett says she got the best Hanukkah gift ever—her beloved “niece” Rachel, daughter of Kathy Lyons Egan, now lives nearby in Portland OR. Kimberly is finishing a civil rights–era book for U of NC Press—but more important, she has trained her new yellow Lab to ring a bell when she wants to go out.

Carole Hawley Moore celebrated her 31st wedding anniversary with husband Ben. They have 2 children: son Benjamin (26) lives and works in Bozeman MT and daughter Alex (23) goes to school and works in Boulder CO. They all love skiing. Carole says she lives in VT 6 months a year and continues her dog rescue work there at For The

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Love Of Dogs, which she runs with fellow rescuers, placing strays and dogs from kill shelters into loving homes. If you know someone looking for a new canine family member, Carole asks that you find them at www.fortheloveofdogstn.net and PetFinder.

Carole keeps in touch with Suzanne Heyniger Campbell and Martha Hallett Tracy.

Robert Migliaccio has been practicing business law in Providence RI for almost 30 years and is now a managing partner of his firm. He has 3 daughters and 2 stepsons. His oldest daughter graduated from college in ’09, is a toddler teacher, and is applying to get a master’s in museum education. His oldest stepson graduated from college in ’10 and works in the fish industry in Boston. His twin daughters graduated from college in 5/12—1 was an All American sailor at BC and is now attending VT Law School. The other graduated from Emerson and is a production assistant for “The Colbert Report” in NYC. His youngest stepson is a sophomore at CU-Boulder. Rob and his wife enjoy sailing and just finished a yearlong refit of their boat for some extended summer cruising.

Sai Wai Fu’s son Gilbert (22) graduated from UCLA and is now at Stanford for a master’s in electrical engineering. Son Anthony (24) is a PhD candidate in physical chemistry at UC Berkeley. Sai Wai met wife Beatrice at Cal Tech in 1977. He writes: “My wife and I are staying healthy by logging an equivalent of 32 miles of running per week per person.”

Rob Brougham has been living in Los Angeles for 6 years, following a career in northern CA and Singapore. Rob’s oldest will graduate from U of Redlands in ’12. His daughter is a freshman at Boston U in the music conservatory, and his youngest is a junior in high school. Rob still works in private equity. He writes: “I am still working at Newstone Capital Partners providing mezzanine finance for leveraged buyouts. We just raised another fund and now have $1.6 billion under management. Getting involved with the community, I have also been teaching at Pepperdine’s business school and at their private capital markets seminars.”

Deborah Knight Snyder has lived in Mansfield MA with husband Tod Snyder and family for 23 years. They have 3 sons: 1 a senior

Sai Wai Fu ’75, son Anthony (24), a PhD candidate in physical chemistry at UC Berkeley, son Gilbert (22) at his graduation from UCLA, and wife Beatrice,.

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at UMass-Amherst, and 1 a sophomore at the U of Chicago, and 1 a sophomore in high school.

Deborah teaches GED and English as a 2nd language classes.

Nancy Perry Wicks moved to SC from CT last year. She is doing some communications consulting for an insurance company she worked for up north, which keeps her busy between tennis matches.

Daughter Caroline was home from law school over winter break and learned all about southern living.

As for me, last Aug I took daughter Shannon to Baltimore, where she started as a freshman at Maryland Institute College of Art and plans to get a BFA in photography and sculpture. While in Baltimore, I got together with Veronica Froelich Adams for dinner. She works in corporate professional development. I then traveled up to Kent CT, where Jamison Pond Renning met me at my dad’s, and we all spent a couple of days together. Jami lives in Saratoga Springs NY with husband Aaron. They are remodeling their house.

I wish all my NMH classmates the best. Please keep me updated on your email addresses. It’s so important in this electronic age.

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SUSAN LORING-WELLS 12 Ames Haven Rd, PO Box 273 Shutesbury MA 01002 loringwells@fastermac.net JOE MCVEIGH PO Box 883 Middlebury VT 05753-0883 joe@joemcveigh.org

From Susan: I had a great time at our 35th reunion. Our class headquarters was the lounge on the 4th-floor of South Crossley, which is where I spent the 1st part of my junior year with roommate Cal Winer Philip before moving down a floor to room with Jennifer Nash Morgan Johnson.

Having spent my sophomore and senior years on the Northfield campus in Gould, I particularly enjoyed reacquainting myself with the Mt Hermon campus, roaming around and touring the farm and the wonderful new Rhodes Arts Center. I hope you will come to our 40th in ’16.

A brief update from Susan: In May I joined Sawmill River Arts, a cooperative gallery in Montague MA, where I sell my handwovens. I maintain a weaving studio at the Leverett Crafts and Arts Center, where I teach weaving and fiber arts to all ages and do production weaving. Daughter Julia (24) graduated from Georgia Southern U’s business school in 12/10, and daughter Hannah (22) graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State’s School of Sustainability in 6/11. She was recognized by the

Alumni Association as most outstanding student of the year. Daughter Kayla is a senior at Amherst Regional High School, and nephew Alex (15) lives with us and attends Landmark School on the North Shore. In 9/12, my husband and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

Phebe Gregson is celebrating 30 years in the interior design business in Mill Valley CA. Her husband is an architect who travels regularly to Asia for large commissions. They have 2 daughters—1 is a freshman at NYU, studying media/communications and playing soccer on their varsity team.

Phebe has enjoyed spending time in NY and seeing Anne Wenniger, Amy Gladstone-Fischbein, and Elaine Monchak. Phebe’s younger daughter is a high school junior who also has a creative bent and studies film and enjoys photography. Phebe writes: “Their youth is so fleeting, so I’m trying to relish every moment with my girls.”

Peter Parker and wife Rosalie live in Fair Oaks CA. Daughter Sharma (26) lives nearby with partner Alex and their 2 girls Maya (6) and Fiona (4).

He writes: “Being a grandfather is great, especially with them so close by. Alex is my crack right-hand man in our real estate office, which I’ve had since ’99. Son Phaelen (30) is finishing his master’s at IN U in its School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Keep your eyes open in the impulse purchase bins at CVS and other fine retailers, where my sister picked up a DVD of the multiple award-winning independent movie Sounds, which I starred in. It is a spoof of the “X Files” (and a few other genres). Now that the North American and international rights have been sold, the movie’s website has been taken down, but I hear that you can find it on YouTube, including the Japanese dubbed version, which I hear is even funnier than the original.”

Janet “Bunny” Rider lives in Syracuse. She’s a single mom with a daughter who is in 100%, fullforce adolescence. After a few years working with great clients in a very stressful work setting, Janet now does mental health and family counseling at Copeland Ave Counseling, a clinic that specializes in treating complex PTSD and dissociative disorders. She’s also involved in a fairly liberal church and would love to connect with NMH alums.

Members of the class of’76 at breakfast during reunion included: Stephen Piscuskas, Joe McVeigh, Jim Barnett, Mary Worthington, and Phebe Gregson.

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Adam Saffer ’76 and a military representative visit a construction site in Mongolia.

Cal Winer Philip lives in Frisco TX with twin sons Tim and Patrick, who are juniors in high school. Daughter Jessica married in 12/10 and lives in Atlanta GA. Daughter Laura lives in Paris, France, and runs Le Manoir de Paris, a haunted museum that brings history to life. Son Ben graduated from Loyola in ’10 and works for the Bank of America.

Darcy Schramn spent a week on Nantucket in June with Lauren Turner Smith and her family of 9. Darcy’s son Trevor is a junior at BC High. Darcy says: “I continue to operate the best court-reporting company in MA—Advanced Court Reporting.” She and her son live in Cohasset MA. From Joe: Our 35th reunion last June was a great success. Twenty-nine intrepid classmates made it back to campus. Attendees included: Jim Barnett, Dave Belletete, David Bernstein, Ann Gross Butenhof, Ken Crabbs, Doug Crater, Mark Duprey, Pawler Garrahan-McIntyre, who returned to campus for the first time in 35 years, Phebe Gregson, Maureen Miller Hallock, Charlotte Bacon Holton, Rich Lennon, Susan LoringWells, Valerie Malter, Dave Marley, Elaine Monchak, Joe McVeigh, Dave Perry, Steve and Linda Zelenko Piscuskas ’78, Tom Schiller, Wendy Severinghaus, Rebecca Verrill Smith, Jodi Solomon, Cathy Campione Stein, Laura Stookey-Stuart, Will Torrey, Anne Wenniger, Steve Williams, and Mary Worthington.

Thanks to reunion organizers Laura StookeyStuart, Steve Williams, and David Bernstein. We expressed our thanks to Dean Steeger for his years

of work as our class gift officer and passed that torch to Rich Lennon and me (Joe). A spirited challenge and a literal passing of the hat at our class meeting enabled us to reach our class Annual Fund goal of $25,000. Thanks to an impetus from Jodi Solomon, we hope to start an endowed scholarship fund in memory of our lost classmates. Major gifts to kickstart this effort would be most welcome. Thanks to you all for your continued generosity in supporting the school.

Among the reunion highlights were an alumni seminar given by Tom Schiller on counterterrorism, and an informal screening of a film made by Jim Barnett in Bill Batty’s ’59 English class. Mr. Batty was honored on the occasion of his retirement. Jim’s

film, in which student actors portrayed the Rolling Stones performing in Camp Hall fueled by numerous forms of liquid stimulants, would provide superb blackmail material for those who have gone on to respectable careers. Eager ’76ers also depleted the NMH farm stand’s supply of maple syrup.

Joining us for the weekend in preparation for the organization of her 35th reunion was Grace Mauzy ’77. Grace has moved to Park City UT to further her daughters’ skiing careers.

Tom Jamison is a consulting archeaologist in VT. In Jan ’12 he took a leave of absence to work on an archeaological project in western Belize. His team excavated a structure believed to have been the residence of the ruler of the site and examined the evolution of Maya kingship.

Joe McVeigh writes: “My wife Leila and I are active singers. Son Nathaniel (7) is a 2nd grader entranced by horses, Legos, Star Wars, and comic book super heroes. I spend an inordinate amount of time working on the board of his small independent school. Oxford U Press published my 3rd ESL textbook in the fall of ’11. I traveled to Saudi Arabia in spring ’11 for ESL consulting. Leila works as a mental health clinician in local high schools near Middlebury VT. For the first time in 36 years, Claire Gutekunst attended Christmas Vespers. She went to the NYC Vespers in Manhattan, just a few blocks from her office at the law firm of Proskauer Rose LLP. “What a treat,” she writes. Claire is now in her 29th year at the firm, where she is a partner. She represents companies in litigation, arbitration, and mediation of commercial disputes. She is also treasurer of the NY State Bar Association and chair of the advisory council for the YWCA-NYC Academy of Women Leaders. Claire’s older son has returned to the nest to try to make it as an actor, after graduating with a degree in history from Yale in May ’11.

Her younger son is a freshman at Brown. And her husband of 28 years writes the book and lyrics for musical theater. Claire reports that Sonia Lewin, her senior year roommate at NMH, is a pediatric emergency room physician at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Sonia’s daughter is a junior at Columbia, and her son is a freshman at Harvard.

Chris Rudolph is a pediatrician in Carbondale IL, where he works with a federally qualified health center. His son (10) loves soccer. Wife Michelle works for Southern IL U and is a local multimedia artist.

Chuck Funderburk is an orthopedist in Oklahoma City OK, where he specializes in upper extremity and sports injuries. Wife Beverly is a child psychologist at the center for child abuse and neglect at the Oklahoma U health science center.

Son Chase (21) is a junior at Cornell, daughter Carrie (16) is in high school, and daughter Rachel (13) is in middle school. Chuck would love to hear from old friends at cfunderburk@mcboh.com.

Adam Saffer is president and CEO of Gateway Development International (GDI), a company he started last year to bring better, faster, cheaper, and greener technologies to the developing world with a special focus on infrastructure, construction, and water and sanitation. Adam wrote from Mongolia (temperature 20 degrees), where he’s been spending lots of time working with their first subsidiary. GDI has also established a partnership in Liberia and is researching Brazil. Further information at www. gateway-development.com. Getting back into the entrepreneurial scene means Adam spends lots of time away from his family. However, wife Alison and sons Jordan and Taylor are all well. Jordan heads to college next year and Taylor is a freshman in high school.

Ken Crabbs’s son Christian (13) attended summer school at NMH in ’11 and will head off to high school next year. Ken had gall bladder surgery in 4/11, causing him to miss the spring concert of the Richmond Choral Society. He has now reached his 25th year of service at Genworth Financial.

Wife Linda is a chaplain and pastor in the United Methodist Church in VA. Melissa Totten is working on a documentary about octogenarian jazz critic Nat Hentoff. Her company, M+Co, is handling all of the archival elements for the film. She also works with singersongwriter Boris McCutcheon. Melissa notes: “My dog Natty Bumppo comes to work with me every day, but I do not have him on salary. We both love the commute from the breakfast table to the studio upstairs: it’s good to be your own boss.”

Cathy Campione Stein ’76, Valerie Malter ’76, and Mary Worthington ’76 enjoy a concert by Hogapella in the Raymond Concert Hall at their 35th reunion last June.

Nancy Waldon Smith ’76, Susan Loring-Wells ’76, Zed Smith, Marty Wells, and Hannah Loring-Wells celebrated Hannah’s graduation from AZ State last May.

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Steve Williams has left the corporate world and spent winter ’12 as a children’s snowboard instructor in Breckenridge CO. In 12/11, he met up with some other Rocky Mountain-area NMH alumni on the mountain and had dinner with members of the current NMH ski team, who were training at Breckenridge.

Dongsok Shin and Gwendolyn Toth have been married for 21 years. Gwendolyn performs, teaches, and conducts. Dongsok served as recording engineer on her latest CD—recorded on a historic organ in the Netherlands. Dongsok’s group REBEL has recently performed in Europe, Canada, and the US. Other concerts have taken Dongsok to Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall. He also tunes and maintains early keyboards at both the Met Opera and the Met Museum in NYC. Daughter Samantha (21) graduated from Vassar in 6/12 as a studio art major.

Linnea (19) is in her 2nd year at Harvey Mudd in computer science. Son Adrian (14) is in high school.

Dongsok is in touch with Caroline Hemenway and Charlotte Bacon Holton.

Alan Bryce manages the engineering library at

UNH. His elder daughter graduated from UNH in May, which now makes Alan a former UNH faculty brat, a UNH alumnus, the parent of a UNH alumna, as well as a staff member at UNH. His younger daughter is out west in school. Alan and Kathy have been married for 3 years. They spend their time traveling and working on the house.

Much of our class communication takes place electronically. Stay in the loop. Be sure the Alumni Office has your email address. If you are on Facebook, be sure to join the NMH Class of 1976 page. A recent prompt from Maureen Miller Hallock in that group resulted in a raft of reminiscences about work job/dummy assignments, including many discussions of early-morning shifts in the kitchens of Gould, Merrill-Keep, and West Hall.

On our Facebook page, classmates also post recent (and not-so-recent) photos of themselves, and you’ll find pictures from our reunion in June ’11.

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ANNE HOWSON 85 Sutherland Road #2 Brighton MA 02135-7159 ahowson@rics.bwh.harvard.edu

Hello, Classmates. On 6/26/11, Karen Lanphear Malinowski, her family, and I returned home to NMH to say their final good-byes to their mother, Cynthia, whom they lost earlier in ’11 to Alzheimer’s disease. Karen writes: “With our grieving father, spouses, and grown children in tow, my brother and sister and I arrived on the Mt Hermon campus not knowing what to expect. We still weren’t sure what we would find, or how we would feel when we got there. From the moment we ar-

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rived to our departure on the long drive down that beautiful main gate road, our weekend couldn’t have been more perfect. Every single person that we came into contact with before and during that weekend just couldn’t have been more caring and helpful. Imagine our delight as we all pulled up in front of Oaknoll (our beloved former home) to see the tree my parents planted for their grandchildren, now fully grown and decorated with a new memorial plaque. We were warmly greeted by the current residents. This house was my mother’s favorite of all the homes she lived in during her life, and she loved it almost as much as she loved us. Memories of our family came flooding back, and my siblings and I all secretly wished we could go inside and look around. How happy we were to be graciously invited inside to tour the home that built my family. There were many changes (all good) but the integrity and beauty was still there, and so was my room, and the squeaky floorboards that always seemed to give us away. We could feel our mother there with us, approving of what we saw, and it was healing. My family spent 17 years on the Mt Hermon campus, and even though many years have passed since our lives at NMH, the sense of family and community were as strong that weekend as it was when we were just young faculty brats.

It was a magical place back then and, thankfully, it still is.” Karen sends special thanks to Dick and Ellen Peller for their help and support before and during their visit.

In 10/11 Pamela Watson-Hogan had some sad news to report. Classmate Carolyn RingDelVecchio passed away on 9/27/11. Over the years, Pamela had been in touch with Carolyn, who had been ill since 6/10. Pamela writes: “It is hard to have people leaving us at this age.” Pamela is dividing her time between her mother and her family: “I am fine, spending much of my time supporting my mother and encouraging my youngest, Ethan, through the college process.”

David Allen has left MA and set up residence in Interlochen MI, where he teaches at the Interlochen Arts Academy. Last summer, Steely Dan played a concert on campus and David relates: “Somehow I got a gig as stage security. I’m not making this up: Apparently you don’t have to be built like an NFL lineman to ward off groupies who have AARP cards.

So I worked a stage with Steely Dan, the soundtrack for Hayden and Crossley 35 years ago...take THAT Tom Gimbel. David and wife Holly Hazen ’74 are enjoying life in the Midwest: “To date I haven’t drowned in the Atlantic or Lake Michigan, so if you are in northern MI and like to sail, be in touch and we’ll not drown together.”

Jean Pendleton and Mark Madden eloped on 11/11/11, and are living in Charleston SC. Regarding our upcoming reunion, Annie Oskam would like to see Kate Hulbert Hass...the Marquand Kates.

Joanie Kaplan Williams is excited about our reunion and writes: “I just got my 3-year clean bill of health at MD Anderson Medical in 12/11. If I go 2 more years, I will officially be cured—woohoo.

Having fun catching up with everyone on Facebook and planning our next reunion. I may be 52 but I can certainly climb the tree with Paul Crowder as I do every 5 years.”

Terrance “Terry” Meyerhoff plans to attend reunion. “I hope to see as many familiar faces, and hopefully some not so familiar faces, at reunion.”

From Anne Howson: By the time you read this, it will be 1 month to our 35th NMH reunion 6/8–10. As of Jan, we have some activities set for this weekend. And with all the electronic interfacing available on the Internet, there is more contact than ever among us. We have a very good chance to have a really good showing of all of us—those who have attended, those who haven’t, those who have always sort of thought about it. There is an energy that can only happen when we get together in real time, because we all shared the same experience at the same time. Yes, it was different for each of us, good and bad, but if you are reading this now, NMH made an impression that can never be replaced. Please come, especially if you have not come in a while. I went to our ’02 reunion fed up and planning to never come back and had such a good time, dropping my guard and getting to know classmates I’d never spoken to at NMH, that I volunteered to be your class secretary. (I was the antithesis of “involvement,” mind you.) My reunion request is for all Marquand people to come back for a minireunion. Finally, I have created a group on my Facebook page for NMH 1977 to convene, and through the help of fellow classmates, it has burgeoned to 76 members. Stop by.

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CARRIE NIEDERMAN 1021 Arlington St Houston TX 77008 elhsvet@aol.com CATHY ABRAHAM HOPKINS 2 Arbour Glen Dr St Catharines ON Canada L2W 1B1 cathy.hopkins@gmail.com

In ’11, David Kopel writes that he “did 3 half-marathons and saw Furthur (the 21st-century incarnation of the Grateful Dead) 4 times. So it was a fun year.”

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PAIGE RELYEA LEHMAN 5236 SW 89 Ter Cooper City FL 33328-5140 paigerelyea@yahoo.com

CARY LIEBOWITZ BONOSEVICH 1972 Littleton Rd Monroe NH 03771-3275 bonosevich@hotmail.com

From Cary: Jim Louderback writes: “At our last reunion I ran into a bunch of guys I hadn’t seen since graduation. I asked them why they were all back, and they said they were being inducted into the NMH Athletic Hall of Fame. ‘What for?’

I asked. ‘You don’t remember?’ they shot back, aghast. ‘We were undefeated in hockey our senior year.’ I lived in Overton with a number of these guys. I guess I just wasn’t paying attention senior year. (You can surmise what I was doing by reviewing my yearbook award of ‘brought his bowl of burning gold.’) Fast-forward to today and my son (12) is wild for roller-blade hockey. Our outdoor rink sits in Half Moon Bay with great views of the Pacific Ocean. Surprisingly, I’ve been helping out coaching and even learning to play hockey. Our team was undefeated last summer through playoffs and championships, in part due to an unorthodox scheme I devised that matched players of wildly varying skills. I’m still not a jock, but I am far more appreciative of hockey these days.”

Peter Williams and family moved to Vancouver WA in July ’11 just across the Columbia River from Portland OR. Peter is the dean of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at Clark College. “It has been an exciting move and puts us closer to family in Port Townsend WA and Eugene OR. My wife Betsy, daughters Madeleine (8) and Heidi Rose (5) and I have been bicycling, sea kayaking, and are gearing up for a winter of skiing (telemark, cross-country, and downhill) in the region.”

You can reach Peter at williamspg@earthlink.net.

Jennifer Baker Warren is a college counselor at a boarding school in Sedona AZ. Her daughter will be a freshman at St Lawrence next year. Son is almost finished at Northern AZ U. William Heidbreder is still studying philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris. He likes Paris but wishes he had more time to do things in the city. He misses NY and all his friends there. Anyone traveling to Paris should look him up on Facebook.

As for me, Cary, I had a rough yr with 2 surgeries on my left shoulder. Our 4 kids surprised us and came home for Hanukkah/Christmas for the first time in 3 years. Husband Len is a part-time rural carrier delivering mail and also remodeling kitchens and baths. Northern NH is still home and a great place to visit. Contact us by email if you’re in the area.

Don’t forget about our Facebook page. Search for

Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1979. There are lots of ’79ers online, and we love reading your posts.

From Paige: I’m writing this on 1/2/12, just after celebrating “that” milestone birthday. Turning 50 feels like an exciting time with so many things to look forward to—although the first event of the year is our daughter turning 16 and taking her driver’s license test. By the time you read this, it will be mid-‘12 , and I hope this is a wonderful year for the class of ’79.

Peter Robinson writes: “Keeping up with folks gets more meaningful with each new gray hair. Peter has been in Cohasset MA since ’89 and has his own info tech consulting co, Katahdin Solutions. His older of 2 daughters will be attending Columbia in the fall. Good friend Sarah Dewey lives nearby in Hingham. Peter rowed in the Head of the Charles 50+ div for Wide Load Boat Club. He had a nice visit with Jeff Leyden ’80 in Boston recently. “Big hello to all my old pals in Hayden Hall.”

Estelle Dorain Burgess posted on the NMH Facebook page: “It is really hard to write to all of you knowing that Christmas is around the corner, but by the time this issue comes out, we will be watching the spring flowers pop and be listening to the sounds of spring birds. We had the pleasure of a visit from James Philcox and family this past summer. What fun it was to have Harvey the RV stretched out in our yard in VT. Lots of laughter, boating, and swimming was had by all. We also visited with Paige Relyea Lehman and family in FL in 11/11. All is well with the Burgess family.

Although our summer was a little rough with the sudden passing of my husband’s brother, we are blessed to have a wonderful family to lean on, especially during these last few months. Just a couple more years before our next reunion. Love to see everyone. Put it on your calendar for ’14.”

Patty Kimsey Bollinger is traveling to Israel in Mar and early with a team from Bethel in Redding CA, sharing the love of God with everyone they meet. “I’m so excited that we’ll be going to an orphanage and having a Healing School, which is going to be wonderful.”

Mary Jane Curry is an assoc professor in language ed and the director of writing support services at the Margaret Warner Grad School of Ed and

Human Dev at U Rochester. She writes: “Things are pretty stable in Rochester NY—I am working on another book and have been shortlisted for a Fulbright faculty fellowship to go to Argentina for spring ’13. While hiking the Squam Ridge in NH in 8/11, I ran into Adrienne Weiss Frechter and her husband on the trail. She lives in the Boston area and works at a Jewish day school. I always get together with Sarah Browning ’80 in the summer as her in-laws have a house on Lake Cayuga—this time we met up in Hammondsport NY in the winegrowing region.”

Brad Will writes that ’11 has been a remarkable year of change, transition, and growth. “At the end of Feb, we moved into our own 3-story, 1900 Victorian with a big backyard for the dogs. Then, 8 days after, we opened the Myers and Myers, Father/ Daughter Photography exhibit at Art on Wall Gallery, showing photos taken by my wife Sari and her father, Robert G. Myers. In May, Sari and I became officially engaged. My company, Ashokan Architecture, continued a busy year with construction finally gearing up for the affordable housing community Woodstock Commons.” Brad is a board member with the AIA Westchester + Hudson Valley chapter, will become secretary in ’12, and pres of the 650-member chapter in ’14. In 1/12, he joined the board of directors for the Kingston Land Trust, one of a handful of urban land trusts in the country.

Good friends from NMH and Cornell showed up to celebrate his 50th birthday.

Brad’s best news is about his new daughter. “It was just over 5 years ago that my now ex-wife and I initiated an adoption of a baby girl from China. In the summer of ’08, the adoption process was halted, as the separation and eventual divorce created a less- than-ideal situation for such an endeavor. On the Monday after Thanksgiving, I received a phone call from the adoption agency that ‘the baby was ready.’ Sari was consulted on this rather momentous announcement and happily agreed that this adoption was indeed a great gift. Within a week, I signed the papers to adopt Maya Jade Phoenix Will, as a single parent. One important consequence of the adoption is the postponement of our planned nuptials, moved from spring to fall ’12. Had we married, the adoption process would have needed

Peter Williams ’79 holding daughter Heidi Rose (5) and wife Betsy Phinney holding daughter Madeleine (8).

Cary Liebowitz Bonosevich ’79, her children Mike (25), Sam (21), Sara (23), Lauren (19), and husband Len.

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to start over again.

“Maya Jade is beautiful and possesses a wise and gentle aura about her. We are honored and happy beyond words that she will join our little family this summer. Before us is a formidable challenge, as we must raise significant funds to finance the remainder of the adoption costs. Over the course of the next 6 months, we—with the assistance of our amazing community of friends in Kingston and Woodstock—will conduct online fundraisers, art auctions, music events, and dinners. We will reach our goal and bring Maya Jade home to the Hudson Valley to meet the loving friends, family, musicians, and artists who helped make this miracle happen.”

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JACK FARRELL 22314 Cairnloch St Calabasas CA 91302-5873 jack@jackfarrell.org ANTONY PANG 33 Club St 08-14 Singapore 069415 aa1105@yahoo.com LYNELLE KUCHARSKI 94 Cambridge Dr Glastonbury CT 06033-1379 lynelle@lynellekucharski.com

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FRANK CHANDLER 20 Overlook Park Newton MA 02459-1344 frankchandler1@verizon.net class of ’81 website: www.nmh81.us MARINA COLMAN 603 S Cochran Ave Los Angeles CA 90036-4040 marinacolman@yahoo.com LILIAN BLACKEN HANNAPEL 2809 Parkers Landing Rd Mount Pleasant SC 29466-6743 lxhannapel@aol.com

From Marina: Jim Spencer owns a wine import and distribution business in Portland OR. He and Polly have been married for 20 years and have 2 sons (18 and 15). You can check out his Facebook page here: www.wfacebook.com/pages/Vin-DeGarde-Wines-Ltd/307858728752.

David Catalfimo writes: “We moved from RI to Santa Barbara CA, where I have opened an office for JP Morgan Securities. My wife Nicole is very

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happy to be ‘home’ again with children Cosmo (8) and Ella (7). We have met Bill MacKinnon ’56, who lives in Santa Barbara, and would enjoy knowing if other NMH alums are nearby.”

Elizabeth “Ean” Hornor Boquet has lived near Lausanne, Switzerland, since ’96. She teaches English and proofreads, is involved with 2 writers’ groups, and enjoys life with her husband and 2 kids.

Donna Polk is the godmother of her children and Ean was the maid of honor at Donna’s wedding in Barcelona in 10/10.

After graduating from Cornell, Linda Dyckman Jellum earned her JD from Cornell Law School.

She is a visiting law professor at Florida State College of Law and is the associate director of the Association of American Law Schools. Last year, Linda served as associate executive director of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools, where she was a board member for more than 3 years.

She is also a council member for the American Bar Association’s section on administrative law and regulatory practice.

David “Julio” Gordon shares a remembrance of teacher Bill Hillenbrand, who was his football coach and English teacher: “At the end of every practice, he could be heard saying, ‘The hill, boys, as our practices ended running up toward the chapel. He had enough faith in me to play both offense and defense 1 game. He was 1 of my favorite teachers.

His coaching and teaching were inspirational and encouraging. He was a great role model.”

From Lilian: Julie Kawadler was in 5 feature films in ’11—2 of them were horror films. She traveled to LA quite a bit and had dinner with Roxanne Wahler Scott and her family.

Our 30th reunion was exceptional. There was a wonderful sense of camaraderie, even though the weather didn’t fully cooperate. Approximately 50 or so classmates came and enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new ones. A special thank-you to Tracy Korman for his incredible dedication and making it all come together so flawlessly. Classmates who attended reunion included: Maurice Bouffard, Andrew Briggs. Laura Caffry, Richard Calder, David Catalfimo, Frank Chandler, Larry Chase, Marina Colman, Jane Macdonald Craig, Carol Curtis-Donovan, Alison Law Darling, Lesley Davison, Thomas Driscoll,

Linda Dyckman Jellum ’81

Tim Goff, Hilary Cooper Goodman, David Gordon, Charity Smith Gray, Martin Haire, Lilian Blacken Hannapel, Sandra Holland, Mary HowleyKoppinger, Owen Jander, Janet Pynchon Jeffries, Julie Kawadler, Messmore “Max” Kendall, Tracy Korman, Keith Krebs, Diana Lafer, Kris LeBlanc, Nina Mandel, Catherine DiMiceli Masie, Gavin Monagle, Katharine Notman, J. Robert Pflug, Richard Piscuskas, Thomas Poole, Lisa Glantz Prickett, Wendy Traenkle Reagan, Kendall McCready Reilly, Karen Reutlinger, Kari Skilbred Roberts, Gillian Rosner, Roxanne Wahler Scott, Kristin Cole Sposato, J. Todd Trefethen, and Clarke Willey.

Chris Whyland and Don Angell dropped in for brief appearances. Ian Mclean ’80, Adrienne Talamas ’80, and Caroline Loewald Farnham ’82

were also there.

To those who want to be in touch in real time, send messages, and see updates and photos from other classmates, please join our NMH Class of 1981 page on Facebook.

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SALLY WILLIS PO Box 1456 Frisco CO 80443-1456 willissally@hotmail.com MICHAEL RICKARD 1470 N Grand St W Suffield CT 06093-2521 mrickard330@cox.net

From Sally: By the time you read this column, our 30th reunion will be almost here. For those of you who attend, I hope that you have a fantastic time getting reacquainted with old friends, marveling at the new buildings on campus, and making a vow to attend all future reunions.

During the last 6 months, I’ve had the chance to catch up with a few alums from our class and others.

I received some advice on hiking and camping in the Steamboat Springs CO area from Kent Foster ’81, met Mike Pompian and his wife Angela at Beaver Creek Resort over the Thanksgiving holiday, and spent some time with Toby Green and his family during the Christmas holiday.

In Oct, Rocky Mountain-NMH had its annual Mountain Day in Boulder, so I had the opportunity to catch up with a few alumni while hiking in Chautauqua Park. Then, in Dec, I hosted a ski day and dinner at the Breckenridge Ski Resort for CO alumni and 8 members of the NMH ski team, plus Coach Greg Leeds. In attendance for the dinner were Sarah Greenman Barclay ’79, Paul Crowder ’77, Steve Williams ’76, Mary Peck Castle, Toby Green, Shannon Cahill Smith ’98, and Kyler Chavez ’05. A few photos are posted on our Rocky

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Mountain-NMH page on Facebook.

I spent a few evenings with Toby Green.

After graduating from the 2-year Wooden Boat Restoration program at IYRS in Newport RI, Toby has embarked on his new career—building and restoring classic vessels, including a 16-foot Haven 12½ designed by Joel White, which is scheduled to be launched in early June ’12. As to Toby’s future, Russian multibillionaire Vladimir Denishovich O’Casey has hired him to manage an impressive project, a “spirit of tradition” replica of the Titanic, full-scale and constructed entirely of wood. Vlad’s grandfather had been an ironmonger in Belfast, Northern Ireland, working for famed shipbuilders Harland and Wolff during the construction of the Titanic. Always saddened by the loss of life in April of 1912, his grandfather often wondered aloud if they shouldn’t have just: “used wood…like in the old days.” Mr. Denishovich O’Casey intends construction to start by the 100th anniversary of the tragic maiden voyage.** Toby also caught me up with what Tanis Williams has been up to recently. After many years as a labor and delivery nurse at the hospital in Blue Hill ME, Tanis has turned what had been a passionate hobby into a successful business venture. She has been hand-dying yarn for her personal knitting use in sweaters and socks for friends and enemies alike.

She has now offered the public access to her artistic vision by opening a shop for knitting supplies and instruction called String Theory. Her success in the business has been remarkable and her customer base is growing (both through in-person walk-in and significant online sales).

She has also recently undertaken the creation of the newest World Wide AIDS Quilt, a memorial quilt with a life-size likeness of every confirmed victim of the disease in the many colors of the rainbow, symbolizing inclusive support to all creatures great and small. The RI-sized quilt is scheduled to be launched from the International Space Station in late ’15, or as soon as Richard Branson develops rockets capable of launching the impressive payload. Tanis will accompany separate panels into low earth orbit, where she’ll stitch the component parts together during the 1st recorded instance of a fiber artist EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity), ensuring her

Andy Hewitt ’82, Jonathan Huston ’82, and Dairo Moreno ’91 with the NMH SpCal group at the Parade of Lights in LA harbor.

inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records.** Kelly Armor is the education and folk art director at the Erie Art Museum. “I’ve figured out ways to bring music and storytelling into the tours I give to local students. I am most proud of Old Songs, New Opportunities, which is a job-training program that teaches former refugee women (in Erie) to work in local day-care centers and how to use their indigenous songs in American settings. I’m so happy to work for a museum that allows me to do this sort of thing. Whenever I’m in the NYC area, I get together with Melissa Ray.”

**These class notes are not intended to be entirely factual.

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ALLYSON GOODWIN 45 Mount Hermon Rd Gill MA 01354-8801 agoodwin@nmhschool.org ANGELA LAMBERT 249 Islington Street, Unit #10 Portsmouth NH 03801 drangela@mac.com

Michael “Link” Linkovich and wife Francine celebrated their 14th anniversary last Oct. Link now works in Ft Lauderdale FL as inpatient supervisor for rehabilitation services at North Shore Medical Center-FMC Campus. He oversees the physical and occupational therapists, speech therapists/pathologists, rehab techs, and support staff, and treats patients. Link writes, “I have been in touch regularly with the greatest coach and mentor, Dick Peller, and with Pete Leinbach, as well as Freddy Maguire, Todd Everett ’85, and John Coan; miss all my NMH friends and family. Would love to hear from them anytime. NMH is always close to my heart and often on my mind. The experience touched me deeply; I cannot express or put it into words.”

Patti Dame Rohrmeier and family visited her in-laws in Bavaria last Aug, just in time to enjoy the local volksfests. She still works for Pfizer in NYC and is busy with sons Max (4) and Luke (2). Vinay Navani is a tax accountant and financial advisor

Laura Shaver Watt ’83, Toby Brothers ’83, and Jessica Aguilera-Steinert ’83 in London in ’11.

living in NJ and writes that eldest son Samir is attending the Pennington School, where NMH alumna and former faculty member Stephanie “Penny” Gillis Townsend ’75 is head of school.

Vinay writes: “Her husband Mike, who was one of the most influential teachers of my NMH days, teaches English there as well. We spend more time at school events talking about NMH than we do about Pennington.” Vinay shared sad news that Chirag Shah passed away in Nov. Chirag was board-certified in family practice and lived and worked in Johnson City TN. Vera Heidolph has been living in San Diego for 7 years as a small-animal vet. In her free time, she volunteers performing spays and neuters for cats and dogs in need. Vera is starting her own mobile veterinary practice next year, which will focus on spays, neuters, and dentals. She started running marathons to raise funds for PETA in ’10 and now has self-described marathon fever. She ran the Miami marathon and the Negril Reggae marathon (10k) in Dec. Sister Karin Heidolph-Bremner ’77, Claire Johnson-Hurry, and several friends joined the spectator crowd for both the Miami and Negril races.

Lulu Lason Cannon writes: “Our daughter ran cross-country for her high school as well as played on a travel lacrosse team this summer and fall. Our son is playing AAA hockey, and as usual we are traveling all over to watch. He plays lacrosse as well. I am in awe watching them do their thing, since I ran track, did gymnastics, played soccer and field hockey. Never ran longer than a 5K or played lacrosse competitively. In fact, during my junior year at NMH was the first time I had seen lacrosse.

My husband played hockey and lacrosse. One of the highlights for our family was meeting former Red Wing Steve Yzerman at a lacrosse tournament in Chicago and Red Wing Nicklas Lindstrom at a hockey game, where his son’s team played our son’s team. I am still teaching spinning, total body conditioning, and boot camp. Tons of fun. Facebook has been a great vehicle to reconnect with NMH friends. I feel like I am in touch with them daily.”

Freddy Maguire writes that son Liam just finished with football and is now on to snowboarding.

TC Connor ’83, Allyson Goodwin ’83, Jim Husson ’83, and Marggie Slichter ’84 at an NMH event in Boston.

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He writes: “Been hooking up with NMHers on FB, which is cool. If anyone is up at Sunday River, give me a holler. We are up there every weekend and have a house with lots of room. Dropped in on my old roommate Tim Corley a few weeks back up in Burlington. It was great to see him.”

Amy Golodetz lives in VT and is designing and teaching individualized math instruction part-time for a wide range of ages, learning disabilities, and profiles. She and her husband are very involved at an independent, holistic pre-K–6 school, Bellwether, where Ruth (8) is in 3rd grade. Maria (15) is at the local high school, where she runs cross-country, skis, and likes Spanish. Summers, she’s at Lorrie Byrom’s camp in Pittsford VT. Susie Broatch lives in NC and is a life coach.

She married in 12/11 and writes: “We were very informal—evening at the courthouse followed by a celebratory dinner with our good friends who volunteered to be witnesses. Sometime next year we’ll have something more formal and festive.” Ruth “Sami” Pincus lives in Burlington VT and is selfemployed as an Alexander Technique teacher. She also teaches ethics and professionalism and business practices classes in a massage-therapy training program. Her website is: samipincus.com. Sami is “a happily divorced parent of a teenage son, enjoying vicariously experiencing high school as he traverses the evolving terrain. I am learning about life and death through witnessing members of my family face illness and end-of-life transitions.”

Jim Husson, TC Connor, Marggie Slichter ’84, and I (Allyson) connected at an NMH event at the Museum of Science in Boston. TC works and lives in Boston and has started a new company. Jim is the vp for advancement at Boston College. He and wife Laurie Smith live in Arlington with their 2 kids, Jonah (16) and Anna (12).

Check out and add to our NMH Class of 1983 Facebook page. Here are 2 recent additions. Rob Hodgkins wrote in Dec about a VT Symphony Orchestra performance. He writes: “The end of their performance was ‘Adeste Fideles,’ and I am pleased to say, I still remember the Latin version. But the most heartfelt piece was the song not on their playbill—‘Silent Night.’ They asked everyone to sing along, and I went back in time to the Hermon chapel and Christmas Vespers (minus the creaky pews).

Lulu Lason Cannon ’83 and daughter Mackenzie.

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I still love that song. It brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. Thank you, NMH, for creating such enduring memories.” You’ll all be glad to know that NMH Vespers still features “Silent Night” at the end of every performance.

Jessica Aguilera-Steinert posted pictures of her kids and wrote in that a highlight of her year was visiting London, where “I spent special time with Toby Brothers and Laurie Shaver Watt. We continue to rely on each other for support during challenging and everyday things as old friends do. We are grateful for the 2 people who brought us together—Jeanne and John Rees.” Jessica’s son Diego is in 3rd grade and into math and baseball.

Daughter Camila is a fireball of opinion and is in kindergarten. Jessica is still at pih.org and husband Luis is at a software company.

Angela Lambert has started a bicoastal life. In addition to her practice in OR, she has opened a practice called Ancient Traditions Natural Medicine in Portsmouth NH, offering naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, and classical Chinese medicine to the seacoast of NH and ME. The website is www.

NaturalMedicineNH.org. She writes: “It’s great to be in NE again, not just for a long weekend. I’m enjoying the variety between NH and OR and so far don’t mind the traveling at all. Laurie Smith came up to Portsmouth for a day to help me paint my new office. Nothing like NMH friendship. I welcome visitors on either coast.”

Send us news, classmates, and check in on FB. Pencil in June ’13, when we come back to celebrate our (gasp) 30th reunion.

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MARGGIE SLICHTER 294 Birnam Rd Northfield MA 01360 mslichter@nmhschool.org

I’m starting off with a great update from Lea Thompson Emery. Lea and I both work at NMH, but as Lea points out, “Our paths often take us in different directions.” Most recently, we got to catch up over appetizers at the Farm Table, part of the all-new Kringle Candle Company, founded by the founder of Yankee Candle in Bernardston. I’m going to kidnap Julie Greaney sometime soon and catch up with her in person.

By the time these notes hit the magazine, it will be spring and my son, Tucker ’13, will be completing his junior year at NMH. Can’t believe that he’ll be applying to colleges already—especially since it seems it was just last week we were all looking at our own SAT scores and stressing about finishing college apps or ripping open those envelopes in the mailroom. Tucker has taken advantage of NMH far beyond my hopes, including being a DJ on WNMH, going on the NMH summer study abroad

to Uruguay and thereby jumping a level of Spanish while making friends on the other side of the equator, and rowing for NMH in both fall and spring seasons. While I try to go to as many races in the spring, fall regattas are harder due to my travels in the Middle East for admissions. This fall, while in Saudi Arabia (Ras Tanura for any of you Aramcons), I got to watch him row in the Head of the Charles Regatta live on the Internet, which was amazing.

Thanks to all of you who were there and cheering on NMH—his boat came in 7th out of 77 entrants.

A note to Aramcons: This was my 2nd year visiting Aramco, and I have been very interested in meeting/talking with alums who have spent time growing up (or adulthood) in Saudi. I’ve watched ‘Home: The Aramco Brats Story’ and can see that you have a unique shared history and community connection that reminds me a bit of NMH. I would love to form an NMH-Aramcon alumni group if there is enough interest. We currently have 3 Aramcon students and 1 who is an NMH alumnus now teaching math and living in Cottage I. As director of financial aid for the past 10 years, I have seen many changes at NMH and can wholeheartedly say that we’re in the strongest position I’ve seen since I started working here in ’97. It’s exciting. At the same time, I’m saddened that in order to accomplish goals that have put us in such a strong position, we’ve had to make changes to our financial aid program. We have gone from being a school that ‘gaps’ a family’s demonstrated need by providing less aid than needed (in order to aid as many students as we had with a 2-campus school) to meeting 100% of need, including adding extra costs. To do so, we’ve had to reduce the percentage of the student body able to receive such generous aid. I struggle with that because there are so many fabulous kids out there deserving of and perfect for an NMH education. Please know this is not a plea on behalf of NMH, merely the musings of a member of the class of ’84 who happens to be deeply invested in her work of securing the future of NMH and its role in transforming the lives of young people who will then make a difference in the world.

Jill Weston was visiting from FL and stopped by for lunch with me in Alumni Hall. She has been promoted to a special team at her company, where she has worked for a long time, and has a new love in

Vera Heidolph ’83 at the Miami marathon in Dec ’11.

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her life, adding to that glow.

Now on to the rest of the class. Sharyn Gewanter Collinson writes: “I can’t believe this year will mark 23 years of living south of the MasonDixon line. While I am firmly planted here in Annapolis MD, I still call NE home and cheer for the Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots. Starting to think about high school for our son Teddy (13). Hard to imagine sending our only child to prep school. Not ready to be an empty nester.”

Bill Pusey is in Portland ME, where he is in his 4th year with Promontory Interfinancial Network as an account manager working with banks across NE. His wife is a recruiter for a firm in Portland.

Older son Liam is in the NH National Guard and is a junior at UNH. Younger son Colm graduates from Cheverus this spring and is looking at colleges around NE. Both play lacrosse for their schools.

Juan Rachadell has been living in Lagos, a town in south Portugal, for 9 years with his wife and 3 children. His oldest is in medical school. Juan is a surgeon working in a medium-sized community hospital in Portimao. “After all these years, not a week goes by without my having a thought about NMH. It definitely left a deep mark. Crossley rules.”

Good to hear from Ben Boschen on the West Coast. Ben lives in Irvine CA with wife Aimee and their children—Madeleine (11) and William (7). “I get out to surf and play golf and go to a Chargers’ game once in a while, but that is the extent of the excitement. We did go to New Zealand earlier this year, which was a lot of fun.”

And from another West Coast alumna: Phoebe Cameron writes, “I’ve been riding my horse Bliss and playing with the rest of my animal family.”

Phoebe has traveled for work this year to NYC, San Antonio, Houston, and Seattle.

Carleen Loveday and husband Mohit Verma announce the birth of their son Soren in 4/11.

Daughter Viveca was born in 2/09.

Traci Adams Mitchell and her husband and son welcomed Julia last fall.

It was wonderful to get a good long note from Larry Mercado. “I’m not one to really follow the class news, but from time to time I do read them, and smile every time I read something cool about someone I knew. NMH will forever be a part of who I am. I am still in touch with Darrell Johnson

Mary Batty ’84 with Macy and Sam.

’85. Darrell and I were fortunate enough to go see Bryan Callen ’85 perform his comedy in NYC a year or so ago. I’d love to hear some news of my other friends from Hillside, like Emanuel Betz ’85, Scott Thayer ’85, Sherif Anis ’85, and Clif Gray ’85, to name a few.” Larry earned a bachelor’s in cognitive science from Vassar and has spent the last 20+ years in finance, doing everything from operations, trading, IT, and consulting. He works for Virtusa, providing financial services consulting to companies in NY. Larry has been married for almost 8 years and has a daughter, Cristina (6). They live in Queens NY. David Bartley was elected to represent Ward 3 on the Holyoke MA city council for a 2-year term.

Laura Vantine’s son Noah enrolled for 8th grade at Cardigan Mountain School this year. CMS is where Laura got started as a teacher in the summer of ’88, so she’s thrilled to have a reason to return to NH. Noah plays goalie in their hockey program and hopes to sail in the spring. Daughter Abby loves 7th grade in the Lexington (MA) public schools. She takes piano, is learning how to ski, and is gearing up for a 2nd year on the middle school track team, her real passion. Laura is in her 4th year as coordinator of academic support at Winsor School in Boston.

“Although commuting feels a bit like a Mario Kart race, I love leaving campus at the end of the day.

Life is full and good, and I am happy to have landed right where I am.”

A Christmas letter from Margaret White Bellefuil brought news of her life and family in Seattle. Margaret and husband Steve have 2 kids, Tam (9) and Jin Ah (6). Margaret is in her 17th year at the zoo and still loves her work.

Just before the holidays, I had coffee with Rich Gross in NYC. Rich and wife Jennifer have a busy schedule with Rich’s travel and the activities of 4 children.

Annie Petersen Keller lives in Palo Alto with her 2 children and is making her gorgeous jewelry.

I cherish the necklace I was given by classmates at our 20th reunion. Check out her website at decampjewelry.com.

Chris Nagle spent Christmas with family in San Miguel, Mexico. Chris and I are in touch regularly and are lucky enough to be able to catch up in person on the Cape or at NMH. I catch up by phone with Mary Batty and Julie Greaney from time to

Sarah Prescott ’84 and Marggie Slichter ’84 win pies.

time. I was happy to see Mary on campus this June for reunion. Her dad, Bill Batty ’59, was celebrated with a retirement toast and roast. Mary, husband Tim Linberg ’91, and their kids Macy and Sam were on hand for the event.

The Oct blizzard dampened the plans of several classmates who intended to come to campus. Adam Berlew, Rich Gross, Chris Nagle, Eliza Edwards Burden, Olga Beach Lassalle, and Eleanor Hager Temelini had planned to come to NMH for

homecoming weekend but were unable to due to the storm. We hope to try again in 10/12, so watch for a save-the-date late summer and make plans to attend.

Sarah Prescott and I “ran” into one another at the Pie Race in Nov. Sarah was the first alum to finish (men and women), 1st master’s woman to finish, and 3rd woman overall. She beat young men’s pie time, too. I squeaked in mere seconds under master women’s pie time (45 min). Needless to say, it felt great to win a pie and to be part of a long-standing NMH tradition. Anyone care to join us next year?

Facebook has been a wonderful way to keep up with our NMH classmates, contemporaries, and former faculty. If you are not on Facebook, why not give it a try? And if you are, please join the Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1984 page.

Finally, from yours truly—I am newly divorced but doing well. Working at NMH is wonderful and the community is supportive and close-knit. This Christmas it was terrific to have my 3 kids together.

We met in CT for 2 days and enjoyed the simple pleasures of time together, good food, and lots of laughs. With Olivia ’11 in college in FL and Mike ’10 working full-time in NYC, those moments are precious few. Youngest Diana ’12 made the move from NMH to the local community college and is getting a jump-start on college. I managed to sneak in another trip to NM this fall. Four other chaperones and I took some of the local 4-H girls to a working cattle ranch for 4 days of riding, roping, barrel racing, and cow work. The highlight for me was chasing a longhorn bull along a creek. I did some sailing in ME and to Nantucket and the Vineyard last summer and look forward to more next summer.

My work takes me all over the country to visit with alumni/ae of all ages. It is particularly fun to see classmates at events, so check out the NMH website (www.nmhschool.org/alumni) and join me

Carleen Loveday ’84 and her family.

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for an event in your neck of the woods.

Please keep your news and photos coming.

Unless you want to keep seeing photos of me and my kids, send me some of you and yours. Hope to see some of you as I travel for NMH this year.

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JENNIFER BUELL HORSCHMAN Apdo 442-4013 Atenas 20501, Costa Rica jenhorschman@yahoo.com

Enjoy our Class of ’85 news brought to you mostly through our class Facebook page (please join) from classmates posting to my request for info.

William Choi had dinner with John W. Mitchell ’56 and Brian Walsh in Seoul and with John Yang in NYC. John keeps in touch with Weston friends Jeff LaVangie and John Cadran. He also met Tetsuo Iguchi with Etsu Taniguchi a couple of times in NYC. David “Slaugh” Cole says: “It’s been quite a trip to watch son Atticus ’13 go through the NMH experience.” Jim and Anne Rosenau Most ate the pie that Jim won at the Pie Race. Emily Gillen Ballou was going to homecoming with Ina Anderson ’86, but it was the day of the snowstorm so they cancelled. Emily planned to go to Christmas Vespers and show her daughter (10) the school.

Carl Vazakas is still ski bummin’ in Jackson Hole: never grow up, never get old. Ann Baccari Steffes attempted to attend the NMH soccer reunion weekend in Oct, but got snowed-in instead at Sara Morton Driscoll’s cabin in Stratton VT. “Also got snowed-in with Ceylan Onor Cross, who we discovered is a bomb of a chef, and Linda Maddern Leduc, who we found out is a real wine connoisseur. Morts was a great host, despite the bronchitis she was battling. Turns out the game was cancelled after all. It was a great girls’ weekend.”

Ann competed in her 1st triathalon this fall and finished in stellar form.

Charlie King says life in the Pacific Northwest is great. He is an accredited life coach and says he is “honored and blown away by my clients’ outrageous commitment to their lives and love being a part of watching them putting aside their pasts to create a future that is not contiguous with their past.”

Isabella (8) and Harrison (10) are at the Madrona Waldorf school. Charlie’s wife teaches kindergarten, and he is head of the dads’ group at the school (the “Dusty Gnomes”), as well as being a board member.

Sue Gentile, Linda Maddern LeDuc, Katherine Ballard, and Ceylan Onor Cross had dinner with the infamous Bryan Callen before his Foxwoods Casino show, which they all attended in Sept.

Mark Read got written up in “Art Info: A Look Back at 2011, the Year of Art and Protest” for the Occupy Bat Signal, “the giant light projection cast upon the side of the Verizon Building as crowds

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streamed across the Brooklyn Bridge on Nov 17, two days after Bloomberg ordered the sneak raid on the Occupy Wall Street encampment.” Mark, who was one of the creators, said: “It was executed using a high-end projector but held together with ragged ingenuity. The whole thing was a combination of high tech and super jerry-rigging on the fly.”

Maria Bate Grannell posted that David Skeeter suffered a minor heart attack. David posted: “I’m not dead yet. I’m feeling better. I think I’ll go for a walk...Thanks, everyone.”

Heather Hewitt Main is in Burlington VT bringing health promotion workshops and fitness programs to workplaces. Her business is Main Wellness Works (www.mainwellness.com).

Keith Finney checked in, looking for a ticket to the soldout Burning Man festival in Nevada. Laura Fitch Mattson saw Collins Whaling Baker and Sarah Morton Driscoll in 7/11 on parents’ weekend at Camp Dudley, where their boys spent time last summer. Laura is still in Rye NY and happy to have Collins nearby. Collins is in marketing at Condé Nast. Sarah works in Boston at a hedge fund.

Laura saw the documentary Bag It created by Jeb Berrier. “It’s a fascinating documentary about the large-scale and often mindless use of plastic bags and other plastic items in the US, and the impact that it has. I highly recommend it.”

Christina Canas Stinchcomb owns Sugarloaf Mountain Ranch in CO. As for me (Jen), I continue to live, work, and explore Costa Rica with my family and business of customizing study abroad immersion programs (www.SpanishImmersionCostaRica.com). We are branching out to programs in nursing and marine science this year.

To all our classmates…a healthy and hearty… heady and handy ’12.

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GEOFFREY LOCKE 19 Whittier St Northampton MA 01062-9722 gwlocke@gmail.com LI LIN HILLIARD HALLY 3584 SW Hillside Dr Portland OR 97221-4102 Lilinhally@hotmail.com

From Geoffrey: I write this on New Year’s Day, so a belated Happy ’12 to you all. Andrew Boyarsky recently moved to South Orange NJ with wife Claire and their boys, Joshua (4) and Gabriel (3). Abbe Bartlett Lynch works at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle while juggling the demands of 3 children under age 10. Abbe spent the holidays on the East Coast with family. She still has dreams of being back at NMH.

Mel Park Lovering says hello to everyone and loved hanging out and dancing with everyone at our 25th reunion. Nilda Lopez spent a weekend with Bebe Brown in Las Vegas. Nilda ran the Las Vegas half-marathon, and then they had some fun. Nilda also spent time with Kendel Leet in NYC during the Christmas holiday week when Kendel was on break from her job in Jakarta.

Amy Schwartz Saklad celebrated the b’nai mitzvah of her triplet sons, Joel, Jared, and Jeremy, in Oct in San Antonio TX. Amy looks forward to reconnecting with everyone again at our 30th.

Carolin Young still lives in Paris, where she spends her time immersed in the French culinary culture.

Michael Newsom had a great time at our 25th reunion with his dad Jeffrey Newson ‘61, his wife Kathryn Gardner, and their daughter Olivia.

Michael lives in South Paris ME. Eileen Pierce is now juggling the demands of Maeve (1) and a job. Eileen played a major role in the lighting design for the new Islamic galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Aliina Laine still enjoys her work as an independent financial advisor.

She would love to hear from Ann Little.

Wendy Mansfield Donovan writes that she had a “great visit with Schuyler Bush, Jim Rymes, Jen Williams Davis ’87, and families at the NMH ME summer clambake. I’m hoping we can have a larger ’86 turnout at next year’s clambake and will be in touch to let folks know what’s going on. I also really enjoyed being able to bring daughter Alison to reunion. It was great for her to hang out with other alumni kids and to see where her grandfather Bob Mansfield ’57 and I lived in Crossley. She can’t wait to enroll.” Wendy is in her 17th year as project manager at the Kennebec Company (designing and building custom cabinetry), and she’s active in Girl Scouts, both as a troop co-leader with Sue Page and as a trainer for new leaders. Jim Rymes regrets that he was not able to make NMH on-campus Vespers this year, but he plans to help out the NMH farm this spring with its maple sugar production.

Ellen McCurtin ’85 and I went to the Pie Race again. Ellen won a pie, and I visited with NMH faculty Vicki Jenkins and Sarah Hoffman ’78.

Ellen has been hanging out with fellow ’85 alums Etsukazu Taniguchi ’85, Ethan Garber ’85, and Matt Pavoni ’85in NYC. She even traveled with Ethan to Mexico City and then later hung out with Etsu in Tokyo. In Dec, Ellen attended a performance by Amy Hunt England ’85 in NYC with Ethan and Matt, and she also caught up with Charlie Hunt ’87. Charlie and his wife live in Concord VT. Leigh Beisch loves living in Corte Madera CA close to the redwoods and Mt Tamalpais. Dana Kulvin Dietch has moved back to So Florida, where she lives with her family.

Alysa Ray is back in NYC working as a clinical psychologist in private practice and teaching at NYU and Hunter, living happily blocks away

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from Charlotte Jones Voiklis. In Oct, she visited with Hiba Ramey Fennelly, her husband Jeremy, and their children. She still keeps up with Martha Slater, Geoff Weed ’87, Felicity Bean Beede ’87, and Vivian Bean Curren ’90. Alysa writes: “I love being back in the city, and I get my country fix on weekend visits to my boyfriend’s home upstate.”

Alysa also went to NMH for Christmas Vespers, where she sat next to Mary Lou Treat, who proudly described Rory Treat’s new job as senior manager at City Harvest, a program in NYC that helps feed more than 300,000 people each week. Alysa writes: “Before Vespers, we stopped by Pizza Bill’s in Northfield for lunch. I haven’t seen him in over 20 years, and he looked wonderful. He was very excited to have alumni come in and pulled out a few yearbooks and Facebooks to find pictures from back in the day. He has a very slim collection and welcomes anyone who would like to donate their old copies to him. He loves it when any of his old patrons visit.

He also jokingly complained that Uma Thurman ’88 never comes back to visit him.” Uma, it’s time for you to come back to your old stomping grounds.

Ian Hill wrote in about the unfortunate death of Aaron Baker on 10/1/11. Ian writes: “Aaron passed away suddenly and with no warning and no apparent cause, but, it appears, peacefully in his sleep. There was a service on 10/4 and a memorial celebration and wake on 10/15, which were packed with his loving friends, who also came together to support his fiancée Gyda Arber—they were to be married on 11/5/11. The memorial was held at The Brick, the theater in Brooklyn where Gyda and I work and where Aaron had been a crucial member of the community for the last 5 years. I spoke about his time at NMH and showed pictures of him there and at our class reunions—most of his theater friends didn’t know about that part of his past and were very surprised. A wonderful video compilation of him from a number of plays, and from his rock band/music video years in the ’90s, was also shown, and I’ll post that on the Facebook class page once I can upload it. At some point, Gyda and I plan to take a trip up to campus together and leave a bit of Aaron there in a place he still loved and cherished.

I’m glad so many of you got to see him again at reunion this year—some of you noted that you had never seen him so happy, and it’s true. His work and Gyda had given him the most joyous time of his life.” Thank you, Ian, and please send all of our condolences to Gyda and to Aaron’s family. Ian’s theater company, Gemini Collision Works, was recently named one of the People of the Year 2011 by nytheatre.com. Ian’s planning a cross-country trip for fall ’12 and plans to be in touch with classmates about places not to miss. Ian ends with “glad to be in touch with so many classmates on Facebook—we’re an interesting group of people, to be sure.”

Bruce Mendelsohn continues to work at MIT and stays in touch with many classmates. In the

fall, he had dinner with Liisa Grady Dowd and her husband Jim Marino. Bruce is stepping down as the gift chair and Julia Callahan Streit will now take the lead for our class. Julia writes: “I would like to extend a huge thanks to Bruce Mendelsohn for his tremendous work as our class gift chair. After our very successful 25th reunion gift, Bruce is retiring (and would someone please send him a school tie and a plaque?).”

From the Alumni Office: Rick Sanford is a Navy Lt Commander active-duty reservist now serving in Kuwait, where he commands a force of officers and sailors who provide armed security services aboard civilian cargo ships as they transit the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz. In civilian life, Rick is a forensic scientist who works for the NYC medical examiner as a criminalist.

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KIT GATTIS PO Box 38034 Cambridge MA 02238-0282 kitnmh@gmail.com class of ’87 website: www.blackirish.net/NMH/1987/

Happy ’12, everyone. Can you believe that we’re up for our 25th reunion? Surely we’re not that old.

I’ll be contacting you with emails and postcards as we try and get everyone who possibly can to come back for reunion. I’ll also see if we can Skype and tweet during reunion so that those of you who can’t make it can still be a part of the excitement. For our reunion I’ve set up Nmh1987.org, which will have information and quick links to the NMH website information for our class.

I’ve continued to dance and am making progress on finally finishing my master’s in liberal arts. I’m also continuing to DJ on Harvard and MIT radio stations. Last Thanksgiving I visited my brother Drew ’91, who now lives in DC, and made sweet potato pies all by myself for the 1st time. Inspired by that success, I also made them for a friend’s New Year’s party. My brother Trevor ’93 lives in CA and his wife gave birth to Jasper Ray Gattis on 1/3/12.

I am looking forward to seeing you all at our reunion, and might even buy some wode for our annual streak.

And now for the news. Matt Albee moved his winery (“Eleven”) out of his home and into commercial space, becoming the largest winery in Kitsap County WA. Wife Sarah was heard to say: “Finally.

Can we park the car in the garage again now that the barrels are gone?”

John Bete and Robin have returned to NE with

their children Jack (4) and Maris (6). They live on Cape Cod, and John is an osteopathic physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor and works at the Pain Center in Hyannis.

Rick Burtt says: “Happy New Year, NMHers.

Congrats to Sandy Bergland, Rich Phillips, and Kathrine Clark for goin’ big in ’11. Surf is already up here in San Diego, so let’s all continue that trend for ’12. See ya all at reunion.”

Marci Clarke Crowley is back to teaching fulltime at Hampstead Academy (NH), where she teaches a grade 3/4 combination class. She is also looking forward to reunion in June.

India Lawrence lives in Brattleboro VT with her husband and teaches high school English in Keene NH. She recently visited with Mira Levinson ’88 and did her best to help consume holiday leftovers.

India also mentioned that younger brother Alex Forster ’02 is back in the States in the DC area after spending several years teaching in Seoul, Korea.

Jackie Greetham-Robbins Smith got her real estate license and works for a boutique real estate firm, Teles Properties, in Beverly Hills CA. It’s a challenge going back to work with 4 kids, but she loves it.

Antonio Tambunan is in Boston, finishing up a master’s in environmental sustainability at Harvard Extension School, tapping the inner hippie that was conceived during the NMH days of tapping maple trees and pressing cider. He did a complete 180 from his Wall Street career, left the “1 percent,” and now works at Ceres, a nonprofit environmental firm.

He has also been running Boston Green Drinks, a 400-strong community of Bostonians interested in sustainability that meet each month. Over the last 3 years, he discovered nutrition (better late than never), and has been eating properly for the first time in his life. He managed to lose 30 pounds and is able to wear all his high school clothes. Unfortunately, some of the purple and fluorescent yellow jackets got jeered at by classmates, and he had to donate them to Goodwill. He is searching for Charlie Todd and wants to catch up with Dan Lenihan.

Martha Slater recently moved to Cincinnati, which is turning out to be a “best-kept secret” kind of town. She has a 9th grader and 2 6th graders. Her family ran into lots of NMH folks

Susannah McKean Nicklin ’87 and family at the Santa Fun Run in her hometown—quite surreal with 1,500 Santas swarming the park.

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JOHN CARROLL Box 4722, One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon MA 01354-9638 jcarroll@nmhschool.org ETHAN KLINE 61 Ramdsen Rd, Flat 4 London England SW128RA ethankline@gmail.com Martha Slater ’87 and daughter Emily, Kathy McGee Warren ’87 and daughter Erin with Pizza Bill last Aug.

last summer—Siobhan Reagan, Felicity Bean Beede, Alysa Ray ’86, Hiba Ramey Fennelly ’86, Vivian Bean Curren ’90, faculty members Jim Shea, Mike and Anne Atkins, and Sandy Hayward Messer. Daughters Clarke and Hannah went to Camp Betsey Cox run by Lori and Dev Byrom.

Martha, husband William, and daughter Emily went to Mexico to see ruins and be beach bums.

They topped off the summer with a sleepover in Northfield with Kathy McGee Warren and her daughter Erin. The highlight was having their picture taken with Pizza Bill. Martha is working with the Suicide Prevention Education Alliance in Cleveland OH to deliver their workshops to schools in Cincinnati. This fall her family participated in an SPEA walk to honor those lost to suicide and their surviving families; nothing like this was around when Martha’s dad committed suicide in the summer of ’87, and she’s both happy and grateful to be working on a project that is so close to her heart.

Katherine McGee Warren spent a week in Dec in Northfield and caught up with Sheila Heffernon and Jen Williams Davis. It was so exciting to talk about reunion that she went ahead and bought her airline tickets. She’s helping Jen Davis get some momentum going with an NMH Houston chapter.

She says: “Can you believe there are a ton of alumni here doing all sorts of interesting things?”

Geoff Weed is in Chicago. The “goils” are 12, 9, and 3, and he’s looking forward to catching up with the rest of his peeps in June. “See you there, unless the Mayans are right. Then I will see you in the gullet of an azure snake that always eats its own tail.”

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ANNE STEMSHORN GEORGE 10 Fox Chase Lane Durham NC 27713-9458 cr.george@verizon.net

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CHRIS ROOF 465 Concord Ave Cambridge MA 02138-1217 roofsound@comcast.net

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CARYN CROTTY ELDRIDGE 20 Glover Rd Needham MA 02494-1414 caryn@eldridges.net

From the Alumni Office: Julia Clark, a 12-year member of the Orland ME volunteer fire department, was elected the department’s 1st woman assistant chief in Jan ’12. Previously, she was captain of the department and has also served as president of the Hancock County Firefighters Association. In her other professional life, Julia is collections curator at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor ME.

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ROBBIANNE MACKIN 113 W 69th St New York NY 10023-5132 robbianne.mackin@gmail.com TRAVIS LEA 2447 Claremont Ave Los Angeles CA 90027-4601 travislea@gmail.com KRISTIN STEELE 458 Montauk Ave New London CT 06320-4606 kaste@conncoll.edu TORYN KIMBERLEY STARK 1828 Birch Heights Ct Charlotte NC 28213-4047 torynk@yahoo.com

From Toryn: Hello, and I hope ’12 is treating everyone well. I’m enjoying life in Charlotte and working at UNC-Charlotte. Frank and I recently added Cooper, a terrier mix, to our family, which already included 4 cats.

Jessica Hodges Amos lives in London with husband Matthew, daughter Mazzy. and son Wyatt.

She has gone back to school to earn a certificate in teaching English in secondary schools (middle and high school years). She says it has been a shock to go into full-time work having been home with her family for 10 years, but she loves it. They are planning to relocate to NE in 3 or 4 years to be

closer to her family. She attended Chloe Court’s ’92 Christmas party in London and is glad to still be in touch with at least 1 NMHer. She would love to hear from Chris Malone.

David Arend met and played with legendary guitarist Carlos Santana, performing in the same concert with drummer Narada Michael Walden in 11/10. On 11/27/10, he married Vivian Chan, who runs the office of the CEO of Amyris Inc., a biotech company in Emeryville CA. David was invited to give a lecture-performance at CA State U-Fullerton as part of its New Music Festival. He made 2 jazz recordings, both in post-production. He was thrilled to record at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley CA with Jack Perla, a composer/pianist who won the ’11 National Songwriter’s Competition in the jazz category.

Mark Bartram, his wife, and 2 boys (8 and10) moved from Bethesda MD to Bedford NH in Dec ’11. He works for Charter Trust Company based in Concord NH as their fiduciary and trust counsel after practicing as an estates and trusts attorney in the DC area for the past 10 years. He’s glad to be back in NE and only 2 hours away from NMH. James Bradbury and Jenny Sinding Bradbury welcomed their 2nd daughter, Zoe Susan Bradbury, on 7/13/11. She joins big sister Ella (2). The family is doing well and enjoying their new home on Capitol Hill, which has plenty of room for guests.

They would love to visit with and/or host NMH friends who make their way to DC. Dane Fletcher writes that this year’s NMHBoston Mountain Day was the best so far. The 10/16/11 gathering drew the largest numbers to date and transcended many graduation years. A large contingent of folks migrated to Dane’s house for a BBQ after the hike, which will be part of the annual event going forward. There were alumni from NY and around NE present.

Sarah Landolt Fogler gave birth to William “Liam” Thor Fogler on 6/14/11 (3 weeks early). If anyone is passing through Richmond VA, please give her a shout.

Beatrice Waters Kalinich sends greetings from ME. As a present for her 40th birthday, her body gave her a date with a knee surgeon. Daughter Emily (2nd grade) is taking karate and riding lessons. Helen (4) is trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. She waffles between a princess and a mermaid. Bea is still at the travel agency so she can feed her addiction to warm tropical locations, and her husband is still “an agent of the system,” as he likes to refer to his work for state government.

Kira Mellups completed her doctorate in psychology at George Washington U in ’05 and spent the next 3 years working at a forensic psychiatric hospital in southern CA. She connected with the NMH Club of LA for some great events during that time. In early ’09, she moved to Germany to work as a contractor with the US Air

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Force and loves the travel and ski opportunities.

If there are any NMH alums in the Frankfurt/ Rhineland-Pfalz area, she would love to be in touch.

Chessie Shaw gave birth to Leila Julia Chihade on 6/24/11. Chessie and husband Robert also have son Oliver (3). Chessie works part-time as a school social worker in a suburb of Boston. She recently saw Sharon Price when she was visiting Boston.

Amy Sparks has been living in Washington DC since ’04, working at the Peace Corps headquarters in various capacities, most recently in the personnel security unit. In May ’11, she married Steve Stasiowski in Saint Paul MN. Sister Carolyn Sparks was the maid of honor. Other NMHers there were dad Richard Sparks ’60, uncle Robert Sparks ’64, Pam Ching, and Schuyler “Sky” Lee. In Aug, the couple moved into a new apartment, and son Benjamin was born in Sept. She hopes to bring him to our 25th reunion.

Matthew Williamson married Alaina Kipps on 10/1/11 at the San Francisco Zoo. NMHers in attendance included his brothers Daniel Williamson ’88, Charles Williamson ’96, and Tim Williamson ’98. Alaina is a pediatric cardiologist with the U of CA San Francisco Medical Center.

Matt is a mechanical engineer at Arup, an engineering-consulting firm.

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DAIRO MORENO 3102 Durand Dr Los Angeles CA 90068-1614 demoreno@post.harvard.edu

From the Alumni Office: Kira Zielinski married Nathan Blaesing on 9/23/11, the fall equinox, in a stone circle in Clarkdale AZ. Kira writes: “I am overjoyed to have had the opportunity to introduce Nathan to so many friends over reunion. We both enjoyed intimate, quality time with friends at NMH and afterward in Boston and NY.” Nathan and Kira plan to move to Cremona, Italy, in ’12, where they look forward to luthier school (guitar making and repairing), playing in period music ensembles, and entertaining many guests.

’90s publishing and earning degrees in history, I made a transition in ’00 into health-care administration. I am now with the NW region of Kaiser Permanente as the region’s health-care informatics manager. Still love Portland OR.”

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METTA DAEL Box 4804, One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon MA 01354-9638 metta.dael@gmail.com

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NEL ANDREWS 120 S Bouldin St Baltimore MD 21224-2201 nel_andrews@hotmail.com LAURA SNYDER CRAFORD 2015 N Jantzen Ave Portland OR 97217-7812 laurascraford@hotmail.com

From Nel: I’m writing from the DR. Totally unplugged but borrowing an iPad. I don’t want to miss the deadline, even though I have very little to share.

Lauren Siegel Wiernasz and husband Michael welcomed Graeme Michael on 11/22/11.

Yasmin Vossoughian Barrie ’96 sadly lost her father in Sept but found the strength to join me and the fight against cancer as we ran the NYC marathon together in Nov. Nel writes: “We ran for Fred’s Team of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, though specifically, we ran to support the research for a rare form of liver cancer called fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FHC). Friend and fellow NMH alum Tucker Davis ’00 succumbed to FHC in ’10, at the age of 28. His strength and spirit during his grueling battle was totally inspiring.

Yasmin and I joined Tucker’s family in NYC for the marathon and were honored to run in his memory.

Outside of completing the race, the 2 of us managed to raise just under $8,000. Please visit www. fibrofoundation.org to learn more about Tucker, his story, and the fight against FHC.”

From Laura: One of the nice things for me about requesting news for the alumni news is that I get to hear from old friends. Andrea Putnam received a PhD in population genetics at UC San Diego and now works as a population biologist at the San Diego Zoo. She conducts research on the genetic management of endangered species and prepares the breeding plans for about 70 species that live in zoos across America. Andrea and her husband welcomed a baby girl last spring. “We’re looking forward to getting her on a surfboard as soon as she can stand up.”

Aaron Rutz says: “I’m still building with stone, dry-laid construction. Got hammered here in western MA in the hill towns with an epic 27" snow.

Even though I can’t wait for winter and playing in the white stuff, I’m mentally not prepared and can’t wait for it to melt. I saw Matt Verson this summer and climbed with him before he went back to Japan with wife and kiddo. I was able to connect with Titiana Shostak-Kinker up in Rumney NH and do more rock climbing. I’m still young at heart and using my hands every day to build my world (thanks D L Moody) and head and heart to further digest it. Besides stonework, I teach as adjunct at UMass Amherst in the landscape architecture department for 1 or 2 classes.”

Sarah White Albertyn teaches middle and high school math and economics at the American School in London. Daughter Zanna’s godmother Julia Cohen ’97 and her family were planning a post-holiday celebration in London mid-Jan. Sarah loves living in London but now that she has Zanna it feels farther away than ever. Sarah saw Sarah Margola Klumpp ’94 over the holidays. She teaches and coaches field hockey at Williston. Her son is in kindergarten, and her daughter continues to supply Zanna with adorable hand-me-downs.

Kt Doud says they finally sold their house in Ecuador. She and her family are looking to buy a house and make Ann Arbor a permanent home.

Wanda Vargas works at the Family PEACE Program of NY Presbyterian Hospital as a psychologist, treating families affected by domestic violence.

On a personal note, she writes: “I’m happy in a new relationship.”

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JENNIFER SADULA DE VORE 2830 Brook Dr Falls Church VA 22042-2302 devorejr@msn.com INI OBOT 297 Sickles Ave New Rochelle NY 10801-3700 iniobot@yahoo.com

Jonathan Berkman writes: “After spending the

Laura Snyder Craford ’94 with husband Kent, Lillian (6), and Jack (4).

Lauren Siegel Wiernasz ’94 and Graeme Michael born 11/22/11.

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Same old, same old for me (Laura). Still live in Portland OR with my husband and 2 kiddos, in graduate school, and living on the water. We just spent 2 weeks in Costa Rica with my sister Jennifer Snyder Millar ’91 and her family. They moved to Montezuma, Costa Rica, a year ago and will be traveling for the next year and learning Spanish. Not a bad place to have some relatives.

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AMINA GAUTIER 1219 West Grandville Ave Apt 3B Chicago IL 60664-1925 amina.gautier@gmail.com NICHOLAS VIDA 27 Sachem Rd Greenwich CT 06830

From the Alumni Office: Kate Brooks recently published her first book, In the Light of Darkness: A Photographer’s Journey after 9-11. Shortly after the terrorist attacks in the US, Kate moved to Pakistan to photograph the impact of US foreign policy in the region.

The book includes images and personal essays chronicling her journey from 9/11 to the Arab Spring uprisings. Kate’s Kate Brooks photographs have appeared in leading publications, including Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Smithsonian, The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. She has received numerous awards, including Picture of the Year from Time.

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JON RINI 40 Owen St Apt E6 Hartford CT 06105-3282 jonathan.rini@dechert.com HEIDI GEIS 2140 Woolsey St Apt B Berkeley CA 94705-1890 heidi_geis@hotmail.com

From Heidi: Many thanks to Dick Peller for continuing his role as an amazing class parent to us all. He started the NMH ’96 group on Facebook, where many of us are now keeping up. If you haven’t yet joined the group, please do.

I’ve been in Berkeley CA since 8/10 when my partner Richard started working on a PhD at UC Berkeley. I work at California College of the Arts in graduate admissions. Since being in the Bay Area, I’ve enjoyed chances to catch up with Tim Marcus

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Rebecca Perkins Fishbein ’96 with husband Michael, their twins Ezra and Ben.

Rebecca Olson Wright ’96 with daughter Thea.

’97, who lives in San Francisco and has started Milkman Sound, a company that builds custom vacuum tube amplifiers. I saw Tim play onstage in SF and was impressed by his skills on the pedal steel, as well as the great sound from his amp. I spent some time this fall captivated by Geoffrey Gray’s ’97 first book, Skyjack, The Hunt for D. B. Cooper.

Kate Norman Frometa and Omar live in San Miguel de Allende Guanajuato, Mexico, where she helps run a school for midwives. Elisabeth and Ethan Melad, with some help from their son Max, have nearly completed building a new superefficient passive solar home. You can read their blog documenting the process at meladsolarhome.tumblr.com.

Kathleen and Casey Harris welcomed their son Samuel Joseph Harris on 6/2/11. Rebecca Perkins Fishbein and husband Michael had twins Benjamin and Ezra on 3/2/11. Marie Ternes married Micah Kellner in NY on 12/17/11.

Pamela Masnik writes: “I’m enjoying life in San Diego. I’m still making jewelry part-time while I pursue my illustrious career as an executive personal assistant. I live a few blocks away from Mission Bay, which has a lovely boardwalk that leads to the beach. I’ve been cohabiting for the past 2 years with my significant other and his/our dog, a gentle and beautiful pit bull named Daisy. I am already looking forward to our 20th reunion.”

Colin Fredericks lives in Cambridge MA and works for MIT’s Teaching and Learning Laboratory, creating educational videos and helping to train tutors. He keeps in touch with Eric Tapley, wife Kate, and their 2 kids, as well as with Andrew Tatro ’99 and his kids.

Patrick Davis is in his 5th year as principal at

Patrick Davis Knows Consulting, a marketing and business development firm. His team runs sales and marketing for CRD Metalworks LLC, a forestry equipment manufacturer in the northeastern US, which has recently gone global with firewood processing technology. He has been married to Julie for 10 years and has 2 children. Visit him online at www.crdmetalworks.com.

Cliff Dyer and fiancée Jayme Johnson live in Durham NC and founded Oakwood Community, a community that provides room and board to 4 20-somethings who, in exchange, volunteer 20 hours per week at local nonprofit organizations.

Visit their website at oakwoodcommunity.org.

Rebecca Olson Wright lives in Shutesbury MA and is the ESL coordinator and Spanish-speaking liaison for the local school district in Turners Falls.

Her husband teaches K and 1st-grade special ed in a district elementary school. Stepson Nikolai is a freshman at Amherst Regional High School.

Rebecca and Jeremy welcomed Thea Fiona Wright on 5/3/11. “Feel free to be in touch any time you’re in the area visiting NMH—we’re not far.”

Josh Higham caught up with Seth Schoen ’97 at his birthday party in San Francisco. Josh took his niece on a tour of NMH with Kristin Kellom ’80 to keep the tradition alive. Josh went on the Bay Area Mountain Day and met a wide range of alums.

I hope this message finds you all enjoying ’12 with loved ones and look forward to hearing more from you soon.

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LAUREL HAVAS 701 St SE Apt 402 Washington DC 20003-4813 laurelhavas@yahoo.com JULIA COHEN 6 Lanark Rd, No 1 Brookline MA 02445-1834 jmacleodcohen@yahoo.com

Casey Harris ’96 and son Samuel.

From Laurel: I was out in CO this summer and spent time with Cari Wilder Theron, which was great. She has 2 little boys, and it was like no time had passed since high school.

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AUDREY KORTE 5 Oyster Ln Warren RI 02885-1522 aekorte@cox.net

MELIA KNOWLES-COURSIN 427 Aaron Cir Durham NC 27713-3201 meliakc@gmail.com Liz Clough ’97, left, with Emily Wilkins Clark’s ’97 son Alexander, and Emily with son Quentin.

From Julia: Maresa, Mac, and I are back in NY as I pursue another master’s in education. A special shout-out to all my classmates who are back in school, raising wild youngsters, or are crazy enough to try both simultaneously.

Emily Wilkins Clark and husband Jeremy live in Seattle with their boys Quentin (3) and Alexander (1). After 2 years as a full-time mom, Em went back to work as a review scientist in the U of WA’s Office of Animal Welfare. Jeremy is a professor in the psychiatry department. In Sept, Liz Clough visited.

Em writes: “It was great to see her and hear about all of her exotic travels and diving adventures, and she even brought hand-knit hats for each member of the family.” Em and her mother, Cindy Kidder ’62, hosted an NMH Seattle event, which was attended by quite a few folks, including John Doyle ’95, his wife, and 2 kids.

Liz Clough lives in the DC area and works as a certified financial planner in a financial planning and investment advisory firm. She writes: “It’s really gratifying helping people think constructively about and then plan for future events, and it’s great to see them achieve their goals.” Liz visited Em Wilkins Clark in the fall and also visited Lois Rafael Cameron ’67, a longtime family friend who lives in Depoe Bay OR. “She took me on several fantastic hikes and morning tide pool adventures. Otherwise, my life motto continues to be ‘have passport, will travel,’ and I have a travel wish list as long as my arm that includes both domestic and international destinations. I’m still playing hockey, take way too many photos, and do a lot of volunteer work with various organizations.”

MOLLY LOVEDAY 175 Grant St Lexington MA 02420-2126 molly.loveday@trincoll.edu

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KATHERINE “CRICKET” BORNTRAEGERWHEELER NISBET 15 Allens Rd Southsea, Hampshire, PO4 0QB, UK katherinebw@hotmail.com

Hi, everyone. Apologies for not writing in the past few issues, but life has been busy here in the UK. In Dec ’10, my husband Jim and I moved with our daughter Liesel (3) and springer spaniel Lily to Portsmouth from near Oxford. My husband finished his job at the UK Defence Academy and went to the UK fleet HQ at Northwood (North London) to work as the UK’s fleet operations officer. Unfortunately, he commutes and is gone during the week, but he loves the job. He’s been busy since 1/11 due to Libya and various other crises. I still work from home doing pr and marketing. I have a contract with a company not far from home, which works out brilliantly with Liesel and school.

On 11/4/11, we welcomed Hugh Henry Scudder Nisbet into the family. My mother, Jean Penney Borntraeger Wheeler ’66, came over and helped during Nov and Dec. Liesel loved having her “AmiOmi” over for so long, and it was lovely for me to have her help.

I caught up with Heather Heckman-McKenna in London in late ’11. It was fantastic to see her and hear all about her new ice hockey team. We also see Lyndsay Lucero ’99 and husband Nye Wright often, as they live down the coast from us. Lyndsay is also

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JOSH GRUBMAN 14 Deldorf St Quincy MA 02169-1820 joshuagrubman@gmail.com CHRISTOPHER A ZISSI 1348 Euclid St NW Apt 205 Washington DC 20009-4847 christopher.zissi@gmail.com

Jessica Brown married Gregg Bois in Corolla NC on 9/1/11. Laurel Daen attended the beach cere-

mony. Jessica and Gregg live in So Dartmouth MA, where Gregg attends graduate school at UMass Dartmouth. Jessica works for the RI Department of Education and plans to finish her doctoral work at Boston College this spring.

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HEATHER KOLPA 73 S Quinsigamond Ave Shrewsbury MA 01545-4218 hkolpa@yahoo.com TOBY ROWER PO Box 275 Newbury VT 05051-0275 tobias_rower@yahoo.com

Liesel’s godmother and Nye is Hugh’s godfather.

On 7/30/11, I attended the wedding of Jenna Flateman ’00 and Saburah Posner at the Grand Isle Lake House on Lake Champlain. It was an amazing day; the brides were stunning, and it was a happy and laughter-filled occasion. Liesel loved her role as a flower girl, and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid. It was wonderful to share such a fantastic day with Jenna and Subbie.

I do hear often from various NMHers via Facebook—it’s great to know what everyone is up to, so please keep in touch. If I don’t hear from people, I may have to make things up. Apologies if I have forgotten anyone—my mind is rather filled with kiddie stuff these days.

From the Alumni Office: Paul Marcy, a graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, was awarded the Bronze Medal with Valor on 11/10/11 for his actions in Afghanistan. According to the citation, Paul calmly directed his Marines and Afghan soldiers to move forward under intense enemy machine gun fire. He called in 3 air strikes on enemy positions and cleared more than 200 structures of enemy soldiers. “His calmness under fire and leadership by example were instrumental in the team pacifying an area of the country previously considered an impenetrable enemy stronghold.”

ANNE MORGAN 150 E 56th St Apt 12D New York NY 10022-3634 annelucasmorgan@gmail.com

Katherine Borntraeger-Wheeler Nisbet ’00, husband Jim, Liesel, and Hugh.

From the Alumni Office: Catherine “Cat” Murcek, Clare Densmore, Matt Farina, Geoffrey Gonzalez, and Joel Weber ’01 attended Karan Khosla’s wedding in India last fall and sent

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back a number of photos.

Annie Clarke married Kia Bowman on 9/3/11 in Greenfield MA. Kia had been battling Stage IV nonHodgkin’s lymphoma since March ’11, and after their wedding, they returned to CA, where Kia was undergoing an experimental treatment at Stanford Medical Center. Unfortunately, the treatment was not successful, and Kia passed away on 1/28/12.

Their story can be found on the blog Kia maintained at www.californicancercation.blogspot.com. Annie writes: “We encourage people to join the National Bone Marrow Registry via Be The Match.”

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DEE GUO 143 Separatist Rd Storrs Mansfield CT 06268-2003 deedith@gmail.com MIRA SHARMA 350 Prince Arthur West, Apt 1105 Montreal, QC H2X 3R4, Canada mira.sharma.mcgill@gmail.com

David Ghormley married Courtney Hasanbasic ’04 on 6/4/11 at the chapel on the Mt Hermon campus followed by a reception in West Hall (Alumni Hall). They live in Franklin MA and work in Boston.

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BRENDAN MYSLIWIEC 1207 N High St Unit 2 Columbus OH 43201-5000 brendan.mysliwiec@gmail.com JAMIESON BAKER 636 North Hayworth Ave, Apt 3 Los Angeles CA 90048-2338 jamieson.baker@gmail.com

JANE WARREN 1800 Pickering Rd Phoenixville PA 19460-2133 jlillyw@mac.com

campaigns intended to help kids get a safe and healthy start, including efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect. Since 10/11, he has been president of the Lambda DKE Alumni Association (Kenyon College), which advises the active chapter and holds a chapter reunion each fall.

Courtney Eustace lives in Boston and teaches history for students with language-based learning disabilities at the Landmark School in Beverly MA. She enjoys the community and describes it as similar to NMH. She is also pursuing her master’s in moderate special needs at Simmons and recently had brunch with Becky ’07 and Elizabeth Donald ’07 after reconnecting at an NMH event. Becky and Elizabeth were her residents in Merrill-Keep.

Scotlan Ryan is back in NY after a brief stint in the San Francisco Bay Area and a trans continental road trip with brother Harry Ryan ’06. Scotlan received her undergraduate degree from the Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn in ’11 and plans to continue working in the fashion world of NYC. Meg Eldredge is enjoying the cultural inspiration of NYC. A visual artist and designer, she is preparing for her first solo art exhibition and developing a line of handbags. You can see her work at www.megeldredge.com.

Annie Lynch is recording her 3rd record with her band, Annie and the Beekeepers. She lives in Brooklyn and has been touring the US and UK. Pooja Desai married Maithil Patel on 5/29/11 in NJ. She works at J Christopher Capital and has helped launch 2 brands: C. Wonder and Monika Chiang, doing everything from merchandising to marketing to e-commerce.

Nina Scheinman is in the Coro Fellows Program, a 9-month, graduate-level leadership training program that prepares committed individuals for effective and ethical leadership in the public arena. Nina is one of the NYC fellows and will be re-entering the workforce in May. Allison Jones works at the Studio Museum in Harlem and enjoys living in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with longtime friend Rumman Hossain, a financial counselor at the East River Development Alliance.

Brendan visited them over the holiday break, as well as Justine Shakespeare, who is getting her master’s in European studies at the London School of Economics, and Gabby Torres, who was visiting from Oakland CA. Christmas Vespers ’11 was a wonderful experience. Brendan saw a lot of classmates, including Hayley Cutler, Allison Boyd ’03, and Alison Falb ’03. Alison and Brendan worked in DC last summer and saw each other and Ahrielle Cook ’03 frequently. Alison is in her 3rd year at Fordham Law School; Ahrielle just finished her 1st year at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Hayley Cutler founded darlingdance company in ’10. The company recently premiered its 2nd major work in Washington DC to great reviews, rounding out a 1st season that included a tour in Chicago and multiple commissions. Hayley has also kept the NMH Dance Company love alive with Cait Nordehn ’05 as a company member.

Hayley made it to NYC for Christmas Vespers and spent the weekend with Brendan Mysliwiec, Kira Manso-Brown, Andrew Ness, Dana Inglehart, and Max Maxfield. Andew works in DC as an analyst at the Avascent Group. Max works in Denver, filling his free time with rock climbing.

After 3 years directing a service-learning internship program in Nablus (West Bank), Chelsey Berlin received a ’11–’12 Dorot Fellowship in Israel.

Chelsey lives in Jaffa, where she does independent research, volunteer work, and professional leadership training, but she still finds time for the beach.

Before returning to Columbus OH for the 2nd year of his JD/MPA program at Ohio State, Brendan had a New Year’s brunch with Matt Jackson ’03, who is a platoon leader in the Army Rangers based out of Fort Bragg NC, Rumman Hossain, Drew Remiker (non-NMH friend), Nina Scheinman,

An NMH gathering after Vespers in NYC included: Brendan Mysliwiec ’04, Max Maxfield ’04, Hayley Cutler ’04, Maddy Patenaude ’05, Kira Manso-Brown ’04, Rumman Hossain ’04, Justine Shakespeare ’04, Dana Inglehart ’04, Gabby Torres ’04, and Allison Jones ’04.

Matt Jackson ’03, Rumman Hossain ’04, Drew Remiker (non-NMH friend), Nina Scheinman ’04, Kate Schulman ’04, Nate Louras ’04, Sacha Green-Atchley ’04, Richard Colligan ’04, and Allison Jones ’04 got together for a New Year’s brunch.

Kate Schulman, Nate Louras, Sacha GreenAtchley, Richard Colligan, and Allison Jones.

On 11/12/11 Sadie Childs married Eric Cora at the First Congregational Church in Hadley. Rachel Spector was a bridesmaid and gave a moving rendi-

tion of “At Last,” made famous by Etta James, during the ceremony. Sara Martin attended along with

DANIELA FRIAS 779 Ave E Apt 2 Bayonne NJ 07002-4051 daniela8_5@hotmail.com

From Brendan: Courtney Hasanbasic and David Ghormley ’03 were married on 6/4/11 in the Mt

Hermon chapel. They had a reception in West Hall (Alumni Hall) on a beautiful day. They live in Franklin MA and both work in Boston.

Ted Eismeier works with Fight Crime: Invest in Kids (www.fightcrime.org) as assoc director of communications. He coordinates law enforcement

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close family and friends. The Coras live in Holyoke MA with their Portuguese water dog, Finn. They are planning a belated honeymoon to Puerto Rico.

Caitlin Annette Stephens and sister Phoebe have founded a chic jewelry line called Anndra Neen (anndraneen.com). They won the Dorchester Fashion Prize and will be showcasing some of their pieces for Fashion Week in NY this year. They’re becoming well known in the art/jewelry world and have been written up a bunch and travel extensively.

The idea with their jewelry is to take Mexican (they are Mexican-American) artistic techniques and styles and add a sort of modern twist to them.

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DONNIE BLACKWELL 40 Passaic Ave West Paterson NJ 07424-2517 ptowndon@gmail.com ARJUN PANT 14 Egmont St Brookline MA 02446-3615 arjunpant@gmail.com JING PING ZHANG 114A Prospect St, Apt 3 Somerville MA 02143-4109 jingping.ellen.zhang@gmail.com

From Jingping Zhang: Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the new year. This year has been challenging but rewarding for me. I worked as a consultant on projects based in Providence, Philadelphia, and MN. I also work for an international nonprofit organization, the Asian Women’s Leadership University Project (awluproject.org).

We are building a women’s liberal arts university in Asia. I am honored to be part of the initiative. I also love keeping in touch with some of our classmates. Here are some updates.

Rory Harrington now works in the advancement office at NMH. He traveled to China in the fall of ’11 and enjoyed holding events for young alums, as well as connecting with his NMH friends there.

Stephanie Lim writes: “I finished my master’s in biopharmaceuticals from King’s College and am back in NY working at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. I’m applying to law schools on the side, hopefully entering in the fall of ’12. I also went to Vespers in NYC. My sister’s (Caroline Lim ’13) solo impressed me so much.”

After traveling around Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador last year, Rachel Disbrow moved to Iksan, Korea, to teach English. She enjoys learning more about the Korean culture, meeting up with NMH alums in the area, and has traveled to a lot of places in Asia.

Arjun Pant works for Bain and Company as an assoc consultant. He is in São Paulo, Brazil, on a

6-mo project and having a fantastic time.

Amelia Zhang ’04 works as a mental health clinician and volunteers at the NE Innocence Project.

She earned her master’s in counseling psychology at Boston College and is now getting a 2nd master’s in college student development.

Tania Plaisimond studies at Ross U School of Medicine. Part of her program is based in the Dominica, and she loves the weather there. Before she went to the Dominica, Tania and I enjoyed spending time with Christelle Ngnoumen, who is getting her PhD in psychology at Harvard. I also met up with Katie Guffin and Jenn Donais. Katie moved to CT from Boston last year to work as a marketing communications coordinator in Legrand.

Jenn teaches 6th-grade math. Qing Wen Shi ’06, who is getting her master’s at Johns Hopkins, came to visit us last year. We had a great time catching up and also enjoyed meeting NMH alum Brian Christensen ’03, who works in Boston.

Also studying medicine, Shannon Spaulding moved from New Zealand to Australia for school.

She went back home to NH to visit family during the holiday and held her annual New Year’s Eve party that many continue to enjoy.

Boston is a small place. I bumped into Zach Williams ’06 and Ruby Hsu ’08 recently on the streets. Zach is finishing school at Suffolk U, and Ruby studies at UVM. Maho Sakai has been living and working in Japan for the past year. She and her boyfriend, Terry Irie ’07, recently celebrated their 7th anniversary together. Maho misses her friends in the States and hopes to visit soon.

Yuki Hasegawa works for Goldman Sachs in NYC. He attended Christmas Vespers, loved the concert, enjoyed seeing many familiar faces, and was excited to see Sheila Heffernon and Steve Bathory-Peeler.

From the Alumni Office: Hanni Thoma recently moved to the suburbs of Paris for the year to teach as an English language assistant. She writes: “I love the French countryside (the food as well), and I look forward to meeting up with anyone if they are in Paris.”

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LAKOTA COON 67 Coon Holler Lane Castleton VA 22716-2931 wackylacky@gmail.com KATE HAYES 67 Wall St Apt 21N New York, NY 10005-3194 kdahayes@gmail.com

From Kate: Amanda Kusek lives in NYC and

works at the Trump Organization, specifically in the Hotel Collection. She also volunteers as

director of sr writing at Minds Matter. Paige Landry and Courtney Opalenik are roommates in Somerville MA and are both taking classes at Harvard while applying for physician assistant school. Cookie Smith lives in Dublin OH and works in the physical therapy department at the Ohio Orthopedic Center of Excellence. She is also on the men’s adult ice league in Columbus and coaches women’s high school lacrosse.

Aly Tennant graduated from Ball State U with a degree in social work and is a social worker with elderly patients in Boston. Mike Waters graduated from Middlebury in May ’10 and is now an implementation consultant for Epic, in Madison WI. As for me, I live in NYC and work at a nonprofit (Minds Matter) and am in the start-up phase of a new business.

From the Alumni Office: Nick Brennan and a documentary film he wrote and directed about a wounded veteran transitioning to civilian life made the front page of the New York Times on 1/1/12.

The film, A Marine’s Guide to Fishing, won the GI Film Festival award for best narrative short in ’11.

You can read about the film and see a trailer at amarinesguide.com. You can learn more about Nick’s work at www.nicholasbrennan.com.

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NAOMI-COLLETT RITZ 60 Merriam Rd Walpole NH 03608-5033 naomi.collett.ritz@gmail.com

From the Alumni Office: Corey Jarecki graduated second in his class and with honors from Skidmore College in 5/11 (he graduated in 3 years) with a bachelor’s in economics. He was inducted into several honor societies and is now an assoc strategic consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers out of NYC. While at Skidmore, Corey was on the men’s ice hockey team.

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HENRY HUTCHESON 1940 Knox Ave S Minneapolis MN 55403-2839 henry.hutcheson@gmail.com EMILY JACKE 48 Bullard Rd Jaffrey NH 03452-5902 ejacke@middlebury.edu

LILLY RICHARDSON 929 Sabattis Rd Long Lake NY 12847-2801 lilly.richardson@gmail.com

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The wedding of Jenna Flateman ’00 and Saburah Posner at the Grand Isle Lake House on Lake Champlain last July.

Kira Zielinski ’91 and Nathan Blaesing on their wedding day, 9/23/11. Arizona.

Jenna Flateman ’00 and Saburah Posner on their wedding day.

Kira Zielinski ’91 and Nathan Blaesing on their wedding day, 9/23/11. Arizona.

Matt Farina ’02, Becky Schap (his girlfriend), Geoffrey Gonzalez ’02, Trish Tovar (girlfriend of Joel Weber ’01), and Clare Densmore ’02 in India for the wedding of Karak Khosla ’02.

Karan Khosla ’02 and his new bride with his parents standing behind him.

Amanda Abramson ’05, Sam Clarke ’06, Emily LeBlanc ’02, Kia Bowman Clarke (bride), Annie Clarke ’02 (bride), Ben Clarke ’97, and Jeff Sawyer ’74 at Annie and Kia’s wedding in 9/11.

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Matthew Williamson ’90 and Alaina Kipps on their wedding day, 10/1/11.

Moira Donovan ’73 and Mary Bouvier celebrated their 20th anniversary on 10/12/10 by getting married.

Dave King ’73 and Franklin Tartaglione after their wedding on 12/14/11.

David Ghormley ’03 married Courtney Hasanbasic ’04 in Memorial Chapel on 6/2/11.

class notes

From Emily: Greetings. The class of 2008 has been missing its column. It saddens me greatly that the 1st piece of news I have to share is the death of our dear former classmate Dennis Cho in 11/11. We knew him as an energetic, encouraging, and passionate student, teammate, and classmate. He brought an emphatically positive attitude with him wherever he went. We honor and cherish the memory of this great friend and mourn that he had to leave so soon.

May his spirit fly free and rest in peace.

In happier news, I heard from Christine Cunningham, who is finishing up her history degree at Stetson this spring, and Sarah Heist, who plans to get her master’s in teaching at UConn in ’13. In the meantime, Sarah has been teaching 2nd grade.

Sarah met up with Karissa Scano at NMH homecoming. Ben Weyers is also at UConn, studying international business management. He’s captain of his Ultimate Frisbee team—no surprise there.

Annamae Manning lives in London and is getting her master’s in international relations theory at the London School of Economics. She is interning in Parliament with Martin Horwood MP, chair of the international affairs team.

Nikki Rossetti reported from the annual Bostonarea Thanksgiving gathering, where she saw SarahAnne Tanner, Spencer Hattendorf, Rachel Koh, Maggie Higby, Jim Montague, Kellen Mobilia, Liana Satenstein, Rebecca Young, and Juliana Beecher. Nikki will graduate from Wellesley this May with a bachelor’s in neuroscience and a minor in education studies. Sarah-Anne and Harry Poster ’07 visited Naomi Shafer ’07 and me at Middlebury in Dec for a reading of Naomi’s thesis play Pity Party. It was grand to see them both. Sarah-Anne has joined the women’s rugby team and is a badass.

Lilly Richardson is finishing up at Skidmore after her year in Berlin with a double major in English and German. Rebecca Young is still a student at Scripps but is living on the campus of Harvey Mudd and majoring in math with a minor in theater.

I visited Sarah-Anne, Harlin Glovacki, San Maday Travis ’07, and Carla Cevasco ’07 at NMH summer session this summer. I keep in touch with Carla pretty regularly. I had tea with Harlin over Christmas break, and I also saw Lysander Jaffe ’09 at First Night Northampton.

As for me, I’m still on track to graduate in Feb ’13 with a bachelor’s in theater and a minor in environmental studies. Last summer, I worked in wardrobe at the Dorset Theater Festival in Dorset VT, and this spring I am designing The Imaginary Invalid by Molière for my senior work. I look forward to hearing more from everyone; our 1st reunion is getting shockingly close.

From the Alumni Office: Elyse Rossignol and Harriet Booth ’09 spent time last summer volunteering for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) on the surf clam and ocean quahog survey.

Elyse writes: “We worked with a scientific team and

individually to carry out tasks during our 12-hour work shift from midnight to noon. The data we collected are used to monitor the health and status of marine resources and their habitat. The analysis will guide commercial fishing boats on the amount they’re allowed to remove from the Northeast for the next 3 years.

“This was one of the best experiences I have shared with another NMH student. It was amazing to be able to come together and complete the messy tasks with someone who shared the same work ethic and passion for working with marine organisms.”

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ANNA STEVENS 1329 Lapham Bay Rd Shoreham VT 05770-9612 annagstevens@yahoo.com GALEN ANDERSON 58 Piper Lane, PO Box 39 Harrisville NH 03450-0039 gjande01@syr.edu ESHALLA MERRIAM PO Box 2545 Brattleboro VT 05303-2545 eshallamerriam@gmail.com FAYETTE PHILLIPS 43 North St Upton MA 01568-1581 fayettephillips@gmail.com

From Fayette: After a wonderful summer together on Cape Cod, Melanie Bete, Faye Phillips, and Noah Goldberg-Jaffe followed their traveling spirits to Paris (for Mel and Faye) and to Valparaiso, Chile (for Noah). Mel and Faye had a fantastic 4 months full of adventure in Paris (Faye will remain for the 2nd semester), remembering all the French they had learned with the gang from Lydia de Faveri Spiegel’s AP French class in the spring of ’09. Noah had an awesome and adventure-filled semester, thoroughly enjoying his SIT program in Chile. He was also able to extend his stay to explore Patagonia with new friends before coming home in time for the new year.

10

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ELI SPECTOR PO Box 75 Old Westbury NY 11568-0075 eli.spector@rice.edu

Hobart College. Both are well and enjoying college. Paul Chang is escaping Ithaca this winter for Malawi, where he will work with Project Peanut Butter to lower malnutrition in the African nation.

Alex Rome has been producing music professionally, recently garnering more than 50,000 hits on his songs. He hopes to continue making strides in music this year.

Ryan Fluence is majoring in political science with a minor in global studies at UCSB. He hopes to be either a defense attorney or a member of the US Senate. Will Schurman is majoring in computer science at Cornell. This summer, like last, he will live in San Francisco and work at Facebook.

Faith Weis has finished her 1st semester at George Washington and is doing well. Nora Donovan transferred to Penn this year and is majoring in philosophy. She often sees Jahyun Song, who is studying at the Wharton School and is a member of its women’s investment club. Brady Ward spent last summer studying in Spain. He saw Natalie Norton and Sloane Thomson in Aug and Olivia ThompsonBessett and Scott Pelton-Stroud at Yale in the fall. He welcomes anybody passing through New Haven to stop and say hello. Scott is double majoring in math and computer science at Williams. He also sings a cappella and rows crew there. Su Min Lee is adjusting to life at Brown after transferring from Georgetown last year.

Alexia Kim had an intellectually stimulating and fulfilling semester at Harvard, feeling like she finally found a sense of direction and purpose. Svetlana Kobtseva interned at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in NYC last summer and is majoring in Spanish and Latin American cultures at Barnard. She will work at America Reads/ America Counts next semester.

As for me, I’m heading across TX, MS, and LA this winter to complete a photography grant on small Jewish communities in the South. I continue to enjoy studying philosophy at Rice.

Our class is strong and doing well. It was great to see a large turnout of our classmates at Vespers in NYC in Dec. Have a great summer everyone.

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OLIVIA VAN COTT 294 Birnam Rd Northfield MA 01360-1151 ovancott@stetson.edu

Becca Daen is on the Franklin and Marshall

swim team, plans to major in English, and hopes to intern in the publishing industry this summer.

Jeff Arthur is neighbors with Alex Jundanian at

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faculty notes LYN KELLOM PO Box 1546 New London NH 03257-1546 rbmzkellom@tds.net

Georgia Knapp Moore writes: “On 8/14/11, sev-

eral former NMH staff members who worked in Revell Hall gathered for a minireunion. We worked together 20 years and while some have stayed in touch over the years, some had not. What fun it was to see everyone and to hear what everyone is doing now. We had wonderful memories of our time at NMH and appreciate what a special time it was for us.” Present besides Georgia were Barbara White, George Nehme, Nancy Harvin, Bob Fricker, John Perry, Deborah Schafer-Valvo, Linda Medeiros, Bob Ziomek, Alan Morgan, and Bill Hattendorf.

Lee and Lou Turner hosted an NMHers-on-the-

Cape gathering at their home in Falmouth last July.

Attending were Walter and Carol Knox, Barbara Piscuskas, Linda Batty, Elaine and Jim Kelley, Sally and Jim Perry, Al Allenby, Peter Allenby ’74, and Bob Haslun ’63.

A reference librarian at Dolben for 26 years,

vital statistics Births and Adoptions ’84 Soren Verma to Carleen Loveday and Mohit Verma, 4/11. ’88 Alexander to Natalie and Robert Corrao, 5/24/11. ’90 Zoe Susan Bradbury to James Bradbury and Jenny Sinding Bradbury, 7/13/11. ’90 William “Liam” Thor Fogler to Dennis and Sarah Landolt Fogler, 6/14/11. ’90 Leila Julia Chihade to Francesca “Chessie” Shaw and Robert Chihade, 6/24/11. ’90 Benjamin Stasiowski to Amelia “Amy” Sparks and Steve Stasiowski, 9/11. ’92 Reverdy Joseph Johnson to Alexis and Reverdy P. Johnson, 8/10/11. ’93 James to Anne McCasland-Pexton and Simon Strachan, 12/13/10. ’94 Graeme Michael Wiernasz to Michael and Lauren Siegel Wiernasz, 11/22/11. ’96 Benjamin and Ezra to Michael and Rebecca Perkins Fishbein, 3/2/11.

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in retirement, Margot Fleck has further pursued her longtime love of drawing, which she describes: “Drawing is touching. It is a commitment to being present.” Margot has had 2 drawings accepted in nationally juried shows. To view some of her drawings and art-inspired writings, visit her website at margotwfleck.com.

Eleanor Dorman Johnson ’62 emails from Beirut: “We continue to feel privileged to be living in such an interesting and (still) beautiful Lebanon and to be a part of what is happening in our region.

It’s been a very interesting year in the Middle East and North Africa, but it will be a long time before we know how all the upheavals will sort themselves out. It’s exciting to see the grass-roots revolutions in the Arab world, but uncertainty about their outcomes has turned the Arab Spring into fall and now winter. We in Lebanon are especially concerned about what is happening in Syria, since we are so closely tied to whatever happens there.” El also comments on the day-to-day challenges of living in Beirut—too many cars, rationed electricity, noisy and dusty extensive new building, treacherous sidewalks, hazardous traffic, especially motorcycles. On the home front, Rich is retired while El continues to work half-time at AUB. Their children are scattered—Betsy Johnson Crook ’88 and family live in Beirut; Katie Johnson Kabage ’91 and family are in Dallas; and Peter Johnson ’95 is in Seattle. The entire Johnson clan hopes to congregate this coming summer in the Lebanese mountains.

An assistant cataloguer at Dolben Library for many years, Anne Manning (82) died on 10/29/11 in Northfield. Sarah Chastain-Chapman (60), retired NMH English teacher and administrator, passed away on 12/6/11 in Northfield. Surviving family includes her husband Tony, also retired from the English department, her daughter Sydney ’96, and son Alex ’00. Described as “a person who made a difference,” Ellen Patrick (68) of Shelburne MA died on 12/18/11. At NMH from ’83 until her retirement in ’04, Ellen held various positions included working in the Alumni Office, dorm head, and college counselor. She leaves her husband David and her 2 children, Stephen ’86 and Liza ’88.

Teacher of English at NMH for 37 years, a gentleman and a gentle man, John W. Clark died on 9/25/11 in Harpswell ME at the age of 82. A concert to honor John, “Mostly Organ, Mostly Bach,” was held at First Parish Church in Brunswick, followed by a reception and sharing of memories.

Joining his wife Barbara, son Tom ’75, daughters Sherren ’78 and Cathy ’80 (husband Ted and daughter Cady), and sister Ellen Fiero were several NMH colleagues and students, including Sam Greene and Phyllis Gansz-Greene, Walter and Carol Knox, Dick and Lyn Kellom, Kristin Kellom Damon ’80, Martha Piscuskas ’78, Carolyn Treat ’78, and Susan Shell ’78. I know their school colleagues and hundreds of students send loving sympathy to the families of these 4 people, who gave so many years to NMH.

’96 Thea Fiona Wright to Jeremy and Rebecca Olson Wright, 5/3/11. ’96 Samuel Joseph Harris to Kathleen and Casey Harris, 6/2/11. ’00 Hugh Henry Scudder Nisbet to Jim and Katherine “Cricket” Borntraeger-Wheeler Nisbet, 11/4/11.

Deaths

Weddings and Civil Unions ’68 Gary Hopson to Shelley M. Cabbell, 7/6/11. ’73 Dave King to Franklin Tartaglione, 12/14/11. ’77 Barbara Jean Pendleton to Mark Madden, 11/11/11. ’90 David Arend to Vivian Chan, 11/27/10. ’90 Amelia “Amy” Sparks to Steve Stasiowski, 5/11. ’90 Matthew Williamson to Alaina Kipps, 10/1/11. ’96 Marie Ternes to Micah Kellner, 12/17/11. ’00 Jenna Flateman to Saburah Posner, 7/30/11. ’01 Jessica Brown to Gregg Bois, 9/1/11. ’03 David Ghormley to Courtney Hasanbasic ’04, 6/4/11. ’04 Pooja Desai to Maithil Patel, 5/29/11. ’04 Sadie Childs to Eric Cora, 11/12/11.

’28 Helen-Louise Porter Philbrick, 12/1/11. ’30 Walter Eastman, 2/2/12. Son of Harvey Eastman ’06 (dec’d) and Mary Smith Eastman ’07 (dec’d). Brother of Harvey Eastman ’26 (dec’d), William Eastman ’32 (dec’d), Robert Eastman ’33 (dec’d), Anges Eastman Little ’34 (dec’d), and Thomas Eastman ’37 (dec’d).

Nephew of Alma Smith Edwards ’10 (dec’), Fannie Smith Williams ’11 (dec’d), and Walter Smith ’12 (dec’d). Grandnephew of Carrie Clark Wallace ’01 (dec’d). Cousin of Leila Wallace Oliver ’32 (dec’d). Uncle of Allan Morrison ’48, Robert Eastman ’64, and Richard Eastman ’65. ’33 Laura Clark, 2/13/10. Cousin of Clark Searle ’27 (dec’d) and Virginia Clark Wylie ’35. ’33 Katherine Maguire Crutchley, 2/26/10. ’33 Elizabeth Dodge, 10/25/11. ’33 Dorothy Dresser, 9/26/11. ’34 Claire Judd Rice, 7/13/11. Mother of Phyllis Chapman Gavitt ’62. ’35 Janet Morrill, 8/6/11. Sister of Margaret Morrill Talbert ’38 (dec’d) and George Morrill ’38. ’35 Louise Robinson Swainbank, 11/15/11.

class notes

Sister of Philip Robinson ’38 (dec’d) and Oliver Robinson ’41 (dec’d). Mother of Daniel Swainbank ’66. Cousin of Mildred Bradford Scott ’18 (dec’d), Shepard Robinson ’43 (dec’d), John Robinson ’52 (dec’d), and William Robinson ’85. Aunt of David Robinson ’63, Lois Robinson Eddy ’67, and Malcolm Robinson ’70. ’36 Paul Fox, 5/15/11. ’36 Eileen Hicks Hall, 6/11/11. Sister of Henrietta Hicks Berg ’42 (dec’d). Mother of Cynthia Harlow ’66. ’36 Robert Laughlin, 9/16/11. Brother of Arthur Laughlin ’37 (dec’d). Father of Richard Laughlin ’69. Stepfather of James Elliott ’77. ’36 Raymond Mino, 9/30/11. ’36 Eunice Gorham Powell, 6/11/11. ’37 Charles Allen, 6/19/11. ’37 Thomas Morin, 2/18/12. ’38 John Rue, 9/20/11. ’39 Bradford Burnham, 12/21/11. Uncle of James “Jay” Ward ’68, Sarah Ward Neusius ’69, Paul Burnham ’72, John Burnham ’74, Stephen Burnham ’77, and Louise Burnham Packard ’78.

Granduncle of Virginia Neusius Caramana ’99, Benjamin Neusius ’02 , William Ward ’07, Bradford “Brady” Ward ’10, John Burnham ’11, and Daniel Packard ’14. ’39 Evelyn Silvers Daly, 12/22/11. ’39 Robert Gilman, 12/9/10. ’39 Kate Pullen Heuker, 2/6/12. Sister of Louise Pullen Nevers ’37 and Mary Pullen Murphy ’37.

Cousin of Winthrop Piper ’39 (dec’d) and Louis Piper ’42 (dec’d). ’39 Helen Fraser Reed, 2/5/10. Sister of Janet Fraser McEntee ’42. ’40 Mary Klein Brow, 10/11/11. Sister of Bettie Klein Bullard ’38 (dec’d). ’40 Thomas Hart, 7/21/11. Father of Judith Hart ’74. ’41 Ginny Haferkamp Fletcher, 8/21/10. ’41 Margery Hayes Heindel, 2/5/11. ’42 Edwin Arthur, 6/26/1. ’42 Roderick Hall, 9/1/11. Nephew of Marie Jensen Evans ’23 (dec’d) and Winthrop Jensen ’31 (dec’d). Cousin of Miriam Hall Wood ’32 (dec’d), Dwight Stauffer ’39, David Stauffer ’39 (dec’d), Charles Hall ’41 (dec’d), David Hall ’42, Donald Stauffer ’43, Deborah Mague ’60, Timothy Mague ’62 (dec’d), and Benjamin Mague ’65. ’42 Ruth Scarr Inglis, 12/6/11. ’42 Virginia Sherman Johnson, 8/10/11. Sister of Marihelen Sherman O’Connor ’39 (dec’d). ’43 Thomas Bartram, 11/22/11. Brother of Nancy Bartram Beecher ’44. Nephew of Marion Bartram ’18 (dec’d). Granduncle of Jesse Beecher ’02 and Juliana Beecher ’08. ’43 Elisabeth Mason Brown, 7/31/11. Sister of Helen Mason Brown ’45 (dec’d) and Barbara Mason Northrop ’47 (dec’d). Aunt of Sarah Brown Smallhouse ’76.

’43 Walter Frost, 1/6/12. ’43 Elizabeth Marker Granicher, 7/14/11. Sister of Marjorie Marker Carter ’45. ’43 Emily Jennings Hollman, 1/16/12. Sister of Patricia Jennings Hitchcock ’38 (dec’d). Mother of Sarah Hollman Jennings ’72. ’43 Charles Julian, 11/25/11. Brother of Norman Julian ’43 (dec’d). Stepbrother of Margaret Smith Julian ’42 (dec’d). ’44 Virginia Terhune Allen, 1/9/12. Sister of Jean Terhune D’Angio ’41. Mother of Kent Allen ’72.

Niece of Ethel Chittenden Perkins ’14 (dec’d). ’44 R. Mark Benbow, 10/18/11.Husband of Ann Merrill Benbow ’44. Father of Dana Benbow ’69, Elizabeth Benbow Harrison ’70, and Katherine Benbow Ehrenberger ’73. Uncle of Virginia Fitzgerald ’71. ’44 John Hopkins, 10/15/11. ’44 Lawrence McGill, 12/16/10. Brother of Julia McGill Coates ’47 (dec’d). ’44 Suzanne Dearborn Riedell, 11/8/11. Sister of Nancy Dearborn Knipe ’48. Aunt of Stephen Knipe ’72, Penley Knipe ’83, and John Knipe ’85. ’45 June Kyle Corrigan, 8/16/11. Mother of Christine Corrigan ’72. ’45 Cynthia Slosson Emmet, 8/30/11. Sister of Zilpha Slosson Erskine ’44. Cousin of Mary Reynolds ’40 (dec’d), Elizabeth Reynolds Price ’41, and Dorothy Reynolds Davidson ’44. Aunt of Robert Emmet ’59 and Christopher Emmet ’61. ’45 Berenice “Kay” MacKay Goranson, 8/13/11. ’45 Oliver Hayes, 1/5/12. ’45 Ila Wright Helberg, 11/1/11. ’45 Betty Cameron Spence, 9/24/11. Mother of Carolyn Spence Newton ’71, Elizabeth Spence ’73, and John Spence ’77. ’45 Martha Avison Woodson, 12/29/11. Daughter of William Avison ’18 (dec’d). Mother of Sheila Woodson Horine ’73 and Richard Woodson ’75.

Niece of O. Martin Avison ’18 (dec’d). ’46 A. Jane Hooper Provost, 5/2/11. ’46 Clara Wing, 10/16/11. ’47 Donald Allen, 12/31/10. Brother of Frederick Allen ’46 and Nancy Allen Rupke ’60. ’47 Patricia Brown, 1/19/12. ’47 William Hashagen, 12/18/11. ’47 R. R. Thornton Jones, 7/11/11. Brother of Winfield Jones ’49. Cousin of J. Earl Knox ’16 (dec’d). ’47 Irving Wasley, 11/4/11. Stepson of Eunice Strong Wasley ’16 (dec’d). Nephew of Charles Perkins’ 03 (dec’d), William Hodgdon ’05 (dec’d), James Perkins ’08 (dec’d), and Mildred Perkins Hodgdon ’10 (dec’d). Cousin of Allyn Perkins ’36 (dec’d) and Michael Murphy ’89. ’48 Estabrook Grove, 10/31/10. ’48 Elizabeth Schultz Heines, 1/29/12. Sister of William Schultz ’49 and David Schultz ’54. ’48 Margaret Hamlin Simons, 10/12/11. Sister of John Hamlin ’44 and Henry Hamlin ’48.

’48 Richard Thayer, 10/17/11. Brother of John Thayer ’51. Husband of Marjorie Jaeger Thayer ’50. ’48 Barbara Zutter Woodring, 9/24/11. ’49 Carolyn Bauerle Shaw, 10/26/11. ’49 John Whitaker, 9/25/11. Brother of Jean E. Whitaker-Maharay ’42. Uncle of Mary Hancock Galambert ’66, Lynn Whitaker Crawford ’66, and Willard Whitaker ’67. ’49 Barbara Bemont Willet, 11/16/11. Sister of Janet Bemont Fingles ’54. ’50 Winfield Carlough, 11/5/11. Son of Winfield Carlough ’24 (dec’d). Brother of Nancy Carlough Askin ’53 and Robert Carlough ’61 (dec’d). ’50 Susan Stebbins de Wolfe, 6/14/11. ’50 C. Lee Hoskins Di Cesare, 1/3/12. ’50 Ellen Williams Miller, 1/29/12. Mother of Amy Miller Rider ’82. Grandmother of Hannah Rider ’08. Cousin of Carolyn Knapp Foster ’53, Howard Gilson ’70, and Michael Foster ’82. ’50 Carl Swanson, 12/25/11. ’51 Lenard Harris, 6/12/11. ’51 Harold Holappa, 9/10/11. Grandfather of Lauren Holappa ’13. ’51 Ann Pyper Shedd, 2/17/12. Daughter of Gordon Pyper ’28 (dec’d). Wife of Robert Shedd ’51. Sister of Lois Pyper Finney ’39 (dec’d), Gordon Pyper ’42, Carolyn Pyper Buker ’43 (dec’d), Robert Pyper ’55, and Joanna Pyper ’66.

Niece of Warren Pyper ’25 (dec’d). Aunt of N. Kent Buker ’69, D. Bradford Lanphear ’79, Karen Lanphear Malinowski ’77, Kristin Lanphear LaPorte ’82. Grandmother of Martin Shedd ’07. ’52 Margaret Taylor Bliss, 9/6/11. Sister of Josephine Taylor Roberts ’47 and Mary Taylor Gross ’48. Mother of James Bliss ’77. Cousin of Joan Thompson Sahler ’49 (dec’d), Marjory Bliss Stickler ’58, and Peter Symonds ’59. Aunt of Carolyn Gross White ’72, Thomas Gross ’75, and Ann Gross Butenhof ’76. Grandaunt of Russell Butenhof ’10. ’52 Bruce Earley, 2/10/12. ’52 Alan Parker, 10/29/11. ’52 Ann Browne Whisenhunt, 10/5/11. Sister of Mary Browne Martin ’54. Mother of Emily Whisenhunt Lane ’81. ’53 Derek Heins, 8/4/11. ’53 Gail Tyson Wright, 2/12. Daughter of Winifred Hammett Tyson ’28 (dec’d). ’54 John Wing, 8/7/11. ’56 Jean Davis Cernota, 1/6/11. ’56 Thetis Group, 1/20/12. ’56 John Steadman, 11/23/11. ’57 Allen Gates, 11/14/11. ’57 Grace Grybko, 8/15/11. Sister of Joan Grybko Henderson ’55 (dec’d) and Irene Grybko Clancy ’60. ’57 Virginia Cusick Hanlon, 2/20/12. ’58 Robert Burnett, 12/7/11. Brother of Alan Burnett ’62 and David Burnett ’64. Cousin of Barbara Burnett Campbell ’64 (dec’d), Nancy

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class notes

Burnett ’68, and Marjorie Burnett ’74. ’62 H. Franklin Maurer, 2/24/10. ’62 Charles Reichart, 10/22/11. ’64 Burton Plumb, 4/24/11. Former husband of Susan Yeager Judge ’64. ’66 Sherry Clark Wilson, 12/7/11. Daughter of Phyllis Carroll Clark ’44. Sister of Jacqueline Clark Struthers ’69. ’67 David Gould, 8/29/11. ’68 Alfredo Schildknecht, 9/11. Brother of Heidi Schildknecht Cohen ’61 and Rodolfo Schildknecht ’63. ’69 William Zabel, 9/18/11. Brother of James Zabel ’63 and Robert Zabel ’65. ’73 David Anderson, 6/23/11. ’74 Andrea Zeeman Deane, 1/29/12. Sister of Jonathan Zeeman ’73. ’75 Barry Callahan, 8/17/11.

in memoriam

BY NOELLE ANSON

Ellen Goldman Patrick, 68, died of a brain tumor on 12/18/11. Ellen, who wore many hats in her career at NMH from 1983 to 2004, is best known as the dorm head of Weston on the Northfield campus in the 1980s and as a college counselor from 1987 until 2004.

Ellen was born on August 13, 1943, one of two daughters, and grew up in Whitestone, NY. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Queens College in 1965, and in 1991 earned a master’s in education from the University of Massachusetts in secondary school guidance.

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’77 Carolyn Ring-DelVecchio, 9/27/11. Daughter of Frank Ring ’44 (dec’d). ’80 Mark Patrick, 7/10/11. ’83 Chirag Shah, 11/30/11. ’85 Philip Sbrogna, 8/8/11. ’85 Edward York, 6/23/10. ’86 Aaron Baker, 10/1/11. Brother of David Baker ’85. ’00 Michael S. Abrams, 1/27/10. ’08 Yong Min Dennis Cho, 11/22/11.

Deaths—Former Faculty and Staff

Gretchen Caines, retired staff, 2/6/12.

Mother of James Caines ’83, Steven Caines ’87, and Karen Caines Gray ’89.

Sarah Chastain-Chapman, retired faculty, 12/6/11. Mother of Sydney Chastain-Chapman

Ellen began her career in education teaching in New York public schools in Woodside and the Bronx from 1965 to 1968. Her two children were born during this time, and she then moved with her family to western Massachusetts. While her children were small, she worked in public service jobs with organizations such as Head Start in Turners Falls, the Family Planning Council of Western Massachusetts, and Greenfield Community College. She also participated in many workshops and seminars relating to social issues, such as alcohol abuse, family planning, and women’s health.

In 1983, Ellen accepted a position as associate director of Alumni and Parent Programs at NMH. She became dorm head of Weston in 1985, switching to part-time responsibilities in the Alumni Office at that time, and in 1987, accepted a full-time position in the College Counseling Office. She stayed in Weston until 1990, when she and her family moved permanently back to her beloved Patten Hill in Shelburne Falls. Ellen remained a college counselor until her retirement from NMH in 2004. For the last several years she supported both students and faculty at the Academy at Charlemont in their college counseling office.

Ellen’s great friend Jeanne Rees said in a written tribute: “There was real substance to Ellen’s relationships with her colleagues and students. She could gently confront when necessary, question vigorously when

’96 and Alexander Chastain-Chapman ’00.

Aunt of Daisy Letendre ’09.

John Clark, retired faculty, 9/25/11. Father of Thomas Clark ’75, Sherren Clark ’78, and Catherine Clark ’80.

Gail Demaine, retired faculty, 1/12/12.

Mother of Daniel Demaine ’96 and Matthew Demaine ’00 (dec’d).

Sylvia Dwyer, former staff, 12/6/11.

Helen Gilmore, former faculty, 8/2/11. Mother of Stuart Gilmore ’72 and Robert Gilmore ’82.

David Jakuboski, former staff, 2/12/12.

Anne Manning, former staff, 10/29/11. Mother of Daniel Manning ’81.

Ellen G. Patrick, retired faculty, 12/18/11.

Mother of Stephen Patrick ’86 and Liza Patrick ’88.

Aunt of Matthew Goldstein ’96.

appropriate, and give compassionate hugs no matter what the situation.” Jeanne wrote that Ellen was a true intellect, a voracious reader, a New York Times crossword puzzle junkie, and an amazing cook whose desserts “were legendary and almost always chocolate.”

Ellen is survived by husband David, son Stephen ’86, and daughter Liza ’88; sister Amy Goldstein; one aunt; four grandchildren; and many cousins. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Shelburne Free Library, c/o Libby Burnham, 1000 Mohawk Trail, Shelburne MA 01370. ♦

John W. Clark Jr., 82, a member of the NMH faculty for 37 years and its most senior member at the time of his retirement in 1991, died in Brunswick, ME, on September 25, 2011.

class notes

Born on March 19, 1929, in Stamford, CT, John attended South Kent School before earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Yale in 1952. He served in the U.S. Army from 1952 through June 1954, and then took a position as a teacher of both English and mathematics at Mount Hermon that fall. He earned a master’s from Wesleyan in 1959.

John and his first wife, Ann, married in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1955 and had three children. The Clarks lived in dormitory housing, and John served at various times as the dorm head in Overtoun, North Crossley, and North Farm House. Ann died in 1974 after a long illness, and later John married Barbara Bailey, who taught math at NMH. Over time, John specialized more in English, teaching at all levels. NMH archivist Peter Weis ’78 had John for freshman English and remembered that “in spring we got to diagram sentences, which cost me two ice cream sundaes in the summer that followed after I’d foolishly bet that I could handle anything he could throw at me. But, Mr. Clark let me off the hook: I paid for his sundaes, then he paid for mine, with a smile.”

Former NMH chaplain Ginny Brooks remembered John as “the consummate committee man.” She served with him “on umpteen committees over the years, my first being the Council for the One School formed to lay the groundwork for the merger.” John also served on the executive committee and chaired, in addition to the English department, the NMH Senate, the long-range planning committee, and the evaluation steering committee in the mid1970s. In addition, he was one of the founders of the NMH Summer School and, while serving as its head, he established the Term Abroad Program in 1964.

In 1976, John received the Wiegand Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 1986–87, he and Barbara spent a sabbatical year in Germany.

Upon their return, John was named an Independence Master in recognition of his teaching excellence, his lengthy service as a dormitory resident, his accomplishments on all those committees, and his longtime coaching of JV football and girls’ ice hockey.

John’s friend and colleague, Dick Kellom, at whose wedding John was an usher, said at his memorial service that his strength lay in thinking things through before he spoke, entertaining new ideas, and drawing people out while not revealing too much of himself.

“He was very good at keeping his cards close to his chest. Very clever. Very wise.”

In retirement, John and Barbara spent winters in Brunswick, ME, and summers in their cottage on Dan Hole Pond, NH. In 1999, John was selected as the recipient of the William H. Morrow Award by the Alumni Association awards committee. He is survived by his wife Barbara and his children: Thomas ’75, Sherren ’78, and Cathy ’80. ♦

Surrounded at home by her family, Sarah Chastain-Chapman, 60, died on December 6, 2011, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Sarah taught English at NMH, starting in 1978, and in recent years held many administrative posts at the school.

Born on February 13, 1951, in Marietta, OH, Sarah was one of six children. She graduated magna cum laude from Kent State in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in English.

After graduation, Sarah traveled and worked in Europe for a year, including a stint as governess for the children of the French ambassador to Turkey, before coming back to the US for graduate study. She completed her master’s in English at Syracuse in 1976.

Sarah began her career teaching English and coaching at Western Reserve Academy

near Cleveland, OH, in 1976. There she met Antony “Tony” Chapman, subsequently married him, and moved to Northfield.

They both accepted positions in the English department at NMH, and from 1978 to 1981, Sarah taught, coached girls’ track, and was a resident dorm staffer. The ChastainChapmans had two children, and from 1981 to 1988, Sarah divided her time between raising her children and working as a freelance writer for two national testing services.

She returned to the classroom at NMH in 1988, teaching English on a part-time basis.

In addition, over the next 12 or so years, she served for various periods as coordinator of student housing, assistant to both the academic dean and the dean of residential life, director of parent programs, and director of student activities. In the early 2000s, Sarah worked as minor course curriculum coordinator, in addition to teaching and coaching crew, both fall and spring terms. Illness intruded, however, and in 2006, she took voluntary early retirement.

Sarah’s great friend and colleague, Barbara Watson, described her as brainy, athletic, and totally devoted to her husband and children (and her dogs). She was an avid reader who valued style highly, and an honest but caring and compassionate person, who made a real connection with her students, and because of her amazing memory, could summon up details about them and their families years later.

Anne Lyman, another of Sarah’s friends, said of her: “Sarah had a deep appreciation of the simple pleasures of life as exhibited by her long walks with her dogs on campus and on the NMH nature trails. Now, as I walk these trails alone, I find comfort in recalling the conversations we shared and her fondness for all things NMH.” Sarah is survived by her husband, her children, Sydney Chastain-Chapman Navarro ’96 and Alexander Chastain-Chapman ’00, her mother, a grandchild, three brothers and two sisters, two stepchildren, two stepgrandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Monadnock Humane Society in Swanzey, NH. ♦

spring 2012 I class notes I 103

parting words

by SUZANNE STEENBURG HILL ’66

Who Were Those Northfield Girls?

I am a Northfield girl. That is a profound sentence! I am one of a select group of women fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend Northfield School for Girls.

The youngest Northfield girls graduated in 1970; in 40 years, there will be few of them left on the planet. How can we preserve their legacy for future generations of NMH students? Who were those Northfield girls?

We were smart, grounded, unpretentious, curious, and unafraid to put our hands into a sinkful of dirty tins. We studied, played, sang, ate Bishop’s Bread, and dated boys from Mount Hermon. We joyously walked in our sturdies for miles over the hills of our campus, often linking arms with one another.

That was the Northfield School of our time. But then it became the coeducational Northfield Mount Hermon in 1971; it transformed into the smaller, unified Northfield Mount Hermon six years ago; and finally, our beloved campus was sold.

Some of us have accepted this transition more readily than others. Change is difficult. Evolution is inevitable. Our Northfield had to move forward in order to become the excellent NMH that is our school today.

During convocation in 2005, the first year of the merged campus, the school offered poignant activities to mark the closing of the Northfield campus. After ceremonies on Round Top, a group of 10 alumni volunteers ran a lighted torch for five miles from the edge of the Northfield campus, over the Connecticut River, and onto the newly combined NMH campus.

Since I was the oldest volunteer, I was to run the torch from the gates of the old Mount Hermon, around campus, and up the hill to Memorial Chapel. We were

104 I NMH Magazine

literally bringing the light of Northfield into its next iteration.

Ironically, there wasn’t enough fuel in the torch and the flame died out halfway across the bridge. With the unlighted torch, I puffed my way up to the chapel, where it was re-ignited to complete the ceremony. Skeptics might say that the light of Northfield died that day. I prefer to think that the light was temporarily quieted to mark a significant moment. Midway between the past and the future there was a respectful pause to acknowledge all those Northfield girls who contributed so mightily to the history of our school. Then it was time to light a new flame to bring the spirit and legacy of the Northfield girl into a new millennium.

Last October, I visited campus and was invited to have lunch with a few teachers and students. A Mount Hermon alumnus from the class of 1950 asked a female student, “How did you choose NMH?” She described visiting three schools. Two of them made her feel that she would have to conform to their expectations. At NMH, the message she consistently heard was: We have tremendous resources to offer you.

How can we help to foster your talents, creativity, interests, and individuality to make ours a richer community? No question as to her decision. Her story touched me and I said to myself, “She’s a Northfield girl.”

During that same visit, I attended two classes. The first was AP Environmental Science. The class took a mini–field trip down to the river to visit the school’s water

treatment facility. The seniors knew the correct terms, asked pertinent questions, and took notes, but the visit also tapped into the larger question of what it takes to live in a community. If you watch the clean treated water slowly reentering the Connecticut River, it is unlikely you will ever take a toolong shower again!

The second class was American Literature, for juniors, and again, there was thoughtful questioning and tolerant discussion. I was reluctant to leave. In both classes, I loved mingling with these great kids! But even more meaningful was the respectful, fun, open engagement between the students and their gifted teachers. It was apparent that NMH is a community of people sharing their lives.

At the end of that long day, as I was walking near Memorial Chapel, I heard chattering, happy voices and I saw, silhouetted in the late afternoon light, three boys walking toward the dining hall. Their features and voices were indistinct, but I had an instant, visceral memory of walking with my friends on the Northfield campus as a teenager. How glorious it was to go to school and live among close friends, surrounded by natural beauty and people who nurtured and challenged me. Tears came to my eyes as I watched these boys walking the same symbolic path that I had so long ago.

Northfield affected my life forever. Its legacy—the legacy of the Northfield girl— still echoes at NMH today. The students’ learning still extends far beyond the classroom, and the high expectations, the love of learning, all the intangibles that are hard to quantify—they are still there, and better than ever today. The heart of my Northfield is beating loudly.

“

giving back

I like to think of giving to NMH as paying back my student loan for the lessons I learned there.

Justin Wai ’02

“

Justin Wai ’02 may be the world’s youngest diplomat. His title isn’t official, but in Hong Kong he is NMH’s ambassador, plenipotentiary, and a one-person embassy.

He mans the NMH booth at school admission fairs in the city, interviews applicants, organizes receptions for prospective students, and holds send-off parties for those about to enroll. He also brainstorms with Brian Walsh, NMH’s director of international giving, on how to improve alumni and parent engagement in Hong Kong. He gives a fixed portion of his gross income to NMH, too.

Photo: Norman Yip

Photograph by Har r y St ua r t Cahi ll

Wai, an investment associate for the Hong Kong branch of the Blackstone Group, specializes in investing in real estate, hotel, and gaming companies. He recalls a conversation he once had with Richard Mueller, who was head of school when Wai was at NMH. “He told me that although it’s marvelous that so many NMH alumni end up being great thinkers, teachers, and activists, it would be nice to have some alumni going into moneymaking fields so they can give back to the school,” Wai says. “Well, private equity is one of those for-profit industries, so I feel obliged to give back.”

Wai’s fondest memories of NMH include seeing snow for the first time, taking English classes with Donna Inglehart, and “bossing people around” as a student leader. “My NMH experience allowed me to discover myself,” he says. “I give back because I want other kids out there to benefit from the same life-transforming experience.”

NMH

Magazine

One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354

One of the most successful seasons in years…

NMH’s winter athletes racked up more wins, better records, and fiercer competition.

Among the team highlights…

Wrestling: Third consecutive New England Championship Boys’ varsity basketball: First New England Championship Girls’ alpine skiing: 2nd place at New Englands, best season in 20 years Girls’ varsity basketball: Played in New England semifinals Girls’ varsity hockey: Best season ever (18–6–3), played in New England quarterfinals Girls’ JV basketball: A per fect 10–0 record

calendar For more information about alumni and parent events, contact the advancement office at 413-498-3600 or email events@nmhschool. org. Find updates and other school information through the NMH website: www.nmhschool.org. To reach the switchboard, call 413-498-3000.

Commencement May 27 Reunion 2012 June 7–10

Alumni Council Annual Meeting and Reunion Work Day September 8–9

NMH Lobster Bake Bailey’s Island, ME August 4

Faculty on the Road Ellis Island, NY September 30 Family Days October 12–13

Homecoming October 13 Bemis Forslund Pie Race November 12 Christmas Vespers on Campus December 9 Christmas Vespers off Campus, Boston December 20