NMH Magazine
16 fall
volume 18 • number 2
Northfield Mount Hermon
THE OLYMPIAN
AFTER WINNING GOLD IN RIO, TESSA GOBBO ’09 RETURNS TO THE CONNECTICUT RIVER AND NMH
NMH Magazine FALL 2016 Volume 18, Number 2 Editor Jennifer Sutton P’14 Design Lilly Pereira Contributors Tara Jackson Sharon LaBella-Lindale P’17, ’20 Susan Pasternack Harry van Baaren P’16, ’18 Emily Harrison Weir Class Notes Editor Kris Halpin Class Notes Design HvB Imaging Print Production Pam Lierle P’17 Director of Communications Stephen Porter Head of School Peter B. Fayroian Chief Advancement Officer Allyson L. Goodwin ’83, P’12, ’14 Archivist Peter H. Weis ’78, P’13 Northfield Mount Hermon publishes NMH Magazine (USPS074-860) two times a year in fall and spring. Printed by Lane Press, Burlington, VT 05402 NMH Magazine Northfield Mount Hermon One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3247 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
NMH Magazine
16 fall
volume 18 • number 2
features
20 My Twin, the Olympian Tessa Gobbo ’09 won gold in Rio. Her brother Andre ’09 tells her story.
26 A Building For Big Ideas
The Gilder Center is the most ambitious project that NMH has launched in a decade.
30 Strange Brew
Sam Calagione ’88 of Dogfish Head Brewery never met a beer ingredient he was afraid to try.
34 High Notes
In Belize, NMH student musicians learn the art of collaboration.
38 R ob Werner ’79 Wants to Talk to You About Climate Change departments
3 Letters
5 Leading Lines
6 NMH Postcard
8 NMH Journal
14 Movers & Makers 16 In the Classroom 18 Past Present 42 Alumni Hall 46 Class Notes 96 Parting Words << GATHER ROUND Ninth graders start the school year with a community campfire. C O V E R A N D TA B L E O F C O N TE N TS PH O TO S : R A C H A E L WA R I N G
NMH Fund
Take a walk around campus. You are making a difference everywhere. Gifts to the NMH Fund help supply our science labs and art studios, keep technology current, buy team uniforms, and bring fresh produce into the dining hall. No other fund is this versatile. Or this necessary. Or this important. Please make your gift today. Return the enclosed envelope, go to nmhschool.org/give, or call 1-866-NMH-GIVE (1-866-664-4483). 2 I NMH Magazine
Well. Grounded.
LETTERS
NMH Farm Products
GOOD READ
GO, GLORIA!
I really enjoyed the Spring ’16 issue, especially the article on Gloria Steinem. Years ago, in 1959, I was part of a group of patriotic young Americans organized by Steinem and the artist Edward Brezinski to attend the World Youth Festival in Vienna, Austria. The youth festivals were organized by Russian Communists to show that young people all over the world embraced Communism, and also that all good art, music, and dance supposedly came from Communist countries, not from America. Steinem and Brezinski got the Yale Glee Club to attend and perform, as well as a jazz group from New Orleans. They also reached out to young Republicans and Democrats and labor unions to send young people with some political experience. The Republicans were the only ones to respond, and my husbandto-be Jack and I went. Jack attended a seminar on nuclear energy, debated a professor from Russia, and got a standing ovation; there was a story about it on the front page of The New York Times the next day! It was a fascinating experience — and an early example of Gloria Steinem’s pioneering activist spirit! Meredith Cushman Ransohoff ’47 Bethesda, Maryland
This is the first time in a long time that I have read NMH Magazine from cover to cover! Excellent, interesting stories with lots of visuals throughout. I was so impressed that I sent it to my daughter, who is the mother of my 14-year-old granddaughter. She would be perfect at NMH. Keep it up! Ellie Gross Pendleton ’57 Phoenix, Arizona BOYS’ LIVES
Thank you for bringing to my attention the book Little Gangster by Victor Cino ’57 (Spring ’16, “Reading List”). While the novel relates a fictional story in which the late Peter Capra, the real-life executive director of the Boys’ Club of New York, rescues a young man from a life of crime by arranging his admission to Mount Hermon in the 1950s, the circumstances are by no means fictional. It is a truly compelling story that has been repeated many times. Although my circumstances a few years later in East Harlem were not so alarming, it was Mr. Capra who suggested that I get involved in the Boys’ Club drama club. This led to my selection in 1960 for the organization’s educational program that still places youth from troubled neighborhoods in boarding schools. NMH was a partner in sponsoring my four years of high school. There is no doubt that this was the foundation I needed to become an attorney and have a successful legal career in the New York state legislature. Hopefully, my work has reflected D.L. Moody’s and Mr. Capra’s values. I’ve made a difference with my career, providing a helping hand to those less fortunate than I have been. continued on next page
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fall 2016 I 3
LETTERS
Keep Calm and Carry On
The NMH bookstore can help outfit you and your family. Visit the NEW and IMPROVED online store for great gift ideas.
www.nmhschoolstore.com
Northfield Mount Hermon Summer Session July 1 to August 5, 2017
Earn credits to advance in school. Build skills and accelerate academic progress. Sample boarding school life or come as a day student.
nmhschool.org/summer One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3290
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4 I NMH Magazine
I felt very much at home at Mount Hermon because of its tradition of accepting a high percentage of students in need, and because it does not have a reputation as an institution only for the rich elite. My fellow Boys’ Club members and I are grateful for the opportunities we received as a result of men like D.L. Moody and Peter Capra. Tony Cantore ’65 Schenectady, New York ONLY ALUMS?
I read with great interest your most recent edition of NMH Magazine. Usually, even though I am not an NMH alum, I find many things of interest, and I truly love the photography. One thing in particular that I have never noticed before was how you list death notices in the “Vital Statistics” portion of Class Notes. It seems odd to me that unless you were married to a person who also attended NMH, you would appear not to have existed in the life of the deceased. A perfect example would be my husband, science teacher and registrar James Ward ’68. If he were to appear in Vital Statistics, Jay would be survived by his sons, many of his cousins, and nieces and nephews on both sides — all NMH alumni. He would be survived by his sister, his sister-in-law, his parents, and an aunt and uncle, all of whom taught at the school. You may even decide to list his former wife! But alas, I would simply be a person of no account. Curious
— as I do feel I have played a very important role in his life. Ann Heffernon Mount Hermon, Massachusetts REMEMBERING MARY
This is in response to the tribute to the late former NMH Magazine editor Mary Seymour (Spring ’15). Mary was opinionated, resourceful, challenging, and encouraging. She rolled up her sleeves and worked with me on two stories I wrote for the magazine in 1997 and 2001. While editor, she guided the magazine to national awards year after year. After Mary left NMH to earn a degree in counseling, we continued our friendship based on a mutual love of horses, literature, and creative writing. She suggested I write about my work as a psychoanalyst, and she became the editor of my book, Opening Pandora’s Box. She will never see that book. Recently, I had the chance to talk with Head of School Peter Fayroian about honoring Mary with an endowed scholarship fund for a student who has demonstrated an outstanding talent for creative writing. Peter informed me that the current minimum for establishing such a scholarship is $50,000. I encourage all alumni who have enjoyed reading NMH Magazine through the years to contribute to the Mary Seymour Creative Writing Endowment Fund. Robi Akeret ’46 New York, New York
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 magazine content. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of Northfield Mount Hermon. Reach us at NMH Magazine, One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354, or email us at nmhmagazine@nmhschool.org.
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LEADING LINES
What Did You Vote For?
In our messy, complicated world, humanity and purpose are the only choices. by PETER B. FAYROIAN, Head of School
This fall, NMH undertook its quadrennial VOTES project (Voting Opportunities for Teens in Every State), a nationwide mock presidential election for high school students around the country. Coordinated by history teacher Jim Shea, who with Lorrie Byrom began the project in 1988, VOTES engages more than 50,000 students from at least one public and one private high school — approximately 130 schools in total — from every state in the country. The project, which is regularly covered in major news outlets, has picked the winner in six of the past seven elections, failing only Bush versus Gore in 2000, though it did get the popular vote right. The VOTES project teaches students the significance and excitement of the democratic process. This fall, NMH students have hosted political speakers and participated in debates and essay-writing contests, all leading up to simulated election-night coverage streamed live from James Gym, featuring reports, interviews, and political analysis by NMH students. As I was introduced to this project during the last presidential election, I was struck by our teachers’ willingness to involve students in not just the election process but also in discussion of real-world campaign issues. This year’s election is replete with them, of course: the economy, terrorism, racism, to name just a few. But our teachers and students are frequently delving into these and other messy, complicated topics. If we believe in our mission — “to engage the intellect, compassion, and talent of our students, empowering them to act with humanity and purpose” — then we don’t want the application of their learning to be limited to James Gym once every four years. We try to provide an environment in which students feel free to test their beliefs, learn about other points of view, and speak their minds. It would be easy for us to Bubble-Wrap them here on NMH’s bucolic campus and keep them buffered from conflict, but we would not be living up to our mission. Besides, there has been no hiding from the rancor of the 2016 American presidential election. What would our founder D.L. Moody make of it? He stayed away from politics for the most part, only once revealing his choice of presidential candidates: William McKinley in 1896. Moody welcomed President-elect Lincoln to his Chicago Mission Sunday School in 1860, but “could not consciously enlist” in the Union Army during the Civil War; instead, he ministered to both Union and Confederate soldiers on the battlefields. But Moody had much to say about social-justice matters that continue to show up urgently in our conversations and debates today. We know how he felt about immigrants: Our school welcomed them from the beginning, whether they were refugees or young people brought here for an education unavailable to them in their native lands. He made the school one of the first to provide opportunities for Native Americans and African Americans. And in 1890, this great American evangelist gave a speech in which he denounced those “who have no charity for Catholics or Jews”; urged his audience to stop using the word
P H O T O : R A C H A E L WA R I N G
“heathen” when speaking of people from China, Japan, and other “Oriental lands”; and stated, “America has far more sins to answer for than have China and India.” The details have changed, but NMH’s commitment to fairness and empathy remains the same. Moody founded NMH not to be an ivory tower but to prepare young people to act with humanity and purpose in their lives, and the late Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said ’53 echoed that sentiment in his NMH Commencement address to the Class of 2002. “If there is one thing you should keep passionate hold of as a result of your education here,” he said, “it is that your most important possession is your committed critical engagement in our society as thinking, sentient beings, not as robots, not as docile experts.” If Moody were alive today, he would be disheartened, I believe, by the vindictiveness of our 2016 presidential campaign, by the lack of “charity” among so many Americans. But our VOTES project? I think he would have liked that. [NMH]
fall 2016 I 5
NMH POSTCARD
THE ASC E N T Seniors reach the summit of Mount Monadnock on Mountain Day in October 2016. PH O TO: D AVID WAR R E N
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NMH JOURNAL
spring 2013 I 7
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Jarrett enjoyed dinner and conversation with students last spring.
The Public Servant Valerie Jarrett ’74 returns to one of the places where she began. Valerie Jarrett ’74, senior advisor to President Barack Obama, returned to NMH for the first time in 20 years to deliver the 2016 Commencement address. She also sat down to dinner with students, toured the Northfield campus, and took a peek into her old dorms (Wilson and Hubbard). “I had been looking forward to my visit, but I didn’t appreciate how sentimental I would feel,” Jarrett reported during a phone interview after Commencement.
What were you like as an NMH student? I was very shy. I’m an only child, so I was not used to having roommates, and other than summer camp, it was my first time living away from home. In retrospect, I appreciate how NMH prepared me. I was able to walk
8 I NMH Magazine
onto the Stanford University campus with justifiable confidence that came from the skills, both intellectual and social, that I developed at NMH. What NMH experiences stand out for you? What I remember most is
sitting around the table at meals and having spirited conversations about a wide range of topics. If anyone had told me before I was a student at NMH that I would look forward to getting up early in the morning and having breakfast with a group of people, I would’ve been very surprised. Those long meals were also responsible for the 10 pounds I gained! As I get older, I appreciate more and more what a unique opportunity NMH gave me, how those shared experiences formed extraordinary bonds. Part of my message to NMH
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graduates was that they need to nurture those relationships. I wish I had stayed in better touch with my classmates. How did you turn to public service? One of my dear friends at NMH was Cecilia Rhinehart ’75, and her father was the U.S. ambassador to Nigeria. The summer after graduation, I spent time in their home in Lagos. That excited me about the possibility of public service. Dr. Rhinehart was an extraordinary man. You’ve said that you went off to law school after Stanford without much reflection. Why? Well, things turned out pretty well, but at the time, I felt I should know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That was nonsense. I wish I’d felt less anxious about choosing the “right” path. The journey is more important than the destination — that’s one of my messages to young people. You worked in a law firm for six years before you made the move to Chicago’s city government. How did that experience influence you? I learned a lot practicing law and that skill base has been helpful throughout my career. But I didn’t feel a sense of satisfaction in the private sector, nor did I feel that I was good at what I was doing. I was a single mom at that point, and I felt an enormous conflict being away from my daughter. In a situation like that, you feel a sense of failure for having chosen the wrong job. But let that dissatisfaction motivate you to change. Often, people wallow. Life is too short to wallow. How does that translate for NMH students today? I want students to feel empowered to make their own decisions and not try to live the life that is easy, or the one that somebody else wishes for them. I want them to ask themselves: What will give them fulfillment? What kind of contribution do they want to make? This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t seek out advice from those
“ I want NMH students to feel empowered to make their own decisions and not try to live the life that is easy, or the one that somebody else wishes for them.” we respect and love, but we should appreciate the fact that we know ourselves better than anybody else does. What is a failure you’ve experienced? The inability to get Congress to pass sensible legislation to reduce gun violence. I understand the desire people have to own guns; I respect the Second Amendment. But every year, we lose 30,000 people to gun violence. My grandfather was killed by a burglar, with his own gun. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, I worked hard with colleagues at the White House and statehouses around the country to convince Congress to pass sensible legislation. Ninety percent of Americans, including the majority of gun owners and law enforcement experts, agreed that what we were proposing made sense. But we failed. It was a heavy blow, not just to me but also to people who have lost loved ones and are working hard to spare other families the extraordinary pain that they’ve been through. We had to say, OK, if we can’t get Congress to do it, then we’d better figure out what else is in our own power to do. You have to be resilient and persistent and take the long view. You cannot let setbacks paralyze you. What part of your job do you most look forward to? What I love most is the opportunity to work on an
incredible range of issues that affect the lives of hardworking Americans. Interacting with the smartest experts on any given issue, as well as people whose lives will be directly affected by our policies, and then making recommendations to the president about what we should do to move our country forward — that is as good as it gets. You’ve been the Obamas’ informal and official advisor for years. How has your relationship with them changed? When I met Michelle Robinson and Barack Obama, she was two years out of law school, he had just finished law school, they were not even married, and my daughter was 6 years old. The core of our friendship has strengthened over time. I trust them with my life. I love them unconditionally. We’ve spent 25 years being social friends and professional colleagues, in good times and, more important, in bad times. Because I started out as their mentor, the president joked in the beginning of his presidency about what the switch was going to feel like for me. But there hasn’t been a single day in which it has not been an honor to work for him. I respect him enormously and he has never once disappointed me. What is an important piece of advice you’ve given the Obamas? During challenging times, I remind them, and myself, to trust our instincts and remember why we’re here. Whatever attacks we endure are worth it, given the ultimate objective: serving our big, messy, complicated, diverse, incredible country. What’s your reaction to people who criticize you for working as the president’s political advisor while also being his longtime friend? Everybody wants to be close to the president. When I walked in the door in 2008 with an 18-year history with the Obamas, it was threatening to some people. Over the years, I’ve worked continued on next page
fall 2016 I 9
NMH JOURNAL
(Valerie Jarrett, continued)
hard to earn the trust and respect of my colleagues. Now I think they have a better understanding of the role I play. The president listens to people who make sense, regardless of whether he just met them or he’s known them for 25 years. We also work hard to compartmentalize. I’m a member of the White House team and that means not taking advantage of my personal relationship. I’m proud of how the White House staff has gone from having some of the best individuals on the field to forging a strong, productive team. Everyone feels part of something bigger than themselves. I think any controversy you may have heard about in the beginning has long since evaporated. When your job at the White House ends, what happens next for you? Lots of sleep. One good night’s sleep after another.
THE SHOT T H E B L U E A N D W H I T E During the FIBA (Fédération Internationale de Basketball) Europe championships in July, NMH’s Tomas Murphy ’17 (above, right), who played for Finland’s U20 team, was featured on the cover of Urheilusanomat, a Finnish weekly sports magazine.
HEAVY HIT T E R S The boys’ track and field team finished their regular (spring 2016) season undefeated for the first time in over a decade, and then won the New England Division 1 Championship. Track and field jumper Aria Small ’17 broke the 20-year-old NMH school record in triple jump with a jump of 40 feet, 10.5 inches. She also broke NMH’s long-jump record with a 19-foot jump.
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The boys’ varsity Ultimate Frisbee team won the 2016 New England Championship.
Amanda Fontaine ’12 was the sixth goalie selected in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League draft. She now plays for the Boston Blades.
In the FIBA Americas basketball tournament last summer, Maxwell Lorca ’19 played on the U18 team for Chile, the host country. Derek Pratt ’13, captain of the University of Connecticut hockey team, threw out the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game in Fenway Park in August.
Brian Strait ’06 has signed with Canada’s Winnipeg Jets during his seventh season in the National Hockey League. He previously played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Islanders.
PH O TO S : R A C H A E L WA R I N G ; U R H E I L U S A N O M AT, FI NLA ND
NMH JOURNAL
Message in a Bottle With the beginning of the school year came a surprise gift for every NMH student and employee: a bright blue reusable water bottle. Student EcoLeaders Emma Lindale ’17 and Shannon Duffy ’17 spearheaded the new “NMH20: Drink Local” initiative in order to reduce plastic waste on campus. NMH will no longer provide or sell single-use plastic water bottles. It’s a matter of “changing mindsets,” Lindale says. The idea for the ban started with a college visit to the University of Vermont (UVM). Lindale had been frustrated seeing so many single-use water bottles being used and thrown away at NMH. “People didn’t even bother to recycle them,” she says. When she learned that UVM had banned single-use water bottles on its campus, she was inspired, and brought the idea home. Lindale, who is also a member of the school’s Task Force for Sustainability, and Duffy developed a proposal to ban the purchase and distribution of single-use water bottles at NMH, noting their negative environmental impact and how using them on campus was not in line with the school’s strategic plan and its emphasis on sustainability. Presented to senior administrators and accepted in May 2016, the policy went into effect during NMH Summer Session and was in full swing by the time students returned to campus for the 2016–17 school year. According to Director of Dining Services Rich Messer, a total of 980 NMH20 water bottles have been handed out. “We need to change people’s impulse to grab a disposable water bottle,” Lindale says. “Part of the reason we gave out reusable water bottles is to try to make it easier.”
Juan Williams is a news analyst for Fox News, a columnist for The Hill, a former commentator for National Public Radio, and the author of We the People and Eyes on the Prize. He spoke on campus in September as part of the VOTES Project, NMH’s national mock presidential election.
SIGNING THE BOOK Every fall since 1897, students have signed their names in an oversize hardcover journal, pledging to uphold Northfield Mount Hermon’s community standards. Today, the tradition takes place at an official matriculation ceremony in Memorial Chapel. “The Book,” as it’s called — actually several bound volumes — is stored in NMH’s archives.
PHOTO S: G LEN N MINSH AL L , SH AR O N L AB E L L A- L IN D AL E
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NMH JOURNAL
WHO•WHAT •WHY
Utilities operator Roger Ellis (left) and Assistant Director of Utilities Bill Pachalis in NMH’s power plant.
If the air inside Northfield Mount Hermon’s power plant smells faintly of French fries during the winter, it’s because the school, for the past 18 months, has used recycled cooking oil from New England restaurants to fuel its boiler and provide heat and hot water to all dorms and academic, administrative, and athletic buildings on campus. Last year, NMH converted from No. 6 fuel oil, a petroleum product it had used for half a century, to a biofuel manufactured by a Boston company that collects soy and canola oils from restaurant kitchens and puts them through a mechanical refinement process. “The number-one reason we made the switch is environmental — our overall emissions are a quarter of what they were before,” says Rick Couture, director of Plant Facilities. 12 I NMH Magazine
The power plant’s carbon emissions, specifically, have been nearly eliminated. In April 2015, the last month that NMH burned fuel oil, the power plant’s carbon emissions were just under 183 parts per million; in October 2015, when the school burned almost the same number of gallons of the new biofuel, carbon emissions were fewer than 4 parts per million. Lead emissions declined from .28 parts per million to fewer than .0002 parts per million. “It’s like night and day with the differences,” Couture says. When the school started looking for alternative fuel sources more than two years ago, Couture and Bill Pachalis, NMH’s assistant director of utilities, considered both compressed natural gas and biomass (wood chips or wood pellets) fuels. Those options, however, would have required expensive
equipment upgrades. With the biofuel, NMH is able to use its existing boilers and injection units, and its two 10,000-gallon storage tanks. The recycled cooking oil is easier to work with than No. 6 fuel oil, Couture adds. “If it gets spilled, there’s no environmental hazard, no health hazard to workers. And every year, my staff opens up the boilers to clean out the tubes, and after almost a year of using the cooking oil fuel, they found the tubes were the cleanest they’ve ever been in the 30 or so years these guys have been working here.” Becca Malloy, NMH’s sustainability director, calls the fuel switch an “important moment” for NMH. “Our facilities staff is taking huge steps to mitigate our campus carbon footprint and model responsible resource stewardship,” she says. “As a school, we should be proud.”
P HOT O: DAV I D WA R REN
A New Fuel Source
NMH JOURNAL
Coffee With a Shot of the Canon
READING LIST
Destiny’s Pawn D.A. Keeley Midnight Ink June 2016
The author is also known as John Corrigan, chair of the NMH English department.
Pearl Deirdre Riordan Hall ’98 Skyscape March 2016
Disastrous High-Tech Decision Making Frederick F. Lighthall ’48 Kilburn Sackett Press March 2016
Fixing the Food System Steve Clapp ’56 Praeger November 2016
Snappsy the Alligator Julie Siegel Falatko ’89 Viking Books for Young Readers February 2016
What would Shakespeare order in a Starbucks coffee shop? How about James Baldwin? Margaret Atwood? Or famous characters like Atticus Finch, Lady Macbeth, and Oliver Twist? In 2014, Wilson Josephson ’12 started pondering these conundrums with two fellow humanities majors at Carleton College. Amused, they started a Tumblr blog and named it “Literary Starbucks.” Much to their surprise, other people were amused, too, including a few book publishers and literary agents. Literary Starbucks the book was published in August 2016. Initially, Josephson and his partners Nora Katz and Jill Poskanzer had no goal other than procrastinating with their school work, but a month after their first blog post (the poet John Keats, whom they decided would order a Venti iced caramel Frappucino), Literary Starbucks had attracted 50,000 followers. The site became one of Tumblr’s 25 “most viral” blogs of 2014. “There are many stereotypes connected to Starbucks, but two of them are baristas who are failed humanities majors and patrons who are trying to finish their first novel,” Josephson says. “The melding of two universes — quick-order coffee and the canon — was more intuitive than we realized at first.” As the blog grew, the three authors started to think outside the traditional English-lit box, beyond “dead white men,” according to Josephson. “We had a lot of conversations about what counts as ‘literary,’” he says. “I tend to be a hardcore purist, but a healthy mix is probably best. We have done a lot of Harry Potter.” In both blog and book, the three young authors not only imagine what famous writers and characters would choose in Starbucks, they also attempt to re-create certain literary styles and rhythms. Josephson is particularly proud of rewriting NMH’s school song — William Blake’s poem “Jerusalem” — asking, “And is a chocolate croissant / valid as a breakfast go-to?” “Sometimes I worry that what we’re doing is like writing knockknock jokes about these great titans of art,” Josephson says. “But if we can make them more accessible and remove some of the intimidation around them, I think that’s valuable.”
Milton goes up to the counter and orders a Venti Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino blended coffee. “It smells like Paradise,” he breathes as he picks it up off the counter. He drops it immediately. —Excerpt from Literary Starbucks
fall 2016 I 13
MOVERS & MAKERS
“ M y story is filled with loss, pain, failure, and stress. In short, I’m relatable.”
Wachob outside the MindBodyGreen office in New York.
Wellness for All
Jason Wachob ’94 improved his own health. Then he turned his attention to everyone else. by LORI FERGUSON
At 6 feet 7 inches and 220 pounds, Jason Wachob still looks every inch the basketball standout he was at NMH and Columbia University during the 1990s. Yet in years past, he was far from the poster boy for healthy living. He confesses to partying hard through high school and college, and living fast and wild during his days as a trader on Wall Street. Even now, he downs doughnuts for breakfast if the craving hits.
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This could be why his company, MindBodyGreen, is one of the most popular healthy-living websites on the internet, lauded by media outlets as diverse as Fast Company, The New York Times, and Vogue. “My personal story is filled with loss, pain, failure, and stress. In short, I’m relatable,” he says. Relatable and increasingly recognizable, thanks to the burgeoning media brand he founded with a singular, ambitious goal: making wellness accessible to the masses. What started as a site with one contributor — Wachob himself — and almost zero internet traffic has exploded into a thriving community of more than 4,400 contributors that includes medical doctors, pro athletes, celebrities, and everyday enthusiasts. MindBodyGreen blog posts, videos, and online classes cover topics that range from “How to Repair Your Relationship After a Betrayal” to “The Right Macronutrient Combination for Weight Loss” and “A 20-Minute Do-Anywhere Workout to Boost Your Metabolism All Day.” The site had 100,000 visitors in 2011, 2 million in 2013, and is currently at 10 million, according to Wachob. Wachob launched MindBodyGreen in September 2009 with the broadest brushstroke of an idea: creating a website devoted to health and happiness that would be inspiring, informative, and entertaining. “I had lost my father to a heart attack during my postgraduate year at NMH,
PH O TO : C A R O L I N E V O A G E N N ELS ON
BRIGHT LIGHT
launched several businesses that failed, saw the dissolution of a couple of long-term relationships, and dealt with a serious back injury, all of which set me on a path of intense soul-searching,” he explains. “I realized that I thrive in uncertainty. I’m resilient, and comfortable with ambiguity and adversity. So I read, learned, and changed — the way I ate, exercised, and interacted with the world — and I was able to regain my health and manage my stress more effectively.” Wanting to share his discoveries about wellness, Wachob took an entrepreneurial leap and launched the MindBodyGreen website. “My vision is a company that’s here for users, wherever they are,” he says. “We’re the only media company that looks at all three elements: mind, body, and our environment — how we relate to nature, and the impact of the chemicals and toxins we put in our homes and bodies,” Wachob continues. If balance is the new achievement, that’s what MindBodyGreen represents. “Say you’re not happy in a relationship — that affects how you exercise, how you eat, how you handle stress,” he says. “The mental, physical, and emotional components are intertwined.” They’re also always in flux. Fitness and relationships may be of paramount importance in your 20s, where you live and how you eat may take precedence in your 30s, and stress and sleep may be major factors in your 40s. “We want to help people live their best lives, whatever their age or issue,” Wachob says. Wachob is now sharing his story beyond the MindBodyGreen website with a recent book, Wellth: How I Learned to Build a Life, Not a Résumé. It’s a project he initially resisted, until he remembered how his own search for meaning began in the self-help section of the bookstore. “I decided that I could create the book I wished I’d had: a primer for a journey of self-discovery.” Wellth combines Wachob’s personal experiences with advice from health and wellness experts such as renowned functional-medicine physician Frank Lipman, yoga instructor Kathryn Budig, and meditation teacher Charlie Knoles. It’s a quick, accessible read. “My mother was distressed at my candor, but I wanted to talk about all the dumb things that I’ve done over the years, to let people see that I’m not perfect … no one is,” Wachob explains. “The idea is that if you’re stuck in your life, no matter what you’re struggling with, you’ll walk away from MindBodyGreen with something,” he concludes. “We just want to change as many lives as possible.”
KEEPING WATCH Humanitarian crises typically play out in the media in disturbing close-ups: portraits of famine-stricken refugees in Sudan, or the sickening bulk of a mass grave in Syria. But for Micah Farfour ’00, these tragic events are revealed in images captured by satellites hurtling through the sky hundreds of miles overhead. Farfour is a satellite imagery analyst, a job more common in the military than in the civilian world. She works for Amnesty International, directing satellites and analyzing open-source information gathered by Google Earth, the Landsat program, and NASA’s MODIS hot-spot sensors to shed light on humanitarian atrocities for media outlets, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) around the world. “My passion for this work is to help people, but my drive comes from a desire to catch the bad guys,” she says. Farfour began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia. While working on an engineering master’s degree in geographic information science and cartography at the University of Colorado, she joined the satellite imaging company DigitalGlobe, where one of her clients was Amnesty International. The human-rights organization hired her full time this year. The photographs Farfour scrutinizes might mean little to the untrained eye, but to her, every centimeter and shadow can hold a wealth of information. Images from Nigeria might show Micah Farfour evidence of razed villages, most likely by Boko Haram — black rings from burned thatched structures, clusters of debris left outside the villages by people fleeing, no cars. A Google Earth snapshot may capture a thin dark line in Hungary, which Farfour knows is a razorwire fence hastily erected to stem the tide of refugees flowing into Europe. Although Farfour concedes that exactitude in the data is rarely attainable, valuable information can always be gleaned. This is especially true when analysts try to monitor groups of people; they need a gap of at least 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) between figures to count accurately. “We’re usually identifying people in indeterminate numbers: for example, a line of Syrian refugees waiting to cross the border,” Farfour says. She can, however, count larger items such as vehicles or the 5-foot-by-5-foot tarps used in Sudanese refugee camps — information that can be useful to aid workers. “Though it may seem depressing, documenting humanrights abuses gives me hope,” says Farfour. “It creates a catalyst for action.”
PH O TO : C H R I S TO PH E R M A R D O R F/ FE M A
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IN THE CLASSROOM
Start Small, Scale Up
Learning how to build a business and create change through social entrepreneurship. by JENNIFER SUTTON
Students in the new Social Entrepreneurship class were hardly the first to venture out on a field trip when they climbed into a school van last fall. But the Franklin County Jail? Definitely not your typical outing. Grant Gonzalez, who co-teaches the class, says the prison visit helped students to “see what a community’s social problems are and what innovations are needed.” The Rhodes Fellowship Course in Social Entrepreneurship launched in 2015 with a grant from William R. Rhodes ’53, an international banker and the former chair of Citicorp and the NMH Board of Trustees. The class, all juniors, incubates business projects that students propose to solve problems that they see around them. “We want the students to dream big,” Gonzalez says. “But they also have to think about what’s possible now, on a realistic scale.” Students apply and interview to join the class. “We’re looking less for a specific business idea than a mindset,” Gonzalez says — “students who are able to identify social issues or problems, understand what is and is not within their immediate ability to change, think about what has been done already to solve the problem, and finally, how can they actually affect change.” For example, the giant international issue of hunger, Gonzalez says, “is something we all care about, but what is a
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system that you” — a 17-year-old student — “could feasibly put in place, one that hasn’t been tried before and that can start small and be scaled up.” The yearlong course unfolds in three phases, the first of which is fairly traditional: reading about the history and theories of social entrepreneurship, as well as learning basic business principles and vocabulary. Then the group spends time visiting organizations in nearby Greenfield, Massachusetts — Community Action, which runs family and youth programs; the jail; a food pantry. The students team up and brainstorm new potential programs that could serve the city of Greenfield. Finally, they take those Greenfieldbased ideas — or new ones based elsewhere — and start developing them into real-life business ventures. The class becomes a “social innovation lab,” Gonzalez says. “Building an actual enterprise puts a lot of responsibility on the students, and forces them to think
“ We want the students to dream big, but they also have to think about what’s possible right now.”
through everything they’ve learned so far in the course.” Last year, the projects included “We Rise,” a mentoring and tutoring program for high-potential but low-achieving students in Brooklyn, New York; “Veg.Out,” which aims to connect farmers in southern Vermont and western Massachusetts with low-income consumers to increase the accessibility of fresh, local food and decrease produce waste; and “The Anti-Stigma Campaign,” an online story-sharing program for people in Greenfield affected by opioid addiction. All three projects are still in the development phase, with their founders, now seniors, hoping to launch pilot versions this year. Eli Nicholson ’17, who works on The Anti-Stigma Campaign, says the class initially felt a little overwhelming. “We were reading about people who had gone into third-world countries and started micro-lending banks, and there was no way I could see us, as students, coming up with anything that could be called social entrepreneurship.” Then the class talked with actual entrepreneurs, such as Dorothy Stoneman of YouthBuild, an international organization that teaches construction skills to low-income youth. Her company now runs hundreds of programs, but Stoneman described “how she started really small, and she made it seem feasible,” Nicholson says.
Students in the Social Entrepreneurship class say they “had to adapt when they found flaws in their plans.”
“We learned that you have to be willing to take it one step at a time,” says Sophie Basescu ’17, one of the leaders of the Veg.Out project. “The people we talked to came up with a bunch of business ideas and they all failed, so they took one part of one idea that they’re really passionate about and focused on that.” As they fine-tuned their projects, the Social Entrepreneurship “fellows,” as they’re called, stumbled plenty. They changed their projects’ names, locations, logistics, even their overall goals. “We had to adapt when we found flaws in our plans,” Nicholson says.
P HOTO: G LEN N MINSH ALL
That’s exactly the point, Gonzalez says. “We try to steer everyone away from ‘You pass the course if you create an enterprise and you fail if you don’t.’ They’re working through the challenges and details of launching a business, taking ownership of the time management, figuring out their own roles and how to work together — that process is more important than rushing something out to meet an artificial deadline.” Basescu and Nicholson both found the hands-on element of the course the most valuable — “when we got to work with people who are in local
communities, not on campus,” Basescu says. “It’s empowering to be able to go out on our own and make those connections.” For The Anti-Stigma Campaign project — which resembles NPR’s StoryCorps, recording people’s stories of addiction and sharing them online so others affected by the disease can listen and feel less isolated — Nicholson interviewed a recovering addict in Greenfield whom he met through the Opioid Task Force. “There’s no more hands-on education than what I spoke about with her,” he says. [NMH]
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PAST PRESENT
Big Man on Campus Between heavyweight championships, Muhammad Ali — “The Greatest” — paid a visit to NMH. by PETER WEIS ’78, P’13
“Muhammad Comes to the Mt.,” proclaimed The Bridge in a front-page article in May 1974, echoing the old English proverb. In this case, the mountain was not just any mountain, but Northfield Mount Hermon, and the Muhammad was not the iconic seventh-century Muslim prophet, but the iconic 20th-century boxer, Muhammad Ali, who died last June. Ali visited NMH as the featured speaker at the second Black Arts Festival, hosted by the student Afro-Am Society. Then 32, Ali got a tour of the campus, dined with students, and gave a talk in Grandin Auditorium. He spoke about friendship, and the need for people to be able “to jump in front of a bullet aimed at a friend — practice that friendship.” Before a rapt audience, he also declared, “Truth will make you free, not bussing [sic] or open housing.”
“Ali was electric and poetic,” recalls Josie Hart ’74, now a member of the NMH Board of Trustees. “My parents came, and we met him together. He autographed my mother’s purse.” Randy Showstack ’75, who wrote The Bridge article and interviewed Ali, remembers the once and future heavyweight boxing champion as “very kind, gracious, and funny to this then-young student reporter.” Ali came to NMH through the efforts of Rochon Dibble ’74 and Chyla Dibble Evans ’75, whose father, Eugene Dibble III, was Ali’s longtime friend and business advisor, a role that became increasingly important when Ali’s license to box was revoked in 1967 after he refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army. “He was like one of the family,”
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Evans recalls. Her brother, Gene, was one of the pallbearers at Ali’s funeral. To understand the sentiment that brought Ali to the school, look back to the late 1960s and student reaction to the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Thomas Harrison ’68 summed up the feelings of many students of color when he wrote in The Hermonite, “I am a very confused and bitter person. My faith in America has been shaken. My mind is closing. I am a Black Man, who must now fight as I never have before. I must look at people through the black glasses which cover my heart. My personality is becoming submerged under the absolute militancy of now bitter people.” Within a month, students had established the Afro-American Society
at Mount Hermon and the Northfield Afro-American Society (which soon changed its name to the Black Student Union). The two groups started hosting an annual conference, inviting students from other private schools as well as guest speakers; they also undertook service projects, notably in the economically depressed area of Springfield, Massachusetts, called Riverview. They held social events and produced a yearbook, Black Light, in the spring
Muhammad Ali visited NMH in April 1974 as a featured guest of the second annual Black Arts Festival, produced by the student Afro-American Society.
Ali told his NMH audience, “I like your school, and I love your style, but you’re paying so cheap, I won’t be back for awhile.”
PHOTO : C O U R TESY O F N MH AR C H IVE S
of 1970. They also launched the Black Arts Festival, which, aiming to “acquaint both black students and the rest of the community with black culture,” included plays, dance performances, and movie screenings. The festival also featured poetry readings — a category into which Ali fit well; besides being known for his boxing prowess and political activism, he was also an outspoken poet. The Bridge reported that Ali shared several
verses with his NMH audience. First, from the Broadway musical Buck White, which he appeared in in 1969: “We came in chains / We came in misery / Now all our suffering / Is part of history.” And to conclude his speech, Ali had this to say: “I like your school, and I love your style, but you’re paying so cheap, I won’t be back for awhile.” The Bridge article added that Ali said he was only kidding. [NMH]
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TESSA AND ANDRE GOBBO SHARED A WOMB, A HIGH SCHOOL, AND A LOVE OF ROWING. A BROTHER TELLS HIS SISTERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GOLD-MEDAL STORY.
MY TWIN, THE OLYMPIAN BY A N D R E G O B B O '0 9
P HOTOS: R AC H AEL WA R IN G , C O U R T E SY O F L IN D A D R AKE G O B B O
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ne of my earlier memories as a kid is my mom and I recording events from the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, on VHS tapes and watching them before Bob Costas came on during prime time. Not long after that, my dad would overhear me talking to myself when our family went cross-country skiing. I’d race across an open field, beating imaginary competitors from other countries as I crossed a finish line marked by a pine tree. It wasn’t until college that my family realized that one of us might actually go to the Olympics. Several years later, I found myself flying into Rio de Janeiro. From my window seat I could see Christ the Redeemer, Botafogo Bay, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, and both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. I was there to watch Tessa, my twin sister and former womb-mate, compete in the 2016 Olympics as a rower in the U.S. Women’s Eight. Rowing is a sport that many people don’t understand well, probably due to its history of elitism and lack of popularity in America. The most common misconception is that a rower relies primarily on a set of brawny biceps, but in reality, it’s the quadriceps and hamstrings doing the work. And because spectators can’t see most of what’s happening in the boat, it’s easy to assume that rowing 2,000 meters requires more grace and coordination than raw strength. You don’t have to know anything about rowing to appreciate the coordination of eight people working in synchronicity — a skilled
team can make it look effortless. But inside the boat each rower’s body is screaming in pain. During a race, your muscles tear apart, the coxswain yells at you to pull harder, your vision blurs during the final sprint, and you have to break down a mental wall to push yourself past what you thought was your limit. These were all common occurrences when I raced at NMH and in college. Yet this was something my sister experienced during every one of her practices with the U.S. National Team. The sheer distance and pace Tessa would row in a typical day seems superhuman to me. “Heavy days” meant she covered a distance roughly equivalent to a marathon. This kind of elite athletic effort and success typically results from decades of experience, after starting a sport as a young kid. Yet neither Tessa nor I picked up an oar until we arrived at NMH.
WE BOTH ENROLLED as day students in 2005. We had been athletic kids growing up in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, and in true New England tradition, we had been ice-skating and playing hockey for as long as we could
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remember. At NMH, we needed an athletic outlet before hockey season began, and that happened to be soccer. Tessa’s soccer coach was Vicky Jenkins, who was better known for coaching rowing. Tessa’s height, energy, and work ethic caught Jenkins’s eye. After some convincing, Tessa found herself in a boat that spring. Most rowing seasons in New England start before the ice has completely melted, which means rowers are relegated to an indoor rowing machine called an ergometer, or “erg,” for short. With only a week of erg training under her belt, Tessa began to stand out from the other novices. She finished one early-season workout only a few seconds off the fastest time ever recorded in NMH rowing history. Jenkins recalls that on that day, Tessa “... literally jumped off the erg while others were gasping, wailing, and falling off their ergs. She was the most competitive novice I had ever seen, and she had a huge smile on her face! This was not a normal post-workout response. I knew I was looking at someone really special.”
THE COXSWAIN YELLED TO HER CREW, ‘YOU ARE THE U.S. WOMEN’S EIGHT,’ AND THE CROWD EXPLODED AS THE BOAT MOVED OUT IN FRONT AND STAYED THERE.
While such a feat on the erg was impressive, it was nothing like being out on the water. “Working for that perfect stroke in a boat was not so easy,” Jenkins says. “It was challenging for [Tessa] to recognize that it was just as important to work in unison with others as it was to pull her hardest. Our race results weren’t great, and she hated to lose. So I wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to manage the mental discipline of the sport.” As time passed, my sister and I both grew into rowing. Tessa’s competitive spirit, which I had seen on a regular basis growing up — Easter egg hunts frequently devolved into her pinning me to the ground to stop me from getting more eggs than her — manifested itself at NMH in the gym late at night, when she would put in extra time on the erg while an amicable custodian named Sheldon cleaned around her. Soon, we started to accumulate medals. At home, my dad had a pair of wooden figures in our living room that he had brought home from a Caribbean jungle, and my sister hung a medal on one of them as a joke. Not
P HOTOS: R AC H AEL WA R IN G , J E F F PAC H O U D /G E T T Y
Members of the Women’s Eight crew team — including Tessa Gobbo, center — celebrate their gold-medal win at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August.
to be outdone, I put one of my own medals on the other one. During our NMH years, the Tiki Men, as they came to be known, each got their fair share of hardware. The high point of Tessa’s highschool rowing career came not at the NEIRA Championships, where NMH competes against the best programs in the Northeast, but during the offseason, when she competed on an erg in the CRASH-B Indoor Rowing Championships. What was actually 6 minutes and 56 seconds felt like a lifetime as my family watched her pull into the front of the pack and win the event. It was as exciting for Tessa as it was for us. “I worked really hard for it, and it felt good to get that kind of pay-off,” she says. “I felt on top of the world — but that could be because everything is more exciting and tragic in high school.”
TESSA ENDED UP at Brown University, with an explicit goal of winning an NCAA championship. The transition after NMH was rocky. “Nobody tells you that studying in college is really scary and really hard,” she says. Meanwhile, I had continued my rowing career at a DIII school, so our sibling rivalry also continued. We both added more weight around the necks of our respective Tiki Men. But for each medal I won, Tessa won two or three. I’m certain that if she wasn’t wearing it on her own hand, the NCAA Championship ring she won in 2011 would be around one of her Tiki Man’s fingers. From then on, it became increasingly clear that Tessa had set her sights beyond a college championship. She wanted to race in the Olympics. During the winter of her senior year at Brown, she attended an “ID Camp,” where rowers participate in workouts and time trials in front of coaches from the U.S. National Team. After a weekend of exuding large quantities of sweat, she impressed the coaches enough to get invited to train with the national team in Princeton, New Jersey, after graduation. Over the course of a rowing race, crews make moves at different times to get ahead of their opponents. Usually teams have a Big Move, where they try to break through the competition into the front of the pack. Spectators
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can never see the exact moment when a crew makes its move. You see the results 10 or 15 strokes later, when the boat responds to the extra power. As a spectator, you don’t feel the boat pick up speed. All you see is the boat surge ahead. At this point in Tessa’s athletic career, she felt her Big Move start to happen. It wasn’t until she got to Princeton that everyone else could see the surge.
IN PRINCETON, dorm rooms and student apartments were replaced with a guest room in a host family’s house. Classes were replaced with three practices a day and a part-time job that couldn’t exceed 10 hours per week. Teammates of different shapes and sizes were replaced with carbon copies of my sister: 6 feet tall, chiseled like an ancient Greek statue, and just as competitive. When I visited Princeton, I found Tessa drained, physically and mentally. But the transition from Brown to training full time was easier than going from NMH to Brown. “All I did in Princeton was row,” she explains. “I was lonely at first, but my host family took care of me and made sure I was OK. I knew I could do it. I had rowed a boat successfully before. It wasn’t like I was going into a statistics class.” That first summer, Tessa was selected to race in the Women’s Four, and went on to win gold at the 2013 World Rowing Championships in South Korea. But Tessa wanted to be in the Big Boat, the Eight. The U.S. Women’s Eight had already won 10 international titles in a row, including two Olympic gold medals. The only comparable streak was the Soviet ice hockey team’s run from 1963 to 1972. Tessa spent a year bouncing between different boat classes, but wound up back in the Women’s Four for the 2014 World Championships. A second-place finish only compounded her disappointment. It was a wake-up call. The moving around continued through 2015. At first, this constant
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shifting was difficult. “Each type of boat moves at different speeds, so there’s a variety of skills required to do well in each boat,” Tessa says. “I just had to keep practicing.” When Tessa was chosen for the Women’s Eight for the 2015 World Championships, she knew her goal of making the Olympic team was within reach. The hard work was done. She just had to wait for the official word from her coach. The good news came on June 20, 2016. She got the nod. Tessa was overjoyed, and a few days later she said, “Every day I believe it a little bit more, but I don’t think it will actually sink in until four or five months after the Games are over.” Her Big Move had paid off.
THE OLYMPIC ROWING events took place on Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, four or five blocks away from Ipanema beach. The lagoa itself was beautiful, with Christ the Redeemer looking down over the surface. Despite all the negative media reports, the water was cleaner than Boston’s infamous Charles River. On the first day of racing, the grandstands felt like the spectators’ area at any other race. Families and friends were sitting and standing together, cheering. The weight of patriotism hung in the air, but it wasn’t overbearing. People from different countries chatted with one another between races. Before I realized it, Tessa and her boat were in the starting blocks for the preliminary heat.
At left: After the Olympics, Gobbo returned to NMH in September to talk with current students. Right: In 2008, Gobbo (second from left) rowed on the Connecticut River for NMH with (l–r) Harriet Booth ’09, Meredith Storrs ’09, and Natalie Norton ’10. Bottom: Gobbo left a note at the NMH boathouse for student rowers.
The U.S. jumped out to an early lead and stayed there, eventually winning the race by a comfortable eight seconds. Many sports commentators already considered the U.S. Women’s Eight the heavy favorites, and this only confirmed their beliefs. But while everyone was making a big fuss, Tessa downplayed the win. “It felt like any other race ... I didn’t even have that great of a race,” she said, as our family shared a few moments together before she returned to the Olympic Village. Four days later, Tessa was racing for gold. Instead of putting on a subtle USA Rowing shirt as I had on previous days, I got decked out in star-spangled everything. I had received strict orders from Tessa to be That Guy, which required nothing short of a massive “USA” painted on my chest. I wasn’t the only one who abandoned the subtleties of earlier days. In the stands, people were wearing brighter colors, waving more national flags, and letting their patriotic energy flow freely and loudly. Like all the other races that week, the Women’s Eight started without much fanfare; a few words from the announcer and all six boats were out of the starting blocks. When Canada and New Zealand got out to a fast start and the U.S. was sitting in third, the American fans were concerned. But I knew the race was far from over. The U.S. rowers were doing everything they needed to do: move efficiently and stay on pace near the front of the pack. As New Zealand and Canada exchanged the lead, the U.S. remained in third at the halfway mark. It was
clear that Tessa and her boat needed to do something, and that’s exactly what they did. They made a Big Move. It was just like any other Big Move I’ve experienced: a few strokes to build, and then the surge. The coxswain yelled to her crew: “You are the U.S. Women’s Eight!” The crowd exploded as the U.S. moved out in front and stayed there, with Tessa and her teammates rowing past the grandstands with all the confidence you would expect from a team with an undefeated streak of 10 years. Only now it was 11. I was yelling so hard that I had no idea what words or sounds were coming out of my mouth. Around me, every emotion imaginable was on display. People were shouting, crying, embracing each other. All those emotions were rushing through my body; I couldn’t sort them out. All I could think about was my sister, who was about to have an Olympic gold medal draped around her neck. The medals were awarded. The National Anthem was played. Photos were taken. When the athletes dispersed for a few moments, Tessa ran over to my family and me and jumped into our arms. We hugged silently — so hard that my tear ducts started leaking. After we let go of each other, she complimented me on my body
P HOTOS: R AC H AEL WA R IN G , R ISL E Y SP O R T S P H O T O G R AP H Y
paint. “Thanks. It got me on the Jumbotron,” I replied. We high-fived. “You’re finally the Golden Twin,” I told her. She responded, “I was always the Golden Twin.”
TESSA LATER told me that the Olympic final felt a lot like any other race. Sure, it was nice to have all of her training reach such a giant pinnacle. Getting to hang the biggest medal of all on her Tiki Man was cool. But she was just doing what she had been training to do for the past 10 years. It was a 2000-meter race, like all the ones she rowed on the Connecticut River at NMH. This one was a bit bigger. Bigger people, bigger stage, bigger audience. Still the same strokes. [NMH]
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R EN D ER I N G S BY A R C HITER R A INC . / TEX T BY J ENNIFER S UT TON 26 I NMH Magazine
A BUILDING
FOR
BIG IDEAS THE GILDER CENTER FOR INTEGRATIVE MATH AND SCIENCE EDUCATION IS NMHâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MOST AMBITIOUS PROJECT IN A DECADE.
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The Gilder Center will be located between the Rhodes Arts Center and Forslund Gymnasium, with panoramic views of the campus.
B
efore a single Gilder Center architect put pencil to paper, NMH’s math and science teachers had a vision. “This is more than an opportunity to build a new building. It’s an opportunity to rethink how we educate our students,” says David Reeder, the former science department chair who is now coordinating the development of a new math and science curriculum that will be housed in the Gilder Center. The goal: “to meet students where they are, and to take them as far as they can go,” Reeder says — and to place NMH at the forefront of secondary math and science education. Math department chair Kate Hoff, who worked with Reeder and other faculty to research and build the new curriculum, says, “Given the nature of our rapidly changing world — which places a premium not only on strong technical skills but also on creativity, collaboration, and interdisciplinary thinking — we as educators must be innovative and creative.” Launched with a $10 million gift from former trustee Richard Gilder ’50, GP’20, the $34 million, 56,000-square-foot facility will begin construction after it is completely funded. The goal is to open the building in 2019 or 2020. Approximately $12 million has already been raised for the project. Located between the Rhodes Arts Center and Forslund Gymnasium, the new building will house all science and math classes currently taught in the 50-year-old Cutler Science Center and in Beveridge Hall, as well as several new engineering, coding, and statistics courses. The building will feature large glass windows on all sides, with panoramic views of campus and the surrounding hills; cutting-edge collaborative “mastery suites”; a makerspace; and multi-use spaces. Visitors enter the building via a large,
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airy foyer surrounded by glass-walled classrooms on two levels, putting academic activity on display and creating a vibrant hub that fosters a sense of community and collaboration. With solar panels at the entrance, a solar-ready roof design, solar shades, a rainwater garden, and energy-efficient windows and walls, the Gilder Center will be the greenest building on NMH’s campus, one of only a handful of academic buildings in the country of this size to achieve LEED gold or platinum certification from the Green Building Council. “We want this building to make a statement about NMH’s commitment to sustainability,” says Reeder. “We also want the building itself to be a teaching tool. There will be so much students can learn by studying the building’s construction and operations.” Architects at the Boston firm Architerra, Inc., took their design cues from curricular ideas developed by a group of science and math faculty who spent two years researching best practices in teaching methods, an effort that included visits to other schools that also are striving to be educational innovators. The plan that emerged combines an educational method called “mastery learning” — in which students progress through academic material at their own pace — with more group collaboration, hands-on projects, and fewer traditional lectures. With each student in a class required to “master” a specific topic before advancing to new material, some will be capable of moving faster, while those who need more time can take it. “What we’re trying to prevent is having students miss critical material in their progression,” says Hoff. “If they never get the chance to patch those holes, they build on a weak foundation, which leads to a weak structure all around.”
LEARN MORE about the Gilder Center and Richard Gilder’s fundraising challenge at nmhschool.org/gilder.
A large central foyer will be surrounded by glass-walled classrooms on two levels, putting academic activity on display and creating a vibrant community hub.
In the Gilder Center, mastery-based classes will occupy “mastery suites” designed to accommodate three teachers and 35 to 40 students. The suites can be configured in multiple ways, using movable whiteboards and partitions to accommodate individual instruction, small-group collaboration, or large classroom activities. “This will look very different than our traditional classrooms. We’re really excited by what students will be able to do,” Reeder says. NMH’s math and science teachers already have begun to introduce the new curriculum to students, with individual mastery-learning units incorporated into several traditional classes. This year, 33 ninth graders are enrolled in a full-on mastery Algebra I class. A mastery curriculum for all foundational courses — physics, biology, and chemistry in the science department and algebra, geometry, and precalculus in the math department — will be phased in over the next three years. “The Gilder Center is going to be a stunning, innovative addition to our campus,” says Head of School Peter Fayroian. “The thought and care that has gone into all the planning is a testament to the quality of our faculty and to our ambition as a school to be a leader in 21st-century education. Our students are entering a world that is more complicated, diverse, and fast-paced than the world their parents graduated into. It’s our job to get them ready, so they can do what we expect them to do as adults: make a difference.” [NMH]
The new building will house several “mastery suites” — flexible, classrooms and labs for three teachers and up to 40 students. The suites can be configured in multiple ways to accommodate a range of instruction.
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Strange
Brew
W EI R BY EM IL Y HA RR IS ON
HOW TO WRITE THE GREAT AMERICAN BEER RECIPE THE STATUS QUO HAS NEVER APPEALED TO SAM CALAGIONE ’88, P’18. When he founded Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in 1995, he adopted the motto, “Off-centered ales for off-centered people.” But off-centered is an understatement. While most of the first-wave craft breweries were looking to European traditions for ideas, Dogfish Head used extraordinarily creative ingredients to make its beer stand out. “Celest-jewel-ale” was brewed with crushed moon rocks and served with metallic space-suit koozies. “Rosabi,” a rose-colored imperial pale ale, contains wasabi, the potent horseradish paste typically served with sushi. Traditionalists looked askance at the upstart brewery’s inventions, but skepticism turned to envy as consumers embraced the ingenious flavors and Dogfish Head grew into a craft-brewing powerhouse.
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PH O TO : J A R E D C A S TA L D I / D E L AWA R E TO D AY
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LAST spring,
when Calagione spoke with NMH students about his experience starting an unconventional business, he looked the part, sporting a red plaid shirt and Nikes rather than a jacket and tie. At 46, he retains a teenager’s enthusiasm for the Next Big Thing, but there’s a sharp marketer’s mind behind his breezy nonchalance. Those who knew Calagione at NMH might think him an unlikely entrepreneur. When his father, a Greenfield, Massachusetts, oral surgeon, suggested business as a career, young Sam said, “Absolutely not.” His interests lay in art, literature, and creative writing, with a sideline in raising hell. “His offenses [at NMH] were of the usual Animal House variety,” reported The New Yorker in a 2008 profile of Calagione, “… flipping a truck on campus; breaking into the skating rink and playing naked hockey; ‘surfing’ on the roof of a Winnebago, going 60 miles per hour down I-91… .” But NMH was also where Calagione went from “mistrusting the older generation completely to working hard because I realized certain teachers had my best interest at heart and wanted me to develop my potential talents,” he says. Chuck Hamilton and Bill Batty were particularly influential. And it was while he was washing dishes in NMH’s dining hall that Sam met his future wife, Mariah Draper Calagione ’89, currently an NMH trustee and vice president of Dogfish Head. At NMH, Calagione became inspired by D.L. Moody’s trajectory, which he first learned about from then NMH archivist Linda Batty. Although the teetotalling Moody might not have relished the comparison, Calagione embraced what he calls the school founder’s “punk-rock,” “roll-up-your-sleeves-and-do-it” work ethic. Calagione says he tries to echo “how Moody used his energy, charisma, and talents to influence the world in a good way.” Being expelled from NMH — for “an accumulation of offenses” — was the saddest day of Calagione’s life, he says. “As a rebellious kid at the time, I thought it was unjust, but I was never resentful.” Eventually, he began to see his departure as a pivotal moment. He started “to look for a path to rebel in a more constructive way.” He found it in beer.
The day
after receiving his English degree from Muhlenberg College, Calagione moved to New York City to write what he hoped would be the next Great American Novel. He paid the bills by working at Nacho Mama’s Burritos, which served early craft-brewed ales such as Sierra Nevada’s Celebration ale and Chimay Red. “They blew my mind with how different each was and how intensely flavorful they were compared to the cheap beer all college kids drink,” Calagione recalls. Within weeks, he was a home brewer. “My first batch turned out great, and I said to my roommates, ‘This is what I want to do with the rest of my life,’” he recalls. “The next two batches were terrible, but I’d already told people I was going to be a brewer, so I forged ahead.” A few months later, he poured his creative impulses into writing a business plan for Dogfish Head. “There is no better work of fiction than a business plan,” Calagione says, because it requires other people’s money to make it come true. His family members and friends ponied up $110,000. A bank matched that amount. Dogfish Head opened in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, as the country’s smallest commercial brewery. In the early days, Calagione produced only 12-gallon batches. He soon found himself brewing three times a day, five days
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a week, to keep up with demand. “I used beer as a catalyst for creative satisfaction,” Calagione explains. “I thought that if I couldn’t write the Great American Novel, maybe I could write the Great American Beer Recipe.” Dogfish Head has made beers with sake rice, tomatoes, hawthorn fruit, saffron, Chesapeake Bay saltwater, hazelnut flour, even St. John’s wort. (“World’s only antidepressant depressant,” Calagione says.) Not all the experiments worked. Calagione recalls attempting a green beer for St. Patrick’s Day, using blue-green algae as a natural dye. “It tasted like pond scum,” he says. But most of Calagione’s experiments did work. Now in his 21st year with Dogfish Head, Calagione has 250 co-workers and in addition to a brewery, he oversees two distilleries, three restaurants, and a beer-themed harborfront hotel. He has drawn major media attention and won multiple awards, including six straight nominations for the James Beard Foundation’s Award for Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional. Calagione says his favorite honor was winning the Brewers Association Recognition Award last spring. “I think of myself as a brewer, not as a businessman, so it means a lot that my peers have honored me.” Beer historian Maureen Ogle says Calagione’s chutzpah rivals that of the legendary Adolphus Busch. “Sam has this ability to be simultaneously outrageous and smart,” Ogle says. “He’s played a significant role in shaping the new beer industry” as he pioneered the notion of brewer-as-inventor. “He never met an ingredient he was afraid to throw into his brew vat.” That philosophy follows the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote posted on a wall at Dogfish Head, from the essay “Self-Reliance,” which Calagione read at NMH: “Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist,” it reads. “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”
Sam Calagione never met an ingredient he was afraid to throw into his brew vat. Dogfish
Head’s extraordinary success led to a recent buy-out inquiry from AnheuserBusch, but Calagione wouldn’t even take a meeting with what he calls the “suits.” Calagione says breweries his size are under siege from large corporations. “Collectively, small brewers are David facing Goliath, and we have a lot more to gain from helping each other than fighting with one another.” That’s the basic message behind his latest book, Off-centered Leadership: The Dogfish Head Guide to Motivation, Collaboration and Smart Growth. At Dogfish Head, co-owners Sam and Mariah Calagione play complementary roles. Mariah oversees Dogfish Head’s multiple philanthropy projects and manages the company’s digital presence and social media communities. Sam is the resident “beer evangelist,” admitting that the number of pints he downs at promotional events doesn’t make his doctor happy. (He avoids a beer belly with daily workouts on his paddleboard or bicycle.)
P HOTO: C H R ISTO PHER LAN E /G E T T Y
Calagione is “a faithful steward of new beer’s focus on ‘community,’” historian Ogle says. “Everything about Dogfish is about the shared human experience.” The “Beer and Benevolence” programs that Mariah oversees generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Nature Conservancy through a yearly foot race, and the whole company shuts down for a day each year for all employees to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity. Calagione says he “reflexively uses the NMH filter of head, heart, and hand in deciding what we should do.” As Dogfish Head the business has reached maturity, its founder is helping redefine what a business executive can be. Calagione sports a Dogfish Head tattoo and performs as “Funkmaster
I.B.U.” with the brewpub’s beer-geek hip-hop ensemble, The Pain Relievaz. And when he drives his midlifecrisis-purchased muscle car, a Dodge Challenger Super Bee, he sometimes disguises himself by wearing a mullet wig — his way of not embarrassing his wife, he says. But Calagione is serious about beer. As often as he can — only about eight or nine times a year these days — he loves to stir the mash for a new brew himself. “My favorite workdays are spent coming up with a beer that’s never existed, or re-creating a recipe for the first time in thousands of years,” he says. He’s currently developing a recipe he’s calling “Beer for Breakfast,” featuring applewood-smoked barley, chicory, coffee, pork scrapple — and NMH maple syrup. [NMH]
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High Notes IN BELIZE, NMH MUSICIANS LEARN THE ART OF COLLABORATION.
LAST MARCH, eight members of the NMH Chamber Orchestra traveled with two teachers to Belize for an exchange with the Pallotti School of Music and the National Youth Orchestra, both based in Belize City. The NMH students taught string lessons to Belizean children, teenagers, and adults; joined the youth orchestra for rehearsals and a concert; took in marimba and steel drum performances; and got steel drum lessons from students a fraction of their own age. “A whirlwind, musically,” is how Steve Bathory-Peeler, conductor of the NMH orchestra, describes the experience. The idea for the exchange came from Lauren Emineth ’16, who played the violin and viola with the NMH Chamber Orchestra for four years and now attends the Royal Danish Academy of Music. “It was a way for us to travel, but it was more than travel, more than performing — we got to interact with a community and learn about a country from the perspective of people who live there,” she says. The orchestra’s trip was funded in large part by alumni donors. NMH’s host in Belize was Colville Young Jr., the music director at the National Institute for Culture and History in Belize City and the driving force behind both the Pallotti School of Music and the youth orchestra. “He has this fundamental interest in enriching people’s lives by teaching them how to play the violin,” says Eleanor Conover, who until last May taught visual art and English at NMH; she’s also a longtime violinist. Besides traditional classical pieces, the youth orchestra also plays popular Belizean music, adding in steel drums, marimba, and a full percussion section.
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PH OTOGRAPH Y BY ELEAN OR CON OVE R TEXT BY JEN N IFER SUT TON
The Pallotti music school offers lessons to children and teens; the orchestra, though created for “youth,” also includes adult musicians because there is no professional orchestra in Belize. “People were coming from their jobs all over the city, not just from school, to play classical music together,” Conover says. “They were so committed.” Their approach, however, was more relaxed than what the NMH students are used to — more “fluid,” Conover says. For the final collaborative concert at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts in Belize City, the two orchestras had planned to perform separately, but Bathory-Peeler recalls that shortly before the concert, the Belizean musicians spontaneously invited the NMH musicians to sit in on their piece, too. “We hadn’t seen the music before, and we only had an hour to practice, but we wanted to be open to it,” Bathory-Peeler says. “It was, ‘Do you want to perform with us?’ ‘Sure, we’re here!’ That’s what musical collaboration is all about — flexibility and resilience.” [NMH]
Dain Kim ’16 connects with a particularly attentive student over the violin at the Pallotti School of Music in Belize City.
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1 Members of the NMH Chamber Orchestra mixed in with the National Youth Orchestra for rehearsals; they played “The Barber of Seville Overture,” the theme from Star Wars, and Belizean pop songs. “It was total controlled chaos,” says former NMH teacher Eleanor Conover. 2 The chamber orchestra’s home base in Belize City was Pallotti High School, a Catholic girls’ school that houses the Pallotti School of Music and the National Youth Orchestra of Belize. 3 Colville Young Jr., NMH’s host in Belize, leads NMH and Belizean musicians in tuning their instruments before a joint concert at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts. 4 NMH’s Dorian Pousont ’17 (left) gave lessons to several bass players almost twice his age but they had to take turns playing because there are only two basses in the entire country. “It would have been really great if we could have given them a bass somehow,” Pousont says. 5 The NMH musicians got lessons in the steel drum, or steel pan — which had musical-note locations imprinted on them for beginners.
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BY LORI FE RG US O N PHOTO BY MICHA EL S EAMAN S
Rob Werner â&#x20AC;&#x2122;79 wants to talk to you about climate change. fall 2016 I 39
n the morning of Feb. 8, 2016, the day before New Hampshire’s first-in-thenation presidential primary, Rob Werner ’79 shows up early at the Radisson Hotel café in downtown Manchester, where hundreds of reporters and pundits have gathered to cover the event. At every turn, a recognizable face appears. Veteran NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell sips coffee at a nearby table, “NBC Nightly News” host Lester Holt races by on his way to the elevator, and just outside the hotel, Donald Trump’s son Eric steps out of a black Chevy Suburban. Werner, the New Hampshire state director for the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), is tucked in at a small table, eating breakfast and chatting happily with Boston comedian Jimmy Tingle. Werner looks casual and relaxed in jeans and a “Climate Action New Hampshire” T-shirt, but make no mistake: Underneath the smiling demeanor, he is ready to jump into the political sparring ring. Werner is a behind-the-scenes environmental lobbyist and advocate whose raison d’être is to “turn environmental values into national priorities,” he says. In New Hampshire, he and the League of Conservation Voters work much of the time at the grass-roots level, organizing community events and fostering coalitions among business, faith, and elected leaders to support environmental and climate-change initiatives. Werner also carries that cause to state legislatures, municipal governments, the halls of Congress, and, for the past 18 months, the chaos that has been the 2016 presidential election. Werner began the day at 6:30 a.m. with a radio interview on behalf of LCV and the presidential candidate it endorsed, Hillary Clinton. He is scheduled to do 20 more over the next two days. With breakfast over, Werner heads toward “Radio Row” on the second floor of the hotel, where local and regional stations have set up temporary broadcasting digs. He’s alert to every opportunity to shake a hand or make a quick pitch along the way. He greets Democratic strategist and Bernie Sanders advisor Tad Devine with a hearty “Good to see you!” then steps
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over to a neighboring table to share a few words with “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. In the noisy, tightly packed conference room, Werner calmly makes his way from one radio station table to the next, giving interviews to Keene’s WKDK, Vermont’s WDEV, and Boston Herald radio, among others. Each time, he drills his core message: We need our president to be ready to work with scientists and lead the U.S. in addressing climate change, both at home and around the world.
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erner is hardly a novice activist. When he was in middle school, his parents made sure he was “wellversed in political issues,” he recalls. “I have happy memories of Sunday mornings huddled around the kitchen table and plowing through piles of newspapers — The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times — discussing and debating current affairs.” After graduating from NMH in 1979, Werner headed to the University of Vermont to study environmental policy. During his freshman year, he joined Ted Kennedy’s presidential
campaign and met many of Vermont’s up-and-coming government leaders: Lt. Governor Madeleine Kunin, who went on to become governor and the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland; Chittenden County Democratic Committee Chair Howard Dean, who also became governor and then ran for president; and the soon-to-be Burlington mayor Bernie Sanders, future U.S. representative and senator and 2016 presidential candidate. Enthralled, Werner promptly switched his major to political science. He earned an M.B.A. from Suffolk University in 1992 and has worked in public policy ever since, organizing advocacy and legislative campaigns for the American Heart Association, the Smoke-Free NH Alliance, and the American Cancer Society. He served as the national field director of Americans for Campaign Reform for nearly a decade before joining the League of Conservation Voters in June 2014 and turning his focus back to the environment. On the side, he has been a member of the Concord (New Hampshire) City Council for nearly a decade, and chairs the Concord Energy and Environment Committee. During the 2016 primary season, Werner watched as climate change took a back seat to the economy and national security. The issue got more play at the Democratic National Convention at the end of July, and Werner expected the discussion of climate change to grow increasingly louder throughout the fall campaign, with “the differences between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton becoming more stark.” Werner’s optimism is a double-edged sword; it springs in part from the negative effects climate change is having in New England right now. In coastal cities such as Boston and Portsmouth, rising sea levels caused by higher atmospheric temperatures pose a clear economic threat: The flooding they cause can result in costly damage to buildings, roads, sewer lines, and subway tunnels. Rural areas are vulnerable as well. In the woods of New Hampshire, the moose population has dropped by more than 50 percent in the last decade
— a direct result of climate change, Werner says. “The North Country isn’t experiencing the long, deeply cold winters that it has in years past, with frigid temperatures from November to April. As a result, we’re not getting the tick kills that we used to, and the juvenile moose are picking up thousands of the parasites, which they simply can’t survive. Warmer temps, more ticks, fewer moose.” The only upside to these developments, according to Werner, is that as the consequences of climate change continue to be revealed, people from different walks of life become increasingly open to building coalitions around environmental issues. That’s where Werner comes in. He’s adept at forging relationships between LCV and individuals and communities whose shared concerns may not be immediately evident. For example, businessman Peter Egelston, who owns the New Hampshire-based Smuttynose Brewing Company, has become, Werner says, “a real ally,” who is motivated by the impact that recent weather patterns have on his bottom line. “Peter went to Washington, D.C., with us and addressed a Senate panel on the effects that climate change is having on the cultivation of hops, a critical ingredient in beer,” says Werner. Faith communities are also becoming increasingly vocal advocates, moved in part by Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment, which urges science and religion to join forces in the fight against climate change. And hunters and fishermen, many of whom previously rejected the validity of climate change, are speaking up, too, joining LCV in roundtable discussions at venues such as the New Hampshire Audubon Society. “They’re concerned not only about the health of the woods but also about economic and cultural ramifications,” Werner says. “Hunting and fishing are important to tourism, and in addition to moose, we’re losing trout, which can’t survive in the warmer waters. We’re also losing ice cover, which eliminates ice fishing, another popular winter pastime in the North
Werner began the day with a radio interview, and would do 20 more over the next two days, drilling the same core message: We need our president to work with scientists and lead the U.S. in addressing climate change, at home and around the world. Country.” Hunters have joined Werner in visits to New Hampshire’s congressional delegation to lobby for stronger climate-change legislation. Last year, many of those visits were aimed at persuading Sen. Kelly Ayotte to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Clean Power Plan,” which establishes national standards to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. After Werner and LCV organized more than 7,000 phone calls to Ayotte’s office and delivered 2,500 letters to her within a four-month period, she threw her support behind the policy. “Our number-one political priority in 2015 was to get her to do that,” Werner says. “She’s the only Republican U.S. senator who’s been really vocal in supporting it.”
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nfortunately, with warming temperatures contributing to rising sea levels and devastating weather patterns that can quickly turn into widespread emergencies, “certain consequences are already baked in the cake,” Werner says. Climate scientists around the world agree that no matter what progress is made in reducing carbon emissions,
humans may have already altered the environment irreversibly. Werner admits he’s impatient with the slow speed of political change concerning climate issues, but it’s his job — his instinct, too, for more than 35 years — to be hopeful. His reasons? The potential of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in nine Northeastern states, and the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, where nearly 200 countries committed to addressing climate change worldwide. Throughout the fall presidential campaign, Werner and his New Hampshire LCV staff were in what he calls “electoral mode” — embedded in Hillary Clinton’s campaign, working to elect the candidate they believed would “turn environmental values into national priorities.” The work was nonstop, but Werner was doing what he loves most: combining advocacy and public policy to make a difference, both in his state and on a national stage. “Trying different approaches, finding common ground, breaking down barriers to collaboration,” he says. “I love putting together coalitions that move issues along.” [NMH]
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ALUMNI HALL
Bagpiper Jared Weeks ’08 carries the tune at Reunion 2016’s Convocation.
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REUNION 2016 The Class of 1966 celebrated its 50th reunion with 157 donors giving a total of $3,797,896, establishing the Class of 1966 Endowed Scholarship Fund, and funding the pedestrian path from the core campus to the new faculty village — now named Route 66.
Secure your future ... and the future of NMH
REUNION GIFTS: BY THE NUMBERS
$6,094,395
IN REUNION DONATIONS
71% 12% PARTICIPATION
THE AMOUNT BY WHICH THE CLASS OF 1976 SURPASSED ITS 40TH REUNION GOAL
190
422
TOTAL REUNION VOLUNTEERS
43%
THE AMOUNT BY WHICH THE CLASS OF 2011 EXCEEDED ITS 5TH REUNION GOAL
A charitable gift annuity gives you: • • • • •
Fixed lifelong payments Favorable annuity rates A secure investment Tax benefits A gratifying legacy
TOTAL NUMBER OF DONORS
Sample rates based on a single life CGA* Age 68 73 78 83 Rate 4.9% 5.5% 6.4% 7.4%
ALUMNI COUNCIL
New Faces
Visit nmhschool.org/plannedgiving or contact:
Jeff Leyden ’80, P ’14
Tom Baxter ’59 Awards Chair Current city: Millville, New Jersey Profession: Professional engineer and planner (Ret.) Education: Northeastern University
Courtney Fields ’06 Diversity Co-chair Current city: Bronx, New York Profession: Director of Special Projects, New York City Department of Education Education: Guilford College
Tracy Korman ’81 Diversity Co-chair Current city: Princeton, New Jersey Profession: Health care executive Education: Swarthmore College, Harvard University Business School
Brendan Mysliwiec ’04 Advancement Chair Current city: Washington, D.C. Profession: Conservation nonprofit government relations Education: Kenyon College, Ohio State University
Director of Capital and Planned Giving 413-498-3299 jleyden@nmhschool.org
Sue Clough P ’06, P ’08 Senior Associate Director of Planned Giving 413-498-3084 sclough@nmhschool.org
*Rates displayed are for illustrative purposes only.
PHOTO: B R U N O DU PEYR O N
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ALUMNI HALL
’16 REUNION
2016–17 ALUMNI COUNCIL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE www.nmhschool.org/ alumni-get-involved Caroline N. Niederman ’78 President Wendy Alderman Cohen ’67 Secretary
Molly Goggins Talbot ’93 Vice-President Carolyn “Ty” Bair Fox ’59 Nominating Committee Chair Stuart Papp ’93 Strategic Advisory Committee Chair Brendan Mysliwiec ’04 Advancement Committee Chair Thomas Baxter ’59 Awards Committee Chair
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Stephen Green ’87 Reunion Advisory Committee Chair Courtney Fields ’06 Tracy Korman ’81 Diversity Committee Co-chairs Kate Hayes ’06 Young Alumni Committee Chair Marggie Slichter ’84, P ’10, ’11, ’12 Ex officio, staff liaison
ALUMNI HALL
P HOTOS: G LEN N MINSH AL L , B R U N O D U P E YR O N
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CLASS NOTES
T E D DY R O O S E V E LT IN THE HOUSE In September 1902, President Roosevelt (center, hat in hand) visited Northfield and Mount Hermon schools. “I like you, for you seem to be made of the right stuff,” he told the crowds of enthusiastic students.
CLASS NOTES
VITAL STATISTICS page 92/ IN MEMORIAM page 94
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Shep Bartlett, Dwight Smith, and I returned to the campus for our 75th reunion! We also enjoyed having Northfield grads Dorcas Platt Abell and Helen Small Weishaar joining us. It was a beautiful day and there were many memories shared. Interestingly, all of us were accompanied by a daughter or son, who were of great assistance. We were the oldest class represented, and I had the dubious honor of being recognized as the oldest of the thousand or so alumni and alumnae present.
Northfield Edith Bender Southwick 395 N 70th Street, Springfield, OR 97478 Northfield Elizabeth Jane (B.J.) Smith Johnson robert.johnson53@comcast.net
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Northfield Dorcas Platt Abell sabell3@nycap.rr.com
Our 75th reunion was memorable despite the small attendance. I went for only one day and night, June 4 and 5, and greeted Helen Small Weishaar (the only other Northfield class member) and her daughter, Marianne. My daughter, Pat, accompanied me. There were three Hermonites: Carleton Finch, Shep Bartlett, and Dwight Smith. Carleton brought his daughter, Shep brought his son, and Dwight had a lovely friend, Mary, with him. We all stayed in Hayden Hall (we were disappointed not to be housed in O’Connor, as in previous years). • At the Convocation, Carleton Finch, at 93, was recognized as the oldest one present. Many received alumni citations. The highlight for me was singing “O Northfield Beautiful” and “Jerusalem” as directed by the lively choral director, Sheila Heffernon. • Those wonderful golf carts driven by current students and graduates of NMH took us to and from all events. Since my daughter, Pat, had never been there before, we enjoyed a tour of the farm and the maple syrup site. • We had a delicious class dinner on Saturday night. Most of the others went home afterward, but Pat and I stayed and attended the Alumni Service of Worship and Remembrance on Sunday morning in the chapel. The class of ’66, who were celebrating their 50th reunion, played a big part in the service: Members sang in the choir, two of the women were in the clergy, and one male, Jim Watson, played his guitar and sang a solo. • Pat was impressed with the school; she did not realize it was like a college campus. • I’m sad to report that Polly Spencer Carr died 5/31/15 (Carleton had a letter from her brother, but no details). She and I were good friends, but I had not heard from her since we graduated. • Haven’t heard from any classmates lately — I know it is hard to write at our age. I’m fortunate to be fairly healthy except for back pain that prevents me from walking very far. My son, Paul (69), has retired and is now living with me, along with his adorable calico cat. He is a blessing. • Love to all — would love to hear from you. My phone number is 413-447-7539. — Dorcas
Mount Hermon Carleton Finch zeke137@aol.com
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Northfield Cora Lee Gethman Gibbs coraleegibbs@aol.com
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Mount Hermon Loren Bullock mlbullock9@gmail.com
We were in our senior year on Dec. 7, 1941 — Pearl Harbor Day. I remember that I was in the Chapel that Sunday afternoon with Mr. Gallagher and the choir rehearsing for Christmas Vespers on the following Sunday. Whispering started as the news was passed around that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. The next day, we were all let out of classes to go to our rooms to listen on our radios to President Roosevelt declare it a “day which will live in infamy.” Within a year I was in the Navy, eventually becoming a communications officer onboard a supply ship in the Atlantic. In 1945, I was on a ship in Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific preparing to be part of the invasion of Japan in November, but the two atom bombs were dropped on Japan in August and the war had ended. • Walter “Woody” Wood remembers, “On 12/7/1945 I was floor officer in Cottage II. That Sunday afternoon I was listening to my radio — it was in my desk drawer since radios weren’t allowed — and the news came over the radio. I figured that Roosevelt knew about it but didn’t warn anyone so he could get into the war to help Churchill. I was a carrier pilot in the Navy. We would fly high above the fleet and see hundreds of miles, sending pictures down to the ship so they could direct things. We were on our way to the Pacific when President Truman dropped the big one and the little one. I was disappointed.” • Art Miller recalls, “I was walking
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past Schauffler Library when someone came by shouting ‘Pearl Harbor has been bombed!’ Like many of us, I had no idea where Pearl Harbor was. Three years later I was at Pearl Harbor as a radar officer on a troop transport.”
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Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org
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Northfield Mount Hermon Charlton R. Price charltonrp@gmail.com
A decade ago, Sibylle Gerstenberg Ehrlich joined a Quaker retirement community, Broadmead, near Baltimore, Md., where she had been living since the 1950s. One day she saw that the wife of a couple moving into Broadmead was wearing an NMH T-shirt. Turns out that this newcomer and children are/were all NMH alums! Who were/are these mystery Marylanders? Please identify yourselves to your NMH class secretaries! • Dan Pawling, now living in Boston, says he’s out and about using the standard mobility aids. He now likes neither having to shop for food nor to housekeep. He and I both are in good condition, considering wear and tear (like all of us nearing 90). • Dan and Alan “Dinty” Moore (Gainesville, Fla.) didn’t make it to the 2016 reunion as they both intended. ”Spirit willing, but flesh weak. They won’t let me drive,” says Dinty. • Hey, everybody! For our next reunion, if you grands (a.k.a. senior alums) can’t drive, you might instead take a train from New York City or a bus from Boston to Greenfield. Then, if you have “made nice” in advance to the NMH alumni office, you can be shuttle-bused to and from campus! • Jean Ting Margolis and husband Albert took a Norwegian Line cruise around the Caribbean. “Great way to travel at our age.” • Bill Compton
NMH
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P HOTO: C O U R TESY O F N MH AR C H IVE S
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CLASS NOTES and his son share an apartment in Loomis Village in South Hadley, Mass. Bill and his late wife, Mary Lighthall Compton, ran the summer school at Northfield for many years. They were the class teachers of the Northfield class of ’62. • John Hamlin and wife Eileen decided only this year to move to “senior assisted independent living” — an apartment in Binghamton, N.Y., where John had his long business career at General Electric. “John is still taking care of business,” Eileen says. “Business” is mainly paying bills — now many fewer. That’s progress! • Bill Winslow and Dave Pullen have long outlived some Hermon hijinks. A widower after 66 years of marriage, Bill now lives near a daughter in Seekonk, Mass. He’s been a longtime active volunteer for nature touring and other environmental programs. • Alas, these are all the received responses from NMH ’44 people with email addresses known to the NMH alumni office. Email is the most practical and easiest way for us to be in touch. If you use email, please use it to reach me. Or family or friends might send an email for you. A few months ago, NMH sent letters from me to all of you with known postal addresses. If you will write me, or preferably email me, immediately — I can put news of you into the next issue of NMH Magazine, which comes out in spring 2017.
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Northfield Arlene Finch Reynolds arlenerey@aol.com
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Mount Hermon Pete Devenis ingadevenis@aol.com
Two stalwart members of our class — active participants in our reunions who had received considerable recognition in their respective fields — have passed away. Howard “Buzz” Spellman died on 10/28/15. Born in Springfield, Mass., he lived in Arcadia, Calif., at the time of his passing. Buzz served in the U.S. Navy from 1945 to 1948, graduated from University of Cincinnati in 1953, and moved to California with his wife, Mollie. He became an engineering geologist and was appointed to the California State Board of Geology and served as president of the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists. As a geologist, he investigated hydroelectric dam sites: Hell’s Canyon on the Snake River, Idaho; Mammoth Pool on the San Joaquin River in the Sierra Mountains, Calif.; Vodapod River in Sitka, Alaska; and many other large projects. Buzz enjoyed sailing, golf, and tennis. His wife of 59 years passed away in 2012. Buzz is survived by two daughters, Trista and Shauna, and grandson Karsten. • Edward R. Hampson passed away on 3/17/16. He was born in Cambridge, Mass., and lived in Peterborough, N.H., with his wife, Ann, most of his life. At Mt. Hermon, he was affectionately called Moose. After Mt. Hermon, he served two years in the U.S. Navy and then graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in
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March 2017 at Innisbrook. • I have been your electrical engineering. His co-op program at class secretary for about six years. Seems like a Northeastern placed him into the manufacturvery long time. I can now really appreciate the ing side of electronic computers. He entered service to our class by my predecessor, Carnot the computer world at its start and was one of the pioneers, setting up his own manufacturEvans, who was our class secretary and writer ing subsidiaries in the Peterborough area. Ed of class notes for more than 25 years. Quite a enjoyed sailing, flying, hunting, fishing, skiing, feat! Carnot, please let me know how long you and building radio-controlled model boats were class secretary, what is new with you and and planes. He is survived by his wife of 56 Judy, and if you are still playing golf. • Ted years, Ann, son Jonathan, and two grandchilCovel passed away on 5/7/16. He was visiting dren. • On our way to Florida, my wife, Inga, Germany, where he succumbed to flu and and I stopped to see Paul Carver and took double pneumonia. Born in Bermuda, Ted belonged to the International Club and served him and his wheelchair from an assisted living on the Hermonite and the Gateway boards at home in Farmington, Conn., over the objections of some of its staff, to an excellent nearby Mt. Hermon. He was a good student and a member of a select group in the Cum Laude restaurant. Paul and I had worked in the same Society. He is survived by his wife, Donna, company for many years and enjoyed our son Todd, and daughters Shawn, Laurel, and get-together. • In Florida we arranged to play Linda. We enjoyed “Shovel’s” company and golf with Cal Swan at Innisbrook, where we own a condo. Cal still plays a respectable game wonderful sense of humor at the Florida minireunion this year and at our 70th reunion in of golf and we had a good match. He arranged 2015, to which he brought his son and three for me and Inga to play the Pine Tree Golf daughters. Club at Boynton Beach, where Cal’s grandson is a member. Playing Pine Tree increased our Northfield list of top 100 courses in the world. Inga and Betty Bolger Fleming I now have played 68 golf courses that have betty.fleming6@gmail.com been ranked in the top 100 in the world. • On As your class secretary, I was very sorry not the way back from Florida, we stopped to see to have a column for our 70th Northfield Wink Cornwell and his wife, Priscilla, at an reunion. Both my husband and I were hosassisted living facility in Palm Beach Gardens, pitalized when it was due, and we ended up Fla. Wink and Priscilla had moved recently in an assisted living dwelling weeks thereafter. from Jupiter, which they did not enjoy. After Consequently, I missed the deadline to get many years in North Palm Beach, they are our class news submitted. When I recently glad to be back nearer to their former area. wrote to my classmates, many responded, and Wink was my roommate during sophomore here are their stories. • Elaine Wilson Kuck year at Mt. Hermon, and we’ve stayed friends writes that she is planning to move from her and kept in touch. After having a stroke townhouse to a two-bedroom renovated cotseveral years ago, Wink manages a walker tage her daughter has just bought. Everything very well, and we enjoyed a nearby waterfront is on one floor, which Elaine looks forward lunch. • We also held a Mt. Hermon minito. All this will happen by the end of August. • reunion at Innisbrook, attended by me and As a social worker, Jane Shanahan Anderson Inga, Cal Swan, Ted Covel, and Ed Golden. has facilitated educational and support groups The four other Mt. Hermon classmates who focusing on the aging process. Jane’s husband, are Florida residents could not attend for a variety of reasons. Ed Golden lives in Dunedin, David Shanahan ’45, died in his 60s, but Jane has been blessed with good health and has a Fla., in a retirement community at Mease strong support system with three daughters, Manor. He practiced dentistry for nearly 40 two of whom graduated from NMH. She reyears in Dunedin and in 1994 retired to Lake grets missing our 70th — she was on the West Tarpon before moving back to Dunedin with Coast visiting a grandson. Jane remembers his wife, Marjorie, five years ago. Ed writes, “I the Northfield campus with great appreciaam fortunately still a vigorous 88 and enjoy tion for its beauty and with sorrow that it is golf at Dunedin Country Club twice a week. no longer part of the NMH campus. • Alice We have a small group of ‘experienced’ players Elder Leake, her brother, Joe Elder ’47, and (make that old men) and we play nine holes his wife are again hosting a Wisconsin lakeside twice a week. We are no longer very sharp — camp reunion. Alice looks forward to this when one breaks 50 for nine holes, it is a cause yearly event as a welcome chance to catch up for celebration.” • In looking through past with family. • Isabel MacLeod Walker says, notes, I have found a 2010 email from Bill “Last year went too fast and included watching Wallace, who wrote, “A short version of my my two children and their families (seven life would be: college Princeton 1950, Army grandchildren, ages 10–22) get on with their 1950–1952, marriage in 1953, three wonderlives and all get tall as I shrink! Fortunately, I ful children, six wonderful grandchildren, continue my small social work practice and a active in insurance agency business from 1950 group for cancer patients. I take daily walks to 1992, retirement now, full recovery from with a neighbor and drive to Santa Cruz on health problems, summer home in Highlands, weekends, where I enjoy reading by the ocean. N.C.” Bill, please bring us up to date. We It could be a full-time job to keep up with hope to see you at next year’s mini-reunion in
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CLASS NOTES newspapers and magazines and books. I am often joined by friends and family, who like my simple cooking and a stress-free environment. We are blessed. I’ll miss the reunion this year and send my best to all classmates.” • Finally, Connie Callahan Hornickel reports that she had an accident with a car door on her bad eye, with successful surgery to repair the cornea. There is no vision improvement but the other corneal transplant from last March is “really terrific,” so she is grateful beyond measure. Fortunately for Connie, her son lives in town, along with his three children.
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Mount Hermon Hugh Findlay hughf@occia.com, findlay22@verizon.net
I was able to get to our 70th class reunion and could not have been happier — what a great experience! My wife sent my son, Alan, who was visiting from Vero Beach, Fla., to be with me. We took a limo, and it was a pleasure not to drive and be able to catch up with Alan. • We arrived safely, registered, and were assigned to our room, where I met some of our classmates. We went up to Alumni Hall for lunch and got some great food. Alan and I had a chance to view the many pictures and we found our class. And after much looking, we found my picture: boy have I changed. In the course of the afternoon I was able to find many of the classmates who were attending. The ones we finally found were Ted Jacobs, Bill Haslun, Dick Hammer, Bob Akeret, Ralph Roy, Ed Finch, Bob Wilkinson, and some saw Bill Shores. • My son and I met Head of School Peter Fayroian at the Lamplighter reception. I saw him speak in the session on Saturday on the NMH strategic plan. This was very well done and they showed the plans for the new science and math building. I could see a very expensive building program for that, but I suppose it is needed. I wish them a lot of good luck in finding substantial donors. • We did a lot of eating and had a lot of good bull sessions in the sitting room where we were staying. My son told me it was fun listening to the old boys talk about their experiences at the school. He said that he had no idea we did as much as he did when he was in school. • The only misgivings I have about the school is the apparent lack of recognition of the fact that the schools were founded by Dwight L. Moody and were Christian schools. I know that we have to recognize all religions and ethnicities in the present, but I do think that perhaps in the chapel there could be some recognition of our founding. • We went to the hymn sing on Friday night and I completely wore my voice out. The most fun I had and the nicest compliment I received was when I went to the Alumni Choir rehearsal and Sheila Heffernon brought out more voice than I thought I had. The nicest compliment was when one of the singers turned to me, saw I was in the 87-year-old bracket, and told me what a beautiful voice I have. This made the
whole trip worthwhile. • I look forward to being back on the hill for my 75th reunion, and I hope many of you will try to make it. Ed Finch and I will do our best to encourage you to make the effort, even if it is only for a day. Thanks for the memories and good health to all of you.
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Northfield Joan Pearson Turner turnerjoan4@gmail.com
Jane Abell Coon writes, “About five years
ago, my spouse and I downsized from our D.C. residence to a house on the slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Virginia countryside. Several of our five children, 13 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren live in the D.C./Virginia area. Each summer most of us get together at some point on our island retreat in Maine. I proudly attended the graduation of one granddaughter from NMH some years ago, and I’m egging on the oldest great-granddaughter. Carl and I still have our marbles (well, most of them) and are in reasonably good health. I’m active as a volunteer coordinator for our county food pantry. We both avidly follow international news and wish the U.S. could forgo some of our compulsion to be the world’s policeman.” • Betsy McCain McAlpine attended her 65th college reunion at Hood College, where she also saw Lois Vars. Betsy also said that she and her husband are enjoying their life in McLean, Va., and occasionally take a trip to California to visit their son, Kenneth, who is a writer. • Joan Campbell Phillips writes that she and “Doc” still love living on the Maine coast in Harpswell on Casco Bay, where they have been for 34 years. Their four children (all NMH graduates) are married with families and live approximately 200 miles away, making frequent visits comfortable. Her nine grandchildren range in age from 20–29 and are all actively pursuing college and their individual goals — teaching ESL to migrant children, overseeing the quality of educators on an administrative level, practicing as a registered nurse in Boston, overseeing competitions with World Surfing Assn., editing books for a publishing company, tracking climate changes from Mt. Kilimanjaro, taking a college business course in Shanghai, and working as a licensed paramedic in Denver. Their granddaughter, Faye, graduated from NMH in 2009. “Through our retirement years,” says Joan, “we have kept involved and busy in environmental, community, and church activities, even though now we are taking less leadership responsibility. We’re so grateful for good health, treasured family and friends, and a chance to still support local projects. I do hope many will write in with your news, so we can keep in touch!”
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Mount Hermon Charles A. Kennedy chask@myfairpoint.net (603) 223-0731
I have a report from R.S. Elliott that the Massachusetts Audubon Society has named Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center & Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester in honor of his sister, Barbara Elliott Fargo ’48. • Fred Cushman sends greetings to all from New Jersey. He sent a lengthy description of his career in opera, starting with his schooling in Cincinnati, at the Manhattan School of Music, and finally at the University of Miami music school. He did several operas on television in Havana, Cuba, and for NBC New York. Google Fred Cushman on YouTube and you’ll be able to see some performances taken live in Cuba and Europe. At the present time, he has started an opera company with beginning singers to develop the next generation of stars. • Roly Coates continued his record-setting career of singing in the Alumni Choir at Sacred Concert in May. “The rehearsal schedule is demanding and it’s a lot of standing,” said Roly, “but singing with the students is a great inspiration. Liz and I went on our ‘March Mooch’ again this year, driving to Orlando, visiting friends and family on the way, including Jack Daggett in Virginia.” • From Florida come two nautical reports: Dave Giordano is still sailing off the Gulf Coast and Chuck Haffenden “cruised” through his retirement with help from his sister, Dixie Haffenden Stewart, a travel agent. “Even though I only spent a summer and two years at Hermon (’43–’45), memories are still very vivid of times there,” says Chuck. He finished at Dwight School in New York City, spent four years in the U.S. Navy, and attended Mercer University in Macon, Ga. — the fifth generation of his family there. • Bob Willard is hanging tough in Minnesota, keeping in touch with Bob Bacon from time to time. He wonders about changes in the words to the Alma Mater after the schools merged: “Men” are the now-inclusive “children” or “pupils,” but it seems a small price to pay for having the girls on campus all the time. • Paul Van Horn is enjoying life at Meadow Lakes in New Jersey and visits from their eastern kids (Virginia, D.C., New York) as opposed to their daughter from Colorado. • Finally, Joe Elder retired from the University of Wisconsin after 53 years of service in three departments: sociology, languages and cultures of Asia, and integrated liberal studies. To mark this great event, the dairy plant created a “Joe Elderberry ice cream.” Joe flew to Madurai, India, in January for the premiere of his film on the Hindu Lord Murugan. He began his Indian associations in Madurai in 1951 right after his graduation from Oberlin. • Start planning now to attend our 70th reunion next June on the most beautiful campus on earth. Reunion is the greatest time machine: People pick up conversations and friendships as if the years in between never existed. It’s an amazing experience you won’t want to miss.
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CLASS NOTES
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Northfield Mount Hermon Phil Baker bakpn30@earthlink.net Dick Reeves has stopped traveling and is
sticking close to home. “Can’t complain, as health is good if we take our pills regularly.” • My wife (Bev Anderson Baker) and I celebrated our 64th anniversary on June 20. In April we moved to a retirement place in Webster Groves, Mo., and are, we hope, on the verge of selling our house in nearby Kirkwood. We still have our health, and we also take our pills regularly. We have a son, two daughters, and a host of grands and greats.
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Northfield Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org
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Mount Hermon Jim Hanchett jch46@cornell.edu • David Durham dedur@aol.com Steve Young writes, “My highlights over the past 67 (gulp!) years: two years in the military, Antioch College (mathematics), a career as director of academic computing (yep, I’m a nerd) at Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!), married for 59 years to a sweetheart (Susan), two daughters and the five best grandchildren in the world (they are all perfect). I left Bloomington (after 54 years) in 2015 to settle in Florida, played a lot of golf until ankle arthritis set in about six years ago (I will not divulge my handicap). Enjoying the quiet life, sitting on the lanai and watching the golfers go by (trying not to laugh), reading (mostly historical stuff), and writing silly computer programs (buy Sniffles in the App Store). All in all, I am thankful to the Lord for a fantastic life that was enhanced greatly by my year at Mt. Hermon (1948–49)…great memories. I wish my classmates the very best.” • Don Mayhew (Vineyard Haven, Mass., for many generations) reports the good news that he has been kicked out of hospice for not being sufficiently unwell. He hadn’t been in an emergency room lately. When contacted, he’d been out fishing not long before with a somewhat limited bag — but he had a good time anyway. “Life gets ‘teejus,’ don’t it?” as the old song of our days above the Connecticut’s waters says. Don’s had a “long, tiring series” of medical experiences starting a decade ago when he broke a hip, which never healed right, and then broke the other one. Two low spots came when he experienced overdoses of opiates — for instance, anesthetics to which he was allergic. Throw in mini-strokes, which locked up his legs. He’s at last working the computer for himself and others. “People take me out for airings, which helps,” says Don, “and things could be much worse.” • Bill Browning (Ann Arbor, Mich.), captain of the 5–2–1 ’48 soccer team that won four shutouts and held two opponents to one goal apiece, has, like Big Ben and the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the time and
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inclination to read to elementary-school children during the school year. Bill came to the heart of Massachusetts for three years from the American Mission at Resht, Iran. Teammate Arturo Figueroa did likewise from Guatemala. Hospitalized Leon Farwell was taking equal pleasure last spring in his BoSox’s early season success and the Yankees’ tumble. We’ll see how things look later in the year. • Olie Wilcox’s downsize from West Palm Beach to Vero Beach, Fla., has made more travel possible now that his grandkids are getting married all over these United States. He says he has good genes, citing relatives in their 90s, and good health. “Life has been good to me,” he says, and adds that he’s still working part time.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Janet-Marie Fitzgerald Whitley janwhitley@aol.com
Toby Cullum Frost lost her husband, Wes, a year
ago. She’s never in her 83 years lived alone in a house and still has not adjusted to it. She is still trying to find her new normal in between trying to clean up endless legal aspects and figuring out what to do with the clutter she and Wes accumulated over the years. Toby’s daughter-inlaw from Minnesota arranged a weekend this summer with immediate family, her two sons and wives, and as many as six grandkids to gather at Toby’s ski cabin in Vermont to spread Wesley’s ashes. The Vermont property is one of Toby’s challenges, as her name was never on the deed. She now has to go through probate to prove she has a right to it. Toby suggests to all who have not taken proper steps to read When Someone Dies: The Practical Guide to the Logistics of Death by Scott Taylor Smith. She is now freer to participate in political and social issues that she cares about, and is especially excited about the growing interest in diversity. • Lois Seekamp Dole had a hysterectomy in January for endometrial cancer. Fortunately, it had not spread, so no further treatment was necessary. Husband George is still running at the “Y” and will do one more Dole three-miler at their church camp this summer. He just thought about another book to write — two are now in the process of publication. After his hip replacement, son Stuart is back on the slopes as well as backpacking down the Black Canyon in Colorado. Daughter Alicia was by Lois’s side throughout her hospital stay, and is determined to get the whole family together at their summer place in Wayne, Maine, for a family photo. Former roommate Jean Cook Glidden planned to visit Lois in Maine, but her plans changed. Jean is very happy to be living in Lititz, Penn. • Diana Bond Holtshouser flew to Orlando, Fla., on Easter Sunday to join her two North Carolina families on their vacation. Her granddaughter, Lauren, marched at Disney in her Raleigh high school marching band. Her youngest grandson, Ethan, was thrilled that Diana was in a wheelchair, as they were whisked right in to all the rides and attractions. Diana noted that she’s only in a wheelchair when a lot
of walking is involved. • Lenny Krull Hirschberger is happy to be back close to her family in Massachusetts and NMH. It was a delight for Lenny to sing at Sacred Concert again with the alum choir. She still has her sailboat and returned to the Cape from Montauk in June. She is loving the beauty of fall and spring in New England and was grateful for the gentle introduction back to northern winter. • Barbara Bolger Collett and her husband, Bill, celebrated their 60th anniversary in June. After almost two years, they are settling into their senior independent living apartment. Interestingly, a new resident there is a descendant of Dwight L. Moody. Bill’s knees are holding up quite well, and Barbara is able to be involved in her PEO activities and University of Florida Wives. No time for golf, but they took a short cruise out of Tampa last fall. Barbara’s twin, David Bolger, has health issues but was able to fly to Sarasota to spend a few days in the Florida sun. He lives in Ridgewood, N.J., during most of the year. Barbara is not able to come to events at NMH and would welcome an event planned in Gainesville, Orlando, or Tampa. Please let her know if anyone lives in that area and is interested. • Peggy Hill’s 66 years since graduation have been full and happy. After graduating from Cornell, she worked at GLF/Agway as secretary. Thirty-seven years later, she retired as a senior executive. After retirement, she sold her home in Syracuse and moved into a retirement community in her hometown of Ithaca, N.Y. Seven years ago, after being single all her life, she married a former work associate. Besides having a husband who wants to do all the cooking, she gained two delightful stepdaughters. He golfs and gardens, she quilts, and together they’ve traveled Europe, Asia, and the U.S. Peggy will always be grateful for her Northfield years. • Constance Streeter Reilly remarks how much fun our reunion was last year. She continues to enjoy living in Homestead, Penn., and she and new resident Patricia Ross Loucks ’56 have lunched together while having some good talks about school. Constance still plays golf and will be returning to Peaks Island, Maine, this summer. She sees Jean Cook Glidden’s husband, Dick, at an ACBL bridge group. • Ruth Grant Rugh recently had a very nice coffee with Sue Clough from NMH’s advancement office, who brought Ruth up to date on life at NMH. Ruth and husband, John, are still enjoying their lives on Seattle’s east side. They play duplicate bridge, teach bridge, and think bridge. Their travels are within the U.S. and Canada these days. Daughter Jan and her husband live very close to them as do their grandchildren. Son Bob Rugh ’80 lives in San Diego, but travels to Seattle for family gatherings. Ruth sends greetings to her classmates, and responded to my inquiry on being in our 80s with an “ugh!” • Lynn Stivers Andrews is still married to the same man and has had five children, losing her eldest son to cancer three years ago. My condolences to you
CLASS NOTES and your family. “It’s been 15 years since our youngest son was killed in an accident,” says Lynn. “The hole will always be there.” Her remaining children are scattered all over the country. The Andrews have lived on the Delaware shore for the last 20 years. • Judith Meyers Shinn’s oldest grandson got married in July, allowing for a mini family reunion. They had a great family trip to Botswana in August 2015. They were lucky enough to see quite a few packs of wild dogs, along with leopards, lions, hyenas, and other animals. Ruth had a delightful cruise on the Chobe River, then two days at Victoria Falls. She thinks this will be her last major trip — the stamina and need for travel is gone. • Bruce Dunn’s third book of his four-book series is in press. The third is going to have a super cover. His longtime artist, Tiffany Tutti, is very gifted. Bruce still rides a bike around, but his hips are so inflexible now that he has gone to a step-through 24-speed bike. It’s not that he can’t get on a regular cross-bar bike in front of his condo, but on a hill or on a rough trail, it is really hard and dangerous. He and Kitty went to Madison, Wis., in the summer with their bikes. They will take a long, slow trip and have plenty of time to bike and hike. • Dan Hopkins lives in an RV. The Hopkinses winter in Florida and spend the rest of the year on the road. They spent a month in Elephant Butte, N.M. In May they were in Kanab, Utah, both sightseeing and investigating trails, and spent the rest of the summer in Colorado. He says they are having a good year so far. It is wonderful, Dan, that at our age you both are so active. Keep it up! • This year has been tough for Roy Meeks. He lost his beautiful wife, Frances, in January after 60 years. He is tearing down his Best Western Hotel and converting it to a new Doubletree Hotel by Hilton with a new partner. Roy has slowed down on his travels, but still golfs. • Fred Monett has been traveling with his usual winter trip to the New York area to see tax clients, a business trip to Salt Lake City, and a side trip to Ogden, Utah, to visit a railroad museum. In September, he will again travel with the John Hagee Ministries, this time to Israel. • Dick Whelan has a planned weekly schedule of pound lifts and bike rides. It doesn’t always happen, as he tries to spend one day a week fly-fishing at the Trout Club and an occasional morning at the Gun Club working out his old model 1911. In response to my writing “not loving the 80s,” he said I should be pleased I made it here. Point well taken, Dick. He said, “Age is a question of mind over matter: If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.” He feels the best way to cope with the octogenarian era is to ignore it and continue to, as his 55-year-old triathlete daughter says, “Do your own thing.” • Arnie Esterer thanked me for the job with the column. He is busy replanting vines lost in a freeze. • Faith Murray White loves the house she and Bob shared so many years, but it is too big. If and when she moves, it will be to Virginia. She still enjoys the activities and friends she has
in Massachusetts. • Bruce Roberts’s answer to my “80s issue” is: “By no means fight it or regret it, which helps no one and really harms ourselves. Besides, it shows a lack of trust in God’s providence in our lives. It is not for nothing that we have arrived to the ‘fourth age.’ If we can manage to be at peace with our own condition and weaknesses, it can be a real boost and a good lesson for family and friends.” Thank you for your wise words. I hang my head in shame, but only for a few minutes, then lift it high in thankfulness and love. Bruce talked about being blessed with good intellectual formation, no matter what has happened to us after leaving NMH. His experience with ripe old-agers, starting with himself, is that keeping the mind stimulated and active is a big factor in keeping an even keel up until the end of the journey; solving puzzles and writing, even if it’s to oneself, reading and taking notes on what we read. Bruce has to think and speak in two languages, which really stimulates the brain. • John Stabler is more dependent on others, but has the help of his wife, dog, and several doctors. He’s finished the first draft of his autobiography for relatives not yet born. His memories of Mt. Hermon are still vivid. “People were good to me, more so than I thought at the time,” says John. “To paraphrase Paul to Romans: from suffering to character, and hope does not fail us.” • As for the Whitley family, our eldest great-grandson, Daniel, turned 13 in May and continues to race outlaw Karts. He has only been doing it for a little over two years and has gone from a beginner box to an intermediate 500. The 500 is the largest engine, and he races with many who are in their 20s. His Uncle Kyle races a 500 in the sportsman class, which is for over-25year-olds. Son Doug and I continue with our Whitley Farms hay business. We just put up a 40 x 60 barn for equipment and hay. Husband Gene is in his 87th year and doing the best he can. We cherish every day together. We celebrated 63 years on Valentine’s Day. • You will read this just before the holidays. Have a wonderful time. I will be requesting news in November for a December 15 deadline.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Pat McCormick Hoehing sylv.snail@bex.net • Frederick W. Miller fwcemiller@sbcglobal.net
From Pat McCormick Hoehing: Our 65th class reunion is now history! The weather was clear and sunny most of the time. The rain on Sunday made it easier to leave, but we all hope to meet again in five years. Hope springs eternal, doesn’t it? Of the 14 gals present, half started as freshmen in 1947. In retirement, we are all active in church, community, and giving of ourselves in various volunteer opportunities. D.L. Moody would be proud! • Those attending: Rae Pullen Alexakos, Nancy Collier, Judy Webb Danforth, Adrienne “Jonni” Audette Feige, Mary-Ann Efird Higgins, Judy Ives Hubbel, Dorothy “Dee” Birge Keller, Marilyn “Skip” Smith Noll, Shirley Vanderpool Romoser, Ann “Mitch” Mitchell Seemann, Syd Baldwin Wilson-Smith, Barbara Foss Wells, and Carol “Maxie” Maxham Whittall. • Reunion events were both enlightening and entertaining. Best of all was the opportunity to sit and exchange stories and memories with classmates. Personally, my favorite events were the hymn sing and observing the alumni crew race on the Connecticut River. The view of the Connecticut from the dock was beautiful and enticing. A variety of scheduled events were planned for alumni of all ages, but for us from Northfield ’51, talking to the many students who drove us around in golf carts or just strolling about the campus was fun and energizing. We all felt the hymn sing was the highlight of the weekend! I don’t believe any of us joined the Pie Race or the bicycle hike, but many of the younger classes did. Their enthusiasm was contagious. I think the best example of NMH loyalty was seen in the return of NMH ’11. They were the largest number ever to return for their first reunion. That has to be a significant clue that NMH is alive and well, albeit quite different from our days on the Northfield campus. • A group of us drove over to the Northfield campus, where we were able to enter Sage Chapel and
The Northfield women of ’51 gather at their reunion.
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CLASS NOTES reminisce about our learning experiences in music with Mr. Raymond. I even heard a small group softly singing an old favorite. Fortunately, NMH students now have the same opportunity under the leadership of Sheila Heffernon. • Our class poet, Marilyn “Skip” Smith Noll, recently had her latest fulllength poetry book, Ordinary Tasks, published by MadBooks in Pittsburgh. If you would like to purchase a copy, please contact Skip at msm.noll@gmail.com. I am certain her teachers at Northfield helped develop Skip’s ability to transform thoughts into beautiful verse. • Today the academic, musical, spiritual, sports, interest groups, and multicultural opportunities are far more numerous than we had. Is it the same? Absolutely not. But NMH is in tune with the 21st century, under good leadership, and highly regarded by institutions of higher learning. By supporting the NMH Annual Fund, we help guarantee that students of all economic brackets will have the same opportunity we did. It’s a global world now, with new, ever-expanding technologies and a need for the understanding of many cultures and ideologies. It seems to me that educating “the head, the heart, and the hand” is a good way to start. • From Fred Miller: Eight of our 1951 Hermon classmates returned to the hill for our 65th reunion the first weekend in June. We — husbands and wives — gathered one night for a class dinner with our Northfield counterparts in a less-noisy room on the east side of Alumni (West) Hall. • Robert W. Wimble, a member of the triple quartet, and his wife, Rhonda, drove three hours from Waterbury, Vt., to visit on Saturday. • Those attending part of the four-day celebration were Leif D. Carlson and Cynthia from Chatham, Mass., C. Bruce Laidlaw from Syracuse, N.Y., David D. Norton and Beverly from Norwood, Mass., Peter G. Palches and Ann from Vineyard Haven, Mass., Benjamin Pratt from Antrim, N.H., Daren A. Rathkopf and Mira from Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., and Frederick W. Miller from Glen Ellyn, Ill. • Many of the returnees from the classes of 1941, 1946, and 1951 were housed in the O’Connor Health Center, with two regular nurses on hand for the long weekend. (I found that a little ironic.) Many golf carts driven by recent grads of NMH transported alums up and down the hills, to the river to watch an early-morning row, and to the farm for a lecture and tour. For the second year, a Shabbat Service (Jewish Sabbath) was held, with 20 attending. Other small-group events were held, including a Friday evening hymn sing, strategic plan presentation by Head of School Peter Fayroian, alumni convocation and awards, and an alumni service of worship and remembrance. A wide variety of food was served cafeteria-style in West Hall, but it was not the same without the white-jacketed waiters balancing their trays. Such is progress and change over more than 60 years. • George Lowman Howell, a one-year man and resident
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of Fourth North Crossley, died “peacefully at home” on 11/22/15. He was 83. George graduated from Lehigh University and served in the U.S. Army for two years. He then had a 60-year career at the family business — a printing company in Elmira, N.Y. At Hermon, he was in Glee Club, choir, and a cappella, played basketball, and ran track. George was a respected leader in the paperboard packaging industry, and throughout his life promoted his hometown of Elmira. He served on boards and committees in the town and founded Historic Elmira, Inc. in 2007. George had a passion for restoring antique cars and wooden boats, and according to his obituary, “demonstrated an extraordinary work ethic.”
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Northfield Mount Hermon Julie Taylor Clemens jtclemens@cs.com • Bruce G. Holran bruceholran@comcast.net
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Northfield Mount Hermon Will Lange will@willemlange.com • Abby “AJ” Nicholson Hodges ajhodges@comcast.net
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Northfield Mount Hermon Dennis Kelly dskelly1935@gmail.com • Be Jay Froehlich Hill bhill24@juno.com • Dan Fricker dcfricker@videotron.ca • Marcia Samuel mnutsam1@verizon.net
From Marcia Samuel: A sparkling phone call with Connie Fowler Ludwig finds her now living in Florida near her son and missing the brisk cold of Maine. • Anne Tyler Hager Rudy (fondly remembered by me as Tye) sends cheers and good health to all! She and husband Don spend their winters in Venice, Fla., and summers in Minnesota. They have seven children and nine grandchildren, which provides lots of opportunities to travel the country to attend graduations and family events. They celebrated Don’s 85th birthday in Brazil last Christmas. She hooked up with her “old bud,” Connie Fowler Ludwig, and hopes to spend time with her this winter now that she is in Florida. • Kay Johnson Howells says, “Like many of our class, I am now 80, but life is good. The grandsons are growing up and the family joined me in Hawaii, where the highlight of the Christmas holiday was a tour to the top of Mauna Kea. Then an over-thetop birthday party in Hawaii with Hawaiian music, hula, food, a “little” wine, three birthday cakes (three of us celebrating), and a fire dancer! There is no turning back now!” • For 12 years, Mary Ann Bond Gebhart has been volunteering at a local teenage girls’ prison, teaching them how to knit and crochet. This year she was elected volunteer of the year at the facility. She also sings in the Christ
Church of Oak Brook, Ill. The choir has more than 100 members and is televised as well as broadcast online. • From Dennis Kelly: We are saddened by the passing of our classmate Bill Chater on 8/30/15. Bill was from Bronxville, N.Y., spent two years at Mt. Hermon, and went on to earn a B.S. and an M.B.A. at Cornell. He then entered the insurance business and settled in Asheville, N.C., where he ran his own insurance agency. Our sympathies go to his family. • Fred Rice and his lady friend, Terresa, stopped by for a visit at my rental house in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Susie Craig Hastings, who rents a place nearby, was also there for dinner, and I managed to make some homemade ice cream from one of Toni Browning Smiley’s many recipes that she so kindly sent to me. • Fred was visiting with our classmate Bill Russell, who has retired to Palm Desert, Calif. Bill was Fred’s roommate not only at Mt. Hermon but also at Ohio Wesleyan. They were enjoying a hot tub at Bill’s place, along with Bill’s wife and Fred’s friend, Terresa. Bill was a member of our “After Dinner Club” at Mt. Hermon, where a group of us would gather at a table in the dining hall after the evening meal and discuss the affairs of the day or our plans at Northfield for the weekend. Bill promises to be back for our 65th reunion. • Stu Leyden wanted me to correct my description of him as a “leading tennis player” while at Mt. Hermon. He had only participated in “recreational tennis” at Mt. Hermon and did not take up the game seriously until he was in his mid-twenties. When he retired from the Presbyterian ministry, he devoted more time to the game. • Susie Craig Hastings has moved to an independent living facility in Hanover, N.H. She is a certified hypnotherapist, certified healing coach, and president of her company, Creative Communications Center. She has been in touch with her old boyfriend from Mt. Hermon, Ed Snyder. Ed sold his house in Pittsfield, Mass., a while ago and retired to Tucson, Ariz., where he still runs his executive recruiting business. Ed expressed interest in coming to Hilton Head next winter for a visit and we will all welcome him. I have also invited Susie to come down to our place in Bay Head this summer for a visit. Toni Browning Smiley is invited to come at the same time for some lobsters, corn,
Toni Browning Smiley ’54 enjoying granddaughter Siri.
CLASS NOTES much for your generous contributions to the still umpiring in the softball leagues of central McVeigh Scholarship fund — it now totals Pennsylvania and often leads hikes through over $190,000. Let’s try and make it $200,000 the local mountains in spite of some major health issues. • Al Merritt resides in Kingwood, by our 65th reunion. Stay healthy, eat wisely, and get plenty of exercise, and we’ll meet again Texas. He lived in Crossley just down the hall in June 2019 for our reunion. Save the date! from me and Ralph Perry. Al played football for Hermon and went on to play for the Northfield Mount Hermon University of Maine. He then went to work Lisa Tuttle Edge for the Humble Oil Co., a part of Exxon in etedge@aol.com Houston. Al and his wife, Sheila, have been • Don Freeman going to Maine for the past 10 summers and d.freeman4@verizon.net are involved with the university’s Stillwater Awards for the support of athletics and the arts. From Lisa Tuttle Edge: Denise Backus Shea Dennis Kelly ’54 (left) and Fred Rice ’54 meet in Hilton Head, N.C. writes, “I’m mostly called Denise now, but • Ginny Reed Fisher married my good friend when I hear ‘Dinny’ I know it’s from an old on the afternoon milk crew, Ken Fisher, who tomatoes, and her homemade ice cream. My friend or family. I retired from a second career passed away five years ago. Ginny lives in a little cottage by the sea is on the New Jersey as a clinical social worker four years ago, and wonderful old 1840 farmhouse in Marlboro, shore, the petri dish of American culture. Toni since then have taken art appreciation classes, Vt. Fortunately, her son, Bob Fisher ’85, and has a thriving CPA practice in Washington, started a Spanish class, and belong to a book her grandchildren live just down the road. D.C., and has been most helpful to me group and several other groups of special Ginny and Ken loved opera and used to travel reviewing and correcting the sloppy job I do interest. Also started piano lessons when I was the world to visit opera houses in various in trying to complete my 1040 forms. I owe 70. I have been involved in Neighborhood countries. While Ginny has had some health her big time! • I was up to NMH in April for Falmouth, a ‘village’ concept group for helping problems, she still goes into Brattleboro for a D.L. Moody Society luncheon that honored seniors stay in their homes. [Husband] Dick live television broadcasts of New York’s some of the recipients of our various died almost four years ago, so I’ve been on Metropolitan Opera. • Bill Young’s firm makes scholarships. I sat with Joe McVeigh ’76, Fred that widow’s walk of learning to live alone a marine product that I sometimes recomMcVeigh’s son, and Adrian ’18, the current again after 43 years. I am really good living mend to my marine survey clients. He lives in recipient of the McVeigh Scholarship. Adrian alone, though when family or friends come Scituate, Mass., on the South Shore of Boston. is from Queens, N.Y., and couldn’t believe the to stay a bit, I am reminded of how much I I had hoped to stop by and see him in May beauty of the NMH campus when he arrived loved not living alone. My travel times are when I was delivering an old motor yacht as a freshman. As you know, we set up the mostly to see family and my sister, Deb Shea from New York to Boston for a lady who McVeigh Scholarship at our 45th reunion to Gillis ’56, in Maine, and friends. I’ve got two planned to live on the boat in Boston Harbor. honor our legendary French teacher and new hips and this year passed the five-year Unfortunately, one of the engines failed several cross-country coach. • George Hamilton lives mark of lung cancer. It’s garden season and times during the trip, and I had to limp into in Tulsa, Okla., after retiring as a special agent I try, with a little help, to keep up with our Boston on one engine. Bill has had some with the FBI. George was interested to know extensive informal gardens. Every day at this health issues lately but, fortunately, they if I had any mini-reunions planned for our time of year something is popping out.” • The turned out to be less severe than originally class. Unfortunately, I only arrange them on a peace labyrinth quilt that Janet Bear McTavthought. Bill was our varsity golfer at NMH haphazard basis. George is a loyal NMH alum ish completed in 2012 is now on permanent and played throughout college and still plays. attending every reunion, so we look forward display at the International Peace Museum in Bill’s father was a professional golfer at several to seeing George again shortly. • Ed Sundt and Dayton, Ohio, and viewable on their website. country clubs in central Massachusetts. • The his wife, Ann Newman Sundt, live in Garrett class of ’54 was well represented at Pres Blake’s • Lisa Tuttle Edge and Don combined two Park, Md. Ann and Ed both went to Oberlin, GoAhead tours to visit England and Ireland 101st birthday party in June at his replica and after graduation, married and returned to last year. Lisa wrote her master’s thesis on Yeats home of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in NMH to teach English. Ed later became head and managed to see exhibits on him, places Somers, Conn. Pres (’34) is the co-founder of of the English department at a private school he wrote about, and his gravesite “Under Ben Friendly’s restaurants. With several hundred in Maryland while Ann attended law school Bulben.” Ireland has a “tidy towns” competiattending alumni ranging in classes from the and was a family court judge. Ed wrote two tion, and all the stores and houses looked 1930s to 2016, it was the largest off-campus wonderful books that can be purchased on freshly painted, with flowers blooming alumni gathering ever! Marcia Samuel Amazon. If my calculations are correct, Ann is everywhere. In February, Lisa and Don visited traveled from Hackettstown, N.J., and the youngest member of our class, arriving at Chatham friends in Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Barbara Helmle Simon drove from her home Northfield in the fall of 1950 at the age of 12! • Mirage, and Montecito, Calif. Now they in Norwalk, Conn. Yours truly had a Debby Brown Boots has had a most interestare back in Chatham to spend the summer conversation with Pres — he plans to return ing life, but has retired to an independent volunteering for the historical society, boating, to his 85th reunion in 2019, even though he’s living facility not far from me. She lived in gardening, and playing six-wicket croquet. the only one left. The party featured a East Gould for three years, but has lost all her Visitors are welcome. • From Don Freeman: wonderful buffet, including wine, beer, and yearbooks and has never been back to a Art Duel writes, “While decorating our home ice cream sundaes. As Pres always said, “Those reunion. I wrote back that I look forward to for Christmas, I was listening to the NMH who work hard get dessert.” • Again, if any of getting together with her this coming winter Christmas Vespers and reliving the beautiful you can make it to Hilton Head Island, S.C., and to catch up on old times. I’ll see if I can music and the indelible influences of Mr. Raythis winter, please come for a visit with us. We persuade her to come back to NMH for our mond, and the thrill we all had when joined have four bedrooms, the door is always open, 65th. • Dex Jones lives in Logansport, Ind., by the soprano voices from Northfield. That and you’re always welcome, plus the price is and has retired from the railroad business. Dex Christmas music brought back vivid memories right! Hilton Head is not only a beautiful was from Red Bank, N.J., and was a railroad of our youth, the idyllic contentment of our island but one of the country’s major high-end buff even before coming to NMH. I have a school, our friends, and the incomparable Dr. resorts, with lots of things to do and see. We’ll funny story for him about the transcontinental Rubendall — wonderful experiences, educahave a great time. I’ll make some of Toni’s railroad and its connection to Greenfield, tional opportunities, and social interaction homemade ice cream! • And thank you all so Mass. • My old roommate, Dave Jansky, is
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CLASS NOTES that prepared us for the life and trials before us.” Art and Kathleen were visited by Judy and Ben Lindfors in April. • Bill Kolb, living with wife Melinda in Memphis, is active in ElderWisdomCircle.org. EWC is a website that young adults visit to seek advice from senior citizens. All topics are on the table and usually concern the writers’ social relationships. Bill has written 435 responses so far, finding it interesting and sometimes challenging. He also keeps up with new ideas, words, phrases that younger people use. When there are openings, EWC is glad to hear from seniors who’d like to join the team. • Al Smiley and Don Freeman represented the class of ’55 by singing in the Alumni Choir in May’s Sacred Concert at the Northfield Auditorium. • Dave Guarnaccia is up-and-at-’em again after spending more than three months in a rehab facility, recovering from a fall. • Father Howard Wood writes, “I check for a pulse late each morning ... so far, so good!”
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Northfield Mount Hermon Nelson Lebo nlebo@nmhschool.org
Our 60th reunion has come and gone. Approximately 60 members of Northfield and Mt. Hermon’s class of ’56, spouses, and others gathered at MacKinnon Cottage. Mt. Hermon classmates in attendance included Harlan Baxter, Bill Cheney, Dick Chutter, Steve Clapp, Roger Gerdes, Dick Harland, Walt Jones, Nelson “Wink” Lebo, John Lubetkin, Dick MacKinnon, John McClintock, John Mitchell, Pete Palmer, Neil Sheeley, Carvel Tiekert, Bruce Zimmerli, and Bev Thierwechter, wife of deceased classmate Jim Rotherham (Bev was made an honorary member of the class of ’56). • Highlights of the reunion included: our initial gathering in the lounge of MacKinnon Cottage on Thursday afternoon, dinner in the Wilson Room of Alumni Hall (West Hall), the alumni seminars presented by Steve Clapp and Dick MacKinnon on Friday morning, the afternoon reunion reception in the large tent behind Crossley, the hymn sing in Memorial Chapel that evening, the Education in Action presentation on the NMH strategic plan by Head of School Peter Fayroian on Saturday morning, the Alumni Convocation in the afternoon in Memorial Chapel with the recognition of three classmates with Alumni Association Awards — Harlan Baxter received the Community Service Award, and Dick MacKinnon and Nelson Lebo received Alumni Citations — and our class dinner Saturday night on the stage of the Raymond Concert Hall in the Rhodes Arts Center. • It was a very busy weekend celebrating our reunion, and retired NMH faculty got to see many former students returning for their own reunions. Carol and I always look forward every year to seeing and talking with these former students and learning about their lives.
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never Edith Heath.” Before retirement (for Dede, from designing and production at UMass Press, Amherst; for Ken, French teacher and dean at Williston Northampton School), they lived in Leverett, Mass., for 30 years — not far from East Northfield. “Our From Jeanne: What do you remember best two daughters, now in their 50s, each have about your time at Northfield? Teachers that three children. One [daughter] lives in Oregon, made a difference in your lives? The friendships you made? Christmas Vespers and Sacred the other in Massachusetts,” says Dede. She and Ken are now in Bremen, a small town on Concert? Saturday-night dates with your Muscongus Bay, where Dede is on their library favorite Hermonite? Dorm life? Dummy? board and planning board. “Ken and I escape Chapel and quiet times? Our beautiful to France each fall,” says Dede, “living in a campus? Mountain Day and Bishop’s Bread? tiny rented apartment among old friends, way The list goes on. • At our 50th reunion, we out in the lovely countryside. Our area is in were invited to “Come to this place of peace the Drôme, east of the Rhône River, and we’ve and let its silence heal your spirit; Come into been going there for over 20 years. France has this place of memory and let its history warm been part of our lives since our beginnings.” • your soul; Come into this place of prophecy The best way to hear Martha Johnson’s news is and power and let its vision change your to visit her website, meetmarthajohnson.com, heart.” • Our 60th reunion is just a few which also connects to her small practice’s site, months away. I’m hoping all of you who can are making arrangements to be there June 1–4, taketimeforyou.net. She is in the process of consolidating and simplifying with an 2017, to renew old acquaintances and occasional newsletter, which folks can get on reminisce about this special place that shaped the list to receive from either of the websites. who we are and what we’ve been doing in our “At 76, I seem to be compelled now to focus on lives using our heads, hearts, and hands. • what I see as our third and final chapter of life Please keep Ginger Roe Lang and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Her husband, John — years 60 to 90+. Clearly, lots of things start to change when arriving at 60, and keep (85), is battling cancer for the fourth time. changing as we move along the timeline. My Ginger is recovering from knee surgery and is brother, Peter Johnson ’61, told me there was still planning on running her Ginger’s a session devoted to grief at the most recent Journey’s Boothbay weekend in early October. reunion. Well, that’s sort of where I am at the • Thalia Verros traveled to Namibia, Botswana, moment — feeling a current loss of a dear and Zimbabwe last November, visited Berlin, companion.” • Robin Foster Spaulding’s two and January found her in Vietnam. She thinks oldest granddaughters (18 and 19) head to that’s the end of her far-away trips. UnfortuDartmouth and Brown this fall. Robin and nately, she ended up in the hospital in Saigon. husband Linc’s oldest granddaughter took a She was diagnosed with three herniated discs gap year before heading off to Dartmouth. impinging on a nerve and causing excruciating They have six grandchildren who keep them pain. In June, Thalia was in Boulder, Colo., on their toes (their youngest grandsons, age 1, taking a three-week course in contemplative are fraternal twins). Robin is still working for photography. She’s also trained to become a Sheppard Envelope’s human resources, and has volunteer hospice worker and is looking forward to that new career. “Last but not least,” been a hospice volunteer for more than 30 years. Robin and Linc celebrated a family she says, “I am blessed with a loving partner in wedding in D.C. and Linc’s 60th Dartmouth my life. Who would have thought all this joy reunion in June. Robin will see us at our 60th! at 77?” • Elizabeth Heller wants to hear about • Ellie Gross Pendleton and her husband live all our classmates. She keeps in contact with in a senior total life care community in Diana Worthington, which I hope means we’ll Phoenix, Ariz. With summer temperatures see you and Diane at the reunion, Elizabeth. • over 100 degrees, Ellie says, “come visit in our Margie Kempers Wiegerink and husband Ron attended the 2016 reunion weekend at NMH and it was a great celebration. The class of ’66 invited Margie and Ron as former faculty, and what a lively group it was! Highlights included the hymn sing in the chapel, a picnic on Round Top, a flash-mob dance during lunch in West Hall to the tune of “We Are Family,” the N’Orleans band at Convocation, the final class dinner, and having time to connect with 100 students from ’66. • Dede Kearney Heath writes, “Life is good beside Pemaquid Pond, not far from Muscongus Bay, in mid-coast Maine. I carry two names: Edith Kearney is The ’57 Weston girls: (from left) Ginger Roe Lang, Jeanne my legal moniker, but as I’ve been married to Kendrick Heath for almost 53 years, I’m better Schwartz Magmer, Martha “Marti” Welsh Goldstone, and Cynthia Steven Brabson celebrate their 50th reunion. known as Dede Heath (and prefer it), but Northfield Mount Hermon David C. Williams revdcwms@metrocast.net • Jeanne Schwartz Magmer jeannem57@gmail.com
CLASS NOTES lovely ‘winter’ months.” She keeps busy chairing the walking/hiking groups, Intrepid Travelers, where folks share their travels and overnight trips. She also is treasurer of a cinema society. Daughter Elizabeth graduated from Vanderbilt with honors as a nurse practitioner, specializing in emergency room treatment in Tacoma, Wash. Ellie’s three grandkids and two great-grandkids are doing well. “Looking forward to seeing you all in 2017!” • In September 2016, Martha “Marti” Welsh Goldstone and I will be hiking in northern Italy and Slovenia with a group of women from the Boston area that Ginger Roe Lang introduced me to. Marti splits her time between winters in Washington, D.C., and summers in Maine • I heard from our class president, Cynthia Stevens Brabson, so hopefully that means we will see her next June, too. • Looking forward to a great reunion. See you there! • From Dave: This past June, Sarah “Terry” Drew Reeves, Darrell Cooper, and Lloyd Mitchell — co-chairs for our 60th reunion — were observers at the 2016 reunion, and they’ve started planning our “Big 60.” If you have ideas, please be in touch! • After 59 years of silence, we’ve heard from Andy Aldrich. He’s had an interesting career in nuclear power in submarines, power plants, DOE projects, and hydroelectric generator replacements. Now in retirement in Colorado, Andy says, “I could not have accomplished that without the excellent teachers at Mt. Hermon.” I hope it means he is coming to our reunion! • Bill Bertsch is spending his retirement pitching Vic Cino’s new book, Little Gangster. Maybe reunion would be a hot site for additional sales! • Margaret and Steve Bethea moved into Lenbrook, a fine CCRC retirement community in Atlanta and near where he practiced medicine for years. “See y’all at reunion,” says he! • Darrell “Coop” Cooper came to Mt. Hermon from a small town in Maine, where he led an insular life with a small group of Jewish friends. “It was a cultural change to go to chapel [at Mt. Hermon] four times a week,” he says, “but I was never offended by that requirement, and to this day I still love to sing ‘Jerusalem,’ to the astonishment of my family!” He has been after us for years, modeling generosity for the NMH Annual Fund and hosting lobster and salmon events for Maine Madness. Thanks, Coop and Judi! • Joe Harrington has retired from pretty much everything and that means employment at MIT, as moderator at Westborough, Mass., town meetings, and as co-president of his MIT class. He’s had successful prostate cancer surgery and is trying hard to stay active and healthy. Happy trails! • Aldie Howard and his brother have attended many of the Maine Madness mini-reunions, traveling from Oregon each time. He and Sue Sprattler will be spending this winter in St. Petersburg and hope to see Jim Morrow ’58 while there. • Ed Jacobitti regrets that he had to leave Mt. Hermon after only two years.
They were some of the most memorable years of his youth, he says. He got his Ph.D. and taught at the University of Illinois for 30 years. He is still trying to find Walter Kiernan ’56, Peter Strople ’56, and John Barmack, so if you know where they are, please let him know at ejacobitti@gmail.com. • John Parker is still working at Quality Systems, Inc., in Rochester, N.Y., and still living in Lansdale, Penn., but spending lots of time in a second home at Keuka Lake in upstate New York. • Barbara and Steve Springer are still getting around from their present home in Silverton, Ore., and their longtime home and farmland in Randolph, Vt. They have spent significant time in Maine for the past five years, stopping on their way each time with Coop and Judi in South Portland on their way to Pemaquid Point. • Gail Minault made her annual pilgrimage from Austin, Texas, to her ancestral home in Wolfeboro, N.H., in June, and joined Pat and Dave Williams long enough to convince us that she is “still singing”! Later this summer she’ll be touring the Baltic with Chorus Austin and will be touring Cuba with the Smith College Alumnae Chorus. • Ed Olsen, alive and well in Florida, is planning to be with us next June and is encouraging Bill Bertsch, Ray Paris, and Gordie Valentine to join us! He is still bicycle riding and continues to compete in the National Senior Games. He recently did a cycling tour of Cuba with his brother. • At this time of reporting (June), our longtime class leader and friend, Chuck Streeter, is not getting around very well. In July 2015, Chuck was diagnosed with angiosarcoma, a very rare and incurable cancer. He writes just as this goes to press that “I am on clinical trial at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City and am optimistic of a cure. It’s been a rather rough road, but hopefully one that will have a positive ending. Chances of my making our big 60th are remote, but you can be sure that I will do everything in my power to join the rest of you. I will be there in spirit if not in person, as my years at Mt. Hermon have proven to be some of the most memorable of my life.” He was our class president in our senior year and was on the reunion team several times. We hope that your prayers and support are with Chuck and Margaret. • Gordie Valentine served in the Navy, worked at Westinghouse and Xerox, and now lives in Lexington, Va. He and Lois are active in the Manly Memorial Baptist Church, teaching Sunday school, singing in the choir, and serving on committees. Gordie also volunteers for Habitat for Humanity. They have three children and seven granddaughters, and beat some of us by being great-grandparents! He’s planning to be at reunion! • One of my joys (Dave Williams speaking) is that my daughter, Jennifer Williams ’86, is still on staff at NMH, and reported that Margie Kempers Wiegerink was on campus for reunion 2016 with her husband, Ronald. Ronald was a class teacher for the 50-year NMH reunion. Maybe Margie
will return again for her “Big 60”! • Steve Webster has not lost his passion for our environment, bless his everlasting heart. “Climate change is a fact,” says Steve, “and is already resulting in massive problems around the world. If we care about the planet we are leaving for our grandchildren, we’d better get at this and soon. It’s not fair that they should have to clean up the mess we’ve created.” He urges us to join citizensclimatelobby.org, get a hybrid (or electric) car, and put solar panels on our roofs. • A few of our classmates have attended every reunion since we graduated, and many attended at least one. Too many have never joined us. Our Big 60 will probably be our last big one! I urge everyone to pen June 1–3, 2017, in your calendars and make every effort to be with us! It is very special for me — my grandson Ben will be graduating the weekend before our reunion, my daughter Jennifer celebrates her 30th reunion, and I celebrate our Big 60! Our granddaughter Kendra graduated in 2014, and if things go as planned, Ruthie will graduate in 2021. Pat and I cordially invite you all — please join us on Hermon’s Hill next June! • If you have suggestions or questions about the 60th reunion, please be in touch with our reunion co-chairs ASAP: Lloyd Mitchell (mitch6680@ gmail.com), Darrell Cooper (infoall@rr.com), and Sarah Drew Reeves (sarreeves@gmail. com). • If you have news about yourself or your family you’d like to share in class notes, send it along to me or Jeanne Schwartz Magmer.
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Northfield Mount Hermon William Hawley hawleys@acsalaska.net • Helen Engelbrecht Ownby helen.ownby@gmail.com
From Helen: Astrid Lundberg Naviaux writes, “Our youngest son sails for relaxation and challenge when he is not working as a trauma ER doctor in Bellingham, Wash. He won the Oregon Offshore in his Santa Cruiz.” • Claire Kurtgis-Hunter and Paul were in Nantucket for the summer. They are blessed with five grandchildren and eight great-grands! Paul had some medical issues earlier this year but, with the exception of some fatigue, he’s doing well. • Lynn Bodry Shuman continues to travel and write. She revisited northern Michigan in May and enjoyed Tahquamenon Falls State Park and the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. Lynn is now settled in Florida, having found new doctors, dentists, hair stylists, and many wonderful new friends. She also loves hearing from the old ones. • Tom and Ellen Watson Payzant send news: “We are concentrating on creating memories and have family reunions as often as possible. It is a gift for us all to be together, especially as we face a new challenge. Tom has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s, and we have decided to be upfront and vocal about this difficult disease in the hopes of destigmatizing it, creating more awareness of the growing problem. We
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CLASS NOTES also want people to support research to fight Alzheimer’s in addition to supporting our beloved school. Since Tom has been on Carnegie Foundation’s board of trustees for many years, we traveled to San Francisco to attend the Carnegie Foundation Summit, focusing on ‘improvement science,’ which looks at improving outcomes in any area. It was also an opportunity to spend time with our longtime friend Bob Starzel and his wife, Mary Beth. We continue to sing in the choir at church and engage in other activities, including walking in the Gay Pride Parade and providing taxi service for our grandchildren. We also enjoy attending events for Planned Parenthood of Utah and San Diego. We are headed to Oregon for our annual summer vacation. And, yes, we’re supporting Hillary.” • Joan Millet Walker writes, “We return to sailing aboard an ’85 Sea Sprite 34, Papaya, after she is launched, and we proceed happily to sail her from Mattapoisett, Mass., to our mooring in East Greenwich, R.I. We snow birds are settled into our dome home in Florida. In April we volunteered again at the Lakeland fly-in and saw a Nantucket sweatshirt on a woman, who turned out to have friends in common with Steve ... and her husband is Mt. Hermon class of ’56 or ’57!” Joan sang in Sacred Concert, “another beautiful experience, and especially in light of the horrific shooting in Orlando. Sheila’s theme was ‘How We Pray.’ We opened with a combination of the Islamic ‘Call to Prayer’ and the ‘Kyrie’ from the Christian Mass. If the CD is still available, it was one of the most moving and beautiful concerts ever. Afterward, we joined Trinka Craw Greger and John Stone for dinner and a good visit.” • Dennis and I have just returned from another river trip, this time on the Elbe. A very educational trip for those of us who remember World War II and the Iron Curtain. We flew to Prague, then made our way through Dresden, Meissen, Wittenberg, Worlitz, Potsdam, and then to Berlin for a few days, which included lectures on life during the war. One of the “rubble ladies,” now in her 90s, described cleaning the stones after the destruction of the Dresden Cathedral so it could be rebuilt, as well as stories of life in divided Germany. We spent Christmas with [daughter] Kathy Ownby ’94 in Taiwan, where she has been teaching for the past four years. We circumnavigated the island in the two weeks, and recommend it as a beautiful place to visit. They have just elected a new president, making her the most powerful woman in Asia! • Ladies, unless you send your news, we cannot have a column. Next deadline is December! • From Bill: Unfortunately, the class notes that were compiled for Mt. Hermon ’58 and emailed to NMH Magazine for the spring 2016 issue were lost in cyberspace. The notes here incorporate submissions from December 2015. • Norm Barstow and his spouse, Jane, spent the first part of November 2015 in Greece and then traveled to Bulgaria to visit with friends. Norm
56 I NMH Magazine
has moved his 25-foot C & C sailboat from Westerly Yacht Club to a slip in Stonington Harbor, where the water is deeper and closer to Long Island Sound. According to Norm, the trip down the Pawcatuck River from Westerly, R.I., to the Sound had become a bit laborious, so being closer to open water will be much more fun. • Dick Bodner’s (’60) main base is in northern New Mexico, but he and his wife have a second home in Tucson next door to his daughter, Gita. Interestingly, Gita, having earned a Ph.D. at the University of Arizona, is a senior ecologist for The Nature Conservancy. • Don Braue and Donna Orange have retired to Pilgrim Place, a church-related CCRC in Claremont, Los Angeles County, Calif. Residents include Phil McKean ’54, Deborah Adams McKean ’56, and Ron Evans (onetime head of Northfield). Don and Donna sold their house in Sparta, N.J., and their apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, but kept their land on Lake St. George in Liberty, Maine. They plan to summer at the lake in Maine. Their California home is close to Pomona College and Claremont Graduate University, where Don did his doctoral work. Don sings in the Pomona College Choir, whose tradition includes Robert Shaw ’38. Donna continues to write and lecture internationally. There is probably a Freud Fulbright ahead for her, which will put them in Vienna for five months in early 2018. Don asks that you come visit if you are traveling in Southern California. • Tom Chase and wife Linda are grandparents for the second time! • Bill Curtis maintains a summer house on Block Island, R.I., and a mooring in Great Salt Pond. He and Marilyn prefer September at Block, when the crowds are gone and things have quieted down. During the winter he can be found clearing brush and cutting wood in Delmar, N.Y. • Pete DeLeeuw has moved from the Houston suburbs to his ranch about an hour east of Austin, where he has three daughters and nine grandkids. Pete plans to retire in a year or two and continue raising Brangus cattle and cutting horses. • Trevor Dupuy and Linda Shaffer Dupuy ’59 went on a Caribbean cruise last November. About then, Trevor had knee surgery for a torn meniscus. In the fall of 2015, Trevor was very busy with grass-roots states’ rights politics in Texas, but planned to take a break to be with their children and grandchildren during Christmas week. • Dave Eberhardt traveled to Palau in February for snorkeling with the Oceanic Society. It was a fabulous trip. He then traveled to France for his girlfriend’s group’s (Lutte Ouvriere) annual festival. Dave is busy writing his memoir. He thinks the class of ’58 was, like the Great Gatsby, very fortunate to have had a good education. Dave invites all to check out his trips on his Facebook page. • Steve Fuller is very busy in his role as chair of the NMH board of trustees. He and his wife, Susan, have purchased a summer home in Georgetown, Maine, near Robinhood Marina, where they keep their
40-year-old 43-foot Hinckley sailboat, a boat that John Lennon sailed to Bermuda in 1980. • Nan and Evan Freund are active and productive. Nan is continuing a full-time practice as an educational therapist. Evan remains a director on several nonprofit boards. He is currently organizing a network based at the First Unitarian Church to advocate for criminal justice reform in Illinois. Evan and Nan have lived on the South Side of Chicago in a largely black community for 44 years and are very aware of the injustice visited on people of color, particularly poor people of color, by the criminal justice system. Evan is also taking an active role in the Rotary District 6450 Peace Committee, which is focused on youth social-emotional development for peaceful resolution of conflict. The committee has demonstration projects that they hope to offer to Chicago public schools. Both of their sons reside in Los Angeles and there are two grandchildren, so Evan and Nan will visit California several times a year. • Faith and John LeBaron’s eldest granddaughter has been accepted and will attend Phillips Andover in the fall. John tried, without success, to persuade her to attend NMH. He reports that “a gal’s gotta do what a gal wants to do.” Faith and John were both inducted into the Publishers Clearing House President’s Circle. They summer in North Hatley, Quebec, and spend the other seasons in Acton, Mass. • Nancy and Scott Lowden are fine and their boys are doing well. Scott’s book, Import Transactions and Customs Compliance, is selling well to corporate managers, law firms, and as a textbook for two community colleges. A related e-learning module will come out next year. • John Patten retired and has restored a 1978 GMC motor home so that he can travel in comfort. He plans to travel to Oregon, Pennsylvania, Spain, and England (not all in the motor home). Both of John’s children are teaching — his son at Linfield College, and his daughter in the public system. John and his wife assisted their daughter in her graduate work by photographing bears during the summer on Chichagof Island in Hoonah, Alaska. • Diane and John Robinson recently completed a Viking River Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. The service was wonderful and the highlight was a visit to the 1,000 Tea House in Budapest. John is currently involved with Equine Assisted Therapy in St. Louis (yep, still shoveling), is a volunteer at the Organic Teaching Farm in Ferguson, Mo., and is a member of the St. Louis Rowing Club in Creve Coeur, where he spends the majority of his time sculling. • Trinka Craw Greger and John Stone attended Sacred Concert along with Steve Walker and Joan Millett Walker. John said the concert was great and that there was a nice turnout on a cloudy and rainy day. Joan sang with the Alumni Choir while Steve, Trinka, and John were spectators. John has kept his 38-foot Island Packet sailboat in Rockland, Maine,
CLASS NOTES during the past two summers. He and Trinka have sailed “Down East” to the Bay of Fundy, Grand Manan Island, Saint Andrews, and St. John, New Brunswick. Steve and Joan are very active in the Pioneer Valley Live Steamers Association (PVLS) located in Southwick, Mass. The track at PVLS consists of 4,580 feet of ground-level rails and 1,140 feet of elevated track. • Your reporter, Bill, and Betsy Hawley recently traveled to Australia. We especially enjoyed Kangaroo Island and Tasmania, where we saw the unique wildlife — wallabies, wombats, Tasmanian devils, koala bears, and kangaroos. We also did some snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef. We are looking forward to following Faith and John LeBaron’s footsteps by visiting Iceland in July.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Nancy Bissell Goldcamp ngoldcamp@cox.net • Peter Welsh peter@cantope.ca • Tom Baxter baxtg741@comcast.net
From Ty Bair Fox: I’m filling in for Nancy Bissell Goldcamp, who is in Tucson with her husband as he recovers from hip replacement surgery. • Nancy Johnson’s love of opera took her to Berlin in April with the Washington Concert Opera Guild, where she saw five operas by Richard Strauss. She found Berlin to be a large, flat city with miles of canals, rivers, and super museums. While there, she went to Potsdam, crossing the Bridge of Spies to get to the site of the WWII conference. In May she saw a complete cycle of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungen in D.C., a cycle of four operas over six days covering 17 hours! • Sally Curtiss Campbell writes, “When I turned 70 in 2011, I had a birthday party/concert and recorded it, with my friends laughing and singing along. I have given away over 2,000 copies of the CD that I made called ‘Gift Songs and Blessings.’ I’m a Quaker singer/songwriter with a humorous bent.” If you’d like a copy of the CD, contact Sally at scampfriend@earthlink. net. • Nancy Goode Treadwell has been busy attending family graduations. Her grandson graduated summa cum laude with a second bachelor’s degree and will attend Nazareth College in the fall for his M.S. in language and speech pathology. One granddaughter graduated magna cum laude from St. Mary’s College and her sister graduated from high school two weeks later. Nancy is at home enjoying golf and her garden. • Karen Forslund Falb was on campus recently for a reunion of the “Fac Brats” — children of many of our teachers with whom she and Tom Baxter grew up. Some names of attendees from our era included Williamses, Comptons, Bauers, Burnhams, Piscuskases, Whytes, Alexanders, McVeighs, Moyles, Torreys, Kelloms, and Forslund. They missed the Baldwin brothers — Jeff and Jim ’67, and the Baxter brothers —Tom and Harlan ’56, who
were unable to attend. • Emily Tucker Dunlap is still working on her novel. “My contact with NMH is one of the significant joys in my life,” says Emily, “and it was great to see my fellow ’59ers in June. I’m enjoying a quiet summer at home in Winston Salem, N.C., playing lots of bridge and working in my garden. In September I’ll head back to NMH for the Alumni Council Fall Leadership weekend and re-connect with good friends from many classes as well as see the campus in action. I have a trip planned in October to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Last summer I took my youngest grandson on a fantastic Road Scholar trip to Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos. We climbed through cliff dwellings, whitewater rafted on the Rio Grande, and trekked in the Rockies with llamas.” Last fall, in honor of her 75th birthday, Emily enrolled in winter term at Oxford University in England, and took classes in Renaissance painters, ancient Greek vases and sculpture, and painter and poet William Morris. • Susan Lawrence Anderson also attended classes at Oxford University and encourages her classmates to do the same— learning about a new city and adjusting to new challenges. She returns to Oxford this fall for courses on early English music, the great classical composers, and the 20th-century arts and crafts style. • This year I’m sending my NMH Annual Fund gift in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Newcomb. You may remember that Mrs. Newcomb taught religion but, more memorable to me, Mr. Newcomb, almost blind and it seemed to us pretty elderly, taught a music appreciation class. We (Ernestine Brazeal and Ty Bair Fox) were members of a small group who could not manage to pass Algebra 1B. In the generous spirit of the era, we were forgiven. Instead, we had the life-changing experience of listening to parts of symphonies that Mr. Newcomb loved and joyfully shared with us. That is what changed my senses — not a math course I could never understand. • From Tom: Ty Bair Fox, Emily Tucker Dunlap, Randy Foster, and I were back on campus for the Reunion 2016 weekend. There were great programs and the weather cooperated. Randy has now officially joined me, Ty, and Emily as a member of the Alumni Council. Randy will serve on the Reunion Advisory Committee. Maybe he will be our facilitator when we start planning our 60th reunion. • Peter Crumb “flew in and out” for a program he holds for alumni. Bill Batty was registered for the Hall of Fame luncheon but unfortunately we did not connect. Our group toured the campus in a small golf cart caravan and had a mini reunion dinner in Alumni Hall. • I finally found our class pictures in Alumni Hall. My brother, Harlan Baxter ’56, was back for his 60th and we went to the Shabbat service in Social Hall. The service is a continuing event started by members of the class of ’59. The class continues to participate in and influence campus life as it always has. • Jim Newman writes, “We have settled in our
Alums like you frequently say, “I wish I could do more.” You can. By including NMH in your will. With that simple act, you can have an impact on NMH students for generations to come.
Call 413-498-3084 or go to www.nmhschool.org/ plannedgiving new summer home in Plymouth, Mass., and enjoy seeing the families of our two sons and their six young children. The return was hectic after discovering a water pipe froze and cracked in our finished basement, requiring over four weeks of remediation. We have not yet connected with nearby classmates, but hope to do so.” • Dan Waugh and Charlotte are back from another foreign adventure, this time two months in London, thanks to the loan of a flat. They worked in a tour to Pompeii and Herculaneum and a short trip to the Netherlands for an academic conference. The main purpose of the trip was for Dan to bring close to completion a book project on the British consul in Kashgar (western China) in the early 1920s. Apart from long days at the keyboard and in the archives, the cornucopia of cultural events in London overflowed: plays (including some linked to Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary of his death), operas, and concerts. Living close to the Barbican Centre with its multiple venues made it difficult for Dan and Charlotte to resist. • Bill Sihler has been residing in the Phoenix area for the last 34 years. Last year marked his 50 years of marriage to Giovanna, and over the years they have enjoyed several trips to Italy. Bill was a one-year non-PG student in our class. He recalls being the only student on campus during Thanksgiving 1958, as his home was Alaska. He speaks of having two class of ’59
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CLASS NOTES
(Back row) Tom Bethea ’59, Dan Poteet ’59, Clay Pruitt ’58, Nancy Poteet; (front row) Bonnie Bethea, Charlie Wantman ’59, Roberta Elliott Wantman, and Lynn Pruitt got together in Arizona, March 2016.
Mt. Hermon friends at Middlebury College: David Burtis and Terry Aldrich. Another Mt. Hermon connection for Bill was Stu Campbell ’60. They were teachers at Burlington (Vermont) High School in the late 1960s when Bill was a social studies teacher. • Paul White focuses on family during his travels. This year he’s visited family in Santa Cruz, Calif., and Seattle, and attended a family reunion in Madison, Wis. “I indulged my hiking habit,” says Paul, “by joining my ‘geezergang’ buddies [last year] for a Swiss Alps trek … a week of spectacular vistas, high mountain passes, and refreshingly hard work. Afterward, three of us tackled the crampon/rope climb of the almost 14,000-foot Breithorn above Zermatt — probably the last time I’ll do something quite so crazy. It was while at NMH that I got my grounding in rudimentary mountaineering skills, including one nerve-wracking weekend climb of an ice-covered Mt. Monadnock.” Earlier this year, Paul checked off another bucket list item by going on photo safaris in Kenya and Tanzania. “We were arm’s length from lions, elephants, zebras, and the list goes on.” He is still working with the Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (San Antonio, N.M.), and reminds us that we are all welcome to “turn up” in northern New Mexico. • Tom Bethea’s household is on the move. “After enjoying five winters in an active 55+ community in the Tucson area,” writes Tom, “we have decided to make Arizona our primary residence.” Meanwhile, during a six-day bike tour from Prague to Vienna, Tom fell into a conversation with a fellow cyclist, Wendy Roberts ’67, who turned out to be a Northfield girl. Tom and Wendy enjoyed comparing notes on their respective experiences at “the Northfield schools.” Tom’s younger brother, David Bethea ’66, attended his 50th reunion, and older brother, Steve Bethea ’57, looks forward to attending his 60th next year. • David Brewster is sliding into retirement, but is not quite there yet. His latest activity was turning three trees into firewood. • Soren West is hiking the Appalachian Trail with his dog. Good luck with that, Soren. • In February I had some fun with the Founders Day challenge. I had a great
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Charles Blair ’60 (far right) has a day of fun with grandchildren (from left) Kennan, Ryan, and Brianna, and daughter Paulette Murphy at a water park.
conversation with Kim Eaton. I turned tables and called Nev Davison. I learned that the inspirations for the class of ’59 cartoons come while he does the dishes. In the summer of 2015, Nev and Jane Fisher Davison ’60 went traveling and were able to see the Cohens, the Poteets, and the Dowdens, as well as visits to see Mary Casey Williams ’57 and Peter Welsh. • I contacted Dan Poteet and wished him an easy winter, but he got 10 inches of snow. He was in good spirits anyway due to a trip to Arizona, which included visits with Charles Wantman, Tom Bethea, and Clay Pruit ’58. And in one of my calls I caught Peter Welsh traveling in a blizzard to deliver a puppy to a client. Nev and Jane were due at Canthope Kennels in June. How about some pictures? I will get them out to the class.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Phil Allen philhallen@gmail.com
From Phil: Unfortunately, Bruce McClintock fell and broke a hip. He now has a new hip and is on the way back to normal. All best wishes, Bruce! • Fred Black writes, “My wife and I recently went to Barbados for a couple of weeks. We had never gone snorkeling before. It was a fabulous experience. We could get our rum drinks by 10 am and lounge on the beach, too. We also spent a week with friends at Vero Beach and are now planning a two-week trip on a Viking Cruise ship from Basel to Amsterdam to celebrate our birthdays.” In summer, Fred and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. • Doug Barrett and wife Sally had a terrific winter 2016 at their place in Jupiter, Fla., and enjoyed time with friends, biking, golfing, visits to the beach, and going on walks. Doug celebrated his 75th birthday with friends. “A lot of water over the dam since those Hermon days,” he says. “Our 11 grandchildren are growing up fast: seven teenagers, three in their 20s, one 10-year-old, and five of them in college. They keep us extremely busy. Haven’t been back to Mt. Hermon since 2014, nor encountered any classmates. Time runs by pretty fast at our age and I try to enjoy every minute!” • George Banziger has retired from
serving as college dean and grant writer. “I live in historic Marietta, Ohio,” writes George. “I now do grant writing gratis for a local multiuse trail and for a local effort to bring national speakers on interfaith dialogue. My strong foundation in writing skills at NMH served me well as a grant writer.” George volunteers for his local food-recovery program and his Unitarian-Universalist congregation, where he serves as president. • Charles Blair writes, “I am doing pretty well, although with some health problems as one would expect at 73 years of age. I’ve lived in Arlington, Va., just across the Potomac River from D.C. and the White House, for 36 years now. Been involved in spiritual and personal growth with the Pathwork for 39 years, and have found peace in my life. Retired, of course, from the Department of Health and Human Services and still dating after my divorce many years ago. Would love to hear from any Hermonites, wherever you are, and wish everyone well.” • Marv Kelley keeps busy with volunteer roles in the community (Greenfield, Mass.). It keeps him out of trouble, he says. Marv, Karl Radune, and Dave White get together for lunch every two or three months. In his note he lauds Karl, and I heartily agree, for his outstanding job fundraising for the class of ’60. • Jon Ross had lunch with Curt Ley and his wife, who are considering moving to New Hampshire. Curt is retired, but Jon continues to practice family law full time and still enjoys it. “Kathy and I make time for our three grandsons, who live in Winchester, Mass.,” says Jon, “and we see our three daughters as often as possible.” Jon and Kathy attended the American Bar Association (ABA) meeting in San Francisco in August and visited Napa and Sonoma, Calif., enjoying and tasting good food and wine. “I am still active in the ABA and serve on the Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and the ABA Day committee in Washington, D.C. I am also on the advisory committee for Breakthrough Manchester at the Derryfield School, which is an enrichment program for mostly socioeconomically challenged bright kids in Manchester, N.H. We have 22 different countries of origin in this year’s program. About 90 percent go on to college, and many are the first in their families to do so. A very satisfying way to volunteer.” • Conrad Plimpton’s friends may remember that he and his family were international residents and travelers. He is communicating with classmates and continues a globetrotting life. • John Waaser has struck another item off his bucket list by now being a published author. • John LeRoy caught up with Phil Allen at Phil and Judy’s home in Modesto, Calif. “It was great to reminisce about NMH,” says John, “and enjoy a superb lunch prepared by Judy on their sunny patio. Phil looked great after many years as an educator at several prestigious schools in the U.S. and Italy. He and Judy are enjoying their retirement and living part time in Italy and Northern California. And he is helping coach
CLASS NOTES a local high school tennis team in Modesto. As frequently happens, our years apart disappeared quickly as Phil and I shared NMH stories over a glass of sauvignon blanc. Fond memories came back of classes with Judson Stent, football victories over Deerfield, athletic privs, the work program, and experiences with so many of our favorite classmates! Most of all what was present in our reminiscing was how grateful we both are for our very rich four-year experience at NMH, how it molded us for the better as impressionable young men, prepared us well for our college experiences, and gave us a healthy and meaningful perspective on life that has served us well. After spending some quality time with Judy, I think that Phil and I have both married well.” • John adds, “Cheri and I look forward to spending more time with Phil and Judy during their annual stays in Northern California — anyone in the San Francisco area is welcome to join us — as we age gracefully and prepare for upcoming NMH functions like our 60th reunion.”
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Northfield Mount Hermon Alexandra Groome Scopteuolo sandis10992@yahoo.com • Craig Walley operacraig@aol.com
From Alexandra “Sandi” Groome Scopteuolo: Hi, I’m your new class secretary (Gretel Porter resigned — thank you, Gretel, for serving our class!). • We had a wonderful reunion in June. Attendees were: Sally Hemenway Hall, Lucy Benjamin Hazler and husband Hans, Judy Howland, Bobbie Baldwin Joe, Gail Buerger Kerr, Shirley French Kingsbury, Stu and Sue Flasch McCalley, Jack and Rev. Susan Hayden Russell, Paul Althouse, Joe Berlant, John Bryan, Graham Cole, Chris Emmet, Warren Ferris, Pete Johnson, Les Leong, Bruce Schwanda, Al Simpson, Craig Walley, John Wheeler, and me. It’s such a great time to connect or re-connect with classmates! Even better, after the reunion we had 100 percent of the returning alumni donate to the school! In case you didn’t know, grants are awarded on alumni participation and the higher percentage helps, so if you haven’t donated, please consider it. Even $1 helps! • Aurelia Brazeal couldn’t attend reunion because she is driving her granddaughter to
Jo Dawson Kidder ’61 poses with her husband.
NMH for summer classes and just couldn’t imagine doing three drives from Washington, D.C. Jane Dawson Kidder couldn’t make it, but she had a wonderful cruise with friends down the Canal Du Midi in southern France. • Carol White Odell also couldn’t attend because she, her husband, and her brother (John White ’68) were doing an opening of a gallery in Cape Cod. She still has the Odell Studio Gallery in Chatham, Mass., working with oils and encaustic (wax). Carol has four grands. Her daughter, Alison, was class of ’95, and her son, John, was class of ’98. • Lucy Benjamin Hazler still looks the same and Gail Buerger Kerr looks even more glamorous than ever. Bobbie Baldwin Joe looks the same, too. Her husband, Lightning, couldn’t make the trip, but he is now sporting a new leg. • Diane “DeDe” Griffiths La Pan lives in Winter Haven, Fla., and has seven grands and three stepgrands. Her older son is in California and her younger son is in Nashville writing music. Her new puppy, a Maltese Shih Tzu, is her constant companion. • I live in Washingtonville, N.Y., with my husband, Matt, of 53 years. We have two daughters — a doctor and a lawyer — and five grands. The whole family is going on a cruise of the Mediterranean to celebrate two grands who have graduated high school. • If you are sorry
your news isn’t here, contact me for the next magazine issue. • From Craig Walley: A fine reunion was had by about 20 members of the class of ’61. • Bruce Schwanda and his wife, Anne, drove up to NMH from Florida. • On Saturday night, Dobbs Hartshorne entertained us with some lovely Bach and a very funny song and dance about a lost turtle. (You had to be there.) • John Hann, John Bryan, Pete Johnson, Joe Berlant, Chuck Bennett, John Wheeler, Les Leong, and Rick Najaka joined us as well. As always, there was a lot of re-connecting and remembering. It was great fun and the campus looked great. • At our class meeting, Graham Cole reminded us of the need to continue supporting our class Scholarship Fund and the General Fund. • Now for the wildlife report. On Sunday morning, my wife, Connie, and I took a short walk toward Dwight’s home and then turned back toward the dorm. Suddenly, we heard shouts of “bear!” from the area of Overtoun. We stopped and watched a large black bear lumber across the road in front of us and disappear into the woods. • Stanley France is
Jock Bethune ’62 (left) and John Wilson ’62 share their Scottish heritage.
still on the family farm in Middleburgh, N.Y. •
Chris Emmet is piling up frequent flier miles,
spending two weeks a month in Costa Rica with his new wife and her family, and the rest of the time in Far Hills, N.J., looking after his 50 horses. • Finally, Stu McCalley is retiring (partially) from his medical practice. By contrast, Warren Ferris continues his medical practice in Maryland.
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Northfield Louise Cole Nicollet lnicollet@gmail.com
Dear Classmates, It’s taken me a long time to process losing my beloved Northfield friend, Susan Saunders Chandler, and I’m still in a state of disbelief concerning her passing on 10/21/15. Though I am more than willing to step into Susan’s place as our class correspondent, I’ve been remiss this time. My apologies. It may not help that, in last year’s fall issue, my email address was incorrect. It is now correctly listed above. In any case, I’m hereby encouraging you to send your news for the next issue. With very best regards to you all. — Weezie
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Mount Hermon E. Scott Calvert scottcalvert@mac.com
I received a good response to my email appeal for notes. If you did not receive my appeal, visit the NMH website and add your email to the list in the NMH Online Community under Stay Connected in the Alumni section of the website. • As hard as it is to think about, most of us will have 50th college reunions this year. I just got back from mine, a very enjoyable weekend. I’m still pondering the reality that you can sit down with someone you have not seen in 50 years and have a conversation as though you last saw each other a month ago. On the way to reunion, I had a chance to catch up with Roger W. Smith, who is enjoying retirement while contemplating the inevitable downsize. While at reunion, I spent time with Thom Vargish, who has retired from his medical career in Chicago and moved to the Chesapeake Bay. With wife Kate, he is enjoying broadened sailing opportunities on the East Coast, this summer up to Maine for the first time. I also ran into Carlton Davis at reunion. He is in Pasadena, Calif., winding down an architecture career. • Bill Arnold writes, “Last October I gave a talk to NMH students about U.S. energy policy. It led to discussion with faculty about a proposed natural gas pipeline that would pass through Northfield. Students teamed up with a group of my Rice University M.B.A.s for an in-depth study of the project and residents’ views of it. To the best of my knowledge, it was the first time top secondaryschool students and M.B.A.s collaborated on a project. A representative of Kinder Morgan, the Houston company developing the project, attended the presentation here at Rice. Since then, Kinder Morgan withdrew the project for economic reasons. I have signed up for another year of graduate school teaching.”
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CLASS NOTES Bill travels to London a few times a year for Lloyd’s Register International Energy Advisory Committee meetings and an annual talk at Windsor Castle. “Otherwise, I’m trying to keep up with three New York grandchildren, occasional fishing, and photography. Cathy enjoys her retirement from banking.” • Bill Hiss is “happily entering his fourth year of retirement after a 35-year stint at Bates as a dean of admissions, vice-president, and lecturer in Asian studies.” He was involved in a national study of optional standardized testing in college admissions, with more than 40 colleges and universities adopting test-optional policies after the study was published. He also co-authored a follow-up study examining admissions funnel changes for colleges that adopt test-optional policies. Bill is happily a beekeeper, soccer ref, on crew for boats up and down the East Coast, a church moderator, and a grandfather. • Ted Lenz writes from Carlsbad, Calif., where he and Anne spend some time each spring and fall. “I still work out four times a week and go into the office once or twice a week,” says Ted. “However, a few signs of old age are creeping in: cataract surgery on both eyes, perhaps hearing aids in the near future. The trick is to remain young at heart so that every day is a blessing.” • Claire and Richard Mueller have returned. Richard writes, “We’ve been blessed with two wonderful careers: 32 years for both of us as diplomats in the U.S. Foreign Service and 15 years in education as head of school. Turns out that both demand similar skills. When we retired after seven years at NMH, we moved to the Hong Kong International School for five years. Three years ago we landed in Shanghai, where I’ve been head of school at Shanghai American School with 3,000 students on two campuses. Fascinating being back in China to observe current society and trends. Claire and I are now in the Denver area for an ‘extended sabbatical’ and to be closer to family. We’re blessed with five grandchildren under the age of 6. While in Shanghai, we were pleased to stay in touch with a number of our NMH grads from Hong Kong and China. They all praised their education at NMH. We hope to stay put for a while in Denver and to cross paths with NMH grads. My goal is to be more flexible in spending time with grandchildren, writing about foreign affairs and education, and traveling.” • Ted Thompson writes, “My metastatic melanoma continues to be stable, but I’m now dealing with prostate cancer. It should be treatable successfully. Depending on my health, Ann and I plan to begin wintering in Florida beginning in January. Meanwhile, I keep busy working part time at the Dartmouth tennis facility, and playing tennis, paddle-, and pickleball a few times a week.” • John Wilson and wife Jane left their winter home in Florida and headed back to the Berkshires. John attended his 50th reunion at Westminster College. “We had the pleasure of seeing Jock Bethune in Arlington, Texas,”
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Bill Hiss ’62 relaxes on the water.
says John, “where we celebrated our common Scottish heritage.” • Doug Werner writes, “Probably many of us went to our college 50th reunion this year, mine at Wesleyan. In my case, NMH was essential to getting admitted to a top college, and I am very grateful. Pam retires this summer and I finish my year as Commodore of San Diego Yacht Club in December, giving us free time to travel and spend summers at our camp on Upper Saranac Lake. We look forward to a long trip to New Zealand next spring.” • Your correspondent has been traveling again on an impromptu trip to Cape Town, where Kori and I caught up with Britt MacLaughlin. Britt has long been retired after 39 years at University of Cape Town, where he sequentially taught, ran the first-year student orientation, and was a deputy dean. He splits his time between his two South African houses with his two dogs on the Western Cape and travels in Europe whenever he can. He calls himself a “Mediterranean man.” In March, Kori and I took a trip to Easter Island and Patagonia: fascinating history and jawdropping scenery. • A final note on reunions: Our 55th is coming up in June 2017. Mark your calendar.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Diane Sewall Chaisson diane@meadowlarks-farm.net • Willard Thomen wthomen@stfrancis.edu
From Diane: Elise Elderkin and Sue Hemenway Nealon were on a cruise around Sarasota Bay. A wonderful change from the cold and a great chance for them to catch up. • Harriet Goff Guerrero writes, “I was appointed to our airport committee in Cuernavaca, Mexico, last year, and we finally were able to start commercial flights from Cuernavaca to Monterey and Guadalajara. I was asked to cut the ribbon at the ceremony in March and went on the inaugural flight to Monterey. Also, this year our language school in Cuernavaca celebrates 36 years working with the University of Minnesota and their Learning Abroad Center.” • On a stop in San Francisco on the way to Hawaii, Bill and I (Diane Sewall Chaisson) had dinner with Mardi Coyle Kildebeck. While on Oahu, we met with Faith Milnes and had a fabulous sunset
dinner at Moana Surfrider, with time to catch up. Faith is a professor of textile design at Chaminade University in Honolulu. I found we had weaving in common; Faith exhibits her woven rugs and other artwork in Honolulu this fall. NMH people show up in many far-flung places, as Glenda King Young ’64 and her husband, Jeff, were part of our tour. We had a wonderful time catching up while visiting Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, black sand beaches, lava tubes, volcanoes, luaus, whales, canyons, and the Road to Hana. Four islands in 12 days! • Carol Waaser is still enjoying retirement, going to museums, theater, and concerts, and is cycling a lot. She cycled from Copenhagen to Berlin in August, and is considering a four-week cycling tour across South Africa next March. “Anyone want to join me?” asks Carol. • Jacquie Ballou Sullivan is still writing her book on spirituality and social work. “It is a long but dynamic process. I have taken time off from working to do this. But now they want me back to do senior therapy part time. My husband and I are enjoying our 11-month-old granddaughter, Grace. She is our first and only grandchild, and my son is a very doting dad. Sometimes the best things happen later in life.” • Candace Kent enjoys her photography and is currently working on her 2017 Bellefonte, Penn., calendar that features the town’s beautiful Victorian architecture. This will be her 14th year producing calendars. She participated in the Centre County United Way funds distribution process and looks forward to participating in the United Way Day of Caring in the fall. Candace also volunteers for her local public radio station and enjoys answering phones during pledge campaigns. The highlight this year was a flight in an open-cockpit vintage biplane in April. Candace keeps in touch with Susan Freund Borden and purchases NMH farm maple syrup every year. • Suzanne Abbott writes, “I have moved to a new address in Florida and have a new significant other and a brand-new family, as he has two sons.” • Carol Tyler Kirk and her husband participate in medieval re-enactment through the Society for Creative Anachronism. “My particular area of interest is medieval embroidery,” says Carol, “and I have become somewhat of a subject matter expert on the Bayeux Tapestry. As an outcome of my fascination with the tapestry, I flew to England in February to attend a workshop on the Bayeux Tapestry at Oxford University in commemoration of the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. I was also able to wander around the town of Oxford and the Oxford University campuses. And one night I ate dinner at the Child and Eagle, the pub where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis hung out with their other literary friends. I’ll be doing the Houston Quilt Show and then spending several weekends demonstrating hand spinning and weaving at the Texas Renaissance Faire.” • Molly Hogan has been to Palestine
CLASS NOTES
Suzanne Abbott ’63 enjoys time with Joe.
twice this year and attended a wedding that included a two-day celebration, with dancing and beautiful costumes, and a night in the desert above the Dead Sea. • Bob and Susan Freund Borden had lunch with Mimi Woodcock Karlsson and her husband, John, a few times over the year. Susan and Bob also had lunch with Deb Jenks when visiting Massachusetts in March. “We attended a concert to see Pam Sargent Ryley and Roger singing with Con Brio, the new choral group they’ve joined,” writes Susan. “In June, we visited Katie Steinmetz Dater and Phil at their summer cottage in Westbrook, Conn. Pam and Roger were there as well, so it was a mini-reunion. Pam is retiring from her long teaching career at the end of this year!” • I enjoy gardening in the spring and summer months. Lately, I’ve kept myself very busy trying to place all my father’s artwork. For those who don’t know, my dad was a natural history illustrator for Life magazine, Scientific American, and Sports Illustrated in the 1950s and 1960s. Most of his art is being donated to the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven, but a couple pieces have been given to other museums as well. • From Will: Holt “Beau” Anderson had a surprise quintuple coronary bypass last December. All is good, and he is enjoying his new physique, healthy diet, exercise, and support from Susan. He spends volunteer time working with the health care sector in reaching the vision and long overdue continuously learning health system, so we make continually improving health decisions with better outcomes. He looks forward to our 55th reunion and hearing from classmates. • Chris Frederick enjoyed a 10-day scenic cruise last fall from Boston, touching ports in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and then up the St. Lawrence River to Quebec and Montreal. As our class representative for planned giving, he wants to remind us that as we make our inheritance plans to seriously consider leaving a legacy gift to NMH. He is more than willing to help in this matter and put one in touch confidentially with the NMH experts. He also wants to remind us that our Class of 1963 Scholarship Fund, which was established as our 50th anniversary gift to the school, will accept contributions in perpetuity and remains open to all gifts. Chris has made the fund a regular part of his annual contribution
Hank Prescott ’63 (left) and son Henry take a break for a photograph on their biking expedition.
to NMH and hopes you will do likewise. • Pete Conklin is still busy running his company and volunteering with the Lions, hospice, and other local organizations. He’s proud of his two wonderful kids, three wonderful grandchildren, and his “super wife”! • Scott Johnson writes, “Chip MacDonald and I returned to campus for the 125th anniversary of the Pie Race on a beautiful fall day in November 2015. We were pleased to learn that the requirement for earning a pie for all classes graduating before ’66 is just finishing the race. I’m happy and proud to report that we both earned our pies.” • Rob Liotard and his wife, Marcia, continue to volunteer in a number of capacities, which they find both stimulating and rewarding. Their latest adventure is fostering a prematurely born baby girl. Vermont is experiencing a real crisis in opiate addiction. The Department for Children and Families now has more infants and newborns in their system than teenagers. They made an urgent call for people to foster these children, and Bob and Marcia decided it was something they could do. Marcia’s past experience as a nurse included many years in neonatal care. Their house is now full with crib, changing table, car seat, stroller, bottles, formula, and diapers. They are somewhat sleep-deprived, but are having a great time. • Hank Prescott and his son, Henry Prescott III, completed a cross-country cycling trip in June 2015. His son and a friend did the cycling while Hank drove the support vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser. They began the 3,500-mile trek in Anacortes, Wash., and ended in Portland, Conn. Hank’s son organized the trip to raise money for Parkinson’s, with more than $40,000 raised so far. “By any measure, you would have to say it was a success,” says Hank. They had the daunting task of completing the ride in 45 days, with many challenges, but also many rewards. When they arrived in Portland, Conn., a police escort, along with print media and television news reporters, were waiting for them. A great undertaking! • Leonard Santos has been speaking publicly on the subject of international trade. With his knowledge on this subject, he has been in some demand for editorials and speeches. “I hope my audiences find what I have to say enlightening,” writes Leonard, “but based on the reactions to my editorials, I am afraid the level of economic
illiteracy in this country is higher that I realized. On a happier note, the Santos Family Foundation is pleased by the progress MIT is making on developing a means of detecting distracted driving. Using funds from our foundation, Toyota, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, MIT is building a mousetrap that may be able to alert drivers to their distractions before they kill themselves or someone else.” • Conway Stone and wife Nancy Howard Stone spent a lovely and sunny two weeks in Great Britain visiting their daughter, Rachel. They journeyed to Northumberland to explore Alnwick and its splendid used-book emporium: Barter Books. “This mega-volume site inhabits the former Alnwick Railway Station, creatively decorated with all things ‘iron horse,’ but also invoking an NMH-familiar English gospel hymn (‘and did those feet in ancient times ...’),” says Conway. • Bill Utley was on a transatlantic cruise last spring: Port Canaveral to Boston to Nova Scotia to Dublin to Liverpool to Dover. He was in England last January with BentProp doing preliminary reconnaissance, setting up the possible search for a B-17 WWII bomber missing with 10 men onboard. BentProp is a volunteer organization that assists in locating and repatriating the remains of missing airmen from WWII. In March, Bill was in Palau with BentProp locating the crash site of a Navy plane in about 90 feet of water where the three-man crew was lost. • Rick Waltman closed his office practice after 33 years and is now seeing patients in several long-term-care facilities: people who are too frail or too cognitively impaired to go out for medical care. “This is a whole new world for me, and it is one most doctors will never see. The work is very gratifying because I am having a positive impact on people who need all the help they can get. Some have early onset dementia, many are homeless, and all are in tough shape. So how long will I keep doing this? For as long as I can make a difference. I believe that Mt. Hermon gave us a sense of purpose and an urge to contribute. I am grateful for that.” Rick’s Kindle book, Good Rabble, Bad Rabble, recalls Mt. Hermon, and all proceeds go to My Yellowstone Adventure, a program that he and his wife, Ruth, started to send needy kids to Yellowstone National Park. • Ricker Winsor is living permanently in Surabaya, Indonesia,
Ricker Winsor ’63 performs in Indonesia.
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CLASS NOTES teaching English two days a week at a good secondary school, Cita Hati Christian Senior School. He also paints, plays tennis, and goes around with his Chinese-Indonesian wife, Jovita, their daughter, Grace, and extended family. He now speaks fluent Indonesian. Ricker is connected with the Duta Fine Arts Foundation in Jakarta and the Bali Center for Creativity in Ubud, Bali. He posts his paintings about once a week on Facebook and his website is rickerwinsor.com. • I am most grateful for all your interesting messages for our class notes.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Robert Eastman rheastman4@comcast.net • Pamela Street Walton pawalton@myfairpoint.net
From Pam: You know you’re getting older when it takes extra time to recall the maiden names of your Northfield classmates (when “Gail Pare” comes to mind more easily than “Gail Myers”). Yes, most of us are celebrating our 70th in 2016. Happy birthday to everyone who has begun, or is about to begin, her eighth decade of life! • Speaking of Gail Myers Pare, it will surprise no one that she attended reunion convocation in June, as she has done for more than 25 years (plus all our early reunion years). “I do not believe I have ever seen more young alumni in attendance,” says Gail. “The final affirmation of the convocation came when the attendees almost unanimously shouted ‘bring me my arrows!’ during ‘Jerusalem!’” Gail’s term on the Alumni Council ended in June. In appreciation, the advancement office created a framed montage combining the music of the Northfield Benediction with an image of Northfield girls and Sage Chapel that was presented to Gail by fellow members of the Nominating Committee. Her montage gift became more poignant eight hours later when she learned that her mother had passed away. Gail decided to stay the rest of reunion weekend and was glad she did. Note that Gail’s father worked in Kenarden for the ’51 and ’52 school years, so her mother was a “staff wife” who had fond memories of her years on campus. The family lived in Fairbanks House. Gail finds the plans for the next iteration of an NMH education truly amazing, and she is working on convincing her daughter-in-law that the granddaughters would make excellent Hoggers. Thank you, Gail, for all you do for our class and NMH. • Marianne Weishaar Hirschman was also on campus for Reunion 2016. Marianne accompanied her mother, Helen Small Weishaar ’41, who this year celebrated her 75th reunion from Northfield School for Girls. Marianne wrote, “It was a memorable reunion weekend with four of her classmates. All her classmates were equally sharp, spry, and entertaining. Of course, time spent with Dorcas Platt Abell ’41 was the best. Remarkably, Peter Weis ’78 was able to
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Helen Small Weishaar ’41 (left) attends Reunion 2016 with daughter Marianne Weishaar Hirschman ’64.
Peter Hubbard ’64 and wife Hannah attend the wedding of Bill Haggerty’s ’64 son.
retrieve my grandmother’s (Marian Lawrence Small) file from 1913. It included her application, letters of recommendation, and a letter from the headmaster saying she would not be readmitted after her appendectomy because it had been the school’s experience that students did not do well after being sidelined for health reasons! It was amazing.” • Jean Kamman Burling and her husband, Peter, built a house three years ago on a barrier island north of Delray Beach, Fla. It is close to Palm Beach, with all the culture of symphonies, theater, and ballet. They are splitting their time in Florida and in Cornish, N.H., and continue to travel. Last January they went on an expedition to Vietnam, cruising on the Mekong River and exploring Cambodia and Hong Kong. Jean wrote, “It was a fabulous, educational trip full of contrasts as we met the people, who were full of genuine warmth. It was so interesting to learn about these countries from the perspective of their history and culture. We visited the same places where we had seen pictures of the horror suffered on both sides during the war in the 1960s and 1970s. How little our government and military knew about their combatants and their culture in that time.” • In May, Kathy Childs Jones traveled to London and the Cotswolds with a group from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. A highlight of her three days in London was a visit with Marty Reinisch at Brown’s Hotel, Mayfair. Both grew up in Holyoke, Mass., met in elementary school, graduated from the same middle school, and lived in Merrill Keep at Northfield. They last saw each other in 1989 at our 25th reunion. Marty continues to work as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist. Don and Sue Delaney McConchie, coming from Scotland in May, spent a night with Marty last spring en route home to San Diego. A few days before the McConchies arrived, Elise Elderkin ’63 stayed overnight with Marty before her trip to the East Coast. Although Marty didn’t come across the pond for our 50th, she plans to attend our 55th in 2019. • Since April, Kit Andrews has been diligently working for Bernie Sanders. Kit said, “What an exhilarating experience! Right here in Burlington, Vt., and also in Iowa, New Hampshire, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Everywhere there has been plenty to do and great people to do it with.”
Her only breaks have been a 2015 summer rest with Linda Seiffert Reynolds and family visits with daughters Nel Andrews ’94 and Margo Andrews ’94. When Linda (Kit’s Northfield roommate) stopped by the Andrews cottage in W. Boothbay Harbor, Maine, for a visit, Kit was amazed by Linda’s clear memories of her descriptions of this beloved spot from 50 years ago. They had a terrific time examining every piece of the cottage, the land, and the shoreline. Kit’s daughter Margo and family are doing well — granddaughter Hazel (7) is a second-grader. Margo finished her first year of teaching environmental science at the Pennington School. Kit said Margo has come full circle from her favorite class at NMH! However, Kit’s greatest news is that on April 30, Nel gave birth to her first child, a baby girl. Baby Eli and her moms are all doing great! • In late May, Kathy Marsh and Kathy Childs Jones attended the afternoon exercises at Harvard’s commencement, an event with great pomp and pageantry. Steven Spielberg, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker, gave the commencement address. Kathy Marsh shared experiences from her trip in March to Patagonia, a region in Argentina, and her plans to update her Airstream for more travel. • My husband, Ken, and I are in the minority by rarely venturing to locations outside New England, so when we spent last February near San Diego, Calif., that was a big deal. While on Coronado, I had a long lunch with Sue Delaney McConchie, and the following week both Ken and I enjoyed dinner at the McConchies’ home: good food and lots of conversation. Hawaii, Alaska, and a river cruise are on our bucket list … maybe. • Tidbits from Marcia Stacy Kemp and Sue Creasy Case: Marcia is elated that she received a clean bill of health from all her doctors and that she was not hospitalized last summer as she had been the past two summers. Sue invited anyone traveling in the area to visit her in Mexico, an area which National Geographic claims has the second-best climate in the world (so where’s the first?). • May the holidays bring you joy, and as you write checks to pay for the festivities, remember your years at Northfield and Christmas Vespers and send a little something (or more) to our class scholarship fund. Pretty please. • From Bob: Steve Newcombe writes,
CLASS NOTES “My wife and I have been working diligently to prepare our ‘bug-out-bag’ for the upcoming earthquake. We live quite near the Oregon coast and the experts tell us that the Cascadia Subduction Zone is only a few miles off the coast. It goes off at the 9.0 Richter scale level every 200 years or so, and the last one was 300 years ago. The experts tell us to have a bug-out-bag ready in case we have to leave quickly. This bag should contain water, food, clothes, etc. Karen and I have decided never to leave our home again so as never to need this bag. We will hunker down in our fallen-down ‘dream house’ surrounded with food, water, lots of toilet paper, and enough batteries to run a small city. Since this earthquake could hit at any time, this may be the last communication I will have with my NMH family. God bless you.” • Jeff Haight is still living in Sunnyvale, Calif., and has two wonderful grandchildren (a boy, 4, and a girl, 1). Jeff writes, “Still proving weekly that I am not a natural in golf. Wife (nurse) planning to retire in December, so I’ll need to step up preparation for my future pole-dancing career or lose fewer golf balls. I realized too late that engineering was not a field that allowed me to fully leverage my charm or beauty.” • Peter Guild: “I have been taking my new Z06 Corvette to track days, where you can race the track as fast as you want but not against other cars … right! Have been to Daytona on the Rolex 24-hour course and to Virginia International. My friend Butch has a similar car and we have fun doing it … no crashes yet. Ann and I went to New Orleans in May for Bill Haggerty’s son Tom’s wedding. Peter Hubbard was there and we had a great time and thought of Bill often.” Ann and Peter visited Belgium, where Peter did a track day at the iconic 4.5 mile SPA Francorchamps F1 racetrack, driving a BMW M3. They went to the Le Mans 24-hour race to cheer for Peter’s Corvette GM buddies to win again. • Anyone out there wonder what happened to Bob Stoller? Check out this link supplied by Dave Chosiad: bkgm.com/articles/Simborg/ zRobertStoller/index.html. • Just a reminder: The class website, northfieldandmounthermon1964.com, is alive and well. If you have not yet joined, let me know and I will help you get started. Very secure and there is no cost to you. If you have joined and are having any problems, let me know that, too. As
(From left) Weezie Cole Nicollet ’62, Pam LeClair Rogers ’65, Jean Claude Nicollet, and Jonathan Cole ’65 meet up to reminisce.
always, write often and send money. It is always a good time to add money to the Class of 1964 Scholarship.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Wendy Swanson-Avirgan wsavirgan@aol.com • Henri Rauschenbach henri.rauschenbach@gmail.com www.northfieldmounthermon65.com
From Wendy: We were saddened to learn of the death of Janetha Benson’s husband, Dr. Russell DeJong Jr., on 01/30/16. Sincere condolences to Janetha, daughter Sarah, and son Mark. • Linda Ames Nicolosi is busy writing: “I am working on articles on American history (I had one published in Sierra Heritage), cultural matters (with a recent article that appeared in Crisis magazine), and stories on the great, noble-spirited adventurers of the American West. In between, I hike the high trails of Yosemite and kayak the mountain lakes. I have a theory that hard times raise up great souls, and I think that’s the source of my deep attraction to the old West. Maybe it’s the spirit of a pioneering ancestor calling me.” • Sally Atwood Hamilton writes, “This summer I’ve become a docent for the Pemaquid Point lighthouse in New Harbor, Maine. I get to welcome visitors from around the world, tell them a bit of the history of this particular light, and manage the groups as they climb into the lantern room to see the view and the light. There’s a glorious view over the ocean from the little room where I work. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.” • Abby Ayers Bruce and your correspondent, Wendy Swanson Avirgan, met for dinner in March. Abby had recently returned from visiting her two grandchildren in Seattle. She and Steve had just adopted two Siamese kittens and were looking forward to visiting Spain and Portugal in May for concerts and sightseeing with their Con Brio choral group. • From Cynthia Battis, “I moved to South Yarmouth on Cape Cod in July 2015. I retired as a librarian at the public library of Brookline, Mass., after 41 years and am now involved with a committee in Yarmouth investigating the possibility of building a new library for this town. I am also studying Italian, reading to 3-year-olds in a day care center, helping out at an archaeological dig, attending meetings of genealogy groups, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and The Friday Club — a 115-year-old women’s club that holds bake sales to raise money for Cape Cod charities. I wonder if they would like Bishop’s Bread.” • Robin Burroughs retired two years ago and moved from Manhattan to a historic town in Maryland to be closer to family. “After 30 years in New York City, my kitties and I love our three-bedroom apartment with garden and parking space,” says Robin. “I am painting and enjoying the bay and the beautiful countryside.” • Abigail Crine became a grandparent for the first time in April and is
grateful every day for good health, friends on both coasts, and her job working with bright, motivated college students. She says, “Reunion was great fun. I particularly enjoyed observing and hearing about the differences in the way we lived on the Northfield campus compared to daily life at Mt. Hermon.” • Deborah Crockett Rice is “still living on Cape Cod and working two jobs: one at Cape Cod Healthcare as a cancer outcome specialist and the other as senior travel agent at a Virtuoso agency. We have two Maine coon cats we adore, and travel extensively. Just got back from a trip to the Canary Islands, Morocco, and Lisbon with friends. I am looking forward to another wonderful weekend with my ’65 Northfield dorm mates.” • Jan Finney Schilling went to Chengdu, China, in April to visit her son and family, and later attended Mountain TOP Adults in Ministry’s camp. “We tore out layers of 100+-year-old floors. Next camp week the team will finish the kitchen and hopefully get them a new bathroom/laundry room, too,” says Jan. Besides her volunteer work, she also keeps busy with her local grandchildren. • Marcia Franzen-Hintze continues work as a translator, sings in her church choir, Niendorf Kantorei in Hamburg, and enjoys spending time with grandsons Franz and Bruno. She and Ulli enjoyed trips to Switzerland and Crete in 2015. They have also volunteered helping some of the hundreds of refugees housed in container camps in Hamburg, organizing a running group, and teaching German, arts and crafts, and singing. • Perry Hay Huntington and Greg traveled to England and Scotland, which included visits with 25 cousins. Perry wrote, “I have been retired now for a couple of years. Greg and I are happily living in Florida. We’ve heard Lisa and Brad Fitzgerald play a few times, thoroughly enjoyed it and visiting with them. We have a small place on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It’s a converted church, and last year we were on the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage. I practice yoga and am learning Tai chi, and I volunteer at a homeless shelter. I was disappointed to miss our reunion and hope to be able to make the next one.” • Molly Hinchman, Margo Margolis, Judith Preble Miller, and Beth “B.Z.” Zelnick Palubinsky enjoyed a mini-reunion earlier this year at Margo’s loft in New York City when B.Z. and Molly came to the city to visit the High Line. • Deb Kiendl McLaughlin is readying her home for selling while trying to decide whether to move to Norfolk, Va., to be near her son and granddaughter, or to remain in Oregon. She was also waiting for her fourth joint replacement surgery, this time for her left shoulder. Deb hopes that her granddaughter might eventually attend NMH! • Pam LeClair-Rogers reports, “I’m doing great! My immune system has kicked in again and I’m getting stronger each day. My husband, Gardner, gave me a trip to France to celebrate my recovery
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CLASS NOTES from a long and difficult year. I flew to Nice and stayed in Venice, where I met up with Weezie Cole Nicollet ’62 and her husband, Jean Claude, and Jonathan Cole and his longtime friend, Pablo. Weezie is as warm, gracious, and beautiful as she was as our freshman dorm ‘cop’ years ago, and Jonathan is a man of many interests and abilities. Weezie brought her Northfield yearbook and we reminisced about the people we knew while at Northfield/Mt. Hermon. Have been corresponding with my Center Gould roommate, Pat Ciriello Mould, and Alison Marshall Zanetos this past year — I’m thrilled to have re-connected with them. Hope to see Pam Street Walton ’64 this summer in New Hampshire, as well as Molly Hinchman and Beth Zelnick Palubinsky if they find themselves in the Little Compton area. My brother is taking me to Dillon, Mont., this August. Life is good!” • Ellen Lougee Simmons says, “All is well in the Simmons family. My daughter Winifred married in July to a great fellow from Houston, so four of the girls are married.” Ellen is the proud grandmother of Harris (4) and Ellie and Hallie (both 2). “I spend a lot of time in San Francisco, but Houston is still home, with summers in Maine. I am still thinking back to what a wonderful 50th reunion we had last summer and want to congratulate our classmates who worked so hard on it, as well as the school. It could not have been better!” • Alison Marshall Zanetos wrote, “I so enjoyed the 50th anniversary book. What a fabulous job you all did gathering all the info on us! An impressive publication! As is NMH Magazine. • Joan Milne Bischoff wrote, “Summer is here, houseguests abound, and we are off to the Spoleto Arts Festival in Charleston, S.C., this weekend. We were delighted to see our dear friends James and Cynthia Gilbert-Marlow, who stopped in to visit us in March. Raymond and I became first-time grandparents: Oliver was born in January to our son Adrian and wife Margaret, and he is simply the cutest little chap. Fortunately, they live in Chapel Hill, so they are just over two hours away. On the travel front, Raymond and I had another wonderful trip to South Africa in February. Saw a lot of friends there and had some fantastic game experiences. We welcome any of my Northfield classmates who may be passing through the Charlotte area. • From heather Ross (who prefers to spell her name with a small “h”), “I think of Northfield and all our gang often and wish I was closer for more contact. I have finally retired from one of my jobs as school secretary but still carry on with the paramedic thing. I still live in the mountains in beautiful Bella Coola, British Columbia, still active in the church, still active with the arts council and with our riding club, which puts on a rodeo every year.” • Ann Steiner Clough enjoyed being back on campus in June for her husband’s 50th reunion. During the weekend, Ann enjoyed seeing
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volunteers Sally Atwood Hamilton (though only from a distance) and Dave Stone, and re-connecting with East Hall friends Mary-Jane Atwater ’66, Sue Dazé Kenny ’66, and Angie Howard Clark ’66. • Hermione Symington Ainley writes, “Still here, much as usual, and would love to see anyone who needs a break from all the ‘Trumpeting.’ Politics here is equally barking, but they say a change is as good as a rest.” • “My biggest news is that I have a website for my artist side: tanyatrinkausglass.com,” says Tanya Trinkaus Glass. “Other than that, I continue to live in Naples, Fla., paint, and garden. You just get used to it. The 50th was fun, even though I didn’t get enough time to visit and catch up. It was just so good to be around everyone from years past.” • Thank you to all who have sent news and photos. If your email address or other contact information has recently changed, don’t forget to let NMH and/or me know so that we can update our records and continue to stay in touch! • From Henri: Our class has been rather busy interacting with each other since our glorious 50th reunion. We had the great gathering on the Outer Banks, N.C., during October 2015 of Bethune, McLaughlin, and Holmes. Sounds like a litigation firm. After kayaking and sampling the culinary pleasures and wild nightlife of Edenton, N.C., they went out to the Outer Banks for an afternoon of frolicking in the sun. A splendid time was had by all. • Heading north into Canada, a number of our classmates (Ticconi, Barber, Boeing, Stinchfield, Clark, and Bob Van Wyck) had a great time with a mild form of Deliverance. They all wore suspenders that doubled as measuring tapes in order to gauge the size of the fish they were hoping to catch. • Gary Bartman writes that he is on the cusp of retirement, but that it is really about switching gears. He had a great time at the reunion! • Dave Stone has recently delved into genealogy. He has a number of family branches. • Christopher Parker visited with the revered “CWB” (Carroll W. Bailey and his wife, Elaine) in Andover, Mass. They are positive and fun as one would expect them to be. • Tom Lemire was recently inducted into the Beverly (Mass.) High School Sports Hall
A Mt. Hermon ’65 fishing mini-reunion brings together (front row, l-r) Peter Barber, John Clark; (back row, l-r) Mark Boeing, Peter Ticconi, John Stinchfield, and Bob Van Wyck.
of Fame. His outdoor hurdle time of 14.6 seconds still remains unbeaten after 51 years. Rather impressive and worthy of note. • Dudley Rose will retire from his active UCC ministry in June of this year, but will continue on as associate dean at Harvard Divinity School. • Erik Carlson has settled back into retirement mode following the reunion. He plans to run in the Pie Race this fall. He is struggling with the thought that he has a 40-year-old son. • Tom Robinson-Cox has had many adventures on the high seas. He is now “moored” peacefully at home in Gloucester, Mass., where he manages a cooperative art gallery: Gallery 53. Stop in if you are in the neighborhood. • John Cushing spends time in New England in the summer and loves getting back to the rolling hills and farmlands of Gill. And did those feet in ancient times! He is also recently married. • And finally, while recently in Denver, I had a great lunch with David Pessel. We spent a lot of time discussing our wanderings around the world. David started in Manhattan, went to Caracas, then to Mt. Hermon, and on and on. He has had a distinguished career in the high-tech and computer space and currently resides in both Denver and Breckenridge. We’re going to reprise this next year when I head out to Denver again. • [Editor’s note: The following is text that had been inadvertently omitted from the 1965 class notes column in the spring 2016 issue of NMH Magazine. NMH apologizes for this printing error.] • Sally Atwood Hamilton wrote, “In September, Mark and I had lunch in Portland with Charlotte Lucas Small and a mutual friend, Della, from Kittery Point, Maine. At reunion, we discovered that Char and Della are longtime friends. Della goes to Florida in the winter and was in our church there. We sang with her in the choir — Della and I held up the alto section. Small world.” • Susan Brunnckow Oke had a great trip to England and Scotland in October, including visits with son Wes and his family, who are living in England for a few years. She notes that her two granddaughters have acquired wonderful British accents. Susan enjoys reading news of Northfield friends who post on Facebook. • Nan Waite was a clown captain again (12th year!) in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, costumed as a graduating senior. With special permission from Macy’s, Nan added to the mortarboard her brown and gold tassel from our Northfield graduation! • Anne Winter Forsyth and I (Wendy Swanson-Avirgan) had planned to meet for lunch and visit in Stamford in October, but between a bout of bronchitis (me) and knee surgery (Anne), we had to postpone. Hoping to reschedule soon. • From Beth Zelnick Palubinsky: “Last summer, I had breakfast one day with Elena Berg Zimmerman, who lives merely blocks away from Al and me here in West Philly, but whom I have hardly seen in years. Later in the summer, William Stearns came to visit us, and we had a rollicking fine few days of sightseeing,
CLASS NOTES
Members of the Northfield and Mt. Hermon class of ’66 join at reunion.
talking, walking, and long, lazy meals. In October, on a quick swing through Portland on our way to a vacation in Acadia National Park, Al and I stayed overnight with Dan and Elinor Livingston Redmond, and the next morning we had breakfast with Bevinn O’Brien, too (well, Al took a walk, leaving us three Northfield girls to gab). Then, while in the D.C. area to hear some music, Al and I had breakfast in Alexandria, Va., with Jacqua Hill Yeomans. Jacqua was one of my ‘housemates’ at reunion, thanks to the loving and generous friendship of Peter Weis, the NMH archivist, who gave me, Jacqua, Molly Hinchman, and Deborah Boldt his cozy, homey apartment in Northfield for reunion weekend. Meanwhile, I continue to work at my new music interest, collaboration with a D.C.based poet, Bernardine Watson, with whom I’ve been close friends for 40 years. We’ve written, produced, and performed three shows of original poetry (hers) and a mix of original and interpreted songs (mine) in Philadelphia and D.C. For me, with decades of rock ‘n’ roll and country music under my belt, this new project is a big change. It’s by far the most personal, challenging, and deeply musical undertaking I’ve ever made.” They also had a performance for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at the Washington Ethical Society in January. • From Henri: We have had a relatively quiet period since the 50th reunion this past summer. So many of our classmates had a thoroughly wonderful time and shared a lot of time and stories with many of the folks from our class. • I saw Peter Ticconi, who was up in Boston on business for Georgia Tech. We had a great lunch and reflected on many of the wonderful memories he had of our 50th. Later in the fall, I had dinner with Matt Couzens, Jon Eager, Chris Parker, Peter Barber, and John Clark. It was a fascinating meal focused intensely around football and the undefeated season Mt. Hermon had 50 years ago. There was much discussion as to where some of our classmates were, and where John Clark is going. John is really quite an adventurer, and has walked and ridden all over the place, including Canada. He has another large (secret) adventure planned, which I hope to write about for the winter 2016 issue. I have heard from many of you, including Brad
Fitzgerald, John Stinchfield, and Mark Boeing. I am about to move around the country extensively and hope to see some of you in the process.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Jean Penney Borntraeger Wheeler theinn@ferrylanding.com • Frank Sapienza sapienzafc@cdm.com
That certainly was an incredible 50th reunion we had — we still smile just thinking about it and emails are still flying in daily with fun recollections. There were so many highlights, big and small, but some we especially remember are: our joyous march into Convocation with the Dixieland Jazz Band leading us (required chapel was never like this); the Friday-night packed chapel hymn sing when it finally hit me (Jean Penney Borntraeger Wheeler) that it was truly our 50th; a flash-mob surprise, “We Are Family,” playing and us all dancing at lunch in Alumni (West) Hall with the other classes looking at us like we were berserk but laughing along with us; our Saturday class dinner under the tent on Crossley Field and dancing to ’60s music provided by DJ Suzie Steenburg Hill; and the beautiful Sunday chapel service to send us off. Most of all, it was just so great to reacquaint with classmates, some of whom we had not seen in 50 years! • Extra treats were the conversations with former faculty members who joined us, people who were positive role models for us 50 years ago: Ron (and Margie ) Wiegerink, MaryAnn Higgins, Carolyn Mann, Duane Estes, Mr. Compton, and Barbara Piscuskas. To begin, hearty thanks from your longtime 45-year reunion co-chairs, Jean Penney Borntraeger Wheeler and Jim Weiss, for the incredible Reunion Committee members, who not only stepped forward to help us over the five years of planning for this huge event, but who excelled in enthusiasm, creativity, understanding, energetic devotion of hundreds of hours of time with meetings and phone calls, good humor, and love. Extra gratitude for our co-chairs Barbara Hazard (my right hand for the past two years!) and Chris Taylor. Thanks to Bob Bruce for our devoted and intrepid yearbook editors Lois Lake Church, Chris Anderson, Elsa Calderon,
Peter Fulton, and the others who helped them with editing and creation, Mary Jeanne Newton Buttrey, Susan Francisco, Anne Zimmerman, Jeffy Stevens Dunmire, Leslie Ahlgren Homans, Andrew Wright, cartoonist Frank Donini, Elizabeth Braddon, Doug Crapser, Day Merrill, Dave Edsall, and Lynn Gilligan Everhart; for our loving and inspiring Suzie Steenburg Hill, who gave us our memorable Northfield Day as well as fun gifts and our playlist for dancing; to our ever amazingly successful (our 50th reunion gift is $3.8 million) gift chairs Wil Everhart, Barbara Tweedle Freedman, Suzie Steenburg Hill, Constance Kane, Sam Boot. And thanks go to Marilyn Atwater Grant for taking over the secretary role I had to temporarily suspend, and to the NMH alumni office staff, who gave us their support in our many, many questions as well as our quirky plans. We did surprise them with a flash mob! • So, back to the beginning … it started on Thursday with a golf outing for some of the guys and gals (Steve Ollove, Jim Van Fleet, Chris and Ginger Allen Taylor, Bill Prowse, Ken Stephens, George Glassanos, Frank Sapienza, even Head of School Peter Fayroian joined us). Jim and Bill took top honors. While we golfed, others, under the direction of our Reunion Committee members, were dancing, drinking, and decorating with memorabilia at Crossley, which served as our class dorm and gathering place. Thursday dinner was under the tent. Friday started off with a yoga session led by Day Merrill, followed by two stimulating Alumni Classroom sessions, “Rewired, Not Retired,” presented by Susanne Rheault and Jim Weiss, and “The Case for Reparations from the Debts Owed on Account of U.S.A. National History” by Ginger Allen Taylor. • The women then went on a trip to the Northfield campus, organized by Suzie Steenburg Hill, for their own remembrance gathering, with visits to Round Top, the birthplace, and Sage Chapel. This was followed by an enlightening and affirming discussion, “How Northfield Affected My Life and What I Did Afterward,” facilitated by Day Merrill and Jeffy Stevens Dunmire. The most remarkable realization was that we still share what D.L. Moody instilled in us as Northfield girls — that our world is a better place for our education of the “head, heart, and hand” only
Suzie Odell shares an afternoon with Hope Crandall ’66.
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CLASS NOTES School, and Stu recently retired from his law if we use them to make that world a better practice and now enjoys travel with wife Patti. place. Without exception, this service to • Benson Blake, looking at your page in the others is an important part, in varying ways and degrees, of all our adult lives. • The guys yearbook reminds me of My Three Sons. Ben toured the NMH campus, particularly the has taken his three sons on ocean voyages in Rhodes Arts Center, including chats with John his sailboat across the Atlantic and back. Amazing! • Once he spoke with his British Rummler and Kingsley Parker about our days accent, I recognized Kim Daniels. Kim was a on the lacrosse field. More classmates joined us for Friday dinner, with a welcome from two-term exchange student who started the Head of School Peter Fayroian and a poem by Rugby Club at Mt. Hermon. I attended one rugby practice. At one point I was in this Peter Fulton read by Peter and Lois Lake “scrum” with about 20 other guys all bigger Church. We had a rousing hymn sing that than me, arms locked together, pushing and night, with Jean’s husband and “adopted class shoving, cleats flying, and I’m thinking to member” Gerald Wheeler at the organ. • Then myself, “Frank, this is not your sport.” Kim, it was entertainment led by our Jim Watson glad you could join us, and that you got to on the guitar and a poetry reading, his own, row in one of the three boats on the by Peter Fulton. For those of us up for it, Connecticut River with me (Jean). Still there was a band, Relentless, and dancing and drinking on a patio. Some of us just talked in playing rugby? • Peter Goelz, check out our the dorm with the music as background — it class Facebook interview with Carroll Bailey. was a time for catching up and sharing. • Carroll says that he may not have expressed it Saturday followed with an early-morning row, at the time, but he does love you. Ron Cooper run, swim, or bike ride. Bob Bruce, Dave and Dave Bethea visited Carroll and Elaine (Rankin Bailey ’55) recently and expressed Edsall, and Dave’s daughter did the swim. warm regards for him in our reunion yearbook. Dave said his daughter won but he is partial. I Ron, nine demerits in your first week at Mt. know Chris Taylor and Peter Talmage cycled Hermon? Seems like this “misdirected kid” and Jean Penney Borntraeger Wheeler rowed, turned out pretty darn good. • Our Sunday even with a braced left wrist (recovering from chapel service, a multi-faith and remembrance an April ski injury). That morning there was a service planned and led by our ordained session, “Education in Action,” on the classmates, Elizabeth Braddon and Ginger tremendous strides the school has made and the exciting plans for the future. That Allen Taylor, was lovely and inspiring, a fitting afternoon there was a heartfelt alumni of color sendoff to those of us who sang and attended. panel in which present and former students of So many good times and stories to tell. Visit many different backgrounds shared their Facebook and check out the hundreds of experience and acceptance by the NMH photos your classmates have posted, particucommunity. Our Elsa Calderón was one of the larly by Jeffy Stevens Dunmire and Henrietta presenters. • The Alumni Convocation in deVeer, not only of reunion but also of our Memorial Chapel was next. After the Dixie days as students. Or go to our class web page a Land Band, we quieted down and listened to special thank-you, Jeffy, for setting up and tributes to Lamplighter Award recipients Wil maintaining this and the Facebook page for us! • If you missed this reunion, don’t worry: Everhart and Suzie Steenburg Hill, both for their dedication and fundraising for the school. We’re already talking about having regional gatherings and another get-together next year Susanne Rheault received the Community to preface our official 55th in five years! Best Service Award for her committed leadership in until then. — Frank and Jean developing an orphanage and educational program in Tanzania. We had a sumptuous Northfield Mount Hermon dinner under the tent on Crossley field and Donna Eaton-Mahoney dancing late into the night. • Late into dmeato@outlook.com Saturday night I (Frank Sapienza) reminisced • Dana L. Gordon with Jack Clough about playing lacrosse and mounthermon1967@comcast.net hockey on semi-frozen Shadow Lake. For the fourth time in the last five reports, we Heng-Pin Kiang made it back from Seattle, begin with sad news. Chris Guida died in JanuWash. In our day it would take three of us to ary 2016. According to his wife, it looked like wrestle the 6’ 6” Ping down. He has been a Chris had once again cheated death, as he was lawyer and also has practiced international making good recovery at home from the business consulting. • Sam Boot also traveled complications with his November surgeries. from Washington and is as friendly and His wonderful sense of humor had returned, talkative as ever. It’s easy to see how he has had and he was enjoying entertaining his many a successful career as a sales engineer with visiting friends. When the time came, he went Hewlett Packard. • Great to see my old quickly and painlessly, and while he was far roommate, Frank Donnini, who has had a very too young it is just the way he would have successful career in the U.S. Air Force as a chosen to go. See Chris’s obituary at career officer and later as a defense contractor. obitsforlife.com/obituary/1247585/GuidaAlso great to see old friends Alan Coulter and Christopher.php. • Writer/editor Roger Hahn Stewart Bennett. Alan continues as an has been living and working in New Orleans instructor with National Outdoor Leadership
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Jim Weiss ’66
for nearly two decades, having previously spent long stints as a magazine editor at Washington University in St. Louis and as a communications manager with Chevron Corporation in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most recently, he has been working with the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities on KnowLA.org, an online cultural encyclopedia, and is the author of The Sounds of Louisiana: Twenty Essential Music Makers, an illustrated overview of Louisiana’s rich musical heritage. • Jack Osborne accelerated his plan to move to the wilds of Maine when his house in New York sold just three weeks after being listed; he could not be happier. Jack looks forward to seeing everyone at our 50th reunion. • Wendy Syer served in the Peace Corps in Uganda and Malaysia, which led to a career in international education. She earned a master’s in intercultural communications from University of Minnesota before moving to University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 1985 as an international student and scholar advisor. Over the years, her job has evolved from education and communications to immigration law. She retired this year. Wendy and husband Dick Trowbridge, a fellow Peace Corps volunteer who owns a custom woodworking business, have a 29-year-old son who’s an environmental activist. Wendy plans to attend our 50th. • Carlos Castellanos and his wife have stopped living in various countries and “traveling like lunatics.” They are spending time at their home in Vermont when they’re not in New York. Carlos will also attend reunion. • Bob Turner has spent a lot of time on the high seas, sailing his boat from the Caribbean to southern Florida to Charleston, S.C., to New England and points in between. • Debby Buhrman Topliff’s latest novel, Hiding, is available on Amazon. • Cynthia French Pasackow retired from teaching at Champlain Valley Union High School in Vermont in 2013. • Also in the Green Mountain State, Sheila Morse is happily retired, living in Guilford, Vt., after having lived and worked all around the U.S. and in many places overseas. She remains deeply involved in community politics and is happily managing a multi-generational household that is always open to friends and families. • Steve Meyerhans and wife Marilyn have more than 100 acres of tree fruit and organic vegetables under cultivation in central Maine. Steve
CLASS NOTES traveled to Honduras with a human rights delegation to investigate and document the murder of Berta Caceres, who is known for her passionate struggle to defend her people and their ancestral lands from mega development projects. Steve visited Caceres’s family, human rights organizations, and met with officials of the U.S. Embassy to express solidarity with the indigenous people of Honduras. His 18-year work there has been a rewarding and educational aspect of his life. Steve and Marilyn also vacationed in Colombia. • Former exchange student John Cartledge retired as head of policy and research at London TravelWatch, but still serves on advisory bodies. He received an honorary degree from the University of Plymouth for service to railway safety, and a London Transport Lifetime Achievement Award. John is also a trustee of a charity that promotes the study of electoral systems. Reviving his childhood enthusiasm for flags, John gave a paper on the history of the red flag as a symbol of rebellion to the 26th International Congress of Vexillology, held in Sydney. At the invitation of the local council in his hometown of Borehamwood, England, he and his fox terrier, Teddy, have researched and published a network of 18 walking trails through the surrounding countryside. • After graduating from Lafayette College, Bill “Winks” Whitaker joined the Peace Corps and taught chemistry in a boarding school in Uganda until the atrocities of Idi Amin prompted his departure after a year. Winks returned home and later joined ICI, a British chemical company. He retired in June after 43 years of service. Winks, his wife, and daughter (who’s been executive director of two chimp sanctuaries in the U.S.) planned a fourth trip to Kenya, where they’ve worked with a Methodist hospital in an AIDS orphan empowerment program. • Bobbi Burdge Rosenquest was in South Africa with a Wheelock College service learning trip. • To her surprise, Pam Crawford Irving moved back to northwest Connecticut, where she grew up. She’s happily married to a man she dated one summer but hadn’t seen for 45 years — they re-connected at a party. Between them they have six children and two grandchildren. Pam works for a nonprofit that enables elderly and disabled people to stay in their homes, runs a garden maintenance business, and practices yoga. She hopes to see some fellow MerrillKeepers at reunion. • Now that he’s retired from his television chief engineer position, Ross Mason has more time for his biking adventures, including a week of cycling in the Alps. Ross and his friends cycled 440 miles in six days with 62,000 feet of climbing some of the greatest Tour de France routes. • After graduation from Northfield, Lorry Gresham Kenton (formerly known as Mary) graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville with a degree in nursing. She was a nurse at Vanderbilt University Hospital for four years
before attending University of Colorado in Denver, where she received a master’s degree in nursing in 1976, focusing on care of the elderly. Next, it was on to Chicago to work as a nurse at the Bowman Center at Rush University. She met Marc Kenton in the Windy City; they married in 1983 and had two boys. As Lorry spent 10 years as a full-time mom, Marc analyzed severe nuclear reactor accidents, including Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The family finally settled in Hanover, N.H., in 1996. Lorry was a part-time nurse in area schools and she started a parish nursing program in their church. Since her retirement in 2012, she volunteers for various organizations and travels to visit family and friends. Son Nate did a PG year at Mt. Hermon and is now a Ph.D. candidate in organic chemistry at Ohio State. Son Steve is finishing his M.B.A. at Hult International Business School, Boston, and will marry in Portland, Oregon. • After retiring a few years ago, Rick Eastwick and his wife have led a tour that included 32 high school students to Berlin and Munich. With a focus on Nazi genocide, they visited many WWII sites as well as two concentration camps: Ravensbrück and Dachau. They toured the camps’ museums and attended services of remembrance, where students participated in readings, prayers, and the saying of the names of some who perished. This was the sixth time the Eastwicks have led such a tour, finding it deeply meaningful and rewarding. They plan to attend the 50th reunion and have already made reservations at a bed and breakfast in Greenfield. • George Alexander spent 25 years as a journalist covering the upheaval of the printing industry caused by the rise of desktop publishing and printing on demand. When the print industry started to collapse, he later found his niche as a marketer. The combination of analysis and writing suits him, and he expects to keep at it for a few more years before retiring. George and his wife of 43 years, Jan, have two children and participate in various musical activities, such as The Trolley Stoppers, an a cappella quartet (see them on YouTube). • Gerry Sherman reports he started late but is the very proud father of two daughters, now 20 and 23. He continues to work as a management consultant and has no intention of retiring. He tells people what a great experience he had at Mt. Hermon, although he did not realize it until he was 27. • During the past year, Kathy Cole Gibbons and husband Grant have presented their passports in Shanghai, Angkor Wat, Singapore, Cartagena, the U.K., Sweden, and Norway. Grant is a cabinet minister in Bermuda, where he has led attempts to reform the energy sector while Kathy works on healthcare reform. The Gibbonses are very active in hosting the America’s Cup, and whether Kathy will make it to the 50th will depend on her obligations to the race. She invites classmates to Bermuda to enjoy the festivities. • For the past couple of
years, Dana “Lee” Gordon has been Santa Claus on iHeart Media’s North Pole Channel, the most popular of their internet Christmas music channels. Maybe it’s the white beard. • In June, members of your 50th Reunion Committee attended reunion weekend on campus as observers. Wendy Alderman Cohen, Donna Eaton Mahoney, Bonnie Parmenter Fleming, Eliza Childs, Will Melton, Chuck Streeter, Peter Savas, and Dana Gordon shadowed the class of ’66 and took in other reunion activities to glean ideas to make our 50th the best reunion ever. One idea is to break the record of 127 alumni participants. More than 100 classmates had already indicated they plan or hope to attend our 50th. Visit our class Facebook page to see an up-to-date roster of attendees (facebook.com/ groups/nmh1967). If you’re on Facebook and not already a member, you can join the group by going to the “Northfield Mount Hermon, Class of 1967” Facebook page and requesting membership. You can also visit our class website at nmh1967.com. • And don’t forget to add yourself to our interactive map at zeemaps.com/map?group=1410259. If you have more than one residence, add them all!
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Northfield Mount Hermon Kris Alexander Eschauzier pkeschauz@maine.rr.com • Peter L. Eschauzier pkeschauz@maine.rr.com • Mark G. Auerbach mgauerbach@gmail.com
A group of NMH ’68 classmates gathered on Cape Cod for their annual summer reunion. In attendance were Nancy Alexander Randall, Kathy Knapp Marn, Marion McCollom Hampton, Betsy Brunner Lathrop, Judy Molesworth Darnell, and Richard Costello (Wendy Wade Costello’s husband) and his friend, Anne Marie Doherty. • Karen and Bill Newman hosted the annual D.C. ’68 dinner last September. Joining them were Scott Byers, Steve Cone and friend Laura, Denise and Fred Cook, Deborah Sliz and husband Alan Yandow, Pam Beam, Ed Cook, Don Stanton, Rafe Sagalyn, Jeff Sliz and wife Maria Beach, Henry and Alison Ely Barschdorf, Marjorie Swett, and Tempe and Jon Ives. Bill writes, “Last summer Karen and I went out on the Haberlands’ boat in Muscongus Sound, Maine, and then had a wonderful dinner with Evie and Jay Haberland in Round Pond. On the way back, we stopped and saw Mimi and Buddy Whitehouse in Kennebunk. Buddy is looking forward to reunion and mentioned working with Ed Cook on a ride through Northfield and the surrounding area during the reunion.” • Mark G. Auerbach, Becky Bright Freeland, Marion McCollom Hampton, Dave Hickernell, Deborah Sliz, Cap Kane, and Jay Ward returned to campus for a 50th reunion planning session in October. • Harriet Scott Chessman wrote the libretto to Jonathan Berger’s opera, My Lai, which had its world premiere in the San Francisco
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CLASS NOTES Bay Area in October, followed by a staged performance in January in Chicago. The opera was commissioned and performed by the Kronos Quartet. • Ginny Haines writes, “I spent the first part of the summer getting my garden ready for a huge garden tour and the rest of the summer trying to keep it alive during the western drought. I’ve been promoting the Village Movement (independent living for the aging and disabled) in the Portland, Ore., area — advocating for residential solar power and getting ready for a huge road trip to see as many national parks as I can.” • Gary Hopson is still working at NASA as rail safety analyst, performing outreach and PR for the Federal Railroad Administration‒sponsored Confidential Close Call Reporting System, designed to mitigate or eliminate risk before accidents rather than after. He’s happy to report that they have recruited the entire Northeast Corridor railroads, including all commuter agencies from Boston to D.C. Having seen so many terrible railroad accidents over the span of a 45-year career, he finds this work very satisfying. • Barbara Kane Russell had her first public reading of poems and short prose pieces in May at Nashville’s Looby Theater. The reading was part of the Tennessee Women’s Theater Project, begun by Maryanna Clarke several years ago. Barbara says, “Despite years of working in publishing and writing for various employers, this experience was richer, scarier, and more exhilarating by comparison.” • John Maynard is in his fifth year of running the online discussion group “Islamic Civilization” for Harvard’s graduate alumni office. Last fall, he completed an 800-page book, Twelve Capitalism: An Economic History of Civilization, now undergoing revision for publication. In 2016, his second book of poems, Turning the Barbarians, is due for publication. Recently, the prestigious AC Scholarly Index copied his blog, arabrevolutions.blogspot.com, into its archives, some 1,000 pages on its own, then divided it into many separate small articles. Published individually, they are all now circulating widely — about Islam, the Near East, North Africa, and Central Asia. He lives in Amherst, Mass., and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. • From Mary Renaud: “I’m grateful to you for publishing Nancy Burnett’s message in the NMH ’68 newsletter earlier this year, which was how I learned she was so ill. She and I were roommates at Northfield for two of our three years there. We had been out of touch for quite a while but were able to re-connect during the last few months of her life. That re-connection was an incredible gift. We talked at length on the phone, emailed, shared pictures and stories, and reminisced. She was incredibly touched by the messages she received from other NMH friends, too — each one meant a great deal to her.” Home for Mary these days is Ashland, Ore., where she and husband Mark Williams retired five years ago after more than 15 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked in publishing
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for more than 30 years, the last 20 as a freelance book editor, primarily for the University of California Press. • After five years on the staff of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Don Stanton started a new job last August as aviation advisor to Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx. Don works closely with the FAA and feels fortunate to have the opportunity to use some of his past aviation and policy experience in support of the Department of Transportation and the administration. • Richard Staples writes, “I have stepped away from retirement for a few months to volunteer as interim executive director for HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University in Providence. HousingWorks (housingworksri. org) is a statewide housing policy and research organization that tracks and reports on housing affordability and its impacts on economic development, employment, education, health, and quality of life throughout the state. I was guaranteed it wouldn’t interfere with skiing.” • Ruth Stevens’s new book, B2B Data Driven Marketing: Sources, Uses, Results (written with Theresa C. Kushner), was published last summer. For details on the book, visit racombooks. com/books/strategy-tactics/b2b-data-drivenmarketing. • Jay Ward and Peter Weis ’78 (NMH archivist) were featured in the NFL documentary Playing with Fire, about the 1965 fire at Silliman during the Mt. Hermon/ Deerfield game, and the iconic photograph seen around the world of the building on fire as the backdrop to the uninterrupted football game. Search for “The Day a Fire Couldn’t Stop Football — NFL Films Presents” on YouTube.com. • After almost 34 years in hi-tech stress, Alan Winslow let it all go as of New Year’s Eve — he retired! “I’ve only worked for three companies in that time,” says Alan, “Sprague Semiconductor, Intel Corp, and Vindicia — all of them great. Time now for travel and rest. A couple of cruises already set up; the best will be spending Christmas 2016 on the Seabourne Quest in Antarctica.” • Mark G. Auerbach caught up with Steve Holt over lunch when Steve’s daughter, Adrienne Campbell-Holt, was directing a play at the Williamstown (Mass.) Theatre Festival. From Mark: “I’d thought I’d be slowing down at this age, but I’ve returned to work as a reporter
(From left) Randall Oestreicher ’60, Mary DeKruif, Lisa Mathews-Bingham ’69, and Elizabeth “Bunny” DrossOestreicher ’69 enjoy the view at Evergreen Lake, Colo.
part time and added a couple of clients, so I realize I was meant to be a workaholic until I drop, and I’m loving what I do. I’m the primary arts reporter for the Westfield News Group, a series of newspapers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. My theater reviews get picked up by BroadwayStars.com. I’m also a contributing writer to the award-winning Succeeding in Small Business blog.” • Pete and Kris Alexander Eschauzier are still getting along one week into Pete’s retirement!
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Northfield Sue Pineo Stowbridge sue.stowbridge@gmail.com
As I write, summer is officially underway. I can tell because school is out and there is endless motorcycle traffic for the weeklong Laconia Bike Week going past the front door. Weather is outstanding for the event, but we won’t mind a bit of quiet next week and my veggies could use some rain! • Lucy Bird Masters wrote from the Buffalo airport as she headed home from an elderly-parent visit. Her mother is class of ’45 and aunt is ’46 — both are moving more slowly but remain independent. On the home front, Lucy has been juggling an unusual number of disruptions, like a flood in her office at Northeastern, a tree through the roof at home, and sewage backup in the retirement condo in Vermont. Family illnesses and transitions are thrown in for good measure, but everything seems to be sorting itself out. She could use a fix of transcendent Northfield girl power well before our 50th, and welcomes any advice on retiring to that condo, date for which remains a mystery. • Chris Fleuriel met another hiker in Cumberland, Maine, whose family lived here in Tamworth. Of course, they both knew me. Meanwhile, although she isn’t planning on retiring for a few more years, she is starting to wonder what she will do and where they will live. Probably not in Maine. • After taking clinical pastoral education and serving as a chaplain intern at two hospitals, Susan Griggs is the pastor of a United Methodist Church in Winlock, Wash. Five grandchildren live within a couple of hours’ drive, but daughter Sandra’s family is moving to Ketchacan, Alaska. Moving, beginning work as a pastor for a new congregation, and studying at Claremont Seminary have kept Susan busy. • Barbara Gulbrandsen Hennessy is living in Arizona and writing children’s books — 37 so far (visit bghennessy.com). The Dinosaur in My Backyard is in its 47th printing and “all the Corduroy Bear books keep going.” Her most recent project promotes reading aloud (theresalapforthat.com). In June, she and husband Jim, who married in Sage Chapel, traveled to St. Lawrence University, where Barbara received an alumni citation for professional accomplishment. Meanwhile, she is the current chair of the art department’s board of visitors at University of Wisconsin. Family news includes son Mark’s marriage to Kristal in April. Jane, toddler daughter of Rachel and Matt
CLASS NOTES (’00), was the erstwhile flower girl. Barbara and Jim enjoy travel, not least to keep up with sons in California, Washington, and Florida. • Lisa Mathews-Bingham and husband Stephen enjoyed a visit from Elizabeth “Bunny” Dross Oestreicher and husband Randall Oestreicher ’60 during summer 2015 in Colorado. One of their day trips included a lunch with Mary DeKruif in the mountain town of Evergreen. Bunny is a banking attorney, semi-retired. Lisa works as a water paralegal for a small boutique firm in Denver, and Mary is a nurse working for an agency helping the home-bound. • Jeri Norris Rhodes wrote in June in the hope of assembling classmates from the area to attend a Schubert sing-along at the Washington National Cathedral, including “Great Is Jehovah the Lord.” She expected Diane Chaffee Sorace to attend, but in the end Jeri, Diane, and husbands had dinner instead. The choral director passed away quite suddenly and the event was canceled. • Carla Rieck Ellert and her husband have been married for 36 years and live on a small farm in western Oregon. They have three kids and two grandkids. Carla retired after 20 years as a project designer in road design for Lane County and is now enjoying family and horses. • Susan Shepard also checked in from the Northwest. She was winding down her oncology nursing career, with plans to retire at the beginning of next year. She has two darling grandbabies, Ian (2) and Hannah (6 months), living in Seattle. Her mother, Mary Alice Cary Shepard ’44, is 90 and doing well in her retirement community in Pleasant Hill, Tenn. Susan sends best wishes to those transitioning to retirement this year. • MarthaJane “M.J.” Tippett Peck read my email seeking news titled, “Channeling Grace ... Robertson” and Miss R’s place in the NMH Hall of Fame: “My favorite teacher at Northfield School for Girls! There were no gymnastics at Northfield then, but she gave up her personal time to help me keep my skills up so that I could be on the University of New Hampshire team following my graduation. She also inspired me to become a physical education teacher and enjoy sports and recreation for the rest of my life!” M.J. and I meet regularly through Google Chat, and I recommend it as a way to keep in touch. • After the Channeling Grace email went out, Margie Hord Mendez recalled that the class I mentioned was known as “body mechanics.” Margie remembered learning to relax and then falling asleep. “Wish I could figure out how I did that nowadays.” I remember trying to relax on mats in the basement of Skinner Gym as a volleyball class, or something, thundered to and fro above. Not relaxing! • What do you remember? Make us laugh! Or get in touch with an old friend over Google Chat or Skype. It serves the purpose when travel just isn’t possible. Why wait until 2019? Do it now! Meanwhile, keep those cards and letters and emails coming.
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Mount Hermon Roland Leong rl99@me.com
George Chaltas spent an evening with Jose Aguayo on an overnight stay in Puerto Rico
before boarding a cruise of the Caribbean. Jose and his lovely wife, Ana, treated George to a delicious dinner of fish tacos followed by a tour of Old San Juan. “I found him happy and humorous,” writes George of Jose, “and encouraged him to join us for our 50th.” Jose visited San Francisco for a legal conference and met up with Al Gilbert for a wine tasting. • Steven Shapiro visited Spain, where he played four great golf courses along the Costa del Sol. There was a day on the Rock of Gilbraltar, which is a British Overseas Territory, where he stood on English soil and looked at nearby Spain and over the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco in one view. Pretty remarkable. • Stanislaw Dziurzynski’s daughter, Anya ’06, graduated from Auburn University with a doctor of veterinary medicine degree. • Marc DeLorenzo and his wife, Debby, both retired in July. “After a two-week road trip vacation,” writes Marc, “we are staying put in our South Dennis home. We have put so much blood, sweat, tears, and money into our home that we are not about to sell it now!” • Paul Murtha sent a link to an initiative for the Ecuador earthquake for which Paul solicited the donation and managed the delivery of the innovative shelter design. Visit tprf.org/a-newhope-tprf-helps-ecuador-earthquake-survivorswith-shelters to find out more. • Bruce Plotkin went on his annual trip climbing and skiing in British Columbia with friends. • During her concert in Denver, Colo., singer/songwriter Judy Collins talked about the recent death of her brother, our classmate, Denver Collins. • William Ward writes, “The years of ski lessons paid off this spring on Sugar Mountain in North Carolina. Skiing with my daughters, Julia and Kendall, from the summit is the one thing we do [together] where I can keep up, mostly.” • Since our 45th reunion, James Engell, John M. Fitzgerald, and others have volunteered to help guide NMH while working with its investment advisor, Mercer Inc., toward adopting a socially and environmentally conscious approach to investing its endowment and other major resources. • David Smith is now a grandfather! “Milan Hunter was born in April to [son] Hunter Smith ’00 and Zorka,” David announced. “They live in D.C., so about a five-hour drive. Susan and I have bought a ‘camp’ (seasonal, not heated, small house) right on Lake Champlain [Vermont]. It’s a project; I’ve been going up to do construction/repair work, so people can visit over the summer. Views are amazing! The biking there is very good, and we’ve begun to acquire some water toys, without motors! We pass by NMH going and coming. Enjoying life!” • Dana Barrows is the board chair of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. “We recently completed our
Bruce Plotkin ’69 enjoys a winter getaway in British Columbia.
fourth year of Valley Gives, a 24-hour online charitable-giving phenomenon that has raised more than $7.4 million for nonprofits in our Pioneer Valley,” says Dana. He is also on the board of Gould Farm in the Berkshires, a unique farm residential-treatment facility for guests battling mostly schizophrenia.” Dana is still on the financial services treadmill as Northwestern Mutual estate and business planning specialist. He stays connected to great friends Ron Majdalany and John Mustone. • Don Hodgkins says, “On Mother’s Day weekend, my daughter, Allyson, graduated from the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami with an M.D./M.P.H. in pediatrics. She was also a member of the medical students’ honor society, which only accepts the top 5 percent of the class.” Allyson started her residency at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago in June. • Focusing on health issues in recent months, Eric Whyte writes, “I was diagnosed with bladder cancer and had a radical cystectomy and prostatectomy (bladder and prostate removed). Am hopeful that this will get rid of all the cancer. This has led me to retire from the VA sooner than I expected. We moved to the Denver metro area to be closer to family and medical resources. Our daughters are all moving toward different jobs, now in health services: two are in nursing school and our youngest is balancing being an EMT with being a snowboard instructor. My sisters still live in Massachusetts, so we will be getting back there when health allows. Our closest ties to NMH, Dick and Ellen Peller, have retired; we miss having them to visit there. Best wishes to all.” • The refugee crises in Europe prevented Ulgen Gulcat from traveling there last year and this year. Hence, this spring, with his wife and a friend, he made short travels. The small summer resort town called Agva, which is located between two rivers discharging to the west coast of the Black Sea, was their destination. • I (Roland Leong) was through Charlotte, N.C., at the end of March for a short day trip, and I contacted Stu Young, whom I knew wintered in North Carolina. Stu hadn’t packed up and left yet, so we met and had a great dinner. Stu was happy that I had made the effort to reach out to him. I said that it wasn’t just me, but that it is all our classmates who have taken the time in the
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CLASS NOTES past 20–30 years to reach out to our mates whenever we are traveling about that renew and strengthen our bonds. I find it interesting that some Mt. Hermon ’69 friendships have developed after graduation, are nurtured at reunions and mini-reunions, and are continuously maintained. This doesn’t happen by accident. I believe it happens when classmates consistently reach out to their classmates. People tell me that our class is something pretty special. I’m not sure if we’re the only class that is, but I will agree it is a pretty nice thing. Reach out to your classmates; you’ll be surprised by the positive response.
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Northfield Katherine Truax Scrimenti katetruax@aol.com
From Katherine Truax Scrimenti: Greetings, classmates! As a reminder, our Facebook group — Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) Class of 1970 — is alive and well, so please join if you are interested. Lots of wonderful posts, discussions, and photos! I so enjoy hearing from you and look forward to all the news! • Jane Ellen Reid is now living in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia after having lived in Colorado and Arizona for many years. She works as the ombudsman for Eastern Mennonite University. “After 20 years in the desert of Arizona,” says Jane Ellen, “I have spent the last nine years digging up my yards, planting flower and vegetable gardens and berry patches. I was green-deprived for a long, long time.” In June Jane Ellen, sister Susan, and their mother (age 89) headed to Italy for a three-week “girls’ trip.” They began their travels on the Cinque Terre, then on to Lucca, Venice, Ravenna, and Florence. Jane Ellen hopes to make it to our next big milestone in 2020! I certainly hope she does, as I know I would love to re-connect with my close friend from West Marquand! • Holly Babbit Cobb writes, “I was so sorry to miss our 45th reunion, but a wedding shower for my daughter took precedence. Both of my daughters are now married: Whitney and Chris live here in Atlanta, and the recently married Blair and Adam just moved to Santa Monica. Muffie Michaelson and I had a mini-reunion in Atlanta and hope to have another soon; we welcome any classmates to join us!” • It is always fun to hear from friends — Louise Rothery writes that having spent the winter going to open houses, she finally found her dream home in “old town” Marblehead and moved there in June. The house is lovely; built in 1775 with all the old architectural details intact. There are two adorable bedrooms and a bathroom on the third floor — perfect for Sylvia Marshall Bailey and me to stay when visiting! Louise had planned on retiring in 2017, but a dream job — working in the horse field with the American Driving Society — dropped in her lap. So happy for you, Louise! Meanwhile, Sylvia joined a book club and continues to enjoy her spin class. She got back into golf
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and plays every week with a ladies league. She visited Maine for two weeks at the end of June. Sylvia also accompanied her husband, Dennis, to his anesthesia conference in Las Vegas, where she had lunch with Martha Seely, who happened to be there participating in the annual JCK Las Vegas Show, a national jewelry event. Martha is a successful jewelry designer; her pieces are beautiful and unique, and I own a necklace and pair of earrings she designed. You can find her on Facebook as “Martha Seely Design.” • Kim Chase-Adler and husband Tom Adler welcomed two more grandchildren in 2015. Chloe Octavia was born on 2/12/15 in London to their oldest daughter, Daphne, and joins her brother Adrian (9) and sister Clara (6). The following month, Juliet Leighton was born on 3/17/15 in New York City to daughter Blythe, joining older sister Mackenzie (4). Kim writes, “Last summer we had the kids and grandkids with us at our summer house in Goose Rocks Beach, Kennebunkport, Maine. The two infant babies lay on the couch and poked each other, but this year they will be running around together acting like twins. Our youngest daughter, Fiona, lives and works at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass., and is a wonderful aunt.” Kim adds that Daphne wrote a pregnancy book two years ago. Check out her website at debunkingthebump.com. • Karen Lee Spaulding happens to live only an hour away from me in western New York. I would love a mini reunion! Karen writes, “Loving the energy that continues to emanate from the 45th; cherishing the connectedness to Lucy Bird Masters ’69, ever strong after nearly 50 years of friendship; rekindling a long-lost friendship with roommate Kitty Scott; being with sister Allison Lee ’73 to celebrate her daughter Sophie’s graduation from East Chapel Hill High, from which daughter of Polly Craige ’71, Lucia-Maribel, also graduated; discovering that Bill Patterson (and his wife, Gaby) was Allison’s English teacher and college advisor at NMH; and thinking about traveling to see Kate Truax in Rochester … convergences in the most wonderful way. I am grateful for the extraordinary opportunity to have had 36 years in the museum world, and now to be working in philanthropy at the John R. Oishei Foundation in Buffalo; welcoming our second grandson into the world; and celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary in November.” • My beautiful and talented roommate from West Marquand, Margaret “Peg” Wilson, writes, “It’s been a year of change for me: I was laid off after over 30 years; we sold the house in Collinsville, where both of our mothers had lived out their lives, and we bought a fixerupper in New Britain, Conn. There has been a silver lining as I turned the job event into retirement and am painting now more than ever.” Margaret is also a new grandmother — congratulations! • Nan Hellens Gregory, Louise Rothery, Cindy Stinchfield Ryan, and Enid Sodergren Oberholtzer got together for
a mini-reunion luncheon at Nan’s home this spring. Cindy and her husband, Jim, were on vacation driving the motor home from Arizona to Massachusetts. She writes, “We spent several days at an RV park in Bernardston while visiting with my family and old friends. Then we went to the eastern side of the state where we saw the Red Sox beat the Indians, saw more family, and ate lobster every day! Aside from vacation, we have three kids, 10 grandkids, and three great-grands. In the past two years I have had one hip and one knee replaced and this winter, I’ll have the other hip done. I retired from my job as a bookkeeper for a manufacturing company that builds the sprayers used on golf courses. Jim still has to work a couple more years, then we’ll be able to put the RV to use more often! Since retiring, I have been volunteering at a Lending Closet, where we lend durable medical equipment, at no cost, to people needing help for the short term. I got acquainted with this outfit after my first surgery when my pelvis broke during the hip replacement, so I had to use a wheelchair for several weeks. It’s the only place in Arizona that loans equipment and it is a charity. Everyone is a volunteer, so there is literally no payroll!” • A new stage play, Turn Me Loose, by Gretchen Law, ran at the off-Broadway venue, Westside Theatre, in New York City from May to July this year. “It’s a socially relevant play about comedian and Civil Rights activist Dick Gregory,” says Gretchen. “Of course, I trace all of my values back to my NMH days.” • It is with heavy heart that I end this column with a note from Kim Wade Ryan, who just before last Christmas lost her oldest son, Scott, to metastatic melanoma. Kim writes, “Scott was diagnosed in September (2015) — his 35th birthday — and died on December 13. In April we moved to West Chester, Penn., to be close to our daughter-in-law, Rachel, granddaughter Lillyan (5), and grandson Arthur (1). Needless to say, it’s been a rough time.” Kim would love to have a mini-reunion with any classmates in the Philly area. • Please continue to send me your news! As class secretary, I am truly enjoying this role and re-connecting with so many of you.
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Mount Hermon Neil Kiely neil@marketinginmotion.com
Dan Petrie has just released a new movie thriller, Blackway, starring Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles, Ray Liotta, and Hal Holbrook. It is receiving rave reviews. Dan was also the recipient of a Writers Guild of America West Morgan Cox Award. • John “J.D.” Martin thoroughly enjoyed his first year as head of school at Nativity Prep in New Bedford, Mass., a small, independent, tuition-free middle school for boys from low-income families. • Bruno De Paola reports from Italy: “I am now happily divorced and share my life with my new wife, Sarah, and my two little kids (2 and 5). The divorce drained
CLASS NOTES me financially. I just retired as head trauma surgeon for three hospitals near Florence. My future is uncertain. I am just taking it easy and enjoying being a father. I have several options: a private clinic doing research in gender-related orthopedics, a small private practice, or just leave it all and move to Portugal or Costa Rica. To be continued.” • Cornell Hills officiated at daughter Alicia’s small and intimate D.C. wedding before heading to St. Maarten for a more public wedding ceremony, followed by a reception at their Fairfax, Va., home. In between all of this, he and wife Laura traveled to La Jolla, Calif., where they had dinner with John Gordon and Athan Billias and their wives at John’s home. It was a wonderful evening, which ended with Athan entertaining: He “can really jam it on the piano,” says Cornell. • Bill Brundage had a successful knee replacement and continues to work part time on the North Shore of Boston. • Dale Silver moved to a new home in Dallas, which is more easily accessible for his son, Andrew, who has a permanent spinal injury from a lake-diving accident three years ago. Dale is semi-retired after he and his brother sold their chips and salsa company, On the Border. • John Hirsch begins a newly created position at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. As director of strategic initiatives, he will work in collaboration with the vicepresident for college advancement. John is responsible for building and implementing campaigns and initiatives that further the college’s strategic plan, fundraising goals, and leadership volunteer communications and engagement. After eight years in development, John looks forward to “reinventing myself at this age and time.” John had dinner at Rajan Batra’s Southern California home during a business trip. • Steve Row is relaxing while sitting on the deck of a small cottage on the Bay of Fundy, where his family has been spending summers for more than 60 years. • Sam Brett is enjoying spending time with his daughters and grandkids and says “nothing’s better.” He intends to join us for the 50th! • Alex Lotocki enjoyed his first year serving as an NMH trustee, although he felt a bit funny attending NMH’s commencement in academic robes! After a great deal of time, energy, and persistence, Alex was not only able to give me David Robinson’s email address, but he was able to obtain a copy of Jackie Robinson’s commencement speech, which was delivered to us. It was found in the Library of Congress, and by the time you read this I hope to have been able to find a way to send you all a copy (now you see why I want your email addresses?!). Thank you, Alex. • Jon Romig writes, “My wife, Linda, and I are back together after a five-year separation, and things are good. We learned a lot from being apart and will celebrate our 30th anniversary this year. I moved back to Boston from Detroit in 2014 and am now with Steffian Bradley Architects as principal of science and technology markets. My office is literally in
Time is well spent by (from left) Enid Oberholtzer ’70, Nancy Gregory ’70, Louise Rothery ’70, and Cindy Stinchfield Ryan ’70.
the middle of Boston Harbor on the top floor at the very end of Black Falcon Pier. I took my 19th backpacking trip to the Southwest last summer. I hiked into the San Juan range in southwest Colorado to 12,000 feet and above. It was a demanding and fantastic trip — these legs can still do it!” I can attest to Jon’s physical stamina. He joined us on one of our Hogger mini-reunions and was concerned that they weren’t strenuous enough! • Biff Watson is enjoying life in Nashville, where he plays backup guitar for a wide range of established artists — Lady Antebellum, Charlie Daniels, Randy Travis — while helping identify and promote the next generation of stars. In his spare time, he plays tennis, fixes his house on a lake, and helps with granddaughter Bella’s school production. • As we approach our 50th reunion, I hope to connect with more of you so that together we can begin to plan what I can assure you is going to be a “don’t miss” event. Be in touch!
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Northfield Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org
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Mount Hermon David C. Eldredge d.eldredge@verizon.net
It was four days of nonstop laughter, warm reminiscence, and loving camaraderie. It was great food. It was laughter. It was great singing, bike riding, hiking, or just hanging out with a truly remarkable collection of people. It was laughter. It was an absolutely perfect Saturday in a beautiful bucolic corner of New England. “It” was, of course, our 45th class reunion — and there’s not enough allocated space in this column for all the words it would take to accurately recapture “it.” • Allow me to try and recapture memories of all who gathered on the hill in Gill (and if I inadvertently overlook someone, give me a few work hours or laps around the track next time). Not arriving until Friday, I missed seeing early Thursday arriviste Jim Morrisette (who had to look after an aging parent) and possibly Lisa Paszamant Clark and Judy Tremblay Barrett, too. • In the meantime, Austin Duvernoy had recruited Peter Horne, Steve Michaels, and
Sylvia Marshall Bailey ’70 (left) shares a toast with Martha Seely ’70.
Marilynn Acker Ezell into a Mountain Day redux hike up Monadnock. Unfortunately, uneven weather left Austin alone at the summit. But fortunately, just as yours truly and wife Jill arrived on Friday afternoon, the sun broke through to set an appropriate stage for the weekend’s festivities. • One by one, fellow classmates came into view: Wendell and Peggy Cummings; Sarah Melling Guterman; Mike and Marcia Ruane; George Forish; Bill Parker and John Townsend; Cindy Kitchen Hogan (with daughter Amelia) and Crys Orlow Farr; Myche Farmer and Claudia Istel; Bruce and Nan Close Brown; Sally Atwater; Leigh Hansen, Lauren Jarvi, and Janet Bruggemeyer Wilson; Marshall and Susan Horowitz; Brad Foster, Chuck Kirk, and Charlie Long; Stetson and Anne Marie Heiser; Jon and Miriam Whitehouse; Dave and Deb Kjeldsen; upfor-the-dayers John Lewis and brother Harry, Lee Smolan, Ellen Bernstein, Sara Anderson, and Nancy and Biddle “Tom” Thompson; and, finally, Joe Mingolla and (making her long-awaited reunion debut) spouse Lia (cue the chorus, please!). • Phil Jamison’s book, Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics: Roots and Branches of Southern Appalachian Dance (University of Illinois Press 2015), explores the history behind the square dances, step dances, reels, and other forms of dance practiced in southern Appalachia. Find out more about what Phil’s been up to at philjamison.com. • Our special guest correspondent Austin Duvernoy provides a recap: “I couldn’t get to sleep very easily the night before leaving for
Austin Duvernoy ’71 conquered Mt. Monadnock to commemorate Reunion 2016.
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A CLOSER LOOK
Turning Grief into Action During her first year of theological studies, Rev. Robin Craig ’71 studied hard, made new friends, and became involved in the seminary community. In her second year, her life turned upside down when her 24-year-old son, Josh Williams ’03, died of suicide. The family was “thrown into utter despair,” says Craig. “We had seen no warning signs. Our son was bright and creative, had completed college and found work, and was the wittiest and kindest of people.” As Craig and her family pieced together the puzzle of Josh’s death, they “began to learn something about depression and the deadly disease that it is — often unacknowledged, unrecognized, and untreated.” Turning grief into action, Craig threw herself into volunteering with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), a nonprofit organization that raises awareness, funds scientific research, and provides support to people affected by suicide. She has visited Capitol Hill to educate elected officials about suicide prevention and mental health while also lobbying for mental health legislation. As interim pastor at Bethesda-on-the-Bay Lutheran Church in Bay Village, Ohio, Craig integrates suicide prevention with her preaching. She says, “It is definitely part of my ministerial calling.” To learn more about suicide prevention, visit afsp.org.
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reunion due to the anticipation. Likewise, in Jaffrey, the gravity of Monadnock’s proximity, and my continued resolve to assault in the face of uncertain weather, converged to delay slumber. Happily, it didn’t rain at all. I completed the ascent in just two hours and 15 minutes, including rests! Deciding when to descend was troubling. I didn’t want to leave that quickly after the effort to arrive, especially knowing I may never return! Finally, the lure of reuniting on campus with cocktail in hand prevailed. Upon arrival on campus, I noticed a group of folks as I walked toward the door to register, not recognizing them and thinking they were too old to be part of our class. Wrong! Most of us were lodged in Hayden. I was happy to finally get to room there in spite of my disciplinary record, which had always relegated me to Crossley. I don’t know when or why we stopped playing softball. However, I was content to just eat, drink, and listen to the multifarious concoctions springing forth from the seams of Joe’s twisted brain lobes! It is a fact that he had a larger audience than the poor band playing nearby, even receiving visitors from other classes. Dave Eldredge was part of the circle listening to Joe, and was hilarious in his own right with his genuine, gregarious brand of slurred speech — until we had to help him follow the wall back to his bed! When Joe finally retired for the night, the circle collapsed into a black hole of exhaustion. After Sunday chapel, deciding when to leave was fairly easy for me, as it always has been at every reunion: when everyone else had! There is a poignant moment I indulge myself with, walking the hall, seeing the tussled sheets on empty beds in bare rooms with nothing but names remaining taped to the doors. Driving home through sometimes torrential rain was like traveling through a time/space vortex back to real life, where classmates exist in mind and spirit, not flesh. The transition was amplified by the gorgeous, sunny, cool Monday morning I awakened to; this was a different place, and I was facing another five-year stretch here. The time for us all to reach out is now; ride the vapor trails of your recent memory into the lives of your mates who are out there now, just time away, as real as you are. Aye, mates! I love you all!” • Raul Chavez wrote prior to reunion, “Deb and I won’t be able to make it. We have a crazy summer full of family stuff: a wedding in my sister’s family and the inauguration of a brew pub my son, Kyler Chavez ’05, will be opening in Anchorage at the same time as our reunion. We moved to Colorado and sold our place in Wilton after living there for 21 years. It did not make sense for us to remain on the East Coast, as our eldest son, Anthony, has been living in Colorado for years and married a delightful Colorado girl, and our son Kyler has lived and worked in Colorado off and on since he finished graduate school. Deb and I were on campus last June on our way back from visiting Judy Larrabee (Deb’s roommate in Gould). We also had a chance to sing in
Sacred Concert in May 2015 and ran into a few classmates of our vintage. Much to our delight, the NMH Alumni Association in the Denver/Boulder area is active, and we have had a chance to attend a number of alumni activities. If you should head in this direction, please let me know and we will get together for sure.” • Finally, post-reunion came a message from class parents Hal and Becky McCann: “We are so sorry to have missed the 45th! Hope it was wonderful. We hope everyone had fun, behaved, and that there were no rules violations during the weekend. It would have been so delightful to be with you all again. Those were the days of the best of the best! Our hugs and fond regards to you all.” • So, like the McCanns, we look forward to our next big one, a big round of thanks to my co-conspirators and 45th Reunion Committee leaders Stetson, Jon, and Cindy! And welcome aboard our new leaders for the 50th, Marshall Horowitz and Leigh Hansen! In the meantime, start planning accordingly, and keep the snail and email coming!
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Northfield Mount Hermon Karen Beshar Zakalik karen.zakalik@gmail.com Facebook.com/Groups/47624874849 • Tom Sisson 1972NMH@gmail.com
From Tom Sisson: Hope Kaltenthaler Belanger is moving to Savannah, Ga., to a location called The Landings, a gated community with six 18-hole golf courses. “I am still not looking at a firm date for retirement, however, but likely within the next two to three years,” says Hope. “Am still working for CDM Smith (31 years and counting), and still traveling the country. Enjoying the variety of work and the great people I work with. Over the past 12 months we have been successful in winning significant design-build contracts with the federal government for some really exciting work.” • Jack Henderson has settled back in Stockbridge, Mass., as an independent developer after a 35-year career as an environmental engineer designing drinkingwater plants around the world. Jack is currently on the board of a local organization that is restoring abandoned houses to provide low-income group housing for people who are in recovery while reducing urban blight and restoring the local community. He works full time in the winter as a professional ski instructor. Jack still squeezes in some tennis, mountain biking, fishing, and kayaking, and is even exploring the possibility of sculling. All in the hope of warding off the ravages of time! “I’m always game for a good time,” writes Jack, “and if any NMHers are in the Stockbridge area, be sure to look me up.” • Robin Smith-Johnson is still working two part-time jobs: newsroom librarian at the Cape Cod Times and adjunct English professor at Cape Cod Community College. Robin’s big news is that her book, Legends and Lore of Cape Cod,
CLASS NOTES was published (History Press). Her three sons are all single, working, and generally happy guys. Robin hopes to make our reunion next year! • Steven Whitney is the financial management practice leader for BerryDunn, a CPA firm based in Portland, Maine. His area helps state and local governments increase their revenues, lower costs, and improve their operational effectiveness. Steve’s son, Evan (26), lives in Falmouth, Mass., and is finding his way and working for Clean Beer. Steve’s daughter, Madison (19), finished her freshman year at High Point University in North Carolina. Steve is playing rugby, which he has been playing since 1973, and he now plays on an over-35 team for Mystic River Rugby Club in Malden, Mass., so he’s playing against guys sometimes 25 years younger than him and loving it. Steve will be at our reunion next year. • Bill Stebbins will visit Vietnam and is enjoying his retirement. He hopes to see everyone at the 45th reunion. • Craig Ward went on a fishing trip to Wyoming, where “God Bless America” is seen daily with mountains, prairies, and rainbows! He is headed to fly-fish for Atlantic salmon in July, steelhead in October, and smaller varieties of salmonids in Wyoming and Colorado throughout the year! • After 40 years of employment in university libraries in the West Virginia higher-education system, Jennifer Doane Cross retired in June. She and her husband have been “decluttering” file cabinets and rooms and updating their house in Wheeling, W. Va., in preparation for a move to Lancaster County, Penn., to be closer to family. The discovery of notebooks, papers, letters, school newspapers, and Romanian brochures buried in storage boxes has stirred up many fond memories of NMH experiences. Jen hopes to attend our 45th reunion. • In May, Dr. Sara W. Robinson and her son, artist Nick Farhi ’06, were at the opening of Nick’s exhibition with Grear Patterson: “Across 110th Street” at Rod Bianco Gallery, Oslo, Norway. Nick’s twin brother, Sam, is a university-level English instructor in New York as well as a candidate for an M.F.A. in creative writing. • Lance MacLean caught up with Bill Shea at Bill’s beachfront home on Stinson Beach, Calif. Bill was a great host to Lance’s family: Who knew that Bill was a gourmet cook? Fresh lobster, tomatoes, and homemade bread … the conversation and walk on his beach was fantastic, said Lance. Bill was starting a seven-city tour for his latest business adventure, and Lance was headed to Alcatraz. Lance says that life is good in Cincinnati, and he can’t wait to visit Bill again. Bill, Lance, and Geno Pena have already blocked off reunion weekend next June. They are trying to get Bill Campbell and others to make an appearance. • Dominica has been great for Rick Stobaeus — he’s been there for three years now. Let Rick know if anyone is headed his way. Rick’s sister, Lynn Stobeaus Mayo ’76, and her husband, Geoff, were there earlier this year. Rick’s daughter Emiko and
A gallery opening drew Sara W. Robinson ’72 (second from left), artist Nick Farhi ’06 (third from left), and friends.
Craig Ward ’72 catches the big one in Wyoming.
his granddaughter, Eva, have also visited. Rick says that it’s fun to keep up with many of you on Facebook, and he hopes preparations go well for reunion next year. • Jeff Kessler and wife Laura continue to stay busy with volunteer work on several community boards and committees. Jeff’s daughter Katharine received her degree in public health from Colby-Sawyer College last year following an internship with the Cancer Association of South Africa in Cape Town. Daughter Share is living at home, working in her field, and will start her nursing degree. Son Philip completed his first year at University of New Hampshire pursuing a degree in information technology. And since Philip is playing rugby for UNH, Laura and Jeff are still making the occasional Saturday road trip to watch him play. • Andrew Howe is enjoying life in the mountains of Jackson, N.H., skiing in the winter and sailing in the summer on their boat on the coast of Maine. He is still working for SAIL magazine and occasionally runs into Steve White at a boat show or event. Andy spoke with his old roomie, Al Breed, as Andy’s son was seeking advice about careers in woodworking. In the Mt. Washington Valley, Andy skis in the weekly Nordic Meisters events during the winter, enjoying the challenge. He raced to Bermuda last summer on an all-family boat and won the whole thing as navigator — first podium finish in 10 attempts. • Channing Harris attended Reunion 2016 with Tom Sisson. Channing has offered to help with planning for our 45th, so he did the NMH reunion “preview” this year and saw friends from ’71. He asks that you let him know if there are things you’d like planned for next year. Jim Keller’s band, perhaps? • After 13 years on the NMH Board of Trustees, the last three as chair, Bill Shea resigned. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience and says that the school is in good hands with Peter Fayroian at the helm. Bill’s son, Austin, graduated from Williams College and worked for a year in private equity before moving back to San Francisco to make his way in the real estate world. Daughter Allyson finished her first year at Columbia Law School. Bill completed the sale of DCLI, the company he acquired with Littlejohn & Co. in 2012, to a
Swedish infrastructure fund. He will stay on as CEO. He spent part of Memorial Day weekend with Lance MacLean and his family, and has re-connected with Bill Campbell, Geno Pena, and Crispin Philpott at the NCAA Lacrosse Championships for the past five years. Bill hopes to see many of you at the 45th reunion. • Jane Backus Gelernter and husband David went to Berlin in the early spring to promote David’s new book, The Tides of Mind: Uncovering the Spectrum of Consciousness, in the German translation. They later did some short hops in the east. David says that The Tides of Mind explains the phenomena of mind in terms of a spectrum that reaches from pure, abstract thinking to pure feeling; every conscious state of mind equals some point on this spectrum. Over the course of a day, we drift gradually lower, from up-spectrum to down. Toward the bottom, we cross the “hallucination line,” then fall asleep. The spectrum lets us answer the questions scientists and philosophers pose about the mind in a simple, natural, and intuitive way. • I (Tom Sisson) was at NMH Reunion 2016 for the entire weekend as an Alumni Council member, more specifically as a member of the Awards Committee. It was great to see nearly 40 folks from the class of ’71 return for their 45th reunion. I spent time with classes from ’41, ’46, and ’51, and it was exciting to interact with them as they reminisced about their time as students, much the way we do. Don’t miss out — our 45th reunion is just around the corner. We had more than 100 classmates at our 40th. Mark the dates and plan to attend. Email me, if you wish.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Heather Blanchard Tower smtower@comcast.net • Bill Stewart billstewartnmh73@gmail.com
From Heather: Jay Thomas writes, “I finished the marathon as part of the 2016 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. There were 42,000 participants in the marathon and other races. Still struggling as an administrator (natural sciences department chair at University of Michigan-Dearborn). I have had several amazing students recently: Donna is in her mid-50s,
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CLASS NOTES and after raising several daughters has returned to earn her M.S. in environmental science. She is blind and has developed technology and approaches to convey environmental studies to blind children, building scent and touch gardens. Sarah, from Syria, has struggled through the disaster there and is well on her way to a physician assistant career. While we have no progeny (genetics term for ‘kids’), the students are a great inspiration to me.” • Mark DeGarmo continues to bring amazing dance opportunities to the children of New York. He recently danced in Las Fridas, the story of Frida Kahlo. • As for me, you may not all be aware that I lost my Steve in January to a particularly virulent form of melanoma. Surgery, radiation, immunotherapy, and chemo could not halt the disease. We were home with hospice and both Chris and Sara during Steve’s last two weeks. It was the longest and shortest six months of my life. We have good days and not-so-good days as we sort out where we go from here. We celebrated Steve’s life in May at a music-filled service that reflected our life together, and saw many longtime friends. The power of prayer and positive energy makes it possible for me to get up each day and do my job, a blessing in its own way. • Keep your news coming so we can fill our column each time! • From Bill: Amy Halsted has had her elderly mother living with her in Vermont since last summer. “It’s a humbling and ennobling experience,” says Amy. • Rob Howland is spending time in the Green Mountains of Vermont (home) and White Mountains of New Hampshire (work), enjoying both. His work pushes for the use of clean, renewable energy sources, and he is taking business classes on the side. Youngest daughter, Avery, recently graduated from University of Vermont with a degree in environmental sciences and a passion for trees, in keeping with family beliefs. • David Holleb writes, “Regina and I will be riding in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, for three days and then south to the Finger Lakes. We finish the ride at Alfred University, my alma mater. Tom Bartlett and his wife were supposed to ride with us, but it is a long way to Canada from Nashville, Tenn.! If anyone would like to help organize an NMH reunion ride, I would be happy to help. Our son Peter graduated from University of Scranton and is working as a contractor at Bristol Meyers Squibb in New Jersey. Our son Matt works as a second mate deck officer for Crowley Maritime in Florida.” • David Bralow writes, “After nearly two decades of working at two of the nation’s largest newspaper companies (Tribune and Digital First Media), I have joined Pepper Hamilton LLC in New York and Philadelphia, where I continue to provide First Amendment, copyright, trademark, and other content-related services to my clients. On the personal side, I want to ‘kvel’ about my wonderful children, who both live in the Northampton, Mass., area. Alexander can be found at Hampshire Bicycle Exchange. Anna is working at Tapestry
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Northfield ’73 classmates cherish time together (back, l-r) Nancy Creasy Slack, Kit Murphy Schiele; (front, l-r) Kathy “Klas” Mills Beatty and Susan Child Kerr.
Health Family Planning as she pursues her studies to become a physician assistant. In the meantime, I’m on the hunt for a weekend house in the hill towns so I can be close. I’ve even looked at a few in Bernardston!” • Travels last year saw Nancy Elkington catching up with Karen and Dave Kirk in Wooster, Ohio, for Gilbert and Sullivan; Holly Hoxeng ’72 in Columbus; Nancy Creasy Slack on Lake Michigan’s shore; and Claire Bamberg ’74 in Cleveland. Nancy E. also met up with her first Northfield roommate, Rachel Cullerton; they had a great lunch catching up on the past 43 years. Nancy spent last Christmas in the U.K., participating in the Christmas Eve and Christmas morning services at York Minster. • David Wright opened for Ronnie Spector in July at Provincetown Town Hall, with a capacity of 2,500. The original bad girl of rock-and-roll and David linked in the promoter’s mind. • Mark Spitzer writes, “I ran into Heather Blanchard Tower at NMH at the alumni rehearsal for Sacred Concert. Hugs abounded. I had a great long-weekend visit with: Nat Herold ’72, Chip Elliott ’72, Brent Robie ’72, Kim Montague ’72, Erik Lindgren ’72, Eric Van ’72, Channing Harris ’72, and School Archivist Peter Weis ’78! Somehow I was lucky and found a bottle or two of the awesome Dogfish Head NMH brew from our last reunion in Nat’s refrigerator. Holland America Line of cruise ships appears to have dumped the entirety of the U.S. and Canadian ER specialist doctors in favor of cheaper South African labor; it appears that I am out of a job. I am still on their roster for short-notice cancellations. That said, I’m home for the duration! I hope to see Skip Weaver stopping by in one of his northward migrations. Perhaps John Lazarus may parachute in from his flights to and from Medelín; anyone else passing through southern West Virginia?” • In October 2015, Kathleen “Klas” Mills Beatty, Susan Child Kerr, Kit Murphy Schiele, and Nancy Creasy Slack met up for a minireunion in Jaffrey, N.H. It was like no time had passed at all as they pored over yearbooks, photos, and other memorabilia while listening to music from the 1970s. They traveled to Northfield to wander the lovely grounds and see the beautiful architecture. They also drove
through Mt. Hermon’s campus, although it was filled with people celebrating Parents’ Weekend and it holds no memories for the Northfield girls. They sang “Jerusalem” all the way back to their cottage on Thorndike Pond. • Bill Stewart says, “Since November [2015] I’ve been pharmacy manager at AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Oakland, Calif., not missing the commute to San Francisco at all. David and I have far too many cacti and succulents, even some flowering things around us in bucolic El Cerrito. Still on the board and concert committee of the San Francisco Early Music Society, attending at least one concert of some kind every week on average, singing and playing recorder as well.”
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Northfield Mount Hermon Stephanie Lynn Gerson stephanie.l.gerson@gmail.com
“My Walk on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela” by Barbara Forshay: “Over 25 days in April, I walked 160 miles from Pamplona to Santiago, Spain, a five-year dream, my 60th birthday delight. Camino symbolizes life’s path; pilgrims say buen camino: ‘good path/way/route/life.’ A microcosm of the macrocosm of life, I’m thrust into each moment, encountering inner and outer territories. I embarked with Miriam, renewing 17 years of friendship; we were each other’s witness. Camino angels bandaged blisters, shared water, exchanged gifts. We met wonderful people, adopting midday silence for reflection and spiritual communion. I relished solitude in nature. We rested at hostels, three days of silence at Rabanal Benedictine Monastery enjoying Gregorian chants, and Frank Gehry’s spa-winery hotel in the Rioja. Life lessons: Make it your Camino — share, but accept my own way without comparison to others; love and accept myself and my 60-year-old body; there are many ways to walk the Camino; I need regular rejuvenation in nature. I give more to others than to myself; and welcome change and be not afraid. I learned this through my friend and by being in different places daily. Acknowledging husband, sculptor Ed Haddaway.” • “Bucket List: Machu Picchu. Check,” by Becky Nash McKay: “This past May, my oldest daughter, Julia, and I took on the challenge of the Inca Trail in Peru. The 26-mile hike covered four 12-hour days of strenuous hiking with three nights of camping, and took us through tropical, jungle, desert-like, and alpine ecosystems. Along the way we marveled at how the Incas built this stone-covered path to Machu Picchu in the mid-1400s, a great part of which is endless, uneven stairs and stones, and then down miles of steps on the other side. Our eyes were totally opened to the group hiking experience, and we’re already looking for our next adventure. This trip left a lasting impression on us: for the serenity of the trail, the physical challenge, and the warm people of Peru.” • The second annual “Jam
CLASS NOTES with RAM,” organized by Michael Price and hosted by Richard A. Morse ’75 and Lunise at their historic Hotel Oloffson, reunited seven NMHers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in February. Richard formed the renowned Caribbean performance ensemble after leaving New York City and returning to his mother’s native land in 1990. He invites international musicians to jam with RAM, a unique musical experience. Their mizik rasin Voodoo Rock is a unique blend of African, soul, R&B, and funk rhythms. RAM has gained international recognition, and was featured on NPR for their CD, “RAM 6.” NMHers attending were Seitu Morel ’12, Jodi Solomon ’76, Roger Treat ’75, Jon Zeeman ’73, and Kerry Rosenthal. Alumni interested in joining our return trip February 2017, write: michael@michaelpricephotography.com. • Chandler “Chris” Cudlipp is “managing director of La Cetra Barockorchester & Vokalensemble Basel, a period instrument orchestra [with a] repertoire [covering] late Renaissance to early classical, the Baroque period of music and architecture. Zsuzsanna and I take day trips from Zurich and ski in the Alps. We’ve recently visited Perugia, Italy, and Andalusia, Spain, favoring Mezquita de Cordoba and Real Alcazar de Sevilla. Alexandra entered University of Zurich following her two-year post-gymnasium gap. My favorite aspect of travel is walking, sensing everyday city life. I occasionally discover a good restaurant. Good food is always important.” • Bonita Hyman writes, “My April New York Metropolitan Opera soloist debut was a blast! It was not my first time in the house; I performed there as a young chorus singer in Porgy and Bess (1985) and covered Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare (1999). Being one of the five Magds in Strauss’s Elektra has been an honor. A perfect 60th birthday! Yolanda Suarez Merchant, Dongsok Shin ’76 (my Easter host), Charlotte Bacon Holton ’76, Marcia Sprague ’73 (Romania 1972 roommate), and DeeDee Higgins Nuanes ’72 attended. Peg LeBaron Purdue came to New York to hang out with me after 17 years. David Wright ’73 and Bill Stewart ’73 viewed simultaneous HD broadcasts. Son Cameron (18) is in high school!” • “Bonita Hyman was amazing in Elektra. Hers is the voice that opens the opera,” writes New York City-based artist
Barbara Forshay ’74 sees the sights in Ciraqui, Spain.
and art dealer Yolanda Suarez Merchant, and “Here is a small video about my own work that I did for a foundation in Italy: youtu.be/ ldmvxQyWHD4, filmed by Lisa Stein ’73.” Yolanda currently focuses on self-portraiture as a form of self-expression, with paintings in collections of the Butler Institute of American Art, Housatonic Museum, and the Mattatuck Museum. Yolanda studied with world-famous artist Nerina Simi and art historian Henry Geldzahler. She’s re-connected with Elizabeth Johnson Cua. Elizabeth had a terrific sprint through Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas in May. “We experienced a culture, a history deep and wide, and people very warm and friendly. My husband injured his knee this winter at Jackson Hole, but is nearly mended. Off to Madagascar and Seychelles later this year. Highly recommend tucking into the travels while we are young and able.” • Hello from Keith Gray in Miami Beach: “I’ve made a commitment with my wife, Agnes, to travel three to seven days every month for the next 12 months! In April we went to Poland: Gdansk, Krakow, and lastly Zakopane for a rural-style family wedding. May: We spent five days in our mountain abode near NMH. Did I tell you about the 200-lb bear eating from our bird feeder, standing on two legs? June: We went to the Dominican Republic. I remember my father’s words, ‘Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.’” • On a recent rock-hounding trip in the western Utah desert, more than 150 miles of which was on dirt roads, Eric Teot of Salt Lake City collected geodes, amber-colored topaz crystals, and 500-million-year-old trilobite fossils. • Writer Michael Richards was profiled in OmniMystery News and The Big Thrill Online Magazine, advancing his January debut novel, Choice of Enemies. He enjoyed book readings and press conferences this spring and summer along the East Coast. In October, he presented a workshop, “Developing Foreign Locales in a Novel” at the annual Florida Writers Association conference. In November, his follow-up novel, A Thousand Enemies, was published. • “Liking my job more than ever after 28 years as clarinetist in the Coast Guard Band, New London, Conn.,” writes Jonathan Towne. “As senior enlisted and master chief, there’s more admin work, though I most enjoy
(From left) Toni Cook ’74, Josie Hart ’74, and Valerie Bowman Jarrett ’74 celebrate Commencement together.
concert performances and Coast Guard ceremonies. Last January, I led the Coast Guard Band on ‘The Finest Hours’ Hollywood red carpet, then watched the premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. In January 2017, I’ll lead the band in my last Presidential Inaugural Parade in D.C. It’s been a great career, and I’m grateful for my work supporting the Coast Guard.” • Josephine Hart saw Toni Cook and Senior White House Advisor Valerie Bowman Jarrett at NMH Commencement. Valerie also spoke at the Muhammad Ali Memorial (youtube.com/ watch?v=ie7qlCLwIHA). Ali was on campus in April 1974; 42 years later Valerie speaks at his funeral on behalf of POTUS! • Lyn Maravell Joy writes, “I switched from Green to Democrat. I was an alternate delegate for Bernie Sanders at the Maine Democratic Convention but did not get bumped to delegate. I witnessed the passing of Diane Russell’s prototype for getting rid of the super delegate system in 2020. Otherwise, I’m out in my garden and selling plants.” • Christopher Matthews and wife Beth hit 60 last fall. Chris continues to research 16th-century Spanish reformers’ writings at Oxford University, and with librarians, discovered a rare letter from the Duke of Wellington ensconced in an old Spanish book. He attended a Peruvian wedding in an old London hall: “charming and colorful.” Chris and Beth welcomed two new granddaughters this year, Bailey Anne and Evelyn Michelle Liang San, so they traveled to South Korea to see them. “Coming through North Carolina?” asks Chris. “Y’all are welcome to visit; just write us to ensure we’re home.” • Claire Bamberg’s son Nathaniel completed his Knox junior year with an original etching juried into Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa. Son Matthew “BAM” Bamberg ’02 teaches, enjoying rave reviews for his acting company, The Speakeasy Society. Son Brian married in Rochester, N.Y., in June. She stayed with the John Burnhams in Rhode Island and recently saw Peter Allenby. Church consulting takes Claire across the country. She completed her 34-year career as parish minister after nearly a decade with the Congregational Church of Plainville, UCC. Claire is now the national director of coaching and senior consultant for the Center for Progressive Renewal, and is a marriage and family pastoral psychotherapist and coach in West Simsbury, Conn. • Andre Fleuriel’s life has a familiar rhythm. “For those who aren’t on Facebook, my longtime partner and I got married last year in the church where we met in 1997. I am still adjusting to calling Mark my husband. I am at another contract position at Wells Fargo. The work is interesting in an esoteric manner.” • “As a one-year senior,” says Thomas Farrell, “the NMH experience prepared me for life. After graduating Cornell, I headed west on a cross-country trip. I remain in California, now living and working in Newport Beach, and am
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CLASS NOTES and appreciation for the great outdoors. Blue crabs, freshly caught rockfish, and handmade margaritas are Maryland staples — and the Johnsons don’t buck tradition. • In summer 2015, Meredith O’Dowd Adams and husband Ed cruised down the Connecticut coast over to Long Island, meeting Lynne Trezvant for Shelter Island bike riding. “Son Luke (22) graduated from Brown, moved to San Francisco, and is now a data scientist for Wise, a small ‘dot com.’ Sad parting. Luckily, Ed’s sailing coaching takes him that way frequently.” • Errata from the last issue: Gooz Draz lived in Wellfleet, Mass., not Rhode Island. And Andy Tofuri still lives in Texas, not Florida. Jonathan Towne ’74 (in bearskin hat) performed as drum major in the Coast Guard Band on the red carpet in Hollywood, Calif.
partner in the firm of Landmark Capital Advisors. Kristy and I are empty nesters — our three kids fledged: Erin is a tax accountant for KKR in San Francisco, Ainsley is a recording artist in Sydney, Australia, and Ian is a civil engineer here in Newport Beach. I visited NMH a couple of times for college visits, with great memories. Brother Jack Farrell ’80 is a class secretary. Wishing all ’74ers the best. Sixty is the new 40, right?” • Bradley Schneider lives the good life in beautiful Rappahannock County, Va. A developer of renewable energy plants, he consults on waste-to-energy systems and on two African solar installations. Brad and Wendy are organizing their fifth horseback safari to Kenya with 13 guests for September 2017. “Riding with wild animals during the Great Migration in the Masai Mara is a unique experience,” says Bradley. He serves on the Town of Washington Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Plan, focusing on energy and environmental provisions. He also engineered foam pads for Wendy’s Sure Foot Equine Stability Program (wendymurdoch.com). • Texas-based Andy Tofuri sailed from Charleston, S.C., to Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, Bahamas, in early April. “It was a good trip in spite of the weather aboard the S/V Scarlett BEE, the newest of seven Morris 486 sailboats,” says Andy. “Now I’ve been on three of them, and am working to find a ride on the rest of the fleet as I finagle a ride with the other owners. Perhaps an NMH alum reading this can help me do some networking.” • After graduating from Tulane University, Scott Johnson moved to D.C. in 1978. In 1986 he and future wife Margaret founded their digital agency, CHIEF, comprising 120 employees today. Clients include the White House and State Department, Yale, Hilton Hotels, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. As a scout leader and Eagle Scout with son Charles, Scott resumed his youthful Nicaraguan adventures with long back-country backpacking trips to many national parks, mountains, and trails. Unwinding at their Chesapeake Bay island cottage, Scott fishes twice weekly on his boat, CHIEF, teaching friends’ kids fishing, camping,
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Northfield Mount Hermon Veronica Froelich Adams veronicafadams@gmail.com • Carrie Roantree Ahlborn crahlborn@gmail.com
From Ronni: Liz Armstrong was promoted to full professor at Bucknell University, where she has taught for 16 years. Her daughter Mariah placed fifth in her class in a national equestrian competition in Lexington, Ky. Daughter Rebekah ’13 spent her spring semester in Japan. Liz happily reports that the daughter of friends heeded Liz’s encouragement to apply to NMH, and said daughter is now joining the fold! • Phil Mead ’76 is an ER doctor in the Philadelphia area and his wife, Carolyn Fox, continues to work in securities compliance. Their older son, Loren, attends medical school at University of Pennsylvania. Younger son, Nick, rows for Princeton as a junior and was recently chosen for Selection Camp for the U.S. U23 team competing in Rotterdam. Phil says that all four in the family rowed in college, but it looks like Nick will be the star! With sons away at college, Phil and Carolyn enjoy the company of their other family members: two Labs and a cat. • Randy Showstack is senior writer for Eos, an online news service published by the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C., where he reports on earth and space science news. In January, he and his wife, Michele Zador, celebrated the bat mitzvah of their daughter, Danielle. • John Robinson and his wife, Karen, are enjoying life in their Londonderry, N.H., home and spending any time they can with their four children. Their twin sons are grown and off into the world; daughter Brooke is a college senior and Shea is in her last year of high school. John keeps busy with his freelance communications consulting and his Ph.D. program in media psychology at Fielding University. • Chris Thompson and his wife, Elena Caudle Thompson, live in northern Virginia, where Chris has been running the area’s largest ballroom dance studio for five years. Elena is an IT enterprise system director with Freddie Mac, after previous roles with Amtrak and Fannie Mae. Chris reports that their two kids are off saving the world: one in the field of urban planning in D.C. and the other in teaching
English to orphans in Turkey. • Kim Marlowe Hartnett’s book, Carolina Israelite: How Harry Golden Made Us Care about Jews, the South, and Civil Rights (UNC Press), came out last year. Congrats, Kim! She’s been enjoying her book tour, life with her husband and dog in Portland, Ore., and traveling to Northern Ireland for fun and research, and is working with social work students there. She says her best news is that Kathy Lyons Egan and her husband are in Portland, too! Kathy’s daughter has a new son, which makes all of the Egan/ Hartnett clans delirious with joy! • David Caldwell lives in Manhattan with his wife, Alyssa. After 10 years as the musical director for Forbidden Broadway, his career as a director and composer continues to sing along. Ronni Froelich Adams had the pleasure of attending a reading of David’s new musical, Gotta Getta Girl. David and Ronni also attended George Takei’s musical, Allegiance, which was inspired by Takei’s experiences as a child imprisoned in an American Japanese internment camp. John Howley was also at the play that evening. John was one of the producers of Allegiance through his company, Mabuhay Productions. He continues with his law practice and enjoys spending time with his wife, Isabel, and their two grown sons. • Bryan Flippen married his partner, Mark Houle, in May. Congratulations, Bryan! He runs a real estate practice in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. Bryan and Mark enjoyed dinner and theater with Ilene Feldman Steele and her husband, Mike Hickes, in London last year and again this year in Miami Beach. Ilene has a jewelry design business in London and produces beautiful pieces of jewelry. • After spontaneously flying in from Oregon to attend her first NMH reunion last year, Deborah Rosenberg reports that the experience of re-connecting with the school, classmates, and “who we were” helped her make a career decision that she’d been struggling with. After enjoying many years as faculty and chair of Southern Oregon University’s theater department, she has accepted the role of co-chair of the university’s creative arts department. • Jamie Pond Renning and her husband, Aaron, live with their four-pawed family outside Albany, N.Y. Together, they help run a busy nursery, growing green things and the good life.
Elizabeth Armstrong ’75 is all smiles with daughter Rebekah Lofgren ’13.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Susan Loring-Wells susanloring@me.com • Joe Mcveigh joe@joemcveigh.org
From Joe: A group of 46 stalwart class members descended on the NMH campus in June to re-connect and relive the glory days of our youth. In addition to traipsing about the campus and dining in Alumni Hall, highlights included David Bernstein’s Alumni Classroom talk on concert photography and Adam Saffer’s receipt of the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award. Adam’s citation noted his 30 years of work in international development, making the world a better place, and he made a few remarks to the assembled convocation. He and wife Alison had flown in from Cairo for the reunion! • Several determined classmates arose early on Saturday morning to demonstrate their fitness. Pam Kaull rowed in an eight-person shell on the river. Terry Green, Peter Lovell, Dean Steeger, Valerie Malter, Mary Worthington, and Cari Hemenway opted for the 30-mile bicycle Pie Ride. Later in the summer, Cari competed in the Ironman triathlon in Lake Placid, N.Y., her fourth Ironman in four years. • Several classmates attending reunion are parents of current NMH students, including Matt Kennedy, Charlie Knirsch, Dave Belletete, and Elaine Monchak. Elaine, who has moved to Manhattan, recalled fond memories of learning French from Monsieur Cary Bell. • Newell Thomas drove up from Barrington, R.I., to join us for a few hours. Newell designs solar and wind projects and cycles 30 miles every morning. Come for the Pie Ride next time, Newell. Son Casey (26) works in the public schools in Barre, Vt., and coaches lacrosse at Norwich University. Son Ian is 24. • Kevin Sullivan brought wife Rae Latt back to campus to help celebrate four years of marriage. Kevin directs TV sitcoms, most recently Liv and Maddy for Disney. Rae is an actress. You can see her dancing on TV and YouTube in the Gain detergent commercial, “Oops, there it is!” She’s the one in the pink sweater. • Chuck Funderburk returned to campus for the first time in 35 years. After NMH, Chuck went to the University of North Carolina as an undergrad, where he played lacrosse and then stayed on for medical school. After fellowships in Oklahoma and Florida, Chuck and his wife then settled in Oklahoma City, Okla., where Chuck is an orthopedic surgeon. His grown children have gravitated to jobs and schools in the Northeast. • Also returning for the first time in many years was Tracy Hallberg Harvey, who is married to Peter Harvey. Their children are Hunt (20), Rudy (19), and Charlotte (18). After 15 years with Pfizer, Tracy now works at an independent branch of Charles Schwab near her home in Stonington, Conn. It was also terrific to see Darcy Schramn after many years. • Lisa Morgan works in architecture and design in
Rockland, Maine. She also paints and hosts visitors at her Airbnb. Daughter Vivian (18) is a freshman at University of Vermont. Son Adrian (25) lives in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Lisa brought a fabulous scrapbook to reunion that traced the early history of women’s rowing at NMH. Lisa would love to have a reunion of those early rowers, including ’76ers Mary Clifford Tittmann, Pam Kaull, Lori Geissenhainer Bate, Margot Booth, and Mary Stull Gibbons. • Derek Jones lives in Montreal, where he is an attorney specializing in health law and bioethics, exploring issues that arise in areas such as organ donations and tissue transfer technology. He sometimes teaches health law at McGill University. • Special thanks to Laura Stookey Johnson and Susan Loring-Wells for their help in making our reunion a success, along with all the other members of our reunion committee who labored to send out postcards and invitations. • As part of our reunion, we took a few moments to remember our departed classmates, particularly those who died within the last five years: Rusty Lindgren, Dave Marley, Stephen Piscuskas, and most recently, Amy Gladstone-Fischbein. Amy died on 4/22/16 after a serious illness. Mary Worthington and Phebe Gregson had been in touch with her. Phebe remembered fun and memorable times re-connecting with Amy in New York City when their daughters attended NYU. Amy had founded and ran a successful business designing shoes, but her biggest success and pride were her two daughters, Ali and Nicole. Phebe recalled Amy as happy, beautiful, stylish, and full of life. She will be missed. • A week after our reunion, I traveled back to campus again with classmates Michael LaChance and Will Torrey for a reunion of fellow faculty brats. Growing up at NMH is a great experience, but it is also a bit disorienting — when you return years later, all the people that you knew as a child have moved on. We had a wonderful time reminiscing with siblings and nearly 40 “fac brats” who grew up on campus in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. • I occasionally travel to give professional development training workshops for English language teachers for the U.S. Department of State. This year’s trip was to Bahrain and the
United Arab Emirates, where I almost-butnot-quite managed to get together with Bill Bodie, who is living in Abu Dhabi. • You may have caught the article in NMH Magazine’s spring 2016 issue outlining Peter Barbey’s efforts to restore the Village Voice to its rightful place in American journalism. Peter returned to campus in the spring and spoke to students about his experiences in publishing. • Mary Clifford Tittmann and husband John live in Cambridge, Mass. Mary is director of outreach at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, and John is an architect. Daughter Hester graduated from Hampshire College and works in the Bay Area. Son Henry is studying architecture at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Mary is in touch with Lisa Morgan and Alice Payne Merritt. • Jeanne Finestone is in Kabul working as Afghan program director for Lapis Communications, a strategic communications firm operating in Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. • Ian Horne is the systems developer for the Psychosocial Care Program at Uppsala University, Sweden. This government-sponsored program aims to provide internet-based psychosocial support and psychological self-help to those who need it. He also teaches computer programming. Carter Mario has a successful law practice in Milford, Conn. • David Bernstein was awarded the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award by the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University. David was recognized for his career in program evaluation and public administration. Congratulations, David! • After NMH, Debbie Lipton Appelbaum attended University of Pennsylvania and later worked in sales, marketing, and human resources counseling. She became a “professional volunteer” and spent many years helping the Greenwich, Conn., public schools and the Junior League. Debbie serves as secretary on the Greenwich Board of Education and often works with Bill McKersie ’77, superintendent of schools. Debbie’s husband, Bob, works in the home furnishings industry and participates in triathlons. Daughter Amber (27) is in public relations at Nike Communications in Manhattan, and son Jack (24) graduated in
(From left) ’76ers Michael LaChance, Joe McVeigh, and Will Torrey returned to campus for the inaugural Faculty Brats reunion.
Lisa Morgan ’76 shows off handmade crew singlet from the first NMH women’s crew team.
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CLASS NOTES 2014 from Georgetown and works for Deloitte in D.C. With the kids out of the house, Debbie and Bob are kept company by two Tibetan spaniels. • In June, Beth Stevens Van Belle and former roommate Mari Baumgarten held their own private reunion in Boston. Beth retired five years ago and is intending to move on to a second career in accounting. She ended up getting a B.S. in computer science and has been working as a software engineer for the last couple of years. Mari continues to manage her personal financial advising business in West Palm Beach, Fla., with special attention to the financial John Spence ’77 crosses the finish line. needs of women. Beth wrote, “There are very few people that you feel a lifelong connection to work with these institutions as they merge.” with, but Mari is one of them for me.” • One • Max Hartshorne’s daughter, Kate ’98, bought of the topics at our class meeting at reunion a house in downtown Northfield and has was how alumni of our generation — and our moved there with her partner, Jon. Max runs class in particular — can make a difference in the company, GoNOMAD.com, and still the school of today by increasing our financial travels regularly. Last year he enjoyed a great giving. I’m glad to report that this year we met night with Mike Drazen ’78 when he visited. • our goals for both dollars and participation. Meredith Leland is teaching adult education Many thanks to all of you who respond in Utica, N.Y., to refugees, those formerly generously to those letters, emails, and phone incarcerated, people in treatment, and public calls. Keep it up! • We would love to stay in high school dropouts, which reminds her a lot touch with you. Make it easy for us by making sure we have your current contact information. of NMH. She is also a member of the Utica Mural Project, which is trying to make Utica Send the school your up-to-date email address more beautiful, one wall at a time. She has by emailing: addressupdates@nmhschool.org; raised three kids, who are all out of diapers. opt to make your information sharable on the All of them draw really well, have good singing NMH online community and on the NMH voices, and can play stringed instruments, Connect mobile app; and join the NMH so she feels she has at least succeeded as a Class of 1976 Facebook page. We are happy to mother, if nothing much else. • From sunny help you connect with old friends: Just send us an email, and if we’ve got their contact info, Largo, Fla., Bill Elliot sends a “call out” to Lansing Banks, Nat Thompson, and Sean we’ll be glad to pass it along. Rattigan about attending the next reunion! “We could sneak in a round of golf!” • Tim Northfield Mount Hermon Graff is “semi-retired, working in my garden Anne Howson growing vegetables, and seeing lots of old ahowson@rics.bwh.harvard.edu friends. Daughter Frances is a senior at Boston Amy Lowrie Taivalkoski writes that “1977 was a long time ago, folks, and it is time for people University and is studying in Shanghai. She has decided to join the Air Force. Son Tim is in our class to start knocking off some bucket apprenticing as a carpenter and taking classes list items, especially the physical ones, before at Great Bay Community College. Daughter it is too late! I had some back surgery two Sophie is a junior at Oyster River High School years ago and it was a wake-up call. To that in Durham, N.H., and is quite athletic and acend, my husband and I and two friends are tive in sustainability work. Will is going to be backpacking the John Muir Trail this summer a high school freshman and runs cross-country in California. It is 260 miles, with 75,000 feet as well as track. He’s active in Boy Scouts of elevation changes. I encourage everyone along with his younger brother, Finn, who will to start making time for their dreams.” Good be in sixth grade and is doing well academiwords, indeed. • Janet Douglass Sharp cally. Finn loves music, as does my youngest, Kershaw writes from Osterville, Mass., “After Annie, who will be in third grade. Wife Mary graduating from Hamilton College in 1981, is a physical therapist and doing well. Have I’ve been living on the East Coast. I’ve had been hanging out with classmates Davin Robvarious jobs, from real estate development, inson and Richard Tranfield, both of whom fundraising, to caregiving for cancer patients. live in coastal Maine.” • Lisa Clarke Tomlinson My main focus for many years was my two kids, both of whom are in New York: daughter was in Boston, watching both of her daughters and son-in-law compete (and finish) the Elizabeth is a medical resident, and my son, Boston 10K foot race. Her younger daughter, Tucker, is a real estate developer. Currently, Carly, works in Somerville at Best Buddies I’m reinventing my real estate career in Boston Social Services Organization and daughter and learning jazz piano after years of playing Christine lives in Cambridge with husband classical. I’m very excited that Boston ConChristopher and is an occupational therapist servatory is merging with Berklee College of in the Cambridge Public Schools. Christine is Music, and am looking forward to continuing also a marathon runner. • With 2,700 cyclists,
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Diane Williams ’77 (left) met up in California with classmate Lisa Cohen ’77.
John Spence participated in a seven-day bike
ride to support AIDS/LifeCycle 2016 in June, cycling 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The event raised a whopping $16.1 million. Congratulations, John! • Diana Williams and Lisa Cohen visited with each other last January in California, where they both live, looking as fabulous as they did in junior year when we all lived in the wonderful Marquand dormitory! I am hoping to see them both at reunion next year! • Anne Howson: Other than some arthritic “back problems” and an impending move (my 34th since NMH 1976 — don’t ask), all is well as I figure out how to embrace “middle age” in better shape (a Sisyphean task). It truly is a small world sometimes as two NMH connections occurred this year for me. The first: In Boston, last December, a lovely woman greeted me on the sidewalk as I was going into work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Don’t I know you?” she asked as if she recognized me. She was with another woman, and I was mystified but game. We guessed at possible links until we figured out that we were NMH classmates! It was Charley Gray and her partner, Abby Peck ’76, together in front of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where Charley has been receiving treatment. Since then we have met for lunch a few times and caught up with each other. Even though we did not know each other at NMH, the bond and ability to pick up was immediate. Charley is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Cambridge, and Abby is a staff assistant at Harvard. They have lived together in the Boston area for more than 30 years. The second connection: While reading my old town of Weston, Conn., newspaper last month, I learned that the Board of Education has appointed William McKersie as the district’s next superintendent of schools. William was approved unanimously by the Weston school board and began his new post in the summer. “Well, hey, now that name is familiar!” I thought. I (mostly) grew up in Weston and came to NMH from there, so now a classmate from my second high school will be superintendent of my first high school! Congratulations, Bill!
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Northfield Mount Hermon Carrie Niederman thedoc@txequinedentist.com • Cathy Abraham Hopkins cathy.hopkins@gmail.com
Beth Graden Rom writes, “Since at times Muhammad must go to the mountain, some of us decided to have a Brooklyn gathering in April (home of Rich Miller). Several other locals joined in our weekend of fun, including John Canavari, John Dinan, Kyle Warendorf, Lesley Snelling, Brooke Laffan, Wendy Mauser Moores ’79, and Mark McCormick. Naturally, some of the not-so-local regulars showed (Cathy, Erika, and Beth). Lisa, Ellen, Maxine, David, Cami, Danny G., and Hirath were missed; Chris Crowder and Tom French, too. It was a treat to have George Pappas in our midst. Rich did a fine job keeping us on track, and we commended his leadership. It doesn’t matter where we are or what we do, we are simply content to be together and tell stories and share our current-day tales. We walked, talked, laughed, ate (chocolate), imbibed (in various nectars), rode a carousel, and looked at the bright lights of Manhattan. We can’t wait until the next time and hope that you all have Reunion 2018 on your calendars (when it will have been 40 years since we graduated).” • Debbie Allenby Albert: “After many gatherings at NMH for memorial services of former faculty members, a few of us began tossing around the idea of gathering at a more joyful time to have a ‘Fac Brat’ reunion to celebrate our childhood as faculty kids at NMH. Kristin Kellom ’80 spearheaded what would become the first NMH Faculty Brat Reunion in June. This event included fac brats from the 1950s–1970s, since these were the core years represented at most of the previous memorial services.” Along with reminiscing and sharing experiences of growing up on campus, reunion attendees were treated to a presentation compiled by Peter Weis, NMH archivist, which featured some fac brats’ parents as young teachers. At a gathering in Memorial Chapel, many at the reunion shared how thankful they are that their parents were faculty members — the real reason they spent time as children in a most beautiful place they call home. The class of 1978 was well represented — in attendance: Joe Elliott, Ellen McVeigh Crawford, Peter Weis, Debbie Allenby Albert, Bob Compton, Martha Piscuskas, and Louise Burnham Packard.
The ’78 Faculty Brats reunion included (l-r) Joe Elliott, Ellen McVeigh Crawford, Peter Weis, Debbie Allenby Albert, Bob Compton, Martha Piscuskas, and Louise Burnham Packard.
College on an internship in stage management. He’s now studying theater at Drew University. “Transitioning to an empty nest will be the theme this year, but a job at a college, being on the local school board, and managing rental properties will help keep life full,” says Candace. • Jim Louderback writes, “All’s good here on the edge of the San Andreas Fault, except I’m suddenly living with two alien creatures — a dog and a 17-year-old-boy (who is the most normal of all of us — which is not saying much).” • Chris Neumeyer has been in Taiwan for the past 16 years and gained a wife, a 12-year-old girl, a house, and a cat. Chris joined the Taipei office of the U.S. law firm Duane Morris, and represents tech companies regarding intellectual property. • Carl Heine and his wife have moved from Alaska to Spokane, Wash., where he has a faculty position with a brand-new medical school at Washington State University. • William Heidbreder is still readjusting to America after returning to New York from Paris, where he earned a second bachelor’s degree at the Sorbonne, this time in philosophy. “I have started doing translations from French and writing and editing résumés, cover letters, and grant proposals, in addition to editing manuscripts for my business, Academic English Editing. Am also working on some writing projects, including a memoir and writings on theater and film. A blog of my writings can be found at refusal ofsilence.com. Anyone passing through New York City is encouraged to get in touch. I have
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Northfield Mount Hermon Paige Relyea Lehman Paigerelyea@Yahoo.com • Cary Liebowitz Bonosevich Bonosevich@Hotmail.com
This is a year of milestones for Candace Roper in Lancaster, Penn. Daughter Mackenzie graduated from University of Vermont with a B.S. in molecular genetics and is taking time off before applying to grad school for genetic counseling. Son Liam graduated from high school and spent the summer at Muhlenberg
(From left) Erika Monsees McCormick ’78, Brooke Laffan ’78, Kyle Warendorf ’78, Wendy Mauser Moores ’79, Mark McCormick ’78, Rich Miller ’78, Lesley Snelling ’78, Beth Graden Rom ’78, and Cathy Abraham Hopkins ’78 gather for a mini-reunion in Brooklyn, N.Y.
a guest room and can give advice on what to do while you’re here. I am on Facebook.” • Seth Longacre writes, “The last six months have been ones of significant transitions — continent, job, home, name, and gender. I returned to the San Diego area from my latest African gig in Liberia, managing a field office during the Ebola crisis, with the intention of settling in the U.S. again after 10 years. Haven’t yet found where I want to settle, so that process is ongoing. Perhaps the biggest transition was legally changing my name and gender from female ‘Tracy’ to male ‘Seth Longacre.’” • In January, David Gessner hosted a National Geographic Explorer show called “Call of the Wild.” He said the idea behind it is that tech screens are messing up our lives, while nature is restorative. Go to National Geographic channel and search for “Call of the Wild HD” to view it. • From Estelle Dorain Burgess: “Happy fall to all my ’79 classmates! Our girls, Lindsey ’03 and Callie ’04, are both happy and thriving. Ray and I look forward to a great season on the boat on Lake George. Looking ahead, only a couple more years and we will be celebrating our 40th reunion. Really? Not us! We are still young and can cause a little bit of trouble! Before long I will be contacting you with reunion plans. Keep an eye out! There are many area NMH events that may be right in your neighborhood. It’s a great way to re-connect and learn more about the school’s ever-evolving environment! You will be pleasantly surprised!”
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Northfield Mount Hermon Jack Farrell jack@jackfarrell.org • Antony Pang aa1105@yahoo.com • Lynelle Kucharski lynelle@lynellekucharski.com • Kristin Kellom kkellom@nmhschool.org
From Kristin: I write this on a stunningly beautiful June day in the Connecticut River Valley knowing that you will read this as the frost and snowflakes of winter will be ready to descend on the hills of NMH. In the era of Facebook and the immediate gratification that it provides, I am feeling a bit stymied on what to write, especially as direct news updates have not descended. With last year’s 35th reunion, we had a flurry of updates and pictures that offered info to share. Classmates also organized two mini-reunions in fall 2015, which provided great news for the last column. As those at reunion may recall, mini-reunions were high on our class list of things to do between reunions at NMH; if you have interest in one, then please let Jeff Leyden or me know. We are happy to help in coordinating the details for these fun gatherings that have been scattered about the country in D.C., Boston, and Los Angeles so far. • In the “you’ll want to know her name” department, Amelia Maloney’s daughter, Isabella ’17, is a significant
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CLASS NOTES musical talent and made her debut with the Boston Pops in early June performing a piece she had written. • Carol Abizaid, also known now as Jamila Noor, accepted a position at the King’s Academy in Jordan as head of the fine arts department. • A number of us have convened at NMH for various events, whether as volunteers, to hear Valerie Bowman Jarrett ’74 deliver the Commencement address, or to drop off or pick up our students. If you are back on campus or want to swing through and get a tour of all that is happening, then be in touch with us here at the NMH advancement office. We will gladly show you where the new childcare center is being built (for the infants, toddlers, and preschoolers of faculty and staff), or plans for the new Gilder Center for Integrative Math and Science, a new boathouse, and a new fitness center. We will also make a plug for supporting financial aid through gifts to the endowment. (Gifts to the Gilder Center will be matched by Dick Gilder ’50, with the matching dollars designated to the Gilder Scholars, an endowed fund providing financial aid. A wonderful “two-for-one” opportunity for a donor’s contribution.) Much is happening on campus and we are eager to provide information on these capital projects. Please consider supporting one of these projects or the NMH Fund, which fuels the school every year. Every contribution adds up to make a collective difference for the school and the students, who are not so different than we were at their age. They love their (our!) school, and understand an education for the head, heart, and hand, while wanting to change the world. • Please stay in touch. We’ll hope for some mini-reunions to bring us together in our regions and provide news for our next column.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Frank Chandler frankchandler1@verizon.net • Marina Colman marinacolman727@yahoo.com • Lilian Blacken Hannapel lilhannapel@gmail.com • Class of ’81 Website: www.nmh81.us Richard Anthony writes, “On the heels of a lovely and often moving experience at our 35th class reunion this year, a week later several dozen fellow ‘faculty brats’ and I gathered at NMH for our first official reunion. I’m so grateful to have been with childhood friends I’d not seen in decades, and to meet kids who had grown up there and left by the time I was born. In keeping with the theme of gratitude, this Thanksgiving I will be celebrating 18 years of service as an IATSE Local 44 prop maker (set builder). The workload is very full, often 50–60 hours a week or more. In my free time I rest, paint, meditate, and immerse myself in the study of human design and grief work. Already looking forward to our 40th reunion.” • Tracy Korman is the managing partner for Health Data Sciences Group, which provides
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had the coolest welcoming committee at the Hartford airport. Mike Rickard met me at my gate in full state trooper mode. Thankfully, minus the handcuffs. • At the time of this writing, Amy Price Lutz was preparing for her wedding to Clyde Waggoner, an oral surgeon from Denver. They went on a Mediterranean cruise, bringing Clyde’s two girls as well as Amy’s daughters (Hannah and Olivia). Spain, France, and Italy are among the countries they planned to visit. “We will also have a long layover in Iceland on the way,” wrote Amy before her departure, “where we will tour around for several hours. The plan is to have a Sarah Meyer ’82 and Craig Parker ’82 connect in Louisville, Colo. very simple [wedding] ceremony in our state room, probably on June 13.” • Craig Parker made a quick trip to Colorado and caught up analytics, infrastructure, and population with Sarah Meyer. Sarah is “still working for health strategies. In addition to being our Denver Water and winning running races in class treasurer, Tracy is active with the NMH my age group! Just got back from two weeks in Alumni Council and serves on the Diversity, Nicaragua, spending six days on the Caribbean Equity, and Social Justice Committee. “Joan Islands, three days in Granada, and three days has shifted to part time with Princeton and on a beach on the Pacific Coast.” Sarah hopes is using her other time to pursue a master’s to be at our next class reunion! • NMH has in information sciences with Rutgers,” says a new faculty member and she is one of our Tracy. “Milo ’11 graduated in 2015 from own — Jane Mellow! “Life has taken me from University of Chicago and has completed the Florida to Lake Placid, N.Y.,” says Jane, “and first year of his astrophysics graduate studies at lo and behold: back to NMH! Three years ago, Case Western. Sylvie ’14 is a junior at Barnard when my now husband and I were looking and is focused on directing Shakespeare and to leave upstate New York, one of the schools studying postmodernism. This last year has that came across his desk as a [job] possibility been consumed with helping my mom, as she was NMH, and I told him to go for it. Thus has fully descended into Alzheimer’s dementia. for the past three years, Joel has been NMH’s She has quickly become wheelchair-bound director of educational technology while I and mostly nonverbal, but has maintained her taught NMH Summer Session and worked smiles and laughter.” at another private school down the road. This fall, however, I have been hired by NMH to Northfield Mount Hermon teach English full time! I will also be coaching Sally Willis field hockey, and I’ll be back in McCollum willissally@hotmail.com Arena as the head JV girls’ ice hockey coach. • Michael Rickard My two daughters just finished their first years mrickard330@cox.net here as Hoggers (Emily as a freshman, Kate From Sally: I had the opportunity to do an as a sophomore), and we all live on campus East Coast road trip to visit family last winter, now.” • Ismael “Izzy” Ramirez became a father which also turned into many opportunities to to Isabelle Lucia in December 2015. • Mike connect with some NMH classmates. Outside Rickard and I hope that you will make plans of Pittsburgh, I had lunch with Peter Schogel, to attend our 35th reunion (June 1–4, 2017). whom I hadn’t seen in 30 years. Great to I observed the class of ’81 at reunion 2016 catch up with you, Peter. Then it was on to — what a powerful ’81 reunion, and I hope Connecticut for dinner with Katrina Harriman that our class will have half the reunion they Conde, Juan Conde, Kate Stookey Haviland, had. Check out the class of ’81 Facebook page Toby Green, and Per Furmark. We missed you, when you have chance; reading their thoughts Liz Cote Stine. In D.C., Marion “Mickey” Gill will have you back at NMH in a flash. I know took some time off from her big project, openthey will resonate with you as they did with ing the Smithsonian African American Mume. If you are interested in being a part of the seum, to have lunch with me. Later that night, ’82 Reunion Committee, please reach out to Dave Perrotta, Christa Skerry, Cynthia Cumme via email or Facebook, or contact Rennie mis, Toby, and I braved the big winter storm Washburn (rwashburn@nmhschool.org). Also, and met for drinks at The Tabard Inn. So great please make sure that NMH has an updated to see everyone, and I hope you all make it to email, snail mail address, and phone number our reunion next year. • I stopped in Charlesfor you so you won’t miss out on receiving ton, S.C., to visit Lilian Blacken Hannapel ’81. reunion information. Join us on Facebook at Here in Denver, Tim Severance, Amy Price “NMH Class of 82” — reunion info will be Lutz, and I had the chance to see Dylan Brody posted there, too. perform in May, and Dylan’s material included his time at NMH before and after graduation. Thanks for the laughs, Dylan. In June, on my way back to NMH to observe reunion, I
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From Allyson: I have the great fortune to travel all around this country and beyond for NMH, and often run into classmates, which is great fun. Karen Faucher Gaddy and I connected in Florida in February. She was on the verge of moving to her new farm in Kentucky while her daughter finished up high school. She is working for Pfizer and has three kids. • I saw Alice Fisher Fazekas in May at her new farm in Kentucky, right after Karen’s permanent move there. Alice writes, “Karen’s place is gorgeous; her kids are bright, personable, and nice. And she just keeps getting better! We are here looking for an eventing horse for Liesel [Alice’s daughter], who has outgrown her pony. Karen has so many great ideas on how she wants to fill her paddocks with rescue horses. Those horses certainly would be pampered.” • I was lucky to see Tim Lam in Hong Kong in March. He is doing very well, and we had a blast at a very special gala to kick off the “Hong Kong Hall” challenge in the new math and science center. • I caught up with Courtney Small Francis on a rainy night in Chicago in April. She and her family are doing well, and she is going to help us reach out to our alumni of color for networking and connection. • Lea Baran and I had fun in New York City in April. She is living in Brooklyn and working in graphic design. • Heather Jones Sano was not only back on campus to sing for Sacred Concert (which is still held in the auditorium), but she assisted Sheila with conducting the group this year. Heather conducted Sacred Concert back in the early 1990s when Sheila was on sabbatical, and Heather was the only alumna to ever conduct the iconic concert. • I seem to keep missing State Trooper Michael Rickard ’82 at Bradley Airport, where he works. Hopefully, I’ll run into him on one of these trips! • Finally, I met up with Jon Pucker in April at his beautiful gallery on Boston’s Newbury Street. He is generously helping NMH art department chair, Philip Calabria, acquire art for the school. Jon has also offered to host events at the gallery, and will be working on curating some exhibits at NMH in the
future, hopefully during June 2018 for our 35th reunion. He gets together annually at his summer house on Pleasant Lake, N.H., with counselor Tim McCabe and classmates Mark Rigdon, Dave Farnsworth, Pete Leinbach, Rich Gavalya, and Rob Tanenbaum ’84. • In March, John Dobbertin, Jon Duffy, Terry Connors, and Chris Stiepock got together for their annual meet-up in New York City. It’s the “Big East Tournament” get-together, including b-ball, food, and fun. Next time, snap a photo to send along to us, boys! • Courtney Small Francis writes, “Our 15-year-old son goes to Costa Rica this summer to work on a community service project. Two years ago, he went to Italy to be an ambassador/judge in the Giffoni Film Festival. My daughter, who graduated from Northern Illinois University with a major in psychology and a minor in black studies, went to Amsterdam to study public health last year. I regret not taking a term abroad at NMH, and so I am living vicariously through my children.” • “After arriving in the New York area,” says Bill Rowe, “Paul and I have finally found a cute house where we are in a cab for just 25 minutes from midtown Manhattan. My work continues to challenge and our company is continuing to grow.” Bill and Paul went to Ireland in June with friends Sheila Heffernon, Bill Hattendorf, Barbara Tweedle Freedman ’66, and Anne Zimmerman ’66. Bill continues, “I was asked to join the Alumni Council this past year and it has been a fun and challenging adventure. My mother passed suddenly this past winter and then we had to say goodbye to our 16-year-old golden retriever. I look forward to seeing fellow alums again soon.” • Writing from Nigeria, Leila Abu-Gheida says that she is still based in the D.C. area, working at FHI360. “My job is challenging and takes me to interesting places and situations,” says Leila. “For the foreseeable future, Nigeria will remain a focus. Interesting NMH link: My daughter’s tutor, Su Hong ’00, is also an alum. Su figured this out because my daughter was wearing an NMH sweatshirt. Su recently confirmed her suspicion that I was on the Northfield campus (smile), so the legacy perseveres!” • Sue Swift Warner was on campus in the spring for daughter Katie’s lacrosse game. Katie goes to Loomis and her prom date was an NMH grad. Sue writes,
Courtney Small Francis ’83 (left) spends an evening with Allyson Goodwin ’83 in Chicago.
Alice Fisher Fazekas ’83 (left) and Karen Faucher Gaddy ’83 swap horse stories at Karen’s Kentucky farm.
Northfield Mount Hermon Allyson Goodwin agoodwin@nmhschool.org • Angela Lambert drangela@mac.com
“NMH ties run deep!” She plans to be on campus again for future lacrosse games and to be at our 35th reunion. Reunion’s in June 2018, so it’s not too early to plan! • Kirsta Schmitt Davey, Thekla Smith Alcocer ’84, and Sue Leonard Toll ’81 were victorious in an 11-person ice hockey shoot-out to win their division of the April Showers Tournament. Kirsta’s photo business (kirstadaveyphotography.com) continues to grow. Two of her photos were featured in the March/April 2016 issue of Yankee Magazine. Chris and Kirsta’s eldest, Sara, was married in August; Margaret is attending Connecticut College; and their son, Walker, is a sophomore at Groton School. • David Hendricks writes, “My wife, Jennifer Rocco Hendricks, and I cannot believe that it’s been almost a year since we moved from Stamford, Conn., to London. The move came at the heels of a big funding round for the company I co-founded in 2009, LiveIntent. I am expanding our growing company across Europe from a base in central London. Our three children, Anna and Lily (15-year-old twins), and son,Will (11), have adapted well to London life, riding the double-decker bus to a private school in North London, where we live a hybrid city-suburban life among Edwardian terraced houses. Jennifer is tutoring and working on some volunteer projects at local schools while navigating the U.K. culture. Ask her about the driver’s license test! If you find yourself in London, please don’t hesitate to look us up!” • Daniel Bellow was working at Salmon Falls Stoneware in Dover, N.H., while waiting to get his building permit to install a new kiln at his great new studio in Great Barrington, Mass. While in New Hampshire, he stayed with Angela Lambert, and they had a fantastic time catching up and sharing memories of NMH and their fabulous time in Morocco as NMH students.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Liz Mayers lizmayers@outlook.com
Special “Happy Birthday” wishes to fellow classmates turning 50 this year! It can’t be possible! • Sarah Prescott sends her happiest wishes to all the ’84ers “aging up” this year! Sarah celebrated by running a road race and rocked it by placing second overall female in all age groups! Congratulations! • Melissa Paul writes from Arlington, Mass., where she lives with her husband, Pieter, and 10-year-old daughter, Lily. She’ll be celebrating her 50th birthday at Christmas by traveling to Vietnam with her husband, daughter, and parents to show Lily where she was born and adopted from. Melissa is busy leading a capital campaign at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, raising $200 million to end blindness and deafness. She loves her work, but her favorite job is being Lily’s mother. She’s so grateful for the three wonderful years she experienced at NMH and is looking forward to returning to campus for our next reunion. • Michael Smotrich (Win-
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CLASS NOTES
The beach provides a perfect photo op for (l-r) Nikki Armstrong’s daughter, Payton, former faculty member Sue Gentile, and Nikki Armstrong Williams ’84.
throp, Mass.) says it was amazing to be back on campus for Pie Ride II this year, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. He thanks Laura Vantine for getting him out there, and to Marggie Slichter, Ellen McCurtin ’85, Josh Lee ’85, Dave Cain, and others for organizing and orchestrating this great new NMH tradition. After the ride, he and Laura took a bittersweet stroll around the Northfield campus. He says all the great memories are still there, buildings holding their own but ohso-empty now. (I agree!) He sends a shoutout to his Wilson Hall roommates, Kwok-Kin Wong and Michael Barnes ’85. The stars of his life are daughter Grace (15) and son Evan (13). Grace ranked third in her class for academic achievement and dances six days a week in the Boston Ballet pre-professional program. Evan is an honor roll student and enjoys golf, hockey, football, and lacrosse. • Jabu Maphalala still lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. This year he and his wife, Mampone, are celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary. Three years ago he started a new life and career. His son, Woody, and daughter Judith graduated from Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, and Jabu wanted to get started before his youngest daughter, Caroline, graduated. He’s a part-time student at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science, working on his doctorate in business, and he wonders why it took him so long to start an academic career. He’s also a part-time consultant. • Bill Pusey and his wife live in Portland, Maine. They try to get to their place in Rangeley as much as possible. He’s joined Emery Leadership Group as a principal (emeryleadershipgroup.com) and works with organizations to provide executive coaching, primarily in health care and financial service industries, to candidates across the country. If anyone is traveling through Portland or Rangeley, let Bill know (bill@emeryleadership group.com). • Kim Chickering-Maratea had a rough couple of months. Her father passed away in April and her Uncle Peter died only seven weeks later. In April she was in New Hampshire and is grateful that Beth Hakes visited her. Kim was also in touch with Aliina Laine ’86. She thanks the NMH friends who posted kind words and condolences on her Facebook page. • Lisa Foy spent a week with
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Faith McClure ’85 in May. They had a great visit, great dining, and some kayaking on a beautiful calm morning. Both are starting new adventures. Faith has started Solo Professor (soloprofessor.com), offering online law courses to small businesses. Lisa interviewed Faith for her blog, The Curious Coyote (the curiouscoyote.com), which focuses on helping business owners learn from one another. Any NMH entrepreneurs or business owners who’d like to be interviewed for her blog can contact her at lisa.foy@alighit.com. She’d love to help out fellow alumni! • Nikki Armstrong Williams is keeping busy in the Los Angeles area with her daughter, Payton, who’s an active Girl Scout. Nikki is also looking for camerawork on TV shows and films. She tries to connect with Sue Gentile (former faculty) whenever she teaches in Los Angeles. Nikki met Sue when Nikki was 14, so she’s family! She says it’s nice to have a mini-NMH reunion when Sue is in town, since Nikki doesn’t get back east that often. Nikki is looking forward to connecting with her old roommate, Ceylan Onor ’85, when she’s next in town. She sends hugs to Doug Calvin for his work in D.C. communities! • Jill Weston recently celebrated 25 years with Summit Consulting in Lakeland, Fla. During her free time, she coaches two softball teams: her company’s and one in the Women’s League in Lakeland. She visits Disney as much as she can with her partner, Barbara. “I’m still a big Red Sox fan,” says Jill, “and try to go to Fenway Park at least once a year.” Jill took me to my first Red Sox game over 30 years ago! She saw Linda Maddern LeDuc ’85 a few months ago when Linda and her husband visited Florida. • I’m enjoying living on Long Island and have been here 13 years. Anyone live near Huntington? I’d enjoy hearing from you, as well as from Sarah Schmidt and Darlene Williams. This fall I’m celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary and my 50th birthday! • Did you know our class has a Facebook group? We currently have 145 members. If you’re not a member yet, please join us! Search for “Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1984” on Facebook.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Jennifer Buell Horschman jenhorschman@yahoo.com
Steffani Bennett is a singer and vocal coach in New York City and recently got to work with Gaby Hoffmann and Jay Duplass of the amazing show, Transparent! She often sees Alden Wallace, Buffa French, Whitney Tilson, and Ann Davlin in New York.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Geoffrey Locke gwlocke@gmail.com
The class of ’86 had an excellent turnout for our 30th-year reunion. Highlights were the Pie Ride, Connecticut River rowing, a road race, dancing into the wee hours of the morning with the young alums, and a memorial to remember classmates we’ve lost. Ian Hill, who
has not yet missed a reunion, arrived early to Cottage 5 and set up the stereo system with ’80s music, which filled the air all weekend long. • Trisha Suggs recently divorced and moved back to her home state of Rhode Island after living all over the globe for the past 30 years. She bought a house in Coventry, and is the Rhode Island state director for substance treatment for youth and young adults. • Susea Albee enjoyed returning to reunion from Sitka, Alaska, with her husband, Eric Hanson, and two kids, Morgan and Jesse. Jesse starts high school this fall and Morgan is in fourth grade. Susea works in an accounting office specializing in nonprofit bookkeeping and consulting. When she’s not working, she explores southeast Alaska on the family’s houseboat. • In July 2015, M.J. Austin married John Airey in Santa Cruz. She recently received the Women of Influence Award by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. M.J.’s family spends time surfing, snowboarding, and mountain biking. • Leslie Pasternack is still in New Hampshire, where she uses theater to help military veterans and their families coping with traumatic brain injury. • Aliina Lane felt back at home for our amazing 30th reunion. She can’t believe she’s been providing financial services and insurance for 20 years now and wonders where the years go. Her broker dealer has recently changed to Signator Investors, Inc. • Matthew Andrews lives in a Paris suburb with his family, including his sons, Tristan (16) and Ulysses (12). Matt works in higher education and is starting a Ph.D. dissertation on organizational learning. “I play music as a hobby,” writes Matt. “I produced one album (Little Pieces), which is available online at moonzarenett. bandcamp.com. I’ve recently invested in some better equipment and hopefully will put out a second album later this year. My wife writes books about art, mainly for young audiences. She writes in French, but anyone can check out her website (sandrineandrews.com).” • Jim Rymes continues to help run his family propane and oil company, and in his free time attends truck shows. He is building his latest theme truck for dyslexia: “We have partnered up with a great group called Notice Ability. The truck will be orange and white and located on Martha’s Vineyard.” Jim loved reunion and was especially happy to see Len Latham come back after a 30-year absence. Len had a blast, even with his two twin boys in tow. He lives on Long Island and is reportedly on his third career as a physical therapist. • Anne Bartfay Platzner’s daughter, Lizzie, is currently a freshman at NMH. Anne and her husband, Joe, moved to western Massachusetts from Seattle, and Anne is now a primary care physician at Valley Medical Group in Greenfield. • Will and Laura Bauernfeid Wear’s older daughter, Lily, is also at NMH, a junior, and Laura has a new job in Amherst College’s advancement office as their donor relations event specialist. • After 20 years in Beijing, Rick Widmer is “thrilled to be back in western Massachusetts with
CLASS NOTES
Class of ’86 reunion planning team gathered on campus in April (l-r): Skip Bush, Geoffrey Locke, Chuck Abel, Wendy Mansfield Donovan, Jeanne Yee MacNevin, and Jim Rymes.
my wife and two boys, enjoying the fresh air, natural beauty, and community spirit of smalltown America. Based on work experience with the contemporary art community in China, we’ve started an artist residency project and cultural event space in an old church building in Millers Falls. This summer we are making a film about 17th-century Chinese ink painting. Later this fall we plan to produce a historical reenactment of the Chinese Long March, shifting the context from Sichuan and Yunnan to the Millers and Connecticut Rivers.” Rick is looking for ways to serve the local arts community and encourage others to join in their artistic mission. “A little bit of love will go a long way here!” You find out more at millersfallsartsbridge.org.” • Peter Sung Ho Yang is general manager for a Chinese online travel agency, Ctrip, in Japan. The company is headquartered in Shanghai, so he’s frequently there for business and is now relearning Mandarin. He is thankful for taking Chinese language classes at NMH and in college, which is making this new language-learning endeavor easier. • Jessica Ginsburg Stoops is recovering from neck surgery and was unable to make reunion. She’s feeling better and enjoyed seeing the Facebook reunion posts and photos. Her teenage son and husband are active in Boy Scouts. Jessica makes jewelry and has a store on Etsy called Joyful Gems and Stones. • Bruce Mendelsohn “had a great time at reunion. My only regrets were the usual: not there long enough and not enough time to say everything I wanted to say to everyone. Fond memories of those who were not with us at this reunion, and those who will never be with us at future reunions. I cherish these relationships, many of which are now with classmates who were distant acquaintances at NMH.” • Kudos to Ian Hill for being one of the handful of ’86ers who’ve attended every reunion, to the committee for our decorations and (fading) slide show, and to all the people who brought refreshments. Make plans now to attend our 35th in 2021. Walk upon those mountains green, and bring your arrows of desire. • Eva Burt Dillon came back to reunion with her husband and son, Charlie, who has his eyes on NMH for freshman year. Eva loved being back on the beautiful campus with the ’80s music blasting out of the windows of Manchester cottage
(another kudo to Ian Hill). Eva’s daughter, Lily, will be entering her senior year of high school in Manhattan, where the family lives. Eva, who has an M.S.W., plans to develop her clinical skills in working with couples and their intimacy issues. And Donna Kadis wrote that she was sad to miss reunion and wishes a “Hello to all my classmates.” • Carolin Young writes, “I live in Paris across the street from UNESCO, but with thoughts of Voltaire and his entreaty (prior to the French Revolution) for all of us to be ‘citizens of the world.’ I hope that my next book, on the origins of Paris as a ’gastronomic capital,’ will address said themes. However, my NMH classmates helped me define those ideas more fully — we from every continent, but all of us together in the woods of New England.” • I (Geoffrey Locke) continue my full-time private practice in Amherst, Mass., adjunct teaching at Smith, and moderating a 700-plus member listserve of private-practice mental-health clinicians in western Massachusetts. When I am not working, my time is spent writing, meditating, shopping, cooking, exercising, spending time with family, friends, and dog Jack, and loafing around, especially on the porch of our summer cottage and at my mom’s house in Maine. • You can view a complete list of classmates who attended this year’s reunion on our class Facebook page: NMH Class of 86.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Kit Gattis kitnmh@gmail.com www.facebook.com/nmh1987 website: nmh1987.org
Hello, classmates. It is summer here in Boston, but you’ll be reading this in the fall, hopefully getting excited about our upcoming 30th reunion. I’m writing you having just celebrated my 25th-year college reunion and just shadowed the class of 1986 reunion at NMH. It brought back a lot of memories, and the Reunion Committee and I look forward to seeing you again. In addition to showing our class video, I’d like you to submit to me photos from our time at NMH as well as at the reunions we’ve had. We’ll have a continuous slide show running, which will be fun to watch. • This year I made my circus debut as Wonder Woman and have also ventured into the burlesque community. I plan to get back into vocal lessons, so let’s see what multimedia craziness I can come up with before reunion. • Federico Garcia Anguiano is in Spain taking care of his father, who is in the last stages of life. At times like these, Don the Marine’s (Gould’s main-shift cook back then) words come back. For instance, while washing the five-foot soup pot after Gould dinner service: “Don’t give up now!” • Luke Bellocchi moved to Honolulu in February and is enjoying the warm weather and culture. • Rick Burtt says, “Ahoy!” He is living in Duxbury, Mass., a few miles from Christina and is enjoying life on the South Shore: “The
saltwater fly-fishing has been excellent!” He saw Rich Phillips in Boston, and is planning to visit him soon to see Rich’s new home and daughter, Vi. Rick is looking forward to ice cream at the farm again at Reunion 2017! • Kara Connors is still living on the West Coast. She ran the Boston Marathon in April to raise awareness of the St. Francis House and the Carolyn Connors Women’s Center, named after her mom, to support homeless men and women in rebuilding their lives. She recently had dinner with Jenny Hickman in New York City — they hadn’t seen each other in 20 years! Kara hopes to see you all at reunion! • Christina Wright DeFranceaux and family continue to rock the South Shore of Massachusetts! Christina also observed the class of ’86 reunion this year and had a blast! She wants to let everyone know that anyone can go to NMH reunions any year to bond and enjoy. One of the best parts of reunion was going to visit other classes to say hello and connect. She highly recommends going up to the infirmary, where the older classes are, and sit for a while with them. Christina will try to get up to NMH for Vespers this year as well, if anyone wants to join her. Please reach out to Christina to say hello if on your way to Cape Cod. You can find her on Facebook. • O’Shea Gifford married his artist girlfriend over the summer at the house he built near Austin, Texas. He is busy delivering paintings to Santa Fe; organizing, hosting, and facilitating plant medicine retreats; running men’s fly-fishing/ healing retreats; and running his private counseling/coaching practice. His daughters are in high school, and he has a new stepdaughter, putting him in a house full of women. Thank God he built such a man cave for a house. • Stephanie Fink Barge is still in Stowe, Vt. Her house is being updated and renovated, including the gardens. In its sixth year of operation, her business, Studio 108 (dance, fitness, Pilates), is going strong. Sky turned 16 and has recently traveled to China and Italy, and Los Angeles for Summoners Con. Stephanie is hoping to visit with any NMHers in Vermont and beyond! • Emma Leheny moved to D.C. this fall after 20 years in California. She and her wife, Charlotte Noss, have a 16-month-old daughter, Sadie. Emma is now senior counsel at the National Education Association. She is looking forward to our 30th reunion! • Chuck Linton is having interesting times in the Houston ’burbs with floods: His house is fine thanks to a strong levee system in his community. Kids are approaching teens and driving parents crazy as usual, and the family is fine. Chuck planned a trip to visit family in Jakarta, Indonesia, in late summer: The family manages a trip every few years. • Liz Hall Olszewski enjoys living in the seacoast area of New Hampshire since moving there two years ago. She sees Holly Hornor Cleary ’88 quite a bit, as they live near each other. Liz also had a fun get-together with Darcy Jameson, who is enjoying her
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CLASS NOTES professional work and all her worldly travels! They both are in shock that Liz’s older son is in the midst of his college search process — where does the time go? Liz’s educational consulting practice, Hall Educational Resources, is flourishing, and she loved helping her most important client this year — daughter Megan — as they explored boarding schools for her. They visited NMH as part of her daughter’s school exploration, which made Liz feel really old! She works closely with Jennie Kent ’88, who is also an educational consultant. They had a terrific time at a professional meeting in Ojai, Calif., where they hung out with fellow Hoggers Kristen Kaschub ’92 (director of admissions at Besant Hill School) and Donnie Smith. Jennie and Liz also got together with Lauren Swick Jordan ’88 and her older son, and they had a fun weekend away at Jennie’s family camp in northern New Hampshire. • Kim Noerager continues to love life in Boston. She was recently in San Francisco, where she met with Jim Edelhauser. Kim has joined the 30th Reunion Committee and expects to see each and every one of you there! • Martha Slater had a great second year teaching K–3 drama at the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts. She loves working with 400 very energetic students each week, and is doing a lot of Cincinnati theater, including a recent show with her daughter, Hannah. Her oldest daughter, Clarke, had an amazing first year in Rhode Island School of Design’s industrial design program, and Clarke loved crashing in New York City last fall with Alysa Ray ’86. Twins Hannah and Emily turned 16. Martha writes, “Emily and I are sitting in a pizza joint in Irun, Spain, taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi before leaving tomorrow to walk the first two weeks of the El Camino de Santiago Compostela, and I’m feeling like a very lucky mom to be having such a cool adventure with such a cool companion. I can’t believe how fast our kids are growing up.” • Geoff Weed is currently learning how lame he is with the help of his 17-year-old and 14-year-old, but has faith that by the time they are in their mid-twenties he will have redeemed himself somewhat. “But my 7-year-old likes me. How are you?” says Geoff. • Alison Beyer Willis has been dealing with two household moves, one layoff, one rehire, and summer camp for the boy. She was thrilled to find that a new officemate is Jessica Dakin Kinzie ’96, and Alison sees NMH car stickers all over the Dartmouth campus. Aside from meteors or flooding, she’s a definite for “Reunion 30” in 2017. • [Editor’s note: The following is the spring 2016 class of ’87 column that, unfortunately, was not printed in the previous magazine issue. NMH Magazine extends apologies to the class.] • Spring 2016 class notes column: Kit Gattis is still trying to do “all the things” and made her debut with MIT’s Gamelan Galak Tika last December. She’s finally getting some music-making back
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into her life! • Andrea M. Berry-St.Pierre hit a studies textbooks. She is busy with work, loves being a Girl Scout leader, and can’t believe she buck on the highway driving home from her has a 7-year-old daughter. Kathy’s fantasy is to fabulous job. She totaled her car but has a new have an off-grid ranch that houses rescued used vehicle now thanks to the ginormous horses, alpacas, cows, and artists, a place where insurance check that was equal to a 1976 Yugo we can have an off-year ’87 Naked Heaven down payment. She’s happy to report that her Retreat with bands and camping. Kathy’s son has officially entered the preteen hormone parents are still at 9 Main Street, Northfield, years. Andrea is living the dream but misses her and everyone is welcome to stop by there with NMH years! • John Bete says that “no news is no notice at any time of day. • Geoff Weed says good news these days ...” • Kara Connors and her family spent a week teaching English in the that he “is here in Chicago, you dig?” Dominican Republic. Kara also trained for the Northfield Mount Hermon Boston Marathon as part of fundraising for Anne Stemshorn George Team St. Francis House, a day shelter and anastasia.s.george@gmail.com life-skills training center for those who are Greetings from North Carolina. I wanted to currently homeless. • Christina Wright pass along the news of the passing of two of DeFranceaux and Carter are remodeling their our classmates, Sean Sheehan and Kathy Pakitchen! Severin is growing up too fast — she’s zuk Naficy. Kathy died after a long battle with a promising gymnast and loves to put on cancer and Sean died of natural causes. Sean’s makeup, do makeup tutorials, and enjoys sister is part of our Facebook group if you watching cooking shows. • Jessica P’Simer want more information. • Kim Seltzer Appelt Henry is having a blast in her new job as a writes, “Holly Hornor Cleary was a total rock fifthth-grade teacher! Her family is doing great star organizer and inspired a group of us to and the girls are getting so big — they began get together last month in Massachusetts. Josh pre-K in the fall. • Chuck Linton is keeping Cohen was a great host, as we all enjoyed some busy with his family near Houston, Texas. He drinks at Moe’s and a great dinner together. and his wife, Linda, have two girls: Sydney (9) Eric, Josh, Holly, Kibby, Karen, Shannon, and Nicole (7). They got their first dog: a Farnaz, and Beth were all there. It was so Lhasa Apso/poodle mix — a Lhasapoo! This great re-connecting with everyone, and we are new addition is very cute; the kids enjoy him hoping to get a group together again soon … and Dad handles most of the resulting maybe in New York City.” • I am still workresponsibilities. • Rosie Comprés Navarro had ing as an ESL teacher in Raleigh, planning a a rough summer of 2015 due to a fire in her move to Cary, N.C., so I can live closer to Liz house in Connecticut. She is still working at MacLachlan, who I ran into one day at Target Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation and has accepted and spent quite the time getting her attention. not working in New York City anymore. She This past Christmas, I was able to see Karol spoke with Rebecca Booth, who also lives in Dixon de la O and meet her husband, Ralph, Connecticut, and they’re finally getting for dinner and the light show at the beautiful together. Rosie stays in close touch with Hiba Bellevue Gardens in Seattle. Next time I am Ramey Fennelly ’86 and plans to visit with her in town, I am planning to cut down trees with again when she’s in San Diego for Comic Con. Erik Matteo, who took a trip to Massachusetts At our 30th reunion, Rosie hopes to see Shawn to see his family (and Geoff Weed ’87) and Foster, Philip Carey, Carl Oppenheimer, Jay watched the Red Sox beat the Mariners (can’t Jacobs, and a few crashers from the classes of ’85, ’86, and ’88. For anyone who is looking for he do the same thing at home?). He occasionally sees Brendon O’Shea and Paige HegRosie, she’s on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, gie ’86. • Michelle Boorstein lives with her Pinterest, Periscope, and Instagram. • Tom husband and son on Capitol Hill. Gabriel is in Pierce went on a successful trip to Paris, where first grade. Michelle marked a decade writing he led the climate talks that will save the world about religion for The Washington Post. She for future generations, had a stylish walk down has watched her Wallace dorm mate, Lauren the red carpet for the latest Star Wars movie (in Swick Jordan, expand her writing by doing which he appears — see if you can spot him pieces for the Post on parenting and autism. under all that makeup and costume!). Next up Michelle is in touch with her former Wallace is righting the American political system; he should have it sorted out by the end of the year. roomie and close friend, Courtney Cook ’89, with whom her family vacationed in Tahoe last • Imran Qamar moved to Katy, Texas (near year. • Kirsten Siersdale McNeal had a blast Houston) last summer. He was welcomed to exploring Mexico for a week, zip-lining in the the area by Texan classmates Kathy McGee jungle, snorkeling in Cabo, and swimming Warren and Chuck Linton, who have been with dolphins. • Robert Christopher-Straygracious hosts. Old friendships have reignited after many years, and without skipping a beat. • horn traveled through Morocco with his wife, Dr. Kali-Ahset Strayhorn, to ring in the New Will Sheats is still in Columbus, Ohio, and Year. Robert works with an international arsays that all is going well. • Kathy McGee chitectural firm and enjoys raising his children, Warren says hello from the second-largest state Xiomara (10) and Joshua (4), in Atlanta, Ga. in the U.S. — the number-one state for • Mark Chaffee made a trip back to NMH political dysfunction, and the number-one for Vespers 2015 and saw Jen Williams ’87. exporter of substandard science and social
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CLASS NOTES
A fun time is enjoyed by NMHers (top,l-r) Nate Beck ’88, Karyn Burtt Banks ’88, John Barkan ’88, Holly Hornor Cleary ’88; (bottom,l-r) Kathy Pazuk Nacify ’88, Kibby Dworkin Shepherd ’88, and Beth Wetherbee’89.
Vespers was still wonderful, with Sheila still doing a great job. • Last year, Lauren Swick Jordan and her son, T.J., met with Jennie Kent and Liz Hall Olszewski ’87. Jennie and Liz are educational consultants and helped Lauren explore post-high school educational opportunities for T.J. He has autism and was very nervous about the college conversation, but after meeting with Jennie and Liz, he said, “Mom, I feel much better about talking about college. I’m not as scared!” Lauren is so grateful to Jennie and Liz for their help. • Working for Disney, Jeffrey Epstein brought some NMH magic to the Disney Cruise Line with Nicole Dancel ’09; enjoyed cheesecake with former teacher and Wilson dorm faculty, Julie Gainsburg; had chicken parmesan with Koh Sakamoto ’87 (who also works for Disney); and helped Jessie Campbell Griffith surprise her family with a Disney Cruise. He also accepted a new role at Disney working for Corporate Communications. • Matthew Hand is a pilot and financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors in Boston. • Ren Martin is alive and well in Steamboat Springs. He’s deep in life with his oldest son at college, middle son in high school, and Lander (5) keeping Ren and Heather fully grounded. His door is always open to NMH friends. • Ali Stern Simard lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children, River (12) and Daisy (7). Ali is chairperson for a local nonprofit organization, Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife, for which she is working to protect wildlife and their habitats from urban development. She also runs the West Coast office of her family’s public relations business. She was featured in the Orange County Register for her PR specialty in the flourishing marijuana industry. • Adrienne Noonan writes, “We’re rounding into a decade here in Bristol, U.K.! Nick and I celebrated our 25th anniversary. Our daughter Isobel (17) is currently looking at schools here and ‘at home.’ I’m still at University of the West of England, looking after the design programs and working on creative industryoriented research. Definitely enjoy the lively NMH Facebook banter. Hoping to make it to the 30th. If you’re ever in the ‘neighborhood,’
do get in touch!” • Rachel Healy is enjoying living in the republic of Takoma Park, Md., with husband and daughter Annie (5). She’s working hard to green the Metro system and the region in her spare time. “If anyone wants to be added to the visiting list, just reach out,” says Rachel. • Chris Sexton, Sam Calagione, and wife Mariah Draper Calagione ’89 attended the Firefly Music Festival in June. Sam had a Dogfish booth set up and Chris manned the grill. • Tim Davenport lives with wife Jo and daughters Riley (11) and Eliza (6) on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Tim works for Southern Cross Austereo, one of Australia’s biggest media companies. He travels a lot with work around Australia and southeast Asia, and enjoys surfing, fishing in his boat, cheering his kids at school sports, looking after his garden in the hinterland, and spending time with his family at the beach. Those who remember his father, Don, who taught physical education at NMH in 1988, should know that he (and wife Glenys) are doing great in Melbourne. • Becca Williams is still teaching ESL in Colorado Springs and has the same calendar as her daughters, Brynn (9) and Ava (7). Her husband, David, is an assistant principal, which makes for nice summer outings with the whole family. She and David celebrated their 20th anniversary this June! • Jeremy Wolf and Sequoya Frey met up in Brussels in June. They also explored Ghent together and had some Belgium beer and waffles. • Danny Kadis is in Raleigh, N.C., and wants to let Blayney Norton-Hayes know that he is very sorry for being a jerk. • Steve Gauster writes, “Kari, Eva (future class of 2033), and I enjoyed attending Commencement, where we had the honor of meeting Valerie Bowman Jarrett ’74, this year’s speaker. We returned to campus for reunion and enjoyed hanging out with Brendan Dillon, Eva Burt Dillon ’86, and their son, Charlie. Looking forward to catching up with Jennie Kent and Julio Salcedo in New York City.” • Last year, Erin Teare Martin moved to a new house that’s closer to Boston. She’s learning a lot about herself as she mothers a middle schooler. Latest NMH connections include having Jeanne Rees over for dinner before attending an event at Symphony Hall, as well as a few drunken meals with Emma Leheny ’87 in both Boston and D.C. After wandering in the news media wilderness for 18 months, Erin is back at NPR doing infrastructure work. • I keep in regular contact with Meg Graham Rogers, who kicks my butt at Words with Friends. She and her family recently relocated from Hawaii to Virginia after her husband, Scott, finished his career in the Coast Guard. Meg has two kids, Lyall and Steven, who are enjoying being back in Virginia. • We have our first grandma — Liane Stone-Ingalls welcomed the birth of her first grandchild last year. • Please join our Facebook group if you haven’t already done so. Also, if you update your email address, I would love it if you sent me an update. I usually go through
all 491 contacts on the NMH app to make sure I have updated email addresses but, as you can imagine, that takes a little while!
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Northfield Mount Hermon Chris Roof roofsound@comcast.net • John Carroll jcarroll@nmhschool.org • Caryn Crotty Eldridge slickcke7@gmail.com
From Chris Roof: I went to NMH Reunion 2016 weekend for the second annual Pie Ride. Lots of fun and a great excuse to make the trip back. • Julie Siegel Falatko’s debut picture book, Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book!), was published by Viking Children’s Books in February. • Alexander Felson is an associate professor at Yale University. He’s a landscape architect and ecologist, and founded and runs the Urban Ecology and Design Lab (uedlab.org), working on resilient ecosystems, including climate and coastal adaptation, green infrastructure, and engineered ecosystems. He and wife Janine have three children, Madeleine (13), Lev (9), and Caroline (4). • Gail Doolittle, a recent homeowner in Vernon, Vt., keeps busy at NMH with lots of events. In addition to working at the school, she’s also helping the Alumni Council. • Michael David Murphy and Alyson West welcomed Jackson Beecher into the world on 9/20/15. • Katie Clapp Sonin saw Samantha“Mandy” Hunt in Newburyport during Mandy’s recent Mr. Splitfoot book tour. Katie said that Mandy’s reading was captivating and her book is quite an adventure! Katie also visited with Eileen Williams. • In March, David Febus went to Cuba with Dairo Moreno ’91. They studied Afro-Cuban religions and cultures. David saw Chuck Maysonet ’90 and Kim King ’90 in Orlando. • Eric Olander is still in Vietnam, where he is the chief revenue officer for Swiss media company Ringier. His 6-year-old son wore his NMH T-shirt and was stopped on the street by an alum. • Tarez Samra Graban lives in Tallahassee, Fla., with husband Eric. Tarez is associate professor of English at Florida State University. Her book, Women’s Irony: Rewriting Feminist Rhetorical Histories, was published in 2015 by Southern Illinois University Press.
Katie Clapp Sonin ’89 (left) joins author Mandy Hunt ’89 on her book tour for Mr. Splitfoot.
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CLASS NOTES
Cari Wilder Elenson and husband David celebrate their wedding with sons Jack (left) and Sam.
Caitlin Casey ’00 teaches children at her riding center.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Robbianne Mackin robbianne.mackin@gmail.com • Travis Lea travislea@gmail.com • Kristin Steele kaste@conncoll.edu • Toryn Kimberley Stark torynk@yahoo.com
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Northfield Mount Hermon Dairo Moreno demoreno@post.harvard.edu
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Northfield Mount Hermon Jennifer Sadula deVore devorejr@msn.com • Ini Obot iniobot@yahoo.com • Cate Steele Hartzell cate.hartzell@gmail.com
From Jennifer Sadula deVore: Barry Eidlin survived his first year as assistant professor of sociology at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada! His research on workingclass power and politics in the U.S. and Canada has been featured in journals like the American Sociological Review and Politics & Society, and a book is on the way. He also writes about contemporary work and labor issues in a variety of media outlets. Barry splits his time between Montreal and Los Angeles, where his wife, Anne Quismorio, lives. • Gene Ehrbar is living in Portland, Ore., still working on HP’s wearable technology team, and is being kept on his toes by three rambunctious boys. HP launched the world’s first women’s designer smartwatch, in partnership with Isaac Mizrahi, which was a total blast. Gene just completed his first triathlon, and is totally hooked. • As for me, I am staying busy juggling three kids (7, 6, and 2), teaching preschool, and running a new Beautycounter business (beautycounter. com/jenniferdevore). Hope to make it up to NMH next spring for our 25th reunion (what?!) — are you in?
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Northfield Mount Hermon Susannah Sprong Cahillane coloradocahillanes@mac.com
Ted Martinez writes, “I am a Catholic priest
and monk of the Order of Saint Benedict at Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Penn. My religious name is Fr. Matthias, and I work in our college and seminary apostolates, as well as in local parishes. God bless!”
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Northfield Mount Hermon Carol Koldis Foote carol.foote@gmail.com • Dan Furlong furlongtime@gmail.com Nel Andrews and her partner, Jackie, welcomed Elinor Ettie into the world on April 30. They are still living in Baltimore and happy to be filling up their new home, bought last year. Congratulations, Nel and Jackie! • Emily Bennett moved to Portland, Ore., for a new job in materials development at Nike. She’s super-excited to have Laura Snyder Craford as a built-in friend in town. Laura has led Emily down the path to living on a floating home on Sauvie Island and is hoping to become seaworthy soon! Best wishes, Emily! • There were a number of ’94 classmates at Reunion 2016. Kysa Edsall Crusco, Carol Koldis Foote, Sarah Miner Quina, Christina Lamb Sidell, and George Tiggle (and Maya Winfrey ’96) rocked the photo booth!
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Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org
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Northfield Mount Hermon Patrick Davis patrickdavisknows@gmail.com
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Northfield Mount Hermon Laurel Havas laurelsuzanne@gmail.com • Julia Cohen jmacleodcohen@gmail.com
Greetings, class of 1997! Our upcoming 20th reunion is in June 2017 — we hope to see you then and wish you all the best in the meantime! • Anthony Febles graduated from law school last year and passed the bar
Ti Chesley ’00 enjoys a wedding moment with new wife Melissa Mackie and special guest.
(first attempt!). He and his wife, who just celebrated their 10th anniversary together, had their daughter while he was finishing his law degree. They relocated back to Connecticut and all is well with them! Congrats, Anthony! • Luke Williams left his job as head of research methods and chief methodologist at Ipsos US and took a role as vice president of Client Analytics for AECOM (engineering/infrastructure firm). He married Anna Koren in August 2013, and they moved from their home in Chatham, N.J., to their new home in Verona, N.J. Luke’s latest book, The Wallet Allocation Rule: Winning the Battle for Share, made the New York Times and USA Today best-seller lists. Way to go, Luke! • Cari Wilder Eisenson writes, “Dave Eisenson and I were married on 9/12/15 in Aspen, Colo. My boys, Jack (9) and Sam (7), were part of the wedding party as well as our siblings (Amy Wilder ’99), and it was absolutely perfect. My yoga studio, Kula Yoga on Main, just celebrated its four-year anniversary and continues to be successful and rewarding. Dave and I are still running our retreats in Sayulita, Mexico, where I teach yoga and he cooks (he’s the head chef at a popular restaurant in our town of Carbondale). If anyone makes their way out west or wants to venture to Mexico, we would love to have visitors!” Congratulations, Cari and Dave!
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Northfield Mount Hermon Brian Pressman brainjpressman@gmail.com
Hello from Southern California. I heard some wonderful news from my former buddy and four-year Wilson resident, Paul Barclay. Paul will marry Lekecia Underwood in late fall. Congrats, Paul!
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Northfield Mount Hermon Audrey Korte aekorte@cox.net • Melia Knowles-Coursin meliakc@gmail.com • Molly Loveday chefmollyloveday@gmail.com
Genevieve has already arrived and will sing at NMH’s Sacred Concert next May. • After 10 years in New York City, Sarah Grey moved to rural West Virginia. She welcomed a baby girl, Frances, this past winter and is very fond of motherhood. • Nick Meyer is starting a photobook project. Search for Nick on Kickstarter. com to learn more.
A C L O S E R LO O K
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Bryan Cheng ’02 commemorates a special moment with wife Serene at their wedding in January.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Rose Jackman Spurgin rosejackmanlynch@gmail.com
I’ve had an eventful year and a record amount of submissions from you all this time around! I married Will Spurgin on 3/31/16 in a small ceremony performed by our mayor in the presence of my three sons. We remain in western Massachusetts and have adopted a rescue dog named Owen. • I am in touch with Jess Scherm-Martin Corwin, Claire Morenon, and Thalia Ghazey often. I also bump into Becky Hawes-Sivitz Tew, Nick Meyer, Jason Brown, Kiley Brouillet, Jarad Weeks ’08, and other NMHers. I talk to my siblings, Martha Compton ’08 and Henry Compton ’05, as much as I can. Martha got married at the Mt. Hermon Chapel in July! • Ti Chesley married Melissa Mackie (8/8/15) at Forrester “Woody” Hambrecht’s family’s vineyard in Sonoma County. Guests included lots of NMHers. • In a similar vein, Alyssa Cutler lives in Boston with her fiancé, Aaron, and their bulldog, Franny; Alyssa is working in marketing communications for a large law firm. She loves the NMH alumni community in Boston and has enjoyed seeing Nick Popoli ’01, Corey Swiniarski, Jabe Bergeron, Malcolm Constable ’99, and Emily Anderson ’99. Alyssa remains close with Matt Glode and Jim Henderer. She also misses her South Crossley girls: Rose Jackman Spurgin, Annah Kinsler, Chloe Porter, and Kaitlin Bennett. • Caitlin Casey and her wife, Noni, started a nonprofit last year, Shasta Riding Club, in Siskiyou County, Calif. They give riding lessons, offering day and summer camps for kids and adults, and accept students regardless of finances. Shasta’s programs teach kids how to ride and care for rescued and donated horses while Caitlin and Noni facilitate the development of important life skills. You can learn more about their work at shastaridingclub.org. • Jessica Scherm-Martin Corwin received an Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation in April. The award is a peer-nominated recognition of Jess’s elementary music teaching in Hatfield (Mass.) public schools. • Genevieve Bergeret writes, “After 12 years as an expat, I’m moving back to New York City!” As you’re reading this,
Northfield Mount Hermon Josh Grubman joshuagrubman@gmail.com • Christopher A Zissi christopher.zissi@gmail.com
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Northfield Mount Hermon Danielle Henry Beale dhbeale@gmail.com
I’m excited to see all of you at our 15-year reunion! Please join me on the journey back to the hills of western Massachusetts to reflect sagely on (or relive) our youthful indiscretions. • Justin Eli is a manager at Deloitte. He married Rona Yang, a Boston attorney, in October. • Nefertiti Tyehemba Nakawe completed a master’s degree at SUNY Upstate Medical University and is continuing on in their doctor of medicine program. • Greg Harris co-founded Skylark Editions, a photo-book press. Their first book, National Trust by Jay Seawell, was released in October. • Heather King Frechette and husband Henry welcomed a son, Arthur Henry, on 7/19/15. • Chris Russell and wife Chelsea welcomed a daughter, Lillian “Lily” Belle, on 6/13/16. • Bryan Cheng married Serene Chen on 1/3/16. NMH alumni in attendance were Vicki Wong and husband Teddy Cheng ’00, Benjamin Tse, Bosco Cheng, Jeanie Kwok ’01, Charis Law ’03, Jason Ho ’03, Samson Cheng ’03, Josephine Sun ’03, Derrick Lui ’03, and Leon Yao ’04.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Dee Guo deedith@gmail.com • Mira Sharma mira.sharma.mcgill@gmail.com
Harry Potter and the Inquisitive Librarian Do you know Muggles from Mudbloods? Hufflepuff from Hogwarts? If not, then Tolonda Henderson ’95, a George Washington University instructional librarian and Harry Potter scholar, can set you straight. In addition to writing and co-authoring academic papers such as “More Than Moving Images: The Visual Culture of Harry Potter,” Henderson teaches students how to use J.K. Rowling’s internationally acclaimed series in their coursework. “I first started studying Harry Potter because I wanted to know why the character of Madam Pince, the Hogwarts librarian, was so useless,” says Henderson. “She doesn’t teach the students anything. So my first papers were about the library at Hogwarts and teaching methods in the castle.” Since 1999, numerous attempts have been made to ban Harry Potter books from libraries because of their “supernatural” content. In honor of Banned Book Week in September 2016, Henderson delivered a lecture titled “Uncensored: Harry Potter, Profanity, and the Banned Book” at Martin Luther King Memorial Library in Washington, D.C.
Heaver Sommers Estes ’03 begins her new life with husband Conrad Estes.
P HO TO: WILLIAM ATKINS/G E O R G E WASH IN G T O N U N IVE R SIT Y
Henderson is currently working toward a master’s degree in English. To date, she has read all seven volumes of Harry Potter at least 20 times.
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CLASS NOTES
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Northfield Mount Hermon Jamieson Baker jamieson.baker@gmail.com • Jane Lilly Warren janelillywarren@gmail.com • Daniela Frias daniela8_5@hotmail.com
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Northfield Mount Hermon Donnie Blackwell ptowndon@gmail.com • Arjun Pant arjunpant@gmail.com • JingPing Zhang jingping.ellen.zhang@gmail.com Julia Bienstock writes, “I am a health care
lawyer at Proskauer Rose in New York and graduated from Fordham Law, where I met my soon-to-be husband.”
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Northfield Mount Hermon Ramon Guadalupe rmg57@cornell.edu • Collin Lever collinlever@gmail.com
Fifty-two of our classmates returned to campus to celebrate our 10th reunion in June. Tron was decked out in 2000s-themed images, there was a MySpace photo booth, and Norman the Hogger made an appearance on the dance floor. • Courtney Opalenik moved from New York City to Somerville, Mass., where she will be an orthopedic surgery physician assistant at Tufts Medical Center. • Sean Conerly is the linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. “I love my career!” says Sean. “It is a blessing to have found your life’s purpose at a young age. And none of this would be possible without NMH! Go, Hoggers!” • Cookie Smith graduated from Northeastern’s physician assistant program and will relocate to Hancock, Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula to work as a physician assistant in a rural emergency-medicine and urgent-care clinic. Cookie is still playing hockey and lacrosse — she’s also a hockey referee. • Matt Wacks lives in Dedham, Mass., and is an analyst for a real-estate finance company. He’s still playing tennis and has picked up golf. • Jonathan Bickford has been hiking the Appalachian Trail for several months. He took a short break to join his classmates at reunion, then continued north.
(From left) Classmates from ’07 Rebecca Donald, Kayla DeVincentis, Roberta Taggert, and Liz Donald find time to get together in Boston.
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He temporarily stepped off the Trail again in July to participate in the Atlantic Challenge, an international sailing competition. • Collin Lever had a great time seeing everyone at reunion. He has been living in D.C. for two years and works at a public affairs firm in the city. He finished his master’s degree program at George Washington University.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Dith Pamp dith.pamp@gmail.com
Hello from the West Coast! I am so looking forward to seeing you all at our 10th reunion next summer. Mark your calendars for June 1–4, 2017! If you have a note to be included in the next NMH Magazine, please send me an email! • Kayla DeVincentis expects to graduate with an M.B.A. from Boston University next year, just about a month before our 10th reunion. • David Lee got married last year and is now an equity analyst at the investment firm Surveyor Capital. He is still in New York City and looks forward to attending reunion! • Emily Tisdale is a Ph.D. student at Harvard, where she studies public policy and economics. • Jung-Min Woo writes, “I’m currently based in South Korea as a grad student at KAIST, studying science technology policy. I spend my weekdays in Daejeon at KAIST and most weekends back at home in Seoul. I got a chance to catch up with Jessie Jeon ’04 on campus; she’s currently an assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department at KAIST.” Jung-Min was in Hawaii for Jooyeon Kim’s wedding, and has caught up with Violet So Hyeon Kim as well. Violet is in her last year of medical school in Seoul.
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Emily Jacke ejacke@middlebury.edu • Sarah-Anne Tanner tanner.sarahanne@gmail.com
From Sarah-Anne: Hello, ’08ers! I attended NMH Reunion 2016 (in June) and caught up with a lot of our favorite teachers and saw many familiar faces. The class of ’11 was on campus for their five-year, which was hard to believe (they were freshmen when we were seniors)! Harder to believe: Our 10th is only two years away. • I’ve been enjoying reaching out to and hearing from folks that we haven’t heard from in a while, and I continue to be so impressed by all the interesting things that everyone is up to. • Cody Valdes is finishing his second year in political science at Tufts University, and will head to Cambridge University to start an M.Phil. in intellectual history this fall. Good luck in the U.K., Cody! • Yulong Cui is in the Boston area, working in investment management, and reports to be getting wiser as the years go by. • Liz Arthur is also in Boston — she’s working at a food-tech startup, Try the World, but will begin an M.B.A. in health care at Boston University this fall. • Emily Jarecki is another alumna in the food and health world. She graduated from Hobart and
William Smith Colleges in 2012 with a B.A. in biochemistry. At college, she sang all four years with the student-run female a cappella group Three Miles Lost, and spent three years working as a volunteer EMT. After graduating, Emily spent a year working for her parents’ local business, Vermont Fresh Pasta. She now works for the Vermont Department of Health as a health inspector for all food and lodging establishments in the state. • Tom DiDonato works in New York City at diversified holding company Leucadia National Corporation. He has recently seen Colin Downey in Paris and Warren Dunton ’09 in New York. • Annamae Manning lives in Reykjavík, Iceland, with her husband, and works in partner operations at a tech company, LS Retail. She is also a dance critic for an English-language newspaper, The Grapevine. Annamae loves Iceland and has been living there since 2012. She’s happy to give recommendations to anyone interested! She and her husband married in fall 2012 and had a “real wedding” last March in Wales. Amelia Barnett was her maid of honor. • Zoe Hastings lives near Napa, Calif., and runs the corporate events program in San Francisco at RiskIQ, an internet security company. The company helps businesses fight hackers and secure their external digital footprint. Zoe is regularly back in Gill visiting family and often sees Jarad Weeks when she’s home. She also stays in touch with Nick Clough, who just completed a cross-country road trip and has recently moved to California. • George Posner works at Analysis Group and has been enjoying sailing on weekends. He also joined the Young Alumni Committee of the Alumni Council (happy to have you, George!). • Jooyeon Hahm is doing us proud at University of Pennsylvania, where she is working on her dissertation for her Ph.D. in history. Her project focuses on unwed mothers and illegitimate children in East Asia. • Julia Mix Barrington completed her Ph.D. coursework and was honored to have received two awards this spring: She was recognized as the Boston University English department’s Outstanding Teaching Fellow for 2015–2016, and was chosen as one of the Fellows for Graduate Study by the Alumnae Association of Barnard College (where she went for undergrad). Julia says this recognition is helping her to move forward with her studies, and that she’s looking forward to beginning her dissertation. • Ashleigh Casey chairs one of the chief executive officer’s committees for employees at John Hancock in Boston. She’s also a homeowner, having bought a house in Charlestown three years ago. • Ruby Thorne-Thomsen lives in Montague, Mass., with a poodle, three sugar gliders, a cat, a gecko, and a hedgehog! She frequently runs into Jules Findlay, as they’re both involved in the area’s theater scene. She corresponds with Emily Jacke, has seen Martin Shedd ’07, and keeps in touch with Luke Orndorff and Austin Avent ’07. • Meg Dolben finished her second year of graduate school
at University of Missouri, Kansas City, where she’s pursuing an M.F.A. in technical direction for theater. This summer she is the technical director for Endstation Theatre Company in Lynchburg, Va. She says that things are busy and hectic but that she’s loving every minute. • I recently attended Jim Montague’s wedding at Sugarbush Resort in Vermont. Eli Stiefel, Kellen Mobilia, and Henry Cesari made up the rest of the Hogger contingent and a good time was had by all! • Please continue to let Emily Jacke and me know what you’re up to. We love hearing from you and miss you all!
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Northfield Mount Hermon
Daisy Letendre daisycletendre@gmail.com • Eshalla Merriam eshallamerriam@gmail.com • Pamela Chen pamchen13@gmail.com • Fayette Phillips fayettephillips@gmail.com • Anna Stevens annagstevens@gmail.com • Galen Anderson gjande01@syr.edu
From Eshalla: This fall at an alumni event, retired NMH teacher Jim Block and his wife (a former kindergarten teacher) shared some sage advice — it served me well during my first year of teaching kindergarten in D.C. I’m living in northern Virginia with my sister (Mindi Merriam ’05) and family. I’m loving it. I’ve enjoyed meeting up with lots of Hoggers living in or passing through, including Aicha Diallo ’05, Tania Plaisimond ’05, Tumpale Ngwira ’06, Alex Gagnon ’10, and lots of fellow ’09 classmates such as Margaret Milliken, Turner Delano, Seth Clare, Arlie Cohn, and Sophie Bober (before she left us for law school)! My cousin, Alyssa Bobe ’03, completed her physician assistant program and passed her boards! • And let it be known that Leo Chiquillo, Rosie Driscoll, Tumpale Ngwira ’06, and I saw Beyoncé in concert (in different cities) — it was amazing! • Emily Stephens co-authored a front-page article for The Nation magazine: “Vox’s Tax Calculator Is Wildly Misleading — So We Made a Better One.” The article was published in April, and you can read it by visiting thenation.com.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Eli Spector elishsp@gmail.com • Jed Kundl kundlj@gmail.com
From Jed: Hey, all! In Erin Cromack’s first official year away from NMH after coaching track and field for four consecutive seasons after graduation, she’s still made it a priority to remain an active member of the NMH community. In addition to being reunion chair, Erin was granted membership to NMH’s Young Alumni Committee, concentrating on events and social media. She is an active Daughters of the American Revolution member and
works with the Wounded Warrior Project. In addition, Erin is guest services coordinator at the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority in Boston, and is happy to have been joined by her friend Erin Marley, who is living in Somerville and working at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. She is still dating Robby Stack and hanging out with a bunch of NMHers in the Boston area. • Fallon Winters has been working at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York City and will be starting her M.B.A. at Fordham this fall. She lives in Hoboken with her sister, Leigh Winters ’11, who is getting her master’s of psychology and neuroscience at Columbia University. Fallon has seen many members of the class of ’10 — she had the pleasure of dining with Erin Marley, Robby Stack, Chris Mangan, and Erin Cromack at Tavern Road, where the one and only Derek White is a chef. Fallon says that Tavern Road is a must-try and that Derek’s cooking isn’t half bad (read: fantastic). • Scott Cleary is living and working near Tampa, Fla., and is close to completing his second year at BlueGrace Logistics, a privately held thirdparty logistics firm. He’s having a great time and enjoying the warm weather year-round. He misses NMH and wishes the best to all members of ’10! • Maxine Yakobi is the lead product specialist for ad interfaces at Facebook in the San Francisco Bay Area. Maxine has also been experimenting with sustainable urban farming and training for a motorcycle trip down the Pacific Coast, starting in San Francisco and finishing at Patagonia (hopefully next summer). Here’s to craggy mountains and organic strawberries in Maxine’s near future! • Eli Spector moved from Israel to Boston for work. He’s shocked by the contrast in weather, but enjoys the city and its funny accent. If you’re around the Back Bay, let him know! • As for me, I moved to Somerville (Davis Square) last year to start work as a software engineer at TripAdvisor on the vacation rentals team (think Airbnb). I spent a few weeks backpacking around Peru, ending with a trek along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I’ve run into many NMHers in the Boston area and frequently see Courtney Freese, Dylan Freehauf ’11, and Bo Martin ’11. If you’re ever in the area, let me know!
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Northfield Mount Hermon Olivia VanCott vancott.olivia@gmail.com • Nisha Malik nishamalik92@gmail.com • Olivia Wolpe oliviawolpe@gmail.com
From Olivia VanCott: Hey, everyone! It was great seeing those of you who came to reunion! I can’t believe it has already been five years! I hope you all enjoyed the weekend. I loved watching you all dance Saturday night with a few drinks in your system. We broke the record for the number of attendees for the five-year reunion, and that includes the classes
A C L O S E R LO O K
Teaching the Next Generation As a first-grade teacher for KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Legacy Prep School in Houston, Texas, Spencer Russell ’08 recently was honored with the Harriett Ball Excellence in Teaching Award and the Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award. Russell’s start as a teaching intern for NMH’s summer session was, to him, just a summer job. He took the same approach when, as a senior at Amherst College, he applied for a Teach For America position. “I knew I would make a living while I figured out what I really wanted to do with my life,” he says. Russell admits that he “grossly underestimated the dedication and skill it took to be an excellent teacher.” It took several years before Russell understood that he’d found his career. “During my first year, I wanted to quit,” he remembers. Crying at his desk before, during, and after school was not uncommon. But something shifted in his second year, when he began visiting his students’ families at home, talking about the children’s progress and how they could all work together. Now in his third year of award-winning teaching, Russell’s goal is “to prove that black and brown students, no matter how young they are or what their circumstances are, can exceed even the highest expectations we hold for them.”
fall 2016 I 89
CLASS NOTES that had twice as many graduates from being on both campuses. Pretty impressive! • Thank you to those who donated this year to the NMH Fund. We also broke a record in the amount of giving and participation for the fiveyear reunion! I don’t know about you all, but I think we must be the best class ever! Also the coolest, smartest, and most fun! • Bettie Pratt Marlowe is the first in our class to get married! Bettie married Jacob O’Brian Marlowe on 3/10/16 in Mount Vernon, Va. Phoebe Burton ’14 was one of Bettie’s bridesmaids, on what has been noted by Bettie as “An amazing day.” Congratulations, Bettie and Jacob! • Savannah Yates is still working as a nurse at Fox Hospital in Oneonta, N.Y., and enjoys her job. • After graduating from Mount Holyoke College, Nisha Malik has been working at a nursing home. If all goes well, she will start graduate school for physician assistant studies soon. • Ricky Hynninen graduated last year from Clarkson University with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a minor in math. He is currently finishing his M.S. in mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech and plans to graduate in May 2017. He’s also had one of his poems published in Clarkson University Poetry 2015. • Zach Bitzer graduated from UMass-Dartmouth with a degree in marketing and a master’s in business administration. He’s a development coordinator at Northeast Sustainable Energy Association in Greenfield and lives in Colrain, Mass. • After spending a year as a social worker, Leeanne Hadsel is currently working as an applied behavior analyst and behavior therapist. She is a proud cat mom, and is still a whitewater rafting and kayak instructor in the Berkshires on weekends. • Hanson Cheng graduated from Rhode Island School of Design and is moving to San Francisco, where he accepted a job at international architecture firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill, and has begun his licensing process to become a registered architect. • After taking his last class (Latin American business culture) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jay Bayles traveled solo through Uruguay and Brazil, which he was worried about at first. He then found it easy to meet new people and ended up having a blast. While living a life where he has no routine and only does what he feels like, Jay says, “[It] really makes you think what you like and don’t like in life.” • Andrew
Bettie Pratt Marlowe ’11 and husband Jacob O’Brian Marlowe celebrate their wedding, the first for the class of ’11.
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Stewart is currently finishing his bachelor’s in
engineering at Fairfield University. He plans on studying for an extra year to complete his master’s. • I had a lovely visit with Raleigh Cropper in the spring and it was great catching up. Raleigh has been living in New York doing freelance work as a home-care attendant, dog groomer, and dog trainer for the past six years. She is currently looking into veterinary medicine and business management to open her own clinic in the future. • And now, some reunion highlights: I arrived early to set up and decorate with Laura Carbonneau ’06. We went with a 2000s timeline theme. Each room had a memorable pop-culture history flyer on its door. The lounge in Tron had Tiger Beat and J-14 magazines and some posters, such as blink-182. There were bowls of candies such as Nerds and Ring Pops. Lights were strung up in the basement and first floor of Tron to make it a little more inviting. Sadly, we did not win the dorm decorating competition, but I hope you all enjoyed it. • Convocation, where we all sing some songs and listen to speakers, was actually pretty fun. The 50th reunion paraded in with a very lively band, which brought out a lot of excitement in everyone attending. • We enjoyed a glass of wine and beer at Nicole Hager and Sarah Kenyon’s house (Oaknoll) at a new event with our class parents and some of the deans, called “Drinks with the Deans.” After we took a class photo, some who were sleeping off the party from the night before did not make it into the photo, but there was still a great turnout. • We partied hard on Saturday night with some lively games of flip cup and beer pong. There was a great DJ and many teachers made appearances, joining in on the fun. Norman the Mascot made an appearance and a MySpace-themed photo booth was a big hit. The energy and excitement on campus was unforgettable. A big black bear made an appearance under Tron tent on Sunday. It was a great time, and I hope those of you who were unable to make it this year can come to the next reunion in 2021! And, hopefully, Andrew Stewart and Daphne Kroessler will be married and have a ton of babies by then! (If you missed it, they matched on Bumble.) • Anyone who would like to come back to visit at any time, I am living just over the border in New Hampshire, working in a dental office, and
(From left) Hannah Green ’14, Nidhi Malik ’12, Harper Baldwin ’15, Caitlin Duffy ’11, Riley Dickie ’12, Parker Peltzer ’12, and Roo Weed ’14, all then attending Middlebury College, relaxed together last winter.
enjoying living in my own apartment, where I have room if anyone needs a place to stay! I’d love to meet up on or off campus and catch up, so don’t hesitate to reach out. • Thank you all for coming to reunion, and for those who did not, we missed you and hope you will stay in touch and come to the next one! • From Olivia Wolpe: I’m writing from sticky Berkeley, Calif. Salut a todos! I have just a small batch of updates this time around, which someone less optimistic might attribute to apathy and indifference. I, however, am assuming it is due to the fact that ’11ers have their days filled with professional rigor and their nights spent with cubism and realigning their chakras, reading medical books “for fun,” and perusing Dwell magazine while they volunteer. And you know what people say about assuming — do it often and do it with a broad stroke. • Junius RossMartin says that reunion was the highlight of his life. While others like to curate this column, raising their accomplishments to an ethereal level, Junius ended on what some might call a “ghastly” or even “embarrassing” note, but I like to think of it as the realest “tbh.” He writes, “The rest of my life is so uninteresting, I don’t even want to type out the details.” • Jamie Williams is doing music public relations and playing in two bands in New York City; he is also currently considering buying new shoes. • Adam Rosenthal is living in Burlington, Vt., and teaching math at South Burlington High School. • Orelia Jonathan is completing her M.S. in education from University of Pennsylvania and teaching at Lawrenceville School. • Oliver Dormody left a snark-filled Facebook comment asking if I was going to get his name right this time. Did I? • Sierra Dickey is editing a literary magazine in Brattleboro, Vt., and wants everyone to know she’s still naughty, sneaking dairy on the weekends, undeterred by a vicious lactose intolerance. • And finally, due to some recent events, I’ve had to take stock of my life and make some pretty tough calls. In this vein, I’ve decided to no longer wear my Fitbit Flex. It was an added pressure that I decided to do away with, but thank you all for your understanding and to those who supported me as I strove to hit my 10,000-step goal each day. • Stay wavy, fam.
12
Northfield Mount Hermon
Parker Peltzer ppeltzer@gmx.com • Wilson Josephson josephsonw@carleton.edu
From Parker: The class of 2012 has largely finished college and is on to new and exciting things. The last semester was not without news, though. Riley Dickie, Nidhi Malik, and I got together with most of the other Hoggers at Middlebury for a macaroni and cheese dinner. Jack Prassas got back to university after going abroad to Rome; he is continuing his studies in political science and Russian and medieval history. Hannah Solis-Cohen is enjoying rowing successes, as the University of Virginia
CLASS NOTES team placed third nationally this year. • Naomi Weitz will be staying in D.C. and working for the Georgetown Medical School’s advancement office. • Now graduated, Yvon Biselele has headed home to Lynn, Mass., where he is working with the KIPP public charter schools, which he attended before coming to NMH. • Former NMH roommates Elizabeth Schechter and Joanna Pang are both staying in Atlanta following their graduation from Emory. When I spoke with Elizabeth, she had taken a job with an advertising agency. At one point she paused our conversation to shoo her newly adopted kitten back onto the floor after it tried to make off with her dinner. • Henry Lawrence is finishing his degree in linguistics and German at Queen’s University. Also, he and his band, The Wilderness, are recording their first album and set off on a Canadian tour this summer (last year they toured the U.S.). You can find them on SoundCloud and Facebook. • As for me, I taught the “writing and the outdoors” class at NMH Summer Session 2016 and am back at Middlebury for one more year. This spring will be our five-year reunion at NMH, and I hope many of us can make it back to catch up and have some fun.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org
Max Adler, now at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., was named to the USILA/ Nike Division II All-America third team in May as a specialist. Max becomes the men’s lacrosse program’s eighth different player to earn All-America honors.
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Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org
15
Northfield Mount Hermon Please send news to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org
Laura Rollins earned a spot on the honor roll in May after playing a key role in defense in William Smith College’s lacrosse team during the Liberty League tournament. Congratulations, Laura!
Faculty Joan Pack hpack@nmhschool.org
From Joan Pack: Jim Dunaway, former religious studies teacher and academic dean, and Libby Barlow, former religious studies teacher and student life dean, left NMH in 1999 and relocated to Houston, Texas, where Jim spent 15 years as dean of faculty at the Kincaid School. Libby earned her doctorate in
higher-education administration and worked at the University of Houston as director of institutional research and institutional effectiveness. In 2014 they relocated to Syracuse, N.Y., where Libby assumed her position as assistant vice president for institutional research and assessment at Syracuse University. Jim began his tenure as head of the Manlius Pebble Hill School in DeWitt, N.Y. Jim and Libby have two children, Jordan and Judson. • Dick Peller and Ellen Turner Peller now live in Hudson, Ohio. Dick tutors math students in Hudson while remaining active in fundraising for the Gilder Center (NMH’s new math and science center). Ellen has done some admissions work for both NMH and Kenyon College. Dick writes that they have had a wonderful stream of visitors from NMH during their first year post-NMH. They have been active grandparents to Annie and Jeff Neill’s two young children, Stella and Chase. • Betty Stookey left NMH and returned to Blue Hill, Maine, with husband, Noel. Betty and Noel tour with their multi-faith program, One Light, Many Candles. Betty continues to “minister” at weddings, memorials, and occasionally as a fill-in for a pastor on leave. She and Noel are active and devoted parents and grandparents. • Nicholas Theberge is now entering the chief year of his oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J. Nick and wife Amanda have a new young son, Jonathan (Jonah), born on 12/29/15. Nick and family plan to return to NMH for a visit after he completes his surgical training next year. • Jon “Poff” Poffenberger continues in his work as dean of school life at the Sage Hill School in Newport Coast, Calif. Poff and wife Karen adopted a newborn baby girl, Colbie, in November 2015. • Ginny and Ed Brooks live in Harrisville, N.H., not far over the border from Northfield. They’re active in their post-NMH lives, are regular travelers, and familiar visitors to the NMH campus. • Dean Fusto, class parent to the class of ’97, founded the teachlearnlead.org “edu-library,” a globally recognized brand and clearinghouse for K–12 educational research, resources, and curated articles. Dean was appointed president and head of school at Brandon Hall School, a global boarding school in Atlanta, in December 2015. • Jim and Julie Scheidegger will move to a new school in the fall. They will begin teaching (Jim returns to his roots teaching math, Julie will teach English and ESL) at Saint Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Fla. They have four children: Phoebe, Amelia, Caleb, and Owen. • Hughes and Joan Pack finally found their way off the Mt. Hermon campus after 37 years in residence, and traveled three miles to their new home in the center of the town of Northfield. They live in a net-positive-energy home (producing more energy than used) rebuilt by Peter Talmage ’66. The house is a perfect working lab for Hughes, who is the curriculum designer for the STEM Solar Lab, a solar-energy curriculum designed
for use in high school classrooms. Retirement? Not quite yet. Hughes and Joan have two sons, Noah ’04 and Eli ’07. • From Kristin Kellom ’80: Long in the discussion phase, a reunion of fac brats of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s was finally held on campus in June. After several years of poignant and bittersweet reunions while attending memorial services for our parents or “our many aunts and uncles who helped raise us” (as one of us noted), the desire to meet under happier circumstances was realized. We strolled the campus, shrieked over family photo album pictures, screened a 1963 marketing film that featured many familiar faculty and staff, and pulled out memorabilia such as “Campus Chefs” and Mt. Hermon banners and towels. The most profound moment of the day was “Chapel Time,” when we joined in a circle at Memorial Chapel to re-connect, reflect, and sing. Representing childhoods that spanned the 1940s through the 1970s at Northfield and Mt. Hermon, we shared where we had lived on campus, the circumstances that had brought our parents to the school, and those particular memories that were mutually understood simply for having grown up on campus. We acknowledged our joy, sorrow, and gratitude. We wrapped up our day with a fabulous feast fully prepared by Joe Elliott and his wife Jenny. Those in attendance: Deborah Allenby Albert, Stuart Allenby, Ellen McVeigh Crawford, Joe McVeigh, Peter Weis, David Jones, John Burnham, Louise Burnham Packard with son Daniel Packard and cousin Lyric, Paul Burnham, Joe Elliott, Stuart Elliott, Will Torrey, David Torrey, Kathy Torrey, Kathryn Piscuskas, Martha Piscuskas, Richard Anthony Piscuskas, David Piscuskas, Bob Compton, Chuck Alexander, Nancy Alexander Randall, Kathy Williams Hoffer, Peter Iris-Williams, Meg Greene, Chris Cartwright, Dottie Bauer, Jim Bauer, Kristin Whyte, Robin Whyte Reisman, Robert Wood, Doug Wood, Norm Wood, Susan Moyle Lynch, Karen Forslund Falb, Jessamyn (formerly Susan) Stinchfield, Mike LaChance, and Kristin Kellom. Deemed honorary fac brats: Rachel Balaban, Becky Torrey, Marie Alexander, Michael Lynch, and Lydia Perry Schodel. Supportive advocates for the reunion and unable to attend as circumstances dictated otherwise were Harlan Baxter, Tom Baxter, Jennifer Pitney Schimmel, Gwyneth Jones Radloff, Richard Compton, and Betsy Compton. • And swinging through as the sun emerged at afternoon’s end was Mac McCollester, who had known so many of us “kids” during his family’s 30+ years at the school. • This event will undoubtedly grow and more decades will roll in as we build our network of those who grew up at Northfield, Mt. Hermon, and NMH. • To receive an unedited version of this column, email nmhnotes@nmhschool.org.
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CLASS NOTES
Vital Statistics BI R THS
1989
Jackson Beecher to Michael David Murphy and Alyson West September 20, 2015
1994
2002
Bryan Cheng to Serene Chen January 3, 2016 Justin Eli to Rona Yang October 15, 2016
2003
Wynne McKay Marschalk June 9, 2016 Survived by John McKay ’36
Nancy Adams Shields May 1, 2016 Survived by Martha Adams Erickson ’38
Helen Barrett Field February 1, 2016
Eleanor Farnsworth Slimmon May 8, 2016 Survived by Frances Farnsworth Armstrong ’44, Terry Westbrook ’71, Pamela French Kromm ’81 Elizabeth Davis Tuttle July 1, 2016 Survived by E. Dorrance Tuttle Ellsworth ’67, Fannie Tuttle ’67
Pamela Farnsworth French May 18, 2016 Survived by Frances Farnsworth Armstrong ’44, Jane Pinney Foster ’44, Terry Westbrook ’71, Pamela French Kromm ’81
Shirley Moore Ward July 16, 2015
1939
Catherine Blodgett Anderson March 25, 2016 Alton Downer July 24, 2016
Elinor Ettie to Nel Andrews and Jackie Matrosic April 30, 2016
Heather Sommers to Conrad Estes April 10, 2016
2002
Ally Tennant to Eli Smith June 28, 2015
Patricia Fellows Hayden April 2016 Survived by Gerald Thorpe ’63
2011
1940
Arthur Henry to Heather King Frechette and Henry Frechette July 19, 2015 Lillian (Lily) Belle to Chris Russell and Chelsea Russell June 13, 2016
2006
Elizabeth “Bettie” Pratt to Jacob O’Brian Marlowe March 10, 2016 D E AT H S
M A RRIAGES
1968
John Hansbury to Carisa Lynne Jackson January 16, 2016
1974
Andre Fleuriel to Mark A. Boyd October 4, 2015
1975
Bryan Flippen to Mark Houle May 2015
1986
M.J. Austin to John Airey July 11, 2015
1997
Cari Wilder to David Eisenson September 12, 2015 Luke Williams to Anna Koren August 2013
2000
Ti Chesley to Melissa Mackie August 8, 2015 Rose Jackson Lynch to Will Spurgin March 31, 2016
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1932
Kathryn Scott Flagg June 12, 2016
1933
Eleanor Schneck Scott March 10, 2016
1936
Margaret Callaghan Calder July 9, 2016 Survived by John Callaghan ’75 Martha Shakespeare Round April 25, 2016 Angus Way October 7, 2014
1937
Sara Cram Bittenbender April 22, 2016 Bettina Loheed Moore December 6, 2014 Survived by Adam Stone ’95
1938
Ralph Mabie April 5, 2011 Marion Monbleau Marsh June 22, 2016
Faye Stewart Jose February 10, 2016 Mary Glaze Seiler December 16, 2014 Alfred Stites April 11, 2016 Survived by George Stites ’42
1941
Pauline Spencer Carr May 31, 2015 Doris Blanchard Hutcheson February 25, 2013 Survived by Lance Jillson ’58 Carol Croke Kent July 2, 2016 Survived by Judith Croke Strzempko ’53
1944
Nancy Cantor Eddy October 5, 2015 Oliver Greene April 19, 2016 M. Phyllis Bishop Torrey May 2, 2016
1945
Lois Eberhardt Brennan February 16, 2016 Survived by Jane Eberhardt Nunn ’42 Theodore Covel May 7, 2016 Geoffrey Groff-Smith February 24, 2016
1947
Donald Ide April 27, 2008 Douglas Reichert February 14, 2016 Edward Stotz April 30, 2016 Survived by Kerwin Stotz ’49, Douglas Stotz ’55
1948
Ernest Fritz February 27, 2016 John Gibbons March 28, 2016 David Roser June 4, 2016 Virginia Bailey Skelley May 13, 2016
1949
Dennis Hawkes August 30, 2010 Richard Stanley November 11, 2015
William Schaefer January 28, 2015
Edward Hampson March 17, 2016
1942
Robert Daniels October 17, 2015
Rosamond Tryon Jacob December 13, 2015
Robert Lawrence June 12, 2016
Jane Wayman Zogg April 12, 2016
Joan Williams Zukowski June 29, 2016 Survived by John Addison ’44, Harland Williams ’49, Robert White ’51, Donald Williams ’55, Robert Williams ’60, Jean Thompson ’64
M. Jane Manuel Schubert May 20, 2016
1946
1950
1943
Elizabeth Van Zandt Adams February 20, 2016 Grace Kemp Harris January 18, 2016
Frederick Allen January 20, 2011 Survived by Nancy Allen Rupke ’60 Dustin Burke February 16, 2016 Survived by Robert Burke ’52
Marion Clausen Gray March 24, 2016 Survived by Jane Clausen Drorbaugh ’47, Joan Clausen Vander Vliet ’48, Carolyn Vander Vliet Stahl ’78, Kerry Vander Vliet Moir ’80, Amy Vander Vliet ’82
CLASS NOTES Kenneth McLoon July 17, 2015 Survived by Richard McLoon ’48 Emily Richard March 30, 2016
1951
David Westfall February 14, 2014
1955
Jill Dennis Goldie March 26, 2016 Survived by April Dennis Lyon ’63
Richard Clarke April 14, 2015
Van Lott February 2, 2016
Patricia Peterkin Hart March 30, 2016
1956
Peter Hom November 25, 2012 Janice Krusen June 27, 2016 Henry Putsch April 22, 2016 Survived by Robert Putsch ’56, Linda HoffIrwin ’67, Karen Hoff McMahon ’69
1952
Judith Engvall Hunter April 5, 2016 Survived by Willow Gordon ’94 John Morrissey July 9, 2016
1953
Deane Lanphear June 18, 2016 Survived by Janice Thompson Butler ’54, Judith Thompson Flemister ’57, Donna Hayes Kennedy ’59, Brenda Slater Holske ’61, Kristin Lanphear LaPorte ’82, Wendy Flemister Shairs ’82, Leah Spinney ’83, Karen Lanphear Malinowski ’77, Bradford Lanphear ’79, Martin Shedd ’07
Charles Copenhaver February 2012 Survived by Marcia Copenhaver Barrere ’54, Nancy Copenhaver Macaulay ’57
1957
Steven Schwartz May 28, 2014 Survived by Christopher Schwartz ’82, Dana Ortega ’01, Alexis Schwartz ’10 Cynthia Thompson September 9, 2011 Survived by Pamela Thompson Baldwin ’62
1958
Peter P. Anderson Date of death unknown
Clare Dingman Rhoades March 3, 2016 Survived by Mary Dingman-Abel ’56
Michael Walther September 9, 2015
1963
Christine Lowry Forrester February 22, 2016 Gail Cadwell Hansen January 13, 2016 Survived by Howard Cadwell ’71
1966
Deborah Brannum November 8, 2005 Barbara Cole Felix January 15, 2014 Robert Rosenkrans February 12, 2015 Charles Scott May 12, 2016 Sally Gaines Temple-West January 20, 2011
1969
Denver Collins February 5, 2016
1970
Heidi Neubauer Jacobus February 4, 2016
1972
Donald Byers June 25, 2016 Survived by George Byers ’49
1976
Amy GladstoneFischbein April 22, 2016
Barbara Mackin Kondras July 30, 2016
1967
Karen Thompson Reaman March 22, 2016
1961
1954
Daniel Holmes May 25, 2016 Gretel Porter June 25, 2016 Deborah Waters February 19, 2016 Survived by Stephen Waters ’52
1968
Jeffrey Close June 5, 2016 Survived by Carol Close Leeson ’59, Susan Close Nielsen ’62, Sarah Keniston Michael ’65, Allen Keniston ’69, Linda Keniston ’70, Nan Close Browne ’71, Colleen Nielsen Gibney ’89, Paul Nielsen ’91, Wendy Browne Henoch ’98, Eric Browne ’02
Alice Kells January 30, 2016 David Roak January 27, 2016 Robert Weis February 8, 2016 Survived by Sarah Weis ’71, Elizabeth Bourne ’70, Peter Weis ’78, Richard Weis ’87, Faith Weis ’10, Henry Weis ’13
1982
Kathryn Pazuk Naficy February 16, 2016
1960
Alice Jurcik April 2016 Survived by John Jurcik ’92
Jonathan Slaney November 17, 2015
Janet Withington November 21, 2015 Christopher Guida January 20, 2016 Survived by J. Kent Guida ’65, Peter Guida ’75
Roberta Ainsworth April 13, 2016
Rhonda Malcarne Carter June 17, 2016
John Clay July 6, 2016
1959
F O R ME R FA C ULTY & S TA F F
1979
Bryan Welz June 9, 2016 Survived by David Anderson ’83, Emily Dale ’99
Ernest Eng February 13, 2016 Survived by David Eng ’54, Kenneth Eng ’59
Margaret Crane Coyne February 10, 2016
William Kirchner February 21, 2016 Survived by Barbara Kirchner ’56
Susan Hollidge McFarland April 16, 2016
Victoria Koo Hitchins June 17, 2016
Melanie Cook Moon March 28, 2016 Survived by Frank Kelley ’77, John Kelley ’79, Susan Yach ’82, Michael Cook ’84
Reuben McDaniel February 7, 2016 Elizabeth Dumbreck Barry May 22, 2016 Survived by Beverly Dumbrek Nadler ’57, Eli Edson ’03, Jacob Edson ’06
1962
1988 1997
Eric Griffiths May 28, 2016
1998
Charlotte Angus February 16, 2016 Survived by Nancy S. Angus ’77, Elizabeth Tomkinson ’04
1999
Ryan Morin April 3, 2016
2008
Catherine Kraft-Kenney May 30, 2016 Survived by Alexandra Kenney ’11
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CLASS NOTES
In Memoriam
B Y N O EL L E A NS ON
Deane Roger Lanphear ’53 On June 18, 2016, Rev. Deane Roger Lanphear ’53 of Topsham, Maine, passed away at the age of 81. During his long association with Northfield Mount Hermon, which started in 1949 when he enrolled as a freshman, he held close to a dozen positions, including interim head of school. Retired faculty member Dick Peller remembers Lanphear as a beloved friend and mentor who performed the marriage ceremony for Peller and his late wife Mec, baptized their two children, and presided at Mec’s memorial service in 1997. “He lived a righteous life and could warm the heart of all who shared time with him,” Peller says. Lanphear was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, on May 12, 1935, the first of two sons to Leonard and Velma Lanphear. His father was head of maintenance at NMH, and his mother worked at the school as a housekeeper, so it was, perhaps, a foregone conclusion that he would attend Mount Hermon. Lanphear earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Massachusetts in 1957 and spent the next four years at Andover Newton Theological Seminary, earning an M.Div. in 1961. He was ordained a minister of the United Church of Christ at the Maple Street Congregational Church in Danvers, Massachusetts, where he was the associate minister for several years. He also served as associate minister at the South Acton Congregational Church. He left parish ministry in 1968 to begin a new career in secondary education. During his years at UMass, Lanphear, already an avid golfer, worked at the Northfield golf course in the summers, and it was there that he met his future wife, Cynthia Shedd, also a college student, whose summer job was waiting tables at the Northfield Inn. The two married in 1956 and had three children between 1958 and 1963. Lanphear settled into teaching religious studies and coaching football, golf, and hockey, but soon began taking on administrative posts. He was director of the summer school from 1972 to 1974, director of Alumni Affairs and Student Recruitment from 1974 to 1977, and director of the admission office from 1977 to 1979. After the resignation of Jane Robinson as head of school, Lanphear became interim head for the 1979–80 academic year. When Rev. Richard Unsworth ’45 became the new head of school in 1980, Lanphear took up yet another position as executive director of alumni and development, which he held for the next five years. In 1985, he became head of the Barstow School in Kansas City. After that, he served as interim head of several other schools, including Indian Mountain in Lakeville, Connecticut, and North Cross School in Roanoke, Virginia; he also served as head of North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, Illinois.
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Lanphear and Cynthia retired to Beaufort, South Carolina, in the late 1990s; in 2006, they moved to Topsham, Maine, to be nearer to family. Cynthia had been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s a few years earlier, and Lanphear served on the board of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Maine chapter, never losing hope that better treatments or a cure would be discovered. “Deane’s last few years were not easy,” Peller says. “His mind remained sharp, but his body let him down. He regretted not being able to pick up his golf clubs anymore. We take solace in knowing his pain is over, and mourn a world without Deane-o in it.” Lanphear is survived by his three children, Karen Lanphear Malinowski ’77, D. Bradford Lanphear ’79, and Kristin Lanphear LaPorte ’82; numerous cousins; and nine grandchildren. He was predeceased by Cynthia, his wife of 55 years, and his brother Dennis Lanphear ’61. A memorial service was held in NMH’s Memorial Chapel in October.
CLASS NOTES
Sherry Margeson On Aug. 15, 2016, Sherry Lee (Stanclift) Margeson, the retired office manager in Dining Services at Northfield Mount Hermon, died peacefully at home, surrounded by family, after a two-year battle with cancer. She had worked at NMH for 28 years in the same department and retired in 2015 as a result of her illness; she was 59. One of five siblings — four sisters and a brother — Margeson was born June 5, 1957, in Harlingen, Texas. The family relocated to New Hampshire and Sherry graduated from Hinsdale High School. She enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served for four years, during which time she met her future husband, Allan Margeson. They married in 1980 and had two sons. In 1987, Margeson was hired as administrative assistant to the director of Dining Services at NMH. She oversaw the accounting and communication work of a program with five dining halls and 50 staff members. She became the first Dining Services staff member to work with a computer, a feat recalled by Director Rich Messer as only one in a long list of duties that Margeson willingly and successfully took on during her long tenure. She learned event planning, created menus for thousands of NMH celebrations, followed culinary and wedding trends, all with an eye toward making NMH an event destination. In 2007, Margeson added the duties of catering manager to her already-full job. According to Rich Messer, she was sensitive to and protective of the residents of Ford Cottage, which is frequently used for NMH events. As a person whose family was everything to her, she tried to keep the head of school’s residence feeling like more of a home and less of an event venue. When Margeson retired, Messer delivered a farewell speech in which he described her as the most caring friend and colleague he had had the privilege of working with. “She loved her job and was immensely proud of what she had accomplished at NMH,” he says. He later added that her most treasured NMH moments came when her son Cam ’09 was accepted at NMH and when he graduated. Margeson and her husband Allan loved traveling, especially to Rye Beach in New Hampshire and Disney World in Orlando, Florida. They were avid walkers, usually accompanied by their Chihuahua Lucie. As Margeson’s illness progressed, Allan built a backyard perennial garden for her and it was there that the family held a private memorial
service after her passing. Retired NMH staff member Josie Rigby said she and Margeson grew close during the 15 years they planned reunion menus together. The two saw each other often during the late stages of Sherry’s illness and Josie sang the Northfield Benediction at the memorial service. Josie described Sherry as a strong person who never complained,
who wrote her own obituary for the local paper, and who planned the menu for the reception held at NMH after her memorial service. Survivors include her husband, her sons Ian Edward Margeson and Cameron Spencer Margeson ’09, Ian’s wife Danielle, her beloved grandson Oliver Edward, her mother Paula Girard and husband Donald, four siblings, and several nieces and nephews. The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the Baystate Regional Cancer Program, Baystate Franklin Oncology Dept., 164 High St., Greenfield, MA 01301, or to Hospice of Franklin County, 329 Conway St., Greenfield, MA 01301.
After this issue of NMH Magazine went into production, we learned of the Sept. 14 passing of Richard “Dick” Preston Unsworth ’45, who was Northfield Mount Hermon’s head of school from 1980 to 1991. Unsworth was a scholar, a mentor to many in the NMH community, and a champion of social justice throughout his adult life. “He died peacefully and gracefully, as anyone who knew him would hope and expect,” Head of School Peter Fayroian wrote in a message to faculty and staff in September. Unsworth was 89. A full “In Memoriam” will be published in the spring issue of NMH Magazine.
fall 2016 I 95
PARTING WORDS
A Weekend in September The familiar rituals played out on campus: nervous ninth graders said goodbye to their families; older students helped them acclimate. A few whirlwind days, a collective deep breath, and a new school year began. P H O T O S: R AC H A E L WA R I N G
PHOTO: XXXX
96 I NMH Magazine
GIVING BACK
Keeping It Fresh A VETERINARIAN TAKES ANIMALS — AND HIS HIGH SCHOOL — SERIOUSLY. As a kid, Bennett Wilson ’92 lived a peripatetic life. First in London; then Ghana, where his father taught American history at the University of Accra; then Colorado; and finally to Northampton, Massachusetts, where his father joined the faculty of Smith College. Across these changing venues, however, one constant remained: Wilson’s love of animals. “I always had the idea of becoming a vet in the back of my mind,” he says. “I loved cats and dogs, but also the science: chemistry, biology, anatomy, physiology.” Wilson realized his dream in 2006, graduating from Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine; in 2008, he became the owner of Forest Avenue Veterinary Hospital, a community-oriented practice in Portland, Maine. Here, Wilson and his team treat pets, sell honey harvested from a hive of Russian bees housed on the hospital’s rooftop, and run “Wingnutz,” an annual free neutering service for male cats and dogs. The motivation that drives Wilson’s work is simple, he says: Keep it fresh. “I strive to keep life healthy and interesting,” he says, by staying current with veterinary and animalscience issues and trends, and by hiking, camping, and skiing with his wife and two sons. Wilson’s childhood time in Africa taught him to appreciate education — “not only what it does for individuals, but also how it can affect villages and communities.” He points to NMH’s emphasis on community and education, too. The school was a major factor in his life, affording him the chance to spend a summer in France, play sports, stretch his mind, and develop lasting relationships with other students. Now he’s paying it forward. “Reflect back on your high school experiences,” he suggests. “If your time at NMH was positive, becoming a donor is a really appropriate way to say thank you, and at the same time it creates opportunities for others to benefit as well.” — Lori Ferguson
PHOTO: DENNIS WELSH
NMH
Magazine
The windows of Memorial Chapel, September 2016 P H O T O: RACHAEL WA R ING
One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354