NMH Magazine 2011 Fall

11 Magazine

NMH

Northfield Mount Hermon

fal l /wint er 2011 alu mni magazine , volume 13, number 2

TRADITION STORIES

D E P A R T M E N T S

2 Letters 3 Leading Lines 4 Campus News 41 Alumni News 48 Class Notes 96 Parting Words 97 Giving Back

NMH Magazine

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F E A T U R E S

14 New Faces 18 67 Years of Service 20 Good Books for Bad Children 24 My Little Brother 26 Tradition Stories 31 Read, Write, Think, Discuss.

Get on a Plane.

34 Visionary Thinking 37 A Balloon, a Cell Phone, a Camera— and Space

Photographs by Michael Dwyer

40 How to Build a School

Cover photographs

by Edward Judice

NMH Magazine Fall/Winter 2011 Volume 13, Number 2

Jennifer Sutton P ’14 Writer/Content Editor

Letters

Class Notes Editor Sally Atwood Hamilton ’65

Speak, Listen, Learn

Co-Editors Sharon LaBella-Lindale Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing

Contributors Linda Campanella Rachael Hanley ’98 Jessica Lindsey Mary Seymour Archivist Peter Weis ’78, P ’13 Design Bidwell ID Class Notes Design HvB Imaging Photographers Michael Dwyer Edward Judice Glenn Minshall Risley Sports Photography David Warren Interim Director of Communications and Marketing Linda Campanella Head of School Charles A. Tierney III Chief Advancement Officer Allyson L. Goodwin ’83, P ’12, ’14 Northfield Mount Hermon publishes NMH Magazine (USPS074-860) two times a year in fall/winter and spring/summer.

Printed by Lane Press, Burlington, VT 05402.

NMH Magazine Northfield Mount Hermon One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354 413-498-3978 Fax 413-498-3021 slindale@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

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NMH Magazine Magazine NMH

The Spring/Summer issue of NMH Magazine shows a school more diverse than the one I taught at 45 years ago. The note, “Thinking about Race,” reminded me of two episodes from my day, during the nation’s struggle to address racism—obvious and defended in the South, obscure and denied in the North. Mount Hermon, despite its heritage of integration, was unprepared for black students expressing themselves as blacks, not as “white” clones of color.

In April 1968, Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination sparked turmoil on campus. In a contentious gathering in the Crossley Hall living room, black students rallied, yet repelled comments and questions from white students.

Afterward, I invited the four angriest black students, who wanted to continue talking, to my apartment, with the promise not to interrupt.

I broke my promise when they accused white students of hypocrisy. I said hypocrisy was not the issue; ignorance was. Their choice was to alienate their white friends or to inform them so that they could live together, as blacks and whites would have to do in the future. When one of the students and I met the next morning, he acknowledged his ugly words. I quoted Macbeth: “’Twas a rough night.”

At the next faculty meeting, most faculty members objected to the militant attitudes of, and self-segregation by, many black students, and urged expulsion of that particular student. The one black faculty member spoke in his defense, as did I. The student had done nothing but speak his mind and act up a bit. I said that Mount Hermon would commit a terrible wrong if it expelled the student; it would betray its tradition of having a diverse student body by disclosing a covert requirement that blacks resemble whites.

(Mount Hermon did not expel the student.)

I am happy to read that the school has come so far since those days.

michael l. hays las cruces, new mexico

Pronoun Problem I know the world faces direr plagues, but I’d like to take a moment to complain about one minor

pestilence that has recently found its way into your pages. It’s the habit of confusing “they” as a gender-neutral, number-neutral pronoun.

I saw the following passage in the magazine (“The Neutral Scientist,” Spring/Summer 2011): “Someone attacked [a 23-year-old woman] … and dragged her to the stairway. They raped her and stabbed her 21 times.”

First off, I hope most NMH students would be able to tell you that the pronoun and its antecedent don’t agree in number. If a group of attackers rather than a single “someone” was suspected, the author would have told us so in her first sentence. But more importantly, Karen Lange’s account of this crime politely neuters the rapist. Isn’t a gender-neutral pronoun absurd here? Does anyone seriously entertain the possibility that the perpetrator was a woman?

Pronouns exist to differentiate us from one another. They divide the individual from the group, the male from female, the intimate from the stranger. They acknowledge that despite our common humanity, we are not interchangeable.

In Lange’s story, Amy Wong ’70, a forensic scientist, detects an extremely rare enzyme in the rapist’s body fluids. She finds a match with a man who’s been caught attacking women along a local trail. That “someone” Lange first introduced us to turns out to be masculine and singular.

In short, “he.” Once he was correctly identified, he could be held accountable. That is the very meaning of justice, and the most precious function of language.

Thanks for the great magazine. Best wishes.

wolfgang rougle ’99 cottonwood, california

What do you think?

NMH Magazine welcomes correspondence from readers. Letters and emails may be edited for length, clarity, and grammar, and must pertain to content in the magazine. Reach us at: NMH Magazine, One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354; and at slindale@nmhschool.org (state “magazine” as email subject).

Imagination An Imperative for the Future

Lorrie Byrom is a history teacher and director of NMH’s Center for International Education. This is a condensed version of her 2011 Commencement address.

GRADUATES OF THE CLASS OF 2011! You are leaving our school with a number of well-honed talents and skills. This morning, I feel compelled to speak about one of them: your imagination. Imagination is a character trait shared by all humans, but developed and used by few. As a teacher of the Global Futures course here at Northfield Mount Hermon, I have heard and read warnings about our future. Experts claim that it will not be a few evil people or the scope of the problems we face that could do us in. It is our unwillingness to exercise imagination that is our greatest threat.

At this transition point in your lives, we should think together about strategies that will help you exercise your imagination.

Among the most important strategies is to remember what you know, use what you know, and stay humble in the face of what you don’t know. Additionally, watch for prompts that will inspire you and help you feel optimistic and ready to lean into the challenges of finding new solutions to problems.

I find inspirational prompts most easily in the natural world.

I love beginning each day by heading into the woods with my dog, Rosa Parks. Dawn brings the elegance of this world into sharp focus. Can you remember coming out of Alumni Hall or your dormitory on fall mornings? Spread before you, if you dusted the sleep from your eyes, were the vibrant colors of fall in New England. Inspirational? A prompt to one’s imagination? I think so! How about making the same walk in the winter. Have you let yourself get past the cold to notice the frost etchings on windows, the icy fairyland on the trees nearest the river, the fresh snow on the trees around campus? In the spring, have you stopped to notice, as you struggled with those faculty-loop runs, the carpet of purple and white wildflowers on the grassy lawns along the road? The natural world lays before us its prompts to our imagination, free of charge and available to all.

I am always inspired by people who use their imaginations for the betterment of the rest of us. This year, in the Global Futures course, I taught a book called Soil Not Oil by Vandana Shiva, an ecologist, engineer, and farmer in India who uses her energy, imagination, and knowledge to address the environmental crises of our times. The book describes not only the serious environmental challenges we must face, but also Shiva’s

Leading Lines by lorrie byrom development of a farming community that people can visit to learn more about how humans can live sustainably on our planet. We hope our sophomore Humanities II class that will travel to India next spring will visit the farm and feel for themselves the power of Shiva’s imagination.

Travel! I am an addicted traveler. In parts of the world where values are different, customs are different, and economic, political, and social systems are different, I compare and contrast ways of living and sometimes even come up with new approaches myself. At the very least, I come home with a deeper understanding of our world and how I might live most helpfully in it.

Keep learning! Stay curious. Be around those who inspire you, whose imagination works actively, like yours. Come back to this hillside and find the teachers whose imaginations worked on you, the peers who wrote those inspiring poems, who designed those amazing AP Stats surveys, who figured out how to win a hockey game without a goalie! Feel their energy set yours on fire!

Also, be inspired by the power of words. When a group of NMH students and faculty traveled to Qatar last year to attend a Model United Nations conference, we were invited to Education City in the capital of Doha, where the Sheika of Qatar (a wife of the Sheik) has turned a plot of desert into a global campus. On the drive into Education City, we could see that the whole area was still under construction, with tall fences forming the borders of the campus—not too inspiring. But someone had imagined a better purpose for those construction fences. On every panel, huge words were written: Learn, Create, Innovate, Explore, Achieve, Wonder, Think, Grow. Imagine driving onto our own campus past work sites that displayed such words to inspire us each and every day.

Here is another, perhaps surprising, stimulant to imagination: solitude. Too often, the pace of life prevents us from practicing imagination, and we allow ourselves to think inside the proverbial box, never finding time to consider unconventional ideas. You must insist to yourself that you will find and preserve time for solitude and for thinking new thoughts.

Here’s a last important thought: Have fun with your imagination! Play a good-hearted joke on someone. Laugh about the foibles of human nature. Enjoy the challenges that come your way and find people who will go through them with you. Try out new solutions and see what happens! May you use your imagination to live a rich, full, and productive life, for yourself, for those you touch personally, and for our planet.

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Campus News Q&A

WITH CHARLES A. TIERNEY III AFTER CHARLIE TIERNEY was asked by the board of trustees to lead NMH until a permanent head of school is appointed, NMH Magazine staff sat down with him for a conversation about the school and his place in it. Tierney’s boarding school career spans 25 years. He has worked at NMH for 13 years, seven as assistant head of school.

Of the many roles you’ve played at NMH, which have you enjoyed most?

Assistant head and history teacher rank at the top of the list, followed closely by student advisor and dormitory parent.

What is your favorite spot on campus?

I have several: the bench outside Memorial Chapel that overlooks the stunning sweep of the campus, Alumni Hall, and wherever my classroom is located.

How did life change for you after you took the helm?

The number of appointments on my calendar certainly increased, but I’ve always worked hard to be present and available on campus.

What makes you most proud to lead the school?

I am proud to work with such remarkable students, dynamic teachers, and dedicated staff. Few schools transform their students’ lives as NMH has for more than 130 years. The Moody legacy is certainly alive and well on our campus today in ways that never cease to impress and inspire me. We provide each student an opportunity to engage in hard intellectual and manual work; to stretch, grow, and strive to excel; to look beyond oneself and commit to serve as needed; to develop character and nurture a spiritual life; to act with humanity and purpose.

It all adds up to such a powerful, relevant mission.

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“ We are always looking for new and better ways to make the idea of ‘education for the head, heart, and hand’ meaningful for every new student.”

Why is that mission—to educate and engage not only the heads of young people, but also their hearts and hands— so important?

One of my favorite poems by Marge Piercy is “To Be of Use.” It speaks of her admiration for those who are able to recognize the work in front of them, dig in, and successfully accomplish the task without complaint or expectation of recognition. To be of use, of real value, in our world today requires that sort of gritty hard work, in addition to teamwork, compassion, and an appreciation for humanity.

Describe a typical NMH student.

That’s hard to do. One of our great strengths as a school is that we embrace and treat each student as an individual, with a unique set of talents, passions, beliefs, and goals that should be nurtured. Our students are diverse; they are eager to be themselves and eager to discover who they can become.

Even with their wonderful uniqueness, I do think NMH students tend to have certain things in common. They engage with their work and their communities. They are willing to pitch in and able to both lead and serve others. They are creative problem solvers. They are versatile and resilient, open to change while valuing long-standing traditions. They appreciate good humor and also quiet, reflective moments. They have high standards and strive for excellence but have little pretense. They root for each other. And of course they can sing better than their peers from other schools!

It’s been said that NMH “put the ‘independent’ in independent schools.” Why do you think that is?

The creative impulse is strong among our adults on campus.

They like to make good ideas happen, and the evidence can be found in our curriculum, the way we apply technology, our advising system, our leadership in multicultural education and diversity, the school’s pathbreaking sustainability efforts, and our generations-old farm and work programs that continue to thrive.

We are always looking for new and better ways to make the idea of “education for the head, heart, and hand” meaningful for every new student and relevant for the larger world they enter when they graduate.

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Why does NMH commit itself so strongly to diversity, inclusivity, and multicultural education?

From its founding, NMH has welcomed students from diverse backgrounds, domestically and internationally. Living and working with peers who come to NMH with different experiences and perspectives presents learning opportunities for both students and teachers. Recent research says that diverse problem-solving teams often produce more creative and effective solutions. This is no surprise to us at NMH. It is just one more reason that NMH graduates feel confident as they enter a world full of problems that need solving.

What goals have you set in your role as head of school?

My goals tend to converge on two main themes: relationships and resources. I will work hard in my stewardship and ambassador roles, nurturing what we have built while trying to make the school even stronger than it already is. I plan to attend as many campus events and activities as possible; connect with as many alumni as possible, both on campus and off; interact often and meaningfully with students; and support our hardworking faculty and staff to the greatest extent possible. And I will try to do all this while keeping a healthy balance between school work and family life. I hope to make time for regular exercise and reading.

“ One of our great strengths as a school is that we embrace and treat each student as an individual, with a unique set of talents, passions, beliefs, and goals that should be nurtured.”

What did you read last summer?

I read two books by Erik Larson: In the Garden of Beasts and Thunderstruck. I also read Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, and Tony Wagner’s The Global Achievement Gap. And I re-read To Kill a Mockingbird.

What would people be surprised to learn about you?

I am attempting to learn to play the bagpipes.

What keeps you up at night?

You mean heads of school are allowed to sleep?

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Book It ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES, at 10:20 am, every NMH student and most of the faculty sat down and did the same thing: They talked about books. A lot of books. To conclude the school’s summer reading program, more than 90 faculty-led groups met in classrooms and offices across campus, each one dissecting a book that participants had read before returning to school. It was a literary smorgasbord that ranged from the classics Dracula and The Old Man and the Sea to newer titles such as Freedom and Swamplandia.

“This is a discussion, not a class,” math teacher John Christiansen told his group of six seniors and postgraduates, all of whom had read Unbroken

by Laura Hillenbrand. Christiansen

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developed the book-group program for this year as a supplement to the English department requirement that students in each class read an assigned book in common and write about it. In past years, students also had to select an additional book from a prescribed list and make a brief presentation about their reading. But “they didn’t get into what interacting with a book is all about,” Christiansen says. “When you experience something, like a book, it’s only when you find out how other people experience the same thing that you can widen your perspective.”

So he proposed the book groups: Each faculty member chose a title; students ranked their choices and were assigned a book to read over the summer. Then everyone showed up to talk.

Of the faculty who facilitated the discussions, Christiansen says, “We’re not

all English teachers. We’re just people who like to read.” The groups were small, between four and eight students.

“I wanted the kids to be able to get through more stuff, to take ownership of the discussion,” Christiansen says.

And they did.

On Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

“I was surprised at the amount of emotion I felt: hatred went into forgiveness and sympathy.”

—MATTHEW DICKEY ’12

On the title character of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

“He’s kind of a big marshmallow.”

—MADDY STARK ’13

On August and Marlena, two characters in Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

“I wanted to go into the book and slap him, I felt so bad for her.”

—CHARLOTTE FREDERICKS ’14

On Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King

“It’s a serious reality check. It makes you feel very fortunate for what you have.”

—WHITNEY LORENZE ’14

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Steamy Summer Summer Steamy THE THE PATH PATH from from the the Rhodes Rhodes Arts Arts Center Center to to Alumni Memorial Hall, Chapel, a favorite a favorite student student walking walkroute, ing route, had had traffic traffic of a of different a different kindkind overlast the summer. summer.Backhoes, Backhoes,bulldozers, bulldozers,and and more more than than 150 150 workers workers filled filled the the space, space, as as general general contractor contractorsDaniel DanielO’Connell’s O’Connell’sSons Sonsdug dug up up old old steam steam pipes—some pipes—some between between 25 25 and and 50 50 years years old—and old—and replaced replaced them them with with aa pre-engineered, pre-engineered, high-efficiency high-efficiency alternative alternative called called Perma-Pipe.

Perma-Pipe.

The The $2.2 $2.2 million million project project started started May May 31 31 and and continued continued into into late late August.

August. NMH NMH plant plant and and property property staff staff had shutshut down down the campus’ the campus’s original original centercenter steamsteam line in line 2009 in 2009 because because a lacka of lack insulation of insulation had made had made the pipes the pipes inefficient; inefficient; the heat the stayed heat was onrerouted thanks through to a secondary a secondary systemsystem along along the edge the of edge campus. of campus.

But since But the since central the center steamsteam line is line intended is intended to provide to provide heat and heathot and water hot to water the to core theofcore the of campus—including the campus—including Alumni Alumni Hall, Blake Hall, Student Blake Student Center, the Center, O’Connor the O’Connor Health Center, Health and Center, eight and dorms—replacing eight dorms— replacing it becameita became priority.a priority.

The The new new 1,200-foot 1,200-foot steam steam line line isis highly highly efficient, efficient, according according to to Director Director of of Plant Plant Facilities Facilities Trina Trina Learned; Learned; itit has has the the potential potential to to decrease decrease NMH’s NMH’s annual annual fuel fuel consumpconsumption tion by by up up to to 10 10 percent. percent. The The pipes pipes also also are are expected expected to to last last for for up up to to 50 50 years. years.

Admission Numbers Continue to Rise It was another banner year for NMH admissions, to the delight of Dean of Enrollment Claude Anderson and his team of admission counselors.

NMH received 1,500 applications and enrolled 235 new students from 24 states and 26 countries this fall. “The breadth and depth of our program, our strong reputation for being a caring and supportive community, and an overall student-body size of 665 really seem to be appealing to families,” Anderson says. “Dedicated faculty and great students seal the deal for us.”

The admission office is responsible not only for attracting strong applicants, but also for generating a substantial portion of the school’s annual operating revenue in the form of tuition dollars. Competition among independent schools, particularly to attract full-paying domestic students, is as intense as Anderson can remember; he has worked in

the admission field for more than two decades.

“We know students have choices, and so it is our challenge to demonstrate that NMH offers the best educational opportunity and value,” Anderson says. “And, consistent with NMH’s founding principles, we also must maintain a generous financial aid budget to support families who cannot afford private school tuitions.”

For the third year in a row, the admissions yield—the percentage of admitted students who enrolled— increased (by 25 percent this year), and revenue targets were exceeded by more than 10 percent. “To experience these increases in a down economy provides clear evidence of how strong and vibrant NMH is,” Anderson says.

“We will set our sights even higher for the coming admission cycle.”

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Posted @NMH Students Have a Say facebook.com/NMHschool facebook.com/NMHArchives

NMH: NMH will commemorate 9/11 with reflections and a carillon concert.

Susan Bennitt ’76: Does anyone else remember walking from Mount Hermon to Northfield reflecting on the end of the Vietnam War? That was a significant moment in my life.

NMH: The juniors take on the seniors in the annual Shadow Lake battle of wills known as Rope Pull! Take a look at some historic Rope Pull! battles.

Ben Sassman ’87: I did this in 1986 and I remember it like it was yesterday...

Holt McChord ’74: I remember that the Jr. side of the lake is far more difficult to navigate during the pull.

Good luck!

NMH: How did students on campus tackle Hurricane Irene? With bagels, Monopoly, and rakes!

Shelly Harrelson ’71: Of course! This is a great example of our school at its very best.

NMH: A pilot program (called S.O.A.R.) aims to give incoming students of color a preview of the year ahead. What advice would you give new students preparing for school?

Kelli King-Jackson ’93: Be open to learning and to sharing a bit of yourself and your worldview.

THIS YEAR, THE NMH FACULTY’S academic committee has added two student members to its roster. One junior and one senior will join eight faculty members in reviewing and revising the school’s academic policies and curriculum, as well as individual course offerings.

Since those are areas of the school in which students participate directly, “having kids on the academic committee is a good thing,” says biology teacher Mary Hefner, who was chair of the committee last year when the faculty approved the student membership policy. Alexia Currie ’12 served on the committee during the spring semester on a trial basis and got good reviews from Hefner and other faculty committee members. “Direct participation by students helps get information back to the student body and serves to demystify the process of course approval,” they wrote in an evaluation of the policy.

The student-representation initiative came from students connected with NMH’s Student Congress. They approached the faculty with a proposal in fall 2010, and, partly because students already participate in the school’s student life and judicial committees, the faculty agreed to a trial period.

Starting this year, students will apply for membership on the academic committee in the spring of their sophomore year. If accepted, they will serve a two-year term, as Currie is currently doing. She will be joined this year by a junior; in the future, there will always be one senior and one junior on the committee, which will provide both continuity and fresh ideas.

While the students are voting members, the committee chair reserves the right to excuse the students from certain discussions if the topic is deemed inappropriate for their participation. Student members are required to report back to Student Congress on the academic issues taken up by the committee.

Yvonne-Marie Sain ’02: Stay out of the woods... @NMHschool @NMHHoggers @Arts_at_NMH

Nicole Dancel ’09: Today I discovered that a good

In August 2007, NMH began posting photographs of campus

40% of my wardrobe consists of @NMHschool apparel.

I’m not kidding.

life and school events on Flickr, the image-sharing

Paul Kim ’10: Just did Super Clean for my house, NMH

and other NMH community members have viewed

style @NMHschool. vimeo.com/channels/nmhschool vimeo.com/channels/nmhstudentvideo vimeo.com/channels/nmharchives

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website. Since then, students, alumni, parents, these photographs

3,449,888 times.

Check out the latest NMH action at

www.flickr.com/photos/nmhphotos/.

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What: Meatless Mondays Who: Carrie Quimby, dining services manager and nutritionist Why: She wants students to try new and healthy foods.

KALE WITH LEMON AND PARMESAN, watermelon and feta salad, Indian-style spinach—sounds delicious, right? Every Monday at lunchtime, in a corner of Alumni Hall, dining services offers a special menu of healthy vegetarian dishes that often are international in flavor.

Carrie Quimby, NMH’s nutritionist, launched the Meatless Monday program last year. “There’s a preference among teenagers for stuff that is white, smooth, and sweet,” she says. “Or fried.” So why not introduce them to new foods and flavor combinations, such as quinoa cakes or coleslaw with curry and apple?

The Meatless Monday concept is not new; it originated during World War I, when the federal government encouraged people to reduce meat consumption to save money. In 2003, Johns Hopkins’s Bloomberg School of Public Health

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

brought Meatless Mondays back to life, emphasizing not only dietary health but also environmental awareness. “It takes a lot more fuel and water to produce animal protein compared to plant protein,” Quimby says.

Quimby often creates Meatless Monday menus around trips she has taken—to Cambodia and Argentina, for example. She takes pleasure in creating a full sensory experience: The Caribbean version of Meatless Monday was accompanied by tropical decorations and Cuban music. Quimby scours her cookbooks and the Internet for recipes, assembling a weekly menu of soup and hot and cold dishes that students can choose in addition to the regular Alumni Hall offerings. “We try to make all the food interesting and flavorful,” she says.

“If it’s good enough, people will eat.”

Earn credits to advance in school.

Build skills and accelerate academic progress. Sample boarding school life or come as a day student.

COLLEGE PREP For students entering grades 10–12. For credit or enrichment. Courses include U.S. History, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Literature, Writing, Economics, and others.

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM For students entering grades 7–9.

Courses include Writing, Pre-Algebra, Field Biology, Geography, Spanish, French, Studio Art and others.

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE For students entering grades 7–12. Levels from beginning to advanced. Practice in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

NEW ZEALAND SUMMER ABROAD For students entering grades 10–12. Students spend four weeks in New Zealand studying its history and culture and experiencing the country’s spectacular scenery by way of day hikes, bicycle rides, and kayak expeditions.

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

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A Living, Breathing Document In the year since the Northfield Mount Hermon Board of Trustees approved a strategic planning framework, the school has made significant progress in achieving institutional goals.

Built on the foundation of three pillars— academic excellence, community, and financial sustainability—the planning framework articulated a set of objectives designed to build NMH’s reputation as the school that is “best at establishing specific, empowering, academic foundations for success in college and beyond, for character development, and for meaningful engagement with the world beyond the edges of campus.” The planning effort also yielded the school’s updated mission statement: “Northfield Mount Hermon engages the intellect, compassion, and talents of our students, empowering them to act with humanity and purpose.”

Led by trustee Betsy Compton ’72, chair of the board’s strategic planning committee, more than 50 alumni, trustees, parents, faculty, students, and staff participated in the brainstorming that launched the strategic planning process, and, in the past year, many have supported or helped implement key ideas and initiatives. “The framework builds on the school’s rich heritage while also responding to current challenges and opportunities,” says Head of School Charles A. Tierney III. “By design, it is a living and breathing document that will evolve as the school moves forward, yet it is a critical guidepost as we set priorities today.”

The plan’s academic priorities prompted NMH to introduce greater flexibility in course selection, allowing students to increase their course loads to include more courses in their areas of interest. Faculty and administrators approved new courses in mathematics, science, English, history, and religious studies. The professional development program for faculty continues to thrive, with teachers attending AP workshops and learning how to use new technologies in their teaching and learning. All these

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factors help NMH attract and retain an exceptional faculty, according to Dean of Faculty Hugh Silbaugh, who describes the school’s efforts to sustain and enhance academic excellence as “purposeful and creative.” Looking ahead to the coming year, “our focus is on devising authentic assessments that provide harder evidence for the outstanding learning we provide at NMH,” he says.

To support the plan’s communityrelated goals, NMH leaders have focused on strategies that include improving the student-faculty ratio in dorms to 10:1 and developing residential faculty clusters near dormitories. The school also is pursuing a “character first” approach to athletics, increasing the multicultural emphasis in both the educational experience for students and professional development for faculty, and continuing to strengthen the academic-advising and work programs.

“We are deeply committed to ensuring that the composition, organization, and functioning of our community support academic achievement, character development, social development, and personal care for each student,” says Dean of Students Nicole Hager.

NMH’s financial goals relate to the endowment, financial aid, capital improvements, and philanthropic support. “Preserving the purchasing power of the endowment relative to inflation and maintaining the physical plant are keys to financial sustainability,” says Chief Financial Officer Richard Wood. Sale of the Northfield core campus has reduced NMH’s annual use of endowment funds to support operations, and the school’s growing reputation and careful management of its financial aid budget have improved net tuition revenue. The school also has invested $90 million in its facilities, using donated funds and tax-exempt debt. “We’ve made solid progress on all financial fronts,” Wood says.

Sustaining recent momentum on the fundraising front is particularly critical for ensuring NMH’s long-term fiscal health. Chief Advancement Officer Allyson Goodwin ’83 is confident the strategic plan’s three pillars and associated goals will resonate with members of the NMH community. “In the long run, their philanthropic support of the school’s priorities will be as important as their participation in determining those priorities,” she says.

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Head of School Search Update IT HAS BEEN A BUSY FIVE MONTHS for the committee charged with finding NMH a new head of school. Convened by board of trustees chairman Mark Chardack ’73 at the end of May and chaired by fellow trustee Bill Shea ’72, the committee has selected a search firm, solicited input from the school community, and begun to interview candidates for the job. Committee members expect to present final candidates to the board of trustees for consideration before the end of the year.

The search committee, which includes trustees, faculty members, staff members, parents, and alumni, selected the Rhode Island firm Educational Directions, Inc., to facilitate the search process. Founded in 1986, Educational Directions has assisted with 240 head-of-school searches in 40 states.

NMH community members participated in surveys and interviews to help Educational Directions staff understand what is unique and special about the school, what challenges and opportunities the next head of school will need to address, and what qualities, talents, and skills he or she must possess in order to do the job well. The school’s website has posted updates on the search process, and several letters and emails have been sent to the NMH community.

“Input from NMH stakeholders has been solicited and appreciated throughout the process,” says Shea. “From the start, our goal has been to pursue a process that is inclusive, transparent, thorough, and fair. While the search committee is responsible for leading and overseeing the search, we all have a vested interest in the outcome.”

The deadline for applications was October 27. Semifinalist and finalist interviews are taking place in November and early December. While the search is expected to conclude by the winter holidays, committee chair Shea stresses that making the right decision is more important than meeting a target date. “Our guiding principle has been that we must have a robust, diverse pool of qualified candidates. The search will be over when the board of trustees concludes it has found the very best person to lead the school into the future.”

NMH Farm Products

ORDER FORM Download an order form at nmhschool.org/ nmh-farm-products or return a copy of this order form, along with a check payable to Northfield Mount Hermon, to: Richard Odman, Farm Program Director, NMH, One Lamplighter Way, Mount Hermon, MA 01354. Please attach mailing instructions to your order. All prices include shipping.

Please note: The minimum order for each mailing address is $25.

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Applause, Applause The student jazz ensemble won a gold medal and first place in their division at the Massachusetts Association of Jazz Educators (MAJE) Western District Music Festival. Ron Smith, director of band and jazz programs, led the 15 students through “Take Five,” “Star Dust,” and “Feels So Good.” Outstanding soloist awards were given to Theodore Short ’12 on trumpet, Jamison Williams ’11 on marimba, and Henry Lawrence ’12 on drums.

History and social science teacher Charles Malcolm was awarded the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s $10,000 Kapteyn Prize, which is given to career secondaryschool teachers who serve in multiple capacities within a school community. Malcolm, who is also a varsity soccer coach, exemplifies the “triple threat” faculty model: a classroom teacher, coach, and dorm parent.

THE GALLERY AT THE RHODES ARTS CENTER 2011–2012

Anna Schuleit ’93 When We Weren’t Looking: New Paintings Sept. 9–Oct. 9, 2011 www.annaschuleit.com

Dan Mead and Sally Eagle Photographs from Around the World Feb. 3–March 1, 2012 www.meadeaglephotos.com

18th- and 19th-Century Persian and Indian Miniatures from the NMH Art Collection Gift of Arthur ’32 and Phebe Gregorian Oct. 21–Nov. 18, 2011

Annual NMH Student Art Show March 25–April 27, 2012

Luis Stephens P ’04, ’07 Paintings and Constructions Dec. 2, 2011–Jan. 20, 2012 www.luisstephens.com

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Philip J. Calabria The Stilled Passage: Ellis Island Photographs May 4–June 10, 2012 “The Picnic,” by Anna Schuleit: acrylic, oil stick, conté crayon, and ink on linen; 60" x 84"

The Stanton Foundation awarded a $5,000 “Innovation in Civics Education” grant to history and social science teacher Jim Shea.

In 1988, Shea cofounded the Voting Opportunities for Teens in Every State (VOTES) program, a mock election that involves students in presidential politics. By 2008, tens of thousands of high school students were participating in the program.

John Burnham ’11 was awarded a $100,000 fellowship from the Thiel Foundation’s “20 Under 20” program, which encourages scientific and technical breakthroughs by giving young people funding to pursue innovative ideas. In exchange for $100,000 and access to the foundation’s network of mentors, Thiel fellows put their formal education on hold for two years. Burnham plans to research “off-planet” mining opportunities—locating and harvesting mining resources on asteroids.

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Rowers Hannah Solis-Cohen ’12 (left) and Ned Benning’ 12 (right, front)

“This is our shot. We have to win.”

ROWER HANNAH SOLIS-COHEN ’12 likes the moment of peace she finds at each starting line. Normally gregarious, she doesn’t like to talk before a race. Fellow rower Ned Benning ’12 takes deep breaths to stay calm. He never looks at other boats; he stares straight ahead until a green light signals “GO!” Solis-Cohen and Benning had plenty of chances to work on their starting-line techniques over the summer as they competed at the 2011 World Rowing Junior Championships in England.

In record-breaking finishes for the U.S., Solis-Cohen, in a double scull, placed ninth overall; Benning, in a quad, placed 10th overall. The championships were held on the same 2,000meter Dorney Lake course in Eton that will be the venue for the Summer Olympic Games in 2012. “It was probably the nicest course I’ve ever rowed on,” Benning says.

To reach such a high level of competition, Benning and Solis-Cohen first had to go through a rigorous selection process.

Solis-Cohen, for example, was chosen for one of seven spots from a group of 20 girls from across the country. She and Benning endured grueling workouts at elite training camps in Connecticut, with a daily regimen that could include up to 20 miles of rowing and either six-mile runs or weight-lifting sessions.

“Your pain tolerance has to go out the window. You can’t back down because everybody else is trying to make those seven spots,” says Solis-Cohen, who, with her partner, Maria Maydan, won first place in world junior rowing trials to secure her spot on the U.S. team.

“We went to trials and we said, ‘This is our shot—if we want to go, we have to win,’” she says. “It sort of lights a fire in you and you get so excited to pull hard. And it’s like, nobody’s going to beat me; it’s just not going to happen.”

Solis-Cohen and Benning—along with their rowing partners and coaches—had set lofty goals. In the quad, Benning and his teammates wanted to make the semifinals, which a U.S. quad had not done in 35 years. They did just that, placing fourth in the semis, which put them in 10th place overall. Solis-Cohen and Maydan planned to finish in the single digits, although a U.S. women’s junior double had never placed higher than 11th at the world championships. The pair pushed past boats from Sweden, Brazil, and Romania in the semifinal, and placed third in the B final, behind the Netherlands and Norway.

“Honestly, I didn’t see anything that went on during the race,” Solis-Cohen says of the semifinal. “All I know is there were a bunch of boats right there and we passed them.”

Benning and Solis-Cohen have returned to rowing for NMH this year, adding extra workouts to their regimens in preparation for a possible tryout for the under-23 U.S. team next summer.

On the distant horizon for both is the prospect of rowing on an Olympic team.

“It’s so much fun training like that and racing with people from other countries,” Solis-Cohen says. “It’s not something I want to give up just yet.”

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New Faces

By Mary Seymour Photographs by Edward Judice

Isabella Echeverry ’15 Hometown: Englewood, New Jersey

Connor Shorten ’15

Early life: I grew up in a small town in Colombia with my great-grandmother. I went to a private school named Los Andes, where I learned that one of the most important qualities a person can have is wisdom.

I traveled every year to the United States to visit my mom, and when I turned 8, I moved in with her and my grandmother in New Jersey.

Hometown: Mountain Lakes, New Jersey

What I dream of becoming: A cardiologist

His elevator speech: If I were in an elevator explaining myself to a fellow passenger, I would say I am a very dedicated person with dreams of playing in the NBA or inventing the next big thing through technology. I would explain that no matter what anyone says to me, I will never give up my goals or stop working at them.

Why she chose NMH: It had the diversity I was looking for.

What he’s hoping to do at NMH: Become known for my basketball-playing (I plan to become an absolute gym rat to accomplish my goal) and be a great student who is always looking to get better.

What she’s excited about at NMH: Doing community service. I worked with autistic children for a few years; then, as a peer mediator, I helped younger kids solve their problems. To mediate, you have to listen to both sides of the story. I really apply this concept to my life.

I can’t just listen to one person’s side and start judging other people from it.

Five words to describe him: Passion, dedication, confidence, optimism, willingness.

Favorite subject: Computer science, because it holds so many possibilities.

His business venture: I’ve developed an iPhone app called “Feed the Moose,” where a moose moves randomly around the screen and you tap cannons to shoot food at it to make it eat.

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Favorite historical figure: George Washington. He understood that power corrupts, and that’s a quality I really admire.

“ NMH had the diversity I was looking for.”

They dance. They play hockey, basketball, and chess. They write stories and advocate for environmental projects.

They are smart and passionate. And their NMH careers have just begun.

Victor Udoji ’14 Hometown: Randolph, Massachusetts

Harper Baldwin ’15 Hometown: Brattleboro, Vermont Early life: Until I was 7, I lived at the Four Columns Inn in Newfane, Vermont, which my parents owned and operated. My best friends and babysitters were the staff, and I met a couple of famous people who stayed at the inn (including Tobey Maguire!).

Why she chose NMH: I wanted a school that would not just teach me about the world, but also would enable me to discover my own opinions about the world and teach me how to make it a better place.

Favorite subject: Math—no matter how many different ways people get the answer, in the end there is only one right answer.

Favorite historical figure: I love Susan B. Anthony; she embodies the things I hope to become. She resolutely stuck to what she thought was right, and her spirit and determination gave women the right to vote.

Why she dances: I can completely let go when I dance.

I have studied tap, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, and ballet. Two years ago my dance group went to the International Dance Challenge national competition. We did a tap dance and ended up getting third place in our division.

His home life: As the only boy with four sisters, I’ve always felt pressure to do well, and living in a house of scholar-athletes has pushed me to work hard.

Why he chose NMH: I want to thrive academically and become more responsible, independent, mature, and the best possible basketball player I can be.

Most important thing he’ll bring to NMH: A work ethic that is contagious.

Who he admires: Jim Brown. He was a talented athlete, but he used his image to stand up for what is right and to fight for what he believes in.

My secret pastime: On days when sports and video games won’t cut it, I draw until my wrist goes numb. Drawing is my outlet for boredom, excitement, anger, and any other emotions that I might feel.

Memorable accomplishment: As the sophomore representative at my old school, my job was to be the voice of my fellow sophomores. I helped put together school cookouts where all the various diversity groups would share their cultures with each other. Things are easier when you acknowledge, accept, and respect the different cultures around you.

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“ Chess makes my heart beat fast every time because no two games are alike.”

Courtney Moriarty ’15 Hometown: Estero, Florida Life on the ice: I started ice-skating at 2 1/2 years old and began playing hockey at 5. Since then I’ve played hockey year-round in Florida on boys’ teams; I’ve played on boys’ travel teams for eight years. I’m very dedicated.

I train and skate daily. Now, to advance, I have to move upward to the next step of girls’ prep hockey.

Daniel (Do Heong) Kim ’14 Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Good words to describe her: Quiet until I get to know you, caring, a leader, outspoken, outgoing.

Nickname: I don’t have one, but I’d like to have a cool one like The Magic, Big Ticket, or The Truth.

Why she chose NMH: My brother Corey goes to NMH, so I always heard how much he loves it. When I finally got to visit the campus and skate with the girls’ varsity hockey team, I enjoyed it. I want the same experience that Corey talks about, where everyone is one big family.

Most important thing he’ll bring to NMH: Enthusiasm!

Whenever I work on something, I do it because I am passionate about it.

Most important thing she’ll bring to NMH: My positive attitude—and hockey sticks!

Most influential person in her life: My grandpa, Junior. He lived with us for years while he was sick and only left our house to watch my hockey games, which encouraged me to play harder. He lived for his grandchildren.

Favorite pastime: I have played chess since first grade.

When I win, I feel the ecstasy of victory, and even when I lose, I still feel happy because I can utilize the strategy I just learned. Chess makes my heart beat fast every time because no two games are alike.

What he dreams of becoming: A lawyer who helps those in need. In my previous school, I served on the disciplinary committee, which sometimes required me to debate with other members about the fate of a particular student. I was good at listening to others’ wishes and arguments and then persuading them with great authority.

Memorable project: I participated in a summer Habitat for Humanity program in Morgantown, West Virginia. When we put up the walls on our last day, it was like a small festival.

We all clapped, cheered, and patted each other’s shoulders.

It was one of the proudest moments of my life.

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Samaiyah Patrick ’15 Hometown: Bronx, New York What she dreams of becoming: A U.S. Supreme Court justice Most important thing she’ll bring to NMH: A picture of my family

Tommaso Wagner ’15 Hometown: Westfield, New Jersey

Favorite historical figure: I admire Martin Luther King Jr. because everyone around him wanted to fight and riot, but he convinced everybody to be peaceful.

What he dreams of becoming: An author, most definitely, and a big sustainability guy; above all, though, I dream of following myself.

Recent memorable moment: I met Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at a convention and got to shake her hand.

Favorite historical figure: Merlin is my idol. The way he harnessed magic was not merely an exercise of power but a spiritual stretching of the senses that eventually opened a third eye—something any of us can achieve.

Biggest accomplishment: I hosted a charter-school summit for 2,000 people at my middle school.

Her passions: Writing is my biggest interest. Even when I’m not in school, I’ll write stories and read them to my little brother. I also like watching the news, even though it’s depressing because there’s a lot of negativity.

Wars interest me. I did a project on the war in Iraq in fifth grade, and that topic is something I still revisit.

I’m also interested in 9/11: there are so many questions left unanswered.

Why she’s described as Hillary Clinton, Whoopie Goldberg, and Dear Abby wrapped into one: I have the determination and ambition of Hillary Clinton, the humor of Whoopie Goldberg, and I’m willing to help people along the road to success as an advice columnist would.

His passion: At my middle school, I was part of a fiveperson team that worked on the Windspire Project—a mission to get wind turbines for the school. We went to the town board twice and spoke on behalf of the project.

In the end the school was able to install the windspires.

It was a truly wondrous experience.

Why his teachers called him a “young Renaissance man”: English is my favorite subject; science is pretty close. I also really like history, math, Chinese, and Latin.

I played Daddy Warbucks in last year’s school musical, “Annie,” and I’m pretty good at cross-country, high jump, and hurdles. While I don’t compete much in fencing, I’m good at saber and épée. I guess I like to do nearly everything.

She has been described as Hillary Clinton, Whoopie Goldberg, and Dear Abby wrapped into one.

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Years of Service

Frieda Jordan was only 17 years old when she first stepped onto the Northfield Seminary campus in 1919 to begin a housekeeping job. Sixty-seven years later, she retired, becoming one of the longest-serving employees in the history of Northfield Mount Hermon.

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By Jessica Lindsey

Today, in honor of her service, Jordan’s name appears on an oak plaque in Beveridge Hall, topping a list of more than 250 NMH faculty and staff members who have worked at the school for 25 years or more. This is the Frieda Jordan Society.

New members are inducted every year, and according to Head of School Charles A. Tierney III, the society not only serves as a 25-year club, but it also recognizes the wisdom, longevity, institutional memory, and excellence of school employees. “A long-lasting and strong sense of commitment to NMH is what the society is about and explains why Frieda Jordan was the perfect person to name it after,” Tierney says.

Representing the Frieda Jordan Society, here and now: (front) Richard Peller, Louise Schwingel, Marion Knapp, Jim Block, Peter Jenkins, John Adams, Vicky Jenkins; (middle front) Dennis Kennedy, Jay Ward, Lorrie Byrom, Pam Allan, Mary Hefner, Craig Hefner, David Dowdy, Sandy Messer, Jim Shea; (middle back) Gary Partenheimer, Meg Donnelly, Hughes Pack, Philip Calabria; (back) Bob Cooley, Kevin Gerry, David Rowland.

Jordan first worked at Bonar Cottage, a Northfield dormitory, earning 20 cents an hour. She later transferred to the laundry department to help out for a “few weeks.”

Those weeks turned into decades. Jordan stayed on at the laundry through 10 heads of school and the merger of Northfield and Mount Hermon in 1971.

Students nicknamed her “Fritzie” and tucked friendly notes into their dirty laundry; Jordan sent back responses in the clean towels. She constructed a set of rules to guide her life, and encouraged students and others to do the same. Her advice, titled “How to Get Along,” includes the following: “Make promises sparingly and keep them faithfully, no matter what it costs you,” and “Be careful. Keep the corners of your mouth turned up. Hide your pains, worries and disappointments under a smile. Laugh at good stories and be sure to learn to tell them.”

In 1986, Richard Unsworth ’45, then the head of school, founded the honorary society in Jordan’s name. English teacher Meg Donnelly was working in the head of school’s office at the time. “The project is close to my heart,” she says. “I love that it honors everyone, not just faculty, who have served the school for more than 25 years.”

Two years ago, Donnelly suggested that Frieda Jordan Society members deserved

to be publicly and permanently recognized on campus. Tierney went a step further and suggested making the society retroactive, so archivist Peter Weis set out to compile a list of former NMH employees who qualified for membership. Records had been kept only since the founding of the society in 1986, so Weis had to search through news articles, yearbooks, and other documents in the archives. “Records for faculty were well kept, but for staff, not so much,” Weis says. “It’s an honor to have your name next to the names of everyone on the list, and honoring staff is just as important as honoring faculty. I want to make the list as complete as possible.”

Few records of Jordan’s life outside of NMH remain. It is known that her parents, two sisters, and brother worked at the school; that she lived in Northfield, near the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border; and that she regularly contributed money to the Annual Fund. “I appreciate the school giving me employment all these years,” Jordan wrote in a letter that accompanied her pledge in 1984. “I have lived here in town all my life, and have watched the school grow. We didn’t have a chance to go to school; had to go to work.”

Jordan finished that work at NMH in April of 1986. “Retirement is for the birds,” she told the student newspaper The Bridge.

“After working with people for all these years, sitting home alone is not for me.”

Jordan died later that year at the Franklin Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Greenfield. She was 84 years old.

The society established to honor her 67 years of effort and determination will always be a work-in-progress, as employees reach the 25-year career threshold and as Weis learns more about past NMH employees through his research. So far, he says, the years served by Frieda Jordan Society members add up to roughly 8,000.

“It’s amazing to look at the list and do the math,” Tierney says. “The society demonstrates the remarkable spirit of those who commit their careers to working at NMH.” It also demonstrates the spirit of Jordan herself, whose personal philosophy helped her thrive at NMH for so long. Rule number 10 in “How to Get Along”: “Do your work, be patient, keep your disposition sweet, forget yourself, and you will surely be rewarded.”

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Good BOOKS for Bad Children

By Alison A. Ernst P ’10

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Photo by Paul Wilke (right). Courtesy of NMH Archives (left).

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ou may not recognize her name, but chances are you recognize her literary canon: Charlotte’s Web, Harriet the Spy, Where the Wild Things Are, Goodnight Moon, Harold and the Purple Crayon,

Bedtime for Francis, Little Bear, and Where the Sidewalk Ends, among others.

Created by some of the most talented writers and illustrators of 20th-century children’s literature, these classic books have one person in common: a spirited editor—and a Northfield girl—named Ursula Nordstrom.

In the 1950s, it was Nordstrom who, as an editor at Harper & Brothers, discovered and cultivated the talents of Maurice Sendak, a young window dresser at F.A.O. Schwarz. She edited Stuart Little, E.B. White’s first children’s book, which an influential New York Public Library official tried to suppress because the idea of a woman giving birth to a mouse was considered indecent. And she coaxed Harriet the Spy out of the mercurial Louise Fitzhugh, along with its sequel, The Long Secret, which was the first children’s book to mention menstruation.

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Since many of the books she shepherded to publication broke new ground, Nordstrom is considered one of the most influential children’s book editors of the 20th century. Earlier children’s books tended to be instructive and bland—morality tales that featured idealized, one-dimensional children. Nordstrom shunned those predictable formulas. She looked for stories about real children and messy childhoods; she knew kids would want to read about flawed humans, not perfect ones. Even the fantasy-heavy stories she edited, such as Harold and the Purple Crayon, contain realistic characters and experiences, and emotional truths integrated with wild imagination.

Self-deprecating, blunt, and a terrible speller, Nordstrom was always searching for new talent.

When she found promising writers or illustrators, she was attentive and nurturing; when they slipped up, she pestered them with affection and humor. In 1947, she wrote to the Newbery award-winning author Meindert DeJong: “It will be good to see you and talk over your doubts and qualms and maybe shout and swear at you. My belief that you are on the verge of doing your best book is NOT due to wishful thinking.” Nordstrom’s wit pervades Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, by Leonard Marcus, the children’s literature scholar. To author Mary Stolz, Nordstrom admonished: “Please stay after school and write 500 times, ‘I promise always to make a carbon copy of all my manuscripts in the future.’”

Shel Silverstein was just beginning to work on Where

the Sidewalk Ends when Nordstrom wrote to him: “I have missed you a lot. You are one of my favorite people and you are a rotten no-goodnik to disappear for such long periods of time. Not even a postcard, you rat.

It is great news that the poems are turning out to be so warm and good and generally great.”

Children’s book publishing did not emerge as its own field until after World War I, when “tot” departments flourished in publishing houses, headed by educated women.

This was considered an appropriate female career path, much like missionary work or teaching. In the male-dominated publishing industry, children’s books were considered less significant than adult books—a reason to let women do the work. However, children’s literature as a commodity was an increasingly profitable venture, and Nordstrom had a knack for publishing books that sold well. When the male higher-ups at Harper offered her a promotion to work on adult books, Nordstrom adamantly refused. “I couldn’t possibly be interested in books for dead, dull, finished adults,” she said. Her preference was to publish “good books for bad children.”

Nordstrom began her career at Harper & Brothers in 1931 as a college-textbook department clerk.

In 1936, an appointment as assistant to the director of Harper’s Books for Boys and Girls launched her into the world of children’s literature, and four years later, she became director

Nordstrom looked for stories about real children and messy childhoods; she knew kids would want to read about flawed humans, not perfect ones.

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herself. When she was challenged about her credentials for publishing children’s books—she was not a parent, teacher, or librarian—she replied, “I am a former child and I haven’t forgotten a thing.”

One of the experiences Nordstrom hadn’t forgotten was being sent to boarding school at age 7, when her parents divorced. (She wrote her only children’s book, The Secret Language, about her early boarding-school experience.)

She ended up at Northfield School for Girls in the fall of 1926 at the age of 16. Application materials from the NMH Archives hint at her future work and personality. “To be a writer” was her answer to the query about whether she had “formed any purpose in life.”

One recommendation stated that Nordstrom has “rather unusual literary promise”; another noted her “fine intellect,” but cautioned that she was “a difficult child to discipline.”

At Northfield, Nordstrom was known as a leader and an academic bluffer. She did her best work in English, failed chemistry her first term, and wrote letters home complaining about the lack of heat in her East Hall dorm room. A dean wrote home, too, expressing frustration about the girl who got by in classes without making an effort to prepare. “She is keen and intelligent and is often able to make better recitations without studying... than a girl who is slow to comprehend but who has studied hard and conscientiously. When Ursula fails to measure up to our estimate of her, she claims to be ‘naturally dumb.’” Nordstrom eventually internalized Northfield’s expectation that every student do her best: As an editor, she was known to admonish her authors with notes in the margins that read “N.G.E.F.Y.”—not good enough for you.

Nordstrom was unable to go to college after her two years at Northfield. The Depression left her family so economically stressed that secretarial school was her only option. Even without the pedigree of an “educated woman,” Nordstrom worked her way up to the top position in Harper’s Books for Boys and Girls department by the time she was 30; in 1960, after leading the department for 20 years, she became Harper’s first female vice president. Of the dozens of award-winning books she edited, five won Newbury and Caldecott medals, the highest honors in children’s literature.

Nordstrom died in 1988 at the age of 78. In her obituary in the New York Times, illustrator and author Maurice Sendak credited her with “transforming the American children’s book into a genuine art form.”

He described himself as “one of her eager apprentices, profiting immensely from her intuition and her generous heart.” Nordstrom was, he said, “the best of mommas, the best of teachers, the best of friends.”

Alison Ernst is the former director of NMH’s Schauffler Library. She lives in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan.

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my little brother

By Nicole Hager Nicole Hager is the dean of students at NMH. She is responsible for residential life, health services, and student activities and outreach. She has shared this story with faculty at a professional development gathering and with students at an all-school meeting last year. During each weekly all-school meeting, there is an opportunity, called “Moment of Silence,” for a student or a faculty or staff member to tell a personal story.

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uch of the time I stand before you, I am laying down the law and asking you to make good choices. It’s part of my job. I’m the dean. For a few minutes, though, I want you to see me as someone’s daughter, to know me as someone’s older sister.

I remember taking trips into Seattle when I was young. The “hobos” who occupied Pioneer Square fascinated me, as did the masses of pigeons that seemed to share the same sidewalks, benches, and scraps of food. It was so sad to me but, fortunately, so distant from my middle-class suburban reality.

How did those people get to that place?

Never in my wildest nightmares would I have imagined my little brother living there amidst the filth of spoiling food and defecating pigeons. Never would I have imagined that he would provide an answer to my haunting question.

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May 2, 2002 Hi kids—I’m writing you this evening with some good news: Nicholas called me today to say he wants to enter himself into the inhouse drug treatment program in Kirkland … I will be driving him to the Center tomorrow to begin the 28-day in-house phase of treatment … I’m confident that our family is made of the kind of “stuff ” that has us each rallying around in a way that will be obviously loving and supportive to Nick and to one another. Love, Mom May 4, 2002 A brief update on Nick’s situation: I drove him to the Center yesterday to begin his stay and during the check-in process, the insurance company withdrew approval and coverage. So Nick is back home feeling very ashamed and discouraged … He hasn’t used now for 10 days, so is experiencing the effects of “de-tox,” which are pretty awful for him physically.

Nicholas—or Nick, as he is now known—is my youngest brother by 10 years. He is a heroin addict and mostly homeless on the streets of Seattle. He is the fifth of seven children and the youngest boy. His curly blond locks, wry sense of humor, and contemplative nature endeared him to many as a young child.

He was just 7 when I left for college, so, in many ways, this is the Nicholas I still know. Maybe I just prefer to remember him this way—safe, secure, hopeful, innocent. His adolescence was typical: He was a good student and a JV athlete, an introvert by nature but popular among his peers, a product of divorced parents, and, as we later discovered, a pot smoker.

Nicholas came to visit me in the fall of his senior year of high school, when I was working at Deerfield Academy. He came east to look at colleges. I was so excited about the possibility of my little brother coming east, as I had done 10 years before. We visited a couple colleges each day; by night, I later learned, he was getting high in my garage. Nicholas ended up staying home for college. He lasted a year at Seattle University before going

to community college in Bellingham. He didn’t finish. He started oxycodone, and when that habit became too expensive, he shot up with heroin.

February 13, 2003 Just a quick note to say although Nick claims to be clean, I continue to find evidence of his heroin use … My sense is he is into the dealing phase of doing drugs to support his own habit … Just letting you know that we continue to be in this same place with Nick, and there doesn’t seem to be much hope for this to change in a better direction. Take care. Mom

What might have made the difference for Nick? Who might have been the difference for him?

February 15, 2003 Yesterday, I wanted to get a Valentine’s Day card for Nick, put all our names on it and deliver it to his work—so I did. As I was pulling into the parking lot, there were two King Co. police cars parked there. My heart sank, as I knew it could only be about Nick.

I looked in the back of one of the police cars, and there was Nick handcuffed. He would not look at me, but looked straight ahead in a somewhat trance-like posture. He was taken to King County Jail in Seattle…

Nothing can prepare a family member for the devastating roller-coaster ride that is drug addiction. For nearly 10 years, Nick has been in and out of treatment

facilities, in and out of jail, and on and off the Seattle streets. He is one of those people in Pioneer Square and drugs got him there.

Through this experience, the clarity of hindsight revealed many signs and signals of Nick’s struggles, beginning in high school—typical, in many ways, as I said before. What might have made the difference for Nick? Who might have been the difference for him?

Sometimes, people ask me how I can do what I do. It must be really hard, they say, to hold kids accountable for their poor choices, to dismiss them from school.

Indeed, I have had difficult conversations with kids about their use of drugs and alcohol. I never look forward to these conversations. I worry about being wrong; I worry about the consequences for the kid if I am right.

Of course, I know that most NMH students who make poor choices about drugs and alcohol will not become heroin addicts like my brother. That’s not why I choose to tell you his story. I am not trying to offer some empty threat about what might become of you if you start drugs in high school.

I share this small piece from my life’s story to give you some insight into what motivates me to do what I do. More often than not, when I am having one of these conversations with a student, I see my brother’s image in theirs. I do not derive any pleasure from “busting” students and holding them accountable. I do derive some measure of comfort knowing that I might help a student find a better way.

At the end of the day, I imagine that someone—a teacher, a coach, a dean— might have had this conversation with my little brother Nicholas. It would have required a teammate or a friend to tell an adult what was going on. Call this friend a snitch. I hear that term all the time and it pains me. I call this friend courage. If my brother had had such a friend, it might not have changed anything. But it might have changed everything.

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TRADITION STORIES When we set out reunion weekend to ask alumni about NMH traditions they cherish most, we expected to hear descriptions of Rope Pull, the Chateau Dance, or Sacred Concert. But most people who agreed to participate in our anthropological experiment told us tales of their own adventures—or, in some cases, misadventures. Together, the individual stories shape a whole community, chronicling the NMH experience across generations.

INTERVIEWS BY JENNIFER SUTTON PHOTOGRAPHS BY EDWARD JUDICE

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I worked in the kitchen or as a waiter each of my three years at Mount Hermon. There were formal lunches in those days, and I was waiting on the headmaster’s table the day an admission officer from Brown came to visit with his daughter. She was very attractive. I was clearing the table, but I was looking at the man’s daughter instead of at what I was doing. As I removed the butter plate, the butter knife swiped the back of this man’s neck and went right down his shirt. I didn’t stick around. I ran back to the kitchen.

I had applied to Brown, and all I could think was: I’m never going to get accepted now. But I did.

My friends and I started a tradition of “giving” each other objects on campus, and we would write dedications on pieces of slate. One friend was a runner, and he got a tree in the woods near the running trails. We’d notice objects and think: That needs a plaque on it. Then, when it was someone’s birthday, we’d lead them to the spot in the night and say, “Look, we got you this fire hydrant.” We just wanted them to have their own piece of NMH.

Eduard Richter ’51

Julia Mix Barrington ’08

In a dorm full of freshman girls, there is so much drama.

One time we had to wake up Sue Gentile, our dorm parent, because we were all crying over something—who was friends with whom, who was being mean to whom, the usual. It was after midnight; lights-out had been hours earlier. Sue sat us down and got us calm enough to go to bed. She didn’t exactly make us a cup of tea, but that’s what it felt like.

Martha (Welch) Dyer ’86

I was a transfer student to Mount Hermon, and I had most of my classes at Northfield. One day I saw this lovely blond girl. She didn’t know who I was, but we had friends in common, and we met a year later when the two campuses became one. We were the first class to be on one campus. In a way it was strange: Students started out at one school and it ended up changing so much, so there was a lot of angst. But it was a cool year, too. People were forced to interact in new ways, and we came together.

Nick Brennan ’06 with Katie Willmann ’06

I really enjoyed silent time. We would get up half an hour early in the morning, at 6 instead of 6:30. The purpose, as I understood it, was to meditate or maybe to read the Bible. But it was a perfect time to catch up on homework.

Seniors were allowed to go hiking, too, or biking. Silent time gave me a sense of freedom. Many years later, when I had four children, I understood the value of silent time, because the only time I had to myself was a half hour in the morning before anyone else was awake.

Fall | 11 27 Pat (McCormick) Hoehing ’51

I really treasure the feedback teachers gave me about my writing.

Especially from Bill Batty.

He was a joyful, supportive, and funny teacher.

My stepfather died when I was a student at NMH, and Bill asked me to write about it. The comments he made encouraged me to keep writing in my life.

He said to us, “Just get to the good stuff. Try to find what you can really dig around in. Begin with a clear image and work from there.” I still keep that in mind.

I worked in the kitchen as a waiter. I was proud of that work. I could balance a tray full of dishes on three fingers. I had strong fingers.

S. Prestley Blake ’34

Naomi Chin-shong Blumenthal ’91

At all-campus meetings on Wednesdays, anything could happen. One time, Arn Chorn Pond ’86 told his story about surviving the killing fields in Cambodia. Here he was at NMH, in this place where he had hope, where he’d been given a gift, but he was really giving us the gift, sharing his experience. I remember thinking, “It’s amazing that he is so transparent. It’s inspiring that he went through this incredibly hard time and is still kind.” It made me realize that everyone on campus had a story. I just didn’t know them yet.

Tammie Johnson ’86

I was what you call a poor student. I was the worst rabble-rouser in the school. I never did anything harmful, but I was as obstreperous and as outrageous as I could be.

Bed dumping was the big thing. There’d be some guy who had it coming, so we would plan ahead. There would be several days of hee-heeing. Then we’d get him at 2 am. Just lift up the bed frame and tip him over. I must28have done that 40 times.

NMH Magazine Stan Poole ’51

There was a yellow paisley jacket in my dorm; it was the C1 jacket. It got handed down from a graduating senior to a junior at the end of every year. It was bright neon, the ugliest jacket you ever saw. But it was kind of an honor to get it. And I got it. You had to wear it to all the big events, like Baccalaureate or to get your class picture taken.

Once I wore it over a nice white shirt, and it rained a lot. All that neon paisley bled through and turned my shirt yellow. That jacket stood out like a sore thumb.

Matthew Gray ’91

We ate so much junk food at night; it was ridiculous. After study hall every night, the Chinese-food truck would show up behind Crossley. I don’t know where they came from, but there they were at 10 on the dot, and 30, 35 people would line up. There was sesame chicken, General Gao’s chicken, chicken with broccoli. You could order from Domino’s Pizza, and if they had extras, they’d sell ’em. But with the Chinese food, they just showed up. It was awesome guerrilla marketing.

Charlie Wade, Ricky Runyon, and Zak Gomes, all ’06

We were roommates in Moore Cottage. The dorm has a large attic that was a special gathering place after curfew. We went to chapel four days a week, and on Sundays we weren’t allowed to iron or do wash. The only music we were allowed to listen to on the radio on Sundays was classical music or show tunes. In those days you could sign up for blind dates with boys from Mount Hermon. The dorm social committee would assign you a date—by height! We had separate classes during the week and then dates or football games on the weekends. It wasn’t a bad social system at all.

Ginny (Reynolds) Vogel and Lucy (Hann) Livingston, both ’64

I remember the sports program. I came to NMH from New York City, where there weren’t many sports programs in the schools. I had never seen a soccer ball before. But at NMH I played soccer on a team. And I learned how to swim. I couldn’t swim to pass the test, so I had to take lessons. Walt Congdon unraveled the mysteries of the backstroke for me. After our lessons, we would stay in the pool and be “dummies” for the swim team. They were learning life-saving, so they would dive in and practice rescuing us.

Leslie Leong ’61

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I was a day student, and I lived in Northfield. One day—it was winter during my sophomore year—I had to turn in an English paper at 8 am. There was a good foot and a half of snow on the ground. My dad got up with me, but none of the cars would start, and Main Street in Northfield was not plowed at all. I got out my BMX bike and rode it in the snow and turned my paper in at 7:59. Then I went and got a hot chocolate at the bookstore.

One of the women working there said, “You don’t look so good,” and then I passed out right there! It turns out I had hypothermia; I found out later that it was 20 degrees below zero. But I got my paper in on time.

Anne Shepard ’80

Erica: Megan figured out a way to have two lunches.

Megan: I’d eat at Northfield at 11, catch the 11:20 bus to Mount Hermon for a 12 o’clock class, and I’d grab another lunch beforehand.

Sometimes just dessert.

Erica Youngren, Carolina Noguera, Megan (McWeeney) Morris, all ’91

I ran the Pie Race two out of the three years I was at NMH, and I never got a pie. I’m a football player; distance running is not my thing. I always started pretty strong, but then I’d fall behind. One year I was pretty sure I was going to get a pie, but I was about 30 seconds short. The thing about the Pie Race is they make so many pies that by the end there are a lot left over, and when you go up to the dining hall, there’s pie for dinner. So everybody is a winner.

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Jordan Anderson ’11

Bishop’s Bread—it

was what you got out of bed for on Sundays.

Barbara Thomas ’88

Read Write Think Discuss Get on a Plane

B y J e n n ife r S u tto n

“DRIVING INTO SOWETO, I was surprised to see large houses complete with twocar garages and small backyards. Then I started to see tin huts going up the hillsides, surrounded by clouds of thick smog from burning trash. As we walked through the shantytown, I was unsure of how I would be greeted by people living there. Litter lined the uneven dirt road and the smell of urine filled the air. Houses were crammed side by side. A few curious kids made their way out of their huts to see the large group of white people with strange accents—us.

Our guide was excited to show us the rows and rows of huts where he grew up and that he called home. We took turns walking through one of the houses because of its small size. Inside, I was immediately engulfed in the warmth of the fire and the old woman standing near it, who welcomed us into her home. Our guide said that the woman’s two-room shack housed four people and was one of the largest in the town.”

—Mackenzie Gage ’13

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age wrote this passage in her journal while traveling in South Africa for two weeks last spring with her sophomore humanities class. The 17 students and three teachers visited the mixed-race Hendrik Verwoerd High School in Pretoria, the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, the U.S. Embassy, and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other apartheid-era activists were imprisoned for decades. They stood at the top of Table Mountain outside Cape Town; attended services at the Grace Evangelical Church in Soweto; and performed community service with Soil for Life, a nonprofit organization that teaches people how to grow their own food. By day they confronted the raw, disheartening aftermath of apartheid; by night they debriefed and attended English class, discussing Gillian Slovo’s Red Dust, a novel about the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s amnesty hearings.

Gage and her fellow travelers were participating in an alternative, traveling version of Humanities II: International Perspectives. “Hum II,” as it is called, is Northfield Mount Hermon’s interdisciplinary world history and world religion curriculum that has been required for all 10th graders for nearly 15 years.

Hum II was launched about a decade after its freshman counterpart began.

Ninth graders take introductory literature and religious studies classes that focus on individual identity, asking big questions, such as: Who am I? How shall I live? The Hum II program for 10th graders goes on to ask: Who are others?

How do they live?

World history and world religion: different courses, different ways of understanding the world, yet NMH faculty say the interdisciplinary approach makes perfect sense. Historical events unfold according to the values held by people living at the time, and those values are embodied in religion, says history teacher Lorrie Byrom. “Without understanding the values set of a culture, you won’t understand its history. So there is chronology and fact, but there is also ethos playing out,” she says.

Sometimes Hum II teachers teach two “stacked” courses, keeping world history and world religion mostly separate.

Others combine the courses into one big, broad study, as Byrom and history and religious studies teacher Ted Thornton did last spring with the South Africa Hum II program.

The idea for a traveling version of Hum II came to Byrom about a decade

Lavender Hill township near Cape Town: Gardening with the nonprofit Soil for Life

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Meeting township children

ago, during her second trip to South Africa. The first time she had gone while on sabbatical, to work on a Habitat for Humanity project in a township outside Johannesburg. Apartheid had just ended, and Byrom, entranced by Nelson Mandela, expected to find “whites and blacks, hand in hand, marching into a glorious future,” she says. What she found was an unemployment rate of 70 percent and monumental questions about how South Africans would move forward.

On her second trip, Byrom traveled with a National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) delegation, and she got the chance to meet with South African economic, social, and political leaders and ask some of those questions. “After doing that, it just came to me that we—NMH—needed to be there,” she says. “The kind of learning that we could put before kids, about systems of organization in all sectors of society, would be phenomenal.” And NMH had the “vehicle” for it: Hum II. The concept is this: When students study a science, they typically head into a lab and perform experiments to better understand the theories they learn in the classroom. Why not do the same with history and religious studies? Why not teach kids about colonialism by taking them

to a former colony?

Or examine the role religion plays in emerging countries by attending services at an evangelical church in Africa? “If your focus is going to be the world,” says Thornton, who recently retired as chair of the history and social sciences department, “then you’ve got to get out in the world.”

The original Hum II curriculum was still an experiment when Byrom suggested adding the travel component. Keep the courses consistent, she advised, but allow teachers to add thematic content about a single country that could prepare students for traveling there. Initially, the proposal was a tough sell. Some faculty worried that taking students away from campus for two weeks in the middle of a semester would rob them of the opportunity to learn about important topics.

Not so, according to the world history and world religion teachers. “These courses are surveys. We race,” Thornton says. If it already is impossible to teach every topic of value, why not immerse the kids in some of the places they are studying. It helps students “learn more deeply,” Byrom says. “It’s not losing, it’s gaining.”

And sophomore year is the ideal time for traveling, faculty members say. Many students are not yet “impact” athletes or

to be “ If yo ur foc us is go ing got e u’v the wo rld, the n yo .” rld to get ou t in the wo

Ted Tho rnto n

busy with college applications; they are fresh and impressionable and eager to learn. “They understand a lot of things, but they haven’t yet found all the words to talk about ideas. We help them find the words,” says Louise Schwingel, chair of the English department, who teaches world literature and who accompanied Byrom and Thornton to South Africa last spring. Sophomores are mature, but not too mature, she says. “Their mouths are dropped open. They don’t have to appear sophisticated. They want to share everything with you. They still want to hold hands, physically and emotionally and intellectually.”

Last spring, the Hum II travel program was tweaked to include world literature as part of the synchronized history-religion curriculum for the first time. Students took all three humanities courses in one semester. Schwingel taught the works of South African writers Nadine Gordimer, Athol Fugard, and Bessie Head alongside Shakespeare and Sophocles. “Although juggling three reading and writing classes seemed difficult at times, the combination of world literature with world history and world religions made the three classes seem as though they were one,” says Josh Hayden ’13. A similar three-class approach will be used next spring with the Hum II

Heron Bridge Retreat Center, Johannesburg: Breaking the ice with local teenagers

Since the traveling version of Hum II began in 2003, NMH has sent 10th graders and faculty to South Africa and Brazil, and in the spring, a group will go to India for the first time. Roughly 10 to 15 percent of sophomores choose to enroll in the program, which costs extra on top of tuition.

Byrom, who also is director of NMH’s Center for International Education, hopes that by making the program as affordable and accessible as possible, participation will eventually grow to 25 percent of the class. “The ideal is to have as many as 40 sophomores infused in classes, sharing their new understanding of the world” with other students, she says.

program focused on India; for this fall’s Brazil program, faculty decided to stick with the original history-religion structure.

Those two programs, like the South Africa Hum II program, are about catching kids as they “move from ignorance to knowledge, from innocence to experience,” Schwingel says, and introducing them, face-to-face, to unfamiliar ideas and ways of living. The immersion experience, faculty and students agree, can be lifechanging. “When you can dig your hands into the culture and history of a country, your learning becomes not obligatory but personal,” Hayden says. “It sticks in a way that you will never forget.”

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V

isionary Thinking Letting the Landscape Lead

By Sally Atwood Hamilton ’65 34

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D.L. MOODY HAD A VISION when he established his schools in 1879 and 1881: to educate young women and men who had no opportunities elsewhere. He chose to place the girls’ school on the edge of the town of Northfield, where land was cheaper and not worthy of farming. For the boys’ school, he wanted good farmland where the students could work and grow food to sustain the enterprise. That both sites featured rolling, hillside terrain with sweeping views of the Connecticut River valley was, most likely, secondary to educational concerns. Yet today those qualities are the signature of each campus, making them breathtaking to behold and embedding them deeply into the collective psyche of their schools’ alumni.

Now, more than 13 decades after Moody’s schools opened, Northfield Mount Hermon has reached a plateau. The consolidation on one campus is complete. The school is fully enrolled.

A top-notch faculty and administration are in place. The physical infrastructure meets current needs. The 130th-anniversary campaign has ended successfully, and the Northfield campus is undergoing its own transformation into a liberal arts college.

The question now is: How does NMH thoughtfully move forward, meeting the long-term needs of students, faculty, and staff while maintaining and enhancing the character of its campus?

To answer that question, a team of trustees and administrators started meeting a year ago to lay the foundation for a master plan of the campus 50 years from now. “We were asked to be creative, philosophical, and visionary,” says trustee Janet Irving P ’83, ’10, who chairs the board’s master planning subcommittee.

NMH engaged Austin Architects of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Richard Burck Associates, landscape architects from Somerville, Massachusetts, to help develop a plan that would not only prepare the school for the future, but also suggest nearterm projects to address the school’s most pressing needs. The plan, presented at the trustees’ meeting in October, is steeped in the history and values of the school and addresses the priorities articulated in the recently adopted strategic plan (See page 10).

“When we are asked to solve a problem, we have to help frame the question,” says architect Jonathan Austin. “In this case, framing the question started with understanding this extraordinary

place and how it came to be.” In design parlance, the campus is considered “picturesque”—a late-19th-century design approach in which the whole is constructed to compose a picture, with a foreground intended for human use, a park-like middle ground, and a sublime view in the distance. Nature dictates everything.

“Picturesque campuses don’t fit a template,” says Burck. “There are no quads and yards and axes. They’re not traditional. They are all about themselves. You have to step back and explore to understand them.”

Austin and Burck did that in multiple ways at NMH. They created topographical studies of the campus to examine how buildings relate to the geography and to discern patterns from Fall/Winter |

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“We are trying to bring to NMH the glory that was originally intended,”

the past. They delved into the archives and devoured Lift Thine Eyes, the recently published book that tells the history of the school through its architecture and landscape. They studied the natural resources—soil, wind and light patterns, geology, ridgelines and crest lines, view corridors, and the relationship of the school to the river. Finally, they examined the social context of life on campus through meetings with students and faculty.

Then, from January through April 2011, the designers came to campus every other week to work with the NMH planning committee. They presented a preliminary plan to the trustees in May and refined it through the summer and early fall. The resulting plan preserves Moody’s vision of the campus, with roads, paths, and buildings choreographed to highlight the landscape and its views. At the same time, it proposes ways for NMH to tackle new strategic initiatives: to promote more interaction within the academic community, increase the number of faculty living in the dormitories and on campus in private homes, and create a stronger and more intimate campus community by providing more social spaces where people can gather.

The future of Cutler Science Center was the catalyst for the campus master plan. A recently completed feasibility study for the building proposed three options to remedy its space needs: make renovations, put a significant addition on the north end, or replace it with a new building. The last option could bring science and math departments together and strengthen the relationship between the disciplines, a key to enhancing academic excellence. A new building could also achieve the additional strategic objective of moving classrooms out of the building known as Upper Mod and ultimately removing that temporary structure from campus.

“It’s not enough to look at a single building,” says Trina Learned, director of plant facilities, who is also a member of the master planning committee. “You have to look at the whole and what you want campus to be like.”

Several elements of Austin and Burck’s exploration of campus make a case for the replacement option for Cutler. The architects had asked students and faculty to identify their favorite and least

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favorite places on campus by putting colored dots on a map.

Both groups covered Cutler with least-favorite dots. Austin and Burck also created several contour maps of campus at different points in the school’s history, and they revealed a pattern among successful buildings. Most residential buildings were constructed to conform to the 450-foot elevation of the land; academic spaces conform to the 400-foot elevation. Favored buildings are sited on either ridges (Alumni Hall, Ford Cottage) or crests (Cottage Row, Bolger, Memorial Chapel, the Rhodes Arts Center). During the mid-20th century, the siting of many buildings, including Cutler, ignored the relationship both to other buildings and to the land.

“We’ve learned that it’s a big mistake to put a building in a place because it’s expedient,” says Irving.

In the early years of the school, when the land was wide open, it was easy for Moody and his associates to choose sites for the first buildings: ridges with sweeping views that were both inspiring and peaceful. Today, the choices to be made are less intuitive but equally important. To help everyone understand the impact of these decisions, Austin created an exact, table-sized model of campus, with topographical elevations and removable buildings.

At each planning meeting, committee members could move, remove, or add new buildings at various sites on the model. “You could get down on your knees and look around campus and see what it would be like,” Irving says.

The goal of the master plan is to give the campus a sense of the inevitable: of buildings and green spaces with just the right proportions, of a place driven by its spectacular landscape.

“We are trying to bring to NMH the glory that was originally intended,” says Irving. “This is our opportunity to plan for it.”

Editors’ note: In late October, after the magazine went to press, the NMH Board of Trustees met to consider the proposed new master plan for the school. We will cover the board’s action in the next issue of the magazine.

A Balloon, A Cell Phone, A Camera— and Space

Photographs by Glenn Minshall, David Warren, and the space balloon.

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To the untrained eye, this may look like a NASA satellite image. In fact, the photograph was captured by a handful of NMH students with a camera they attached to a high-altitude balloon. The students built the device as an activity of the extracurricular GEECS (Geeks for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) club, guided by former computer-studies teacher Ashley Zanca and current club advisor David Warren.

Adam Arsenault ’12, Parker Peltzer ’12, and Teagan Atwater ’12 prepare to launch.

After weeks of researching, planning, calculating, and predicting, the students gathered at Thorndike Field for liftoff.

For this debut ballooning venture, says Adam Arsenault ’12, the goal was simply to gather images and retrieve the contraption after it landed. “The parachute was our biggest possible point of failure,” he says. The students had tested it, says Teagan Atwater ’12, by “throwing a weighted box with the parachute off the chapel tower so we could get an idea of maximum velocity and impact.”

“ This was a one-time, either-it-works-or-itdoesn’t operation.”

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The balloon’s payload (a Styrofoam cooler) contained a digital camera programmed to take pictures every few seconds, a Boost mobile phone equipped with a GPS and Java tracking software, a small keychain video camera, and the parachute for the descent.

The students could individually test the different pieces of the project, but not all together. “This was a one-time, either-itworks-or-it-doesn’t operation,” Arsenault says.

The students had calculated where and how high the balloon would go, factoring the weight of the payload, the helium used, and the date and time of the launch. They predicted that, in flight, it would reach a peak altitude of 33,000 meters—four times the height of Mount Everest. Once the balloon rose high enough over the school, cell phone service would disappear, which meant no GPS tracking. If the device landed in an area without cell service, the group would not be able to find it.

Judging from the balloon’s flight time—two hours and nine minutes—and where it landed, the students were close with their prediction: They estimated that the balloon reached almost 108,000 feet, more than 20 miles up into the earth’s stratosphere. From NMH, it drifted east, with four of the GEECS students—Arsenault, Atwater, Nick Massoudi ’14, and Nate Rehm-Daly ’12—and Warren in pursuit on the ground.

The students determined that the balloon’s diameter would swell to 34 feet at peak altitude—about 116,000 feet in the air—before bursting.

“ To see it completely intact was a euphoric experience.”

Liftoff: a success! As the balloon rose, and the atmosphere became less pressurized, the helium molecules inside it began to spread out. Six feet in diameter on the ground, the balloon swelled as it gained altitude. The students determined that its diameter would reach 34 feet at peak altitude— about 116,000 feet in the air—before bursting.

The phone installed in the payload container was programmed to text GPS coordinates every few seconds. About two hours after liftoff, the group began to receive the text messages on Warren’s cell phone, and the students followed the trail to a swampy residential backyard in Oxford, Massachusetts, about 95 miles southeast of NMH. With the property owner’s permission, they tramped into the woods and found their experiment. “To see it sitting there, completely intact, was a euphoric experience,” Arsenault says.

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How to

Build a School Northfield Mount Hermon is largely built of brick.

During a period of campus expansion that began after the turn of the 20th century, 12 major buildings went up on both campuses, and, with the lone exception of Sage Chapel, they were built of brick. Not just any bricks. Each one was stamped with the word “Pray.”

Despite the school’s evangelical heritage, these bricks carry not an injunction but a proper name.

Robert E. Pray was a brick manufacturer in Greenfield.

Buildings at Northfield and Mount Hermon were built with bricks from Pray’s manufactory, which employed 30 people and turned out 4 million embossed bricks every year until the early 1950s. Stray bricks can still be found on campus, embedded in the backyards of faculty homes; they even turn up on eBay. Definitely not turning up on eBay is granite left over from the construction of Memorial Chapel. The chapel required 629 cubic yards of granite, and an NMH legend contends that Mount Hermon students hauled the granite from quarries in Northfield across the frozen Connecticut River. Receipts dating back to the fall of 1897 put this myth to rest. The work was carried out by groups of hired laborers, who charged 90 cents a ton to bring the rock from Northfield. One quarryman moved 224,440 pounds of stone in 12 days, and charged the school $100. The men took their loads across the Connecticut on a ferryboat in the fall, and after the river froze, over an out-of-the-way railroad bridge. The ice may have been thick, but apparently no one wished to trust it under a load of granite.

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Courtesy of NMH Archives

By Peter Weis ’78

42 Reunion 2011 44 Alumni Spotlight 48 Class Notes

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Smiles, everyone, smiles!

To see more photos from Reunion 2011, visit www.nmhschool.org/reunion.

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Reunion 2011 Alumni flocked to campus to reconnect with the friends, teachers, and places that shaped their teenage years. They explored ideas in faculty and alumni seminars, collected awards for their volunteer efforts, and celebrated their shared NMH experience.

2011 Alumni Awards

2011 Alumni Citations

Each year, the NMH Alumni Association recognizes outstanding contributors for their work within their communities and in support of the school.

Shirley Vanderpool Romoser ’51: class gift chair.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD Mychelle Yvette Farmer ’71, M.D. Throughout her medical career, Farmer has combined her clinical practice with advocacy for health-care policies that support adolescents and young adults.

LAMPLIGHTER AWARD Barbara Tweedle Freedman ’66 Freedman has served the school in multiple capacities for decades, including the last 10 years as a member of the board of trustees. This award recognizes her dedication to NMH’s educational mission.

COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD Marshall L. Horwitz ’71, D.D.S. Horwitz has been described as a man whose hobby is volunteering. His commitment to sharing his life’s work as a dentist by helping people around the world reflects the values learned decades ago at Mount Hermon.

WILLIAM H. MORROW AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE TO NMH Richard J. Peller Since joining the NMH faculty in 1973 as a math teacher and soccer coach, Peller has served as a constant role model, encouraging each of his students to achieve a balance of academics, athletics, and participation in the school community.

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John S. McClintock ’56: class gift chair, phonathon volunteer, reunion chair, 50th reunion co-chair, co-chair of the Annual Fund committee, Alumni Council reunion advisory committee, Annual Fund committee.

Craig D. Walley ’61: class secretary, 50th reunion yearbook editor, 50th reunion gift committee, author of Murder at Mount Hermon: The Unsolved Killing of Headmaster Elliott Speer (Northeastern University Press, 2004).

Joseph A. McVeigh ’76: class secretary, Alumni Council, phonathon volunteer, reunion volunteer, and web liaison.

A Generous Gift Members of the Class of 1961 affirmed their commitment to NMH with a 50th Reunion gift of more than $2.8 million. The fiveyear gift included outright donations, pledges, and planned gifts, and represented a 256-percent increase over the class’s Annual Fund giving last year. Sixty percent of the class participated in the reunion gift, which will help NMH continue its tradition of providing scholarships to talented young people, supporting an exceptional faculty, and maintaining its beautiful campus on the Connecticut River.

Tracy Weil Korman ’81, P ’11, ’14: phonathon volunteer, event host, admission ambassador, strategic planning committee, Parents Fund committee, Parents Council.

Dairo E. Moreno ’91: area club officer in New York and Los Angeles, Alumni Council, admission ambassador, class secretary.

ALUMNI AWARD WINNERS (front) Joseph McVeigh ’76, Craig Walley ’61, Barbara Tweedle Freedman ’66, Richard Peller with granddaughter Stella, David Hickernell ’68 (awards committee chair); (back) John McClintock ’56, Mychelle Farmer ’71, Dairo Moreno ’91, Tracy Korman ’81, and Marshall Horwitz ’71. Not pictured is Shirley Vanderpool Romoser ’51.

NMH Alumni Association by the Numbers

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NMH alumni events held around the world in 2010–11

Think It Through MARGARET VAN BAAREN, director of NMH’s Learning Skills Program, tried to be as distracting as possible. During her reunion seminar on adolescent brains, she wanted to demonstrate how hard busy classrooms can be for smart kids with learning challenges. She handed out puzzles to the dozen parents and alumni in the audience. She then walked around the room, making noise and waving plastic toys.

After a few minutes, everyone in the room was still struggling with the puzzle; van Baaren handed around the solution. By providing answers at the end of a classroom problem set, van Baaren said, teachers can help calm the frustration and fears of inadequacy that many teens experience.

“These are a lot of exercises I do with faculty, so [this is] a taste of what I help faculty figure out,” van Baaren said. “There are no difficulties that are the same, just like no one of us is the same.”

Teens sometimes adopt personas to cope with their learning difficulties, van Baaren explained. There is the politician, who can talk a teacher into anything; the brown-nose, always looking to score extra points to allay a deep anxiety about the material; the pigpen, a student so overwhelmed by disorganization that coping becomes impossible; and the kid who is “too cool for school” and can’t even spend time to have a conversation with a teacher. “This sounds like my son,” one audience member said.

These coping personas do not mask disabilities, according to van Baaren; they mask challenges that can be overcome by teaching students organization and time-management skills. That’s what van Baaren does, whether a student is struggling with creative writing or calculus. “I never took calculus, but I know how the brain works,” she said. “All I do is get [students] to slow down, to think it through, to realize their own smarts.”

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Women attended five Northfield School for Girls events in Massachusetts, Maine, and Florida

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Young alumni committee gatherings— dinners at colleges and a cheering section at the Head of the Charles

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Diversity committee events, including a tour of the Smithsonian African American Museum’s Apollo Theater exhibit, a dinner in Harlem, a benefit for Haiti earthquake relief efforts, and a GLBTQ reception

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STAY CONNECTED

NMH’S ONLINE COMMUNITY community.nmhschool.org

NMHBOOK www.nmhschool.org/nmhbook

ADDRESS UPDATES addressupdates@nmhschool.org

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/NMHschool

SEND US NEWS nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

TWITTER www.twitter.com/NMHschool VIMEO www.vimeo.com/channels/nmhschool FLICKR www.flickr.com/photos/nmhphotos

Get-togethers hosted by NMH area clubs across the country, including local versions of Pie Race and Mountain Day

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Alumni (associated with 14 classes) returned to campus for Reunion in June 2011 All NMH graduates are members of the NMH Alumni Association. Learn more at www.nmhschool.org/alumni.

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Alumni Spotlight A banker, a short-story writer, and Harvard hoopsters Banker to the World William R. Rhodes ’53 McGraw-Hill, $25 “My mission has always been to build,” writes William R. Rhodes in Banker to the World.

Other lessons from Citi’s former senior vice chairman and chairman emeritus of the NMH Board of Trustees: lead boldly and decisively; take prompt, comprehensive action; seize your opportunities; defy intimidation; and stand up for what is right.

Part instruction manual and part autobiography, Banker to the World offers a glimpse of Rhodes’s long career of navigating highstakes financial negotiations—with the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, with Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and with Venezuelan president Andrés Pérez, for example.

The financial crises depicted in the book are gripping, with Rhodes proving to be the essential linchpin in many negotiations.

He warned the U.S. government of an Asian building bubble in the mid-1990s; helped Uruguay, nearing financial collapse, secure a $2.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund; and catalyzed critical opposition to a sovereign bankruptcy proposal by the IMF. Time and time again, Rhodes steered various political and financial factions to successful agreements.

Each chapter of Banker to the World ends with a small summary—a moral of sorts. “Remember that failing to act is the same as acting and failing,” Rhodes writes in one such conclusion.

“Success cannot come without trying.” He repeatedly stresses that although each financial negotiation in which he has participated is unique, the lessons he has learned serve as a comprehensive roadmap for the future. “Like the ancient Maya, who conceived of time as a series of cycles, we would do well to link the cycles of the present to those of both the past and the future,” Rhodes writes. “The lessons derived from experience … are relevant not just for the fleeting moments in which they originated, but also for what is to come.”

A Friendly Life S. Prestley Blake ’34 with Alan Farnham Brigantine Media, $15 Pres Blake, co-founder of Friendly Ice Cream Corp., is one of the kings of the ice cream parlor, so it’s no surprise that his autobiography is as short and sweet as his famous treats.

The book’s opening pages depict a retired Blake standing up in a 2001 shareholders’ meeting and demanding accountability from the company’s CEO for letting Friendly’s debt rise while stock prices and employee morale plummet. “I guess you can see

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I’m stubborn,” Blake admits later in the book. He describes how the business started in 1935 during the Depression: Blake and his brother, Curtis, received backing from their parents, bought their first chairs for $8 from a second-hand store, and kept their records on the pieces of cardboard from laundered men’s shirts.

Over the years, they honed a business model for what would become a restaurant operation with more than 500 locations.

(Northfield Mount Hermon garners a mention in a chapter on Blake’s philanthropy efforts.)

A Friendly Life is enjoyable and highly readable, with Blake conveying both the excitement and worries that come with building a successful business. He may be stubborn, but what shines through is his self-deprecating charm.

At-Risk: Stories by Amina Gautier Amina Gautier ’95 The University of Georgia Press, $24.95 A private-school student on a scholarship, brothers dealing with their father’s abrupt departure, a young, aspiring gang member— the characters in Amina Gautier’s short stories hover between the worlds of childhood and adulthood, innocence and experience, black and white, haves and have-nots. In this collection, which won the 2010 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, Gautier probes the sense of uncertainty in these children and teenagers, whose circumstances place them in the broad “at-risk” category of the title.

Gautier deftly paints her subjects with nuance and detail.

In “Dance for Me,” the narrator is caught between the rough neighborhood where she lives and the WASP culture of her schoolmates. After kissing first a black drug dealer and then an affluent white student, the narrator muses that “they were both from the real world, their own distinct ones, but I was somewhere in limbo. Set apart, I didn’t know how to let either of them in.”

Gautier, however, knows exactly how to let both her characters and her readers in.

High Crimes and Misdemeanors in Presidential Impeachment H. Lowell Brown ’65 Palgrave Macmillan, $90 Even the nation’s top politician can be threatened with removal from office, as impeachment proceedings against presidents William Jefferson Clinton, Richard M. Nixon, and Andrew Jackson have demonstrated. Among the offenses: treason, bribery, or “other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

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H. Lowell Brown, an attorney who has worked for the federal government, the private sector, and in private practice, sheds light on this last, little-understood category.

Brown tackles his subject with unsurprising thoroughness, keeping both historical and legal perspectives in mind. The 238-page book, which has 34 pages of appendices and another 60 of notes, traces “high crimes and misdemeanors” back to the federal Constitutional Convention of 1786. The book sticks to a straightforward account of the facts but includes moments of humor, such as when Brown notes that Richard M. Nixon ran for the Senate on an anticommunist theme and described one opponent as “pink right down to her underwear.” By using Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton as case studies, Brown carves a new, thought-provoking path through the familiar ground of presidential impeachments.

Church, State, and the Crisis in American Secularism Bruce Ledewitz ’70 Indiana University Press, $24.95 According to the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Constitution, the federal government must be neutral when it comes to religion. Bruce Ledewitz, a professor at Duquesne University School of Law, agrees, but he argues against the subsequent conclusion that displays of religion must be eradicated in all official government spaces.

In his book, Ledewitz cites the tradition of “higher law,” which teaches that there are objective standards of right and wrong that apply to both secular and religious realms. Higher law, he writes, allows Americans to “change our frame of reference to seek secular meaning of religious claims.”

Advocates for secularism, Ledewitz argues, should find common ground with religious groups instead of framing the argument as secularists versus religious believers and trying to banish religion and religious iconography from official spaces.

Church, State, and the Crisis in American Secularism offers a thorough analysis of historical and modern church and state issues and a thoughtful, if somewhat idealistic, answer to an ongoing religious and cultural debate.

What do Dan McGeary ’06, Andrew Van Nest ’08, Matt Brown ’10, and Laurent Rivard ’10 have in common? They all play (or in McGeary’s case, played) basketball at Harvard; next year they will be joined by Evan Cummins ’12. NMH sends more

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basketball players to Ivy League colleges and universities than any other high school in the country: 16 in the past five years, 11 this year alone. NMH players also find their way to Division I college teams; this year, 26 of them are playing for schools such as Seton Hall, Pepperdine, Bucknell, and the University of Louisville.

Photographer Alice Proujansky ’98 was featured on National Public Radio’s “The Baby Project,” which follows a handful of women through childbirth and into new parenthood.

Proujansky has been documenting births since 2006. “Each birth I’ve photographed has been inconceivable: A woman with a big belly comes in, and at some point there is suddenly another person in the room.” At NMH, Proujansky took her first photography class with teacher Phil Calabria and volunteered in a hospital maternity ward during a study-abroad trip to the Dominican Republic.

Kimmie Weeks ’01 received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Amherst College last May (in the company of Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve). Born in Liberia, Weeks became a political activist even before he enrolled at NMH as a postgraduate student in the Transition-Year Program. He has founded several advocacy organizations that work for children’s rights in Liberia and other African countries.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware, owned by Sam Calagione ’88 and trustee Mariah Draper Calagione ’89, won the 2011 top brewery award in an American Homebrewers Association survey. The competition included 1,306 different beers from 433 breweries.

Four Dogfish brews ranked among the top 48.

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Lift Thine Eyes More Than a Number

The most complete historical record from D.L. Moody’s vision to today Order online: nmhschool.org/lift-thine-eyes Order by phone: 413-498-3222 Order by mail: Northfield Mount Hermon One Lamplighter Way, Box 4853 Mount Hermon, MA 01354

 HardCover at $60*  Soft Cover at $44*

Name _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Check enclosed for $ _______________________________________________________________________ Charge my credit card # ____________________________________________________________________ *Domestic postage and handling included. For international orders, call 413-498-5817 or email: clebo@nmhschool.org

NMH Travellers

invites you to Spain

THE NUMBER 1879 is significant at NMH. Not only is it the year the school was founded; it also helps define the D.L. Moody Society, a group of alumni, parents, and friends of the school who choose to begin their gifts to the Annual Fund at $1,879. This year, the society’s co-chairs are Suzie Steenburg Hill ’66 of Pennsylvania, a Speer Fellow (former trustee), and Juan A. Garcia Jr. ’91 of New York, a current trustee. “We were able to be students at NMH because others who came before us had made the commitment to continue to support the school financially,” Hill says.

D.L. Moody founded NMH with the goal that students would pay only part of their tuition; he believed that financial circumstances should never dictate who received an excellent education. Moody was ahead of his time 132 years ago, and today his mission remains just as crucial for current and future generations of students.

For alumni who have graduated within the past decade, a gift of $1,000 or more will be qualification for the Moody Society. “All gifts to the Annual Fund support our students, faculty, and staff every day,” says Garcia. “Gifts at this leadership level demonstrate our strength as one of the best secondary schools in the country.”

Hill and Garcia look forward to welcoming new Moody Society members this year, as well as helping current members maintain and strengthen their philanthropic connection to NMH. “We are honored to represent this loyal and generous group,” Hill says. “Like so many other NMH community members, we believe deeply in the value of providing an education for the head, heart, and hand.”

September 20–29, 2012 To book a place on this tour, or for more information, please contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Programst 413 - 498 - 3600

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New Trustees Lauren Hokin ’95 Lauren Hokin ’95 was a two-year resident of the Northfield campus (like her sister, Alexandra Hokin ’87) and served as a student leader in MerrillKeep. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in art history and French from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from New York University.

Between degrees, Hokin worked with the merchant banking firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, an advisor to and investor in the media industry. After business school, she joined Century America LLC, her family’s investment partnership, where she helps manage the firm’s finances and portfolio of energy-oriented assets and serves on the board of Century’s principal affiliate, Intermountain Industries, a developer of oil and gas resources in the western United States. In 2010, Hokin founded Teton Valley Creamery, an artisan cheese producer in eastern Idaho, which allows her to indulge both her love of fine cheese and her obsession with fly-fishing.

Hokin’s niece, Hannah Levin, joined the Class of ’15 this fall.

Stephen S. Fuller ’58, Ph.D. From NMH, Stephen Fuller moved on to Rutgers for a bachelor’s degree in economics and Cornell, where he received a doctorate in regional planning and economic development.

He served on the faculty of George Washington University for 25 years— including nine years as chair of the urban planning and real estate department and one as director of doctoral programs for the School of Business and Public Management—before joining George Mason University in 1994 as a professor of public policy and regional development.

There, Fuller was appointed University Professor and named to the Dwight Schar faculty chair; he also directs the Center for Regional Analysis.

Fuller served on the Virginia Governor’s Advisory Board of Economists under governors Kaine, Warner, Allen, and Wilder.

He also is a member of the CFO Advisory Group of the District of Columbia and of the boards of the Global Environment and Technology Foundation and Tompkins Builders, Inc., a D.C.based company. In 2007, he was appointed chief economist of the Cardinal Bank. He lives in Virginia with his wife, Susan Bateson.

His daughter Elizabeth is a 1990 graduate of NMH.

heritage alliance society

Where there’s a will, there’s a way… to leave a legacy.

Please join the 638 friends of NMH who have made a bequest to the school or notified us that a planned gift is included in their wills.

for more information about arranging planned gifts contact :

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

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Class Notes

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

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

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

• by email to nmhnotes@nmhschool.org

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

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BRADFORD BURNHAM 1776 Mooringline Dr #PH-C Vero Beach FL 32963-2958 (10/1–4/30) PO Box 321 Fishers Island NY 06390-0321 (5/1–9/30) bradjoanie@aol.com

Carroll Rikert ’34 and Pres Blake ’34 ran into each other in June at MIT’s Sloan School graduation, where they both had grandsons graduating.

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My wife Alice experienced a fall in mid-Feb. No new breaks, but a slow-healing ulcerated heel has complicated recovery. She has been wheelchair– bound but is now taking physical therapy, which should get her back on her walker soon. My overall health remains reasonably good. Last week, Alice and I celebrated our 60th by going to Houston for a get-together with our daughter Ellie and her husband Wes, who were celebrating their 30th. While there, we went to a Houston Astros–Cincinnati Reds ball game. The Astros won 4–3, and grandson J. R. Towles, catching for the Astros, scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. After the ball game, J. R. and his wife joined us for dinnerthe end of a wonderful day.

I recently received a letter from Susan Martin telling me that her father Al Rathbun died in Feb, the aftermath of a stroke experienced some 6 months earlier. Al was a good friend, and we played JV hockey together during our jr and sr years. Al was a loyal son of Hermon and was at our 60th reunion.

Bob Devaul, accompanied by daughter Dee Dee, made a recent Badger (WI) Honor Flight trip to Washington DC. Such trips are made available at no cost to WWII veterans so they might see war memorials erected to honor them and veterans of other wars.

Bill Hamilton wrote to explain his absence at reunion last year. Two weeks before, his special friend and traveling companion Dotty Petrullo was struck by a car. She required a left shoulder replacement and then 6 weeks later suffered broken bones in her right hand and wrist in a fall as she tried to keep Bill from stumbling. Bill continues to sing in his community’s chorale, which recently ended a 4-concert series at the Kennedy Center.

Herb Spohn writes that he is preparing a 2nd manuscript of poetry for publication. The tentative title is Witness to Passages in My Life. Herb, whose wife died in ’08, is “experiencing the aches, pains, limitations, and fragility of being 87 years old,” but continues to live independently.

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REV ESTELLE DAVIS KAY 30 Osgood Ave West Boylston MA 01583-2216 estellekay@aol.com DORCAS PLATT ABELL 30 Walden Lane Pittsfield MA 01201-1572 sabell3@nycap.rr.com

Eleanor Shedd Whitehouse, Helen Small Weishaar, and Dorcas Platt Abell enjoyed our 70th reunion weekend along with 3 members of the Hermon class: Shep Bartlett and Stephen Bergen and their spouses, and Richard Gregg.

Carleton Finch was there briefly on Fri but had to leave to attend the graduation of a grandchild.

We missed the rest of the class members, and you missed a great time. The school gave us each a gift

We hope to include you in our next issue!

Send news/notes to your class secretary.

Send photos to your secretary, but be sure to put your name/address on the back if you would like them returned.

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

Color photocopies will not be accepted.

Email news/notes to: nmhnotes@nmhschool.org.

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

Eleanor Shedd Whitehouse ’41 and Dorcas Platt Abell ’41 dining at a restaurant in Alvor, Portugal, last Mar. for the weekend—choice of an NMH beach towel or umbrella—and provided housing and meals gratis. We were all in O’Connor Infirmary with a nurse on duty at all times (she also provided coffee for the early birds in the morning).

Gloria Savcheff Gancarz ’43 joined us for the luncheon put on by the Alumni Council for all Northfield women and their spouses. We each received a copy of the Northfield Cookbook with recipes for many of the things we loved while we were there.

On Fri there were seminars on various subjects given by NMH alumni, but I was able to attend only the talk by Peter Weis ’78, NMH archivist, on the history of Northfield Seminary up to the early days of Mira B. Wilson’s tenure as principal.

We attended the Fri night reception in the tent and were introduced to Charles Tierney, the interim head of NMH. We liked him very much—he has had various positions at NMH for 13 years and is a charming, articulate young man. Our wonderful hymn sing in the chapel followed Fri dinner—so many enthusiastic singers filled the place with their voices.

It rained Sat, so our class pictures were taken in Memorial Chapel followed by the Annual Convocation of the Alumni Council. David Hickernell ’68, nephew of Ann Windes Hickernell ’42 and chair of the awards committee, presented alumni awards. Joseph McVeigh ’76, son of Phyl Adams McVeigh ’41, received an Alumni Citation for his volunteer work for the school.

Sat evening the school provided a nice reception in O’Connor solarium for the Grand NMHers—wine, cheese, etc.—which was well attended, and we met many from other classes.

Charlie Tierney and his wife visited with us for quite a while, and many of us hope he will be appointed head of NMH eventually. This was followed by a special dinner for all of us “oldies” in a private room in the dining hall. All of our other meals were buffet style, but we were served very graciously for this dinner.

Golf carts awaited us each time we were ready to go to another place, and we surely appreciated that, especially Eleanor, who uses a walker and could not have managed otherwise. She and I spent Mar together in Portugal. I also spent 2 months in Ft Myers FL—sure picked a great time

to miss all the snow. Had a nice visit with Bobbie Burke Burpee ’43 at her lovely home.

Our class has given more than $23,000 to the Annual Fund, with more coming in. Gift chair Helen Small Weishaar has made many calls. I’m proud of the response from only 15 givers. Please send in whatever you can—anything from $5 or more is appreciated.

I talked to Jean Wood O’Connor, who is not doing as well as she did 5 years ago when we had our 65th, so she could not come. Says she is perking along, but not very fast.

Jane Porter Gibson and her husband had planned to go to the reunion but had to cancel at the last minute due to extreme physical problems.

Jane is OK now and may go to reunion next year if any of us plan to go. I will keep in touch with her.

At our advanced age it is not easy to go alone, but if a son, husband, or daughter will go along, it is possible.

That’s it for news. Hope you’ll get in touch if you have any news.

a note from Ted Shultz’s wife that Ted died last Apr. He was with Ford in Detroit for 31 years and retired to Ann Arbor. I also had notes from others.

Lee Durham still has his model railroad distributorship. His family now includes 4 great-grandkids.

Ed Obert uses the senior center to get to doctors’ appointments, and his son and family are close by for help with snow and lawn mowing. Art Miller and wife Marge over the years have taught some 20 Elderhostels about the National Trails System and even spoke at the biennial National Trails Conference last spring. Gordon Pyper writes: “Yes ’42, we’ve made it. Life was action, now it’s philosophical. At our age we need to accept ‘what is’ rather than have a personal agenda. Good living to all.”

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Patricia Thomas Chamberlin-Calamar visited friends in the Northwest and Canada in Apr, traveling by train and spending the summer in Talkeetna AK, which she has done for the last 25 yrs.

Gloria Savcheff Gancarz visited Janet Kehl Tenney in Apr to wish her Happy Birthday. Janet lives at Noble Horizons in Salisbuy CT. Emily Jennings Hollman lives there, so Gloria spent some time with her, too. Jan is happy and enjoys the activities offered. Em was in good spirits, sporting a new hairdo. Gloria enjoyed reminiscing with her. In June, Gloria attended NMH reunion.

She couldn’t find anyone from our class, so stayed with the Class of ’41. She attended the Fri evening hymn sing and the Sat special breakfast for those receiving citations and all past recipients. Happy to be one of the past, Gloria attended. Interim head of school Charlie Tierney thanked everyone for volunteering and supporting the school and its students. Gloria joined Dorcas Platt Abell ’41 and Eleanor Shedd Whitehouse ’41 for the Sat luncheon. Gloria reports that Charlie Tierney and wife Gina Onushco came to the grands’ reception, and she had the opportunity to chat with them.

Mr Tierney has a great vocabulary and definitely loves the school. The food was wonderful, served cafeteria-style except for the dinner Sat evening, when the grands were seated in the small dining room and enjoyed being pampered. Gloria tried to visit the Northfield campus, but the roads were blocked off for security reasons.

Reunion is on my wish list; however, I did see Dorcas Platt Abell ’41 this winter when she was in Ft Meyers, and before she left FL she spent a day with me in Englewood.

We received a thank-you letter from Isabel Morgan Karl ’12, who is able to attend NMH because of our support of the scholarship fund. She is involved in the music program, plays the cello in the orchestra and the piano in a new group called NMH pianists.

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

From the Alumni Office: Shep Bartlett was named SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) counselor of the year for the Merrimack Valley chapter of the Small Business Administration. Shep has been 1 of 65 counselors in the Manchester NH chapter for 16 years. Counselors help those in small businesses with problems, planning, operations, financing, and other issues. Shep says: “SCORE has given me great pride in helping many people become successful in business.”

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

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

Next year will be our 70th since graduating. I’m planning to go to reunion if I’m able. How about some of the rest of you? And Northfield “girls,” too.

Let’s have a ’42 reunion.

I am still moving, although a lot more slowly, but I’m still enjoying my days and grateful for all that Hermon gave me those 70 years ago. I had

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

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From the Alumni Office: We are saddened to report the death of several classmates.

Phyllis Greenwood Hauenstein died on 11/14/10. After Northfield she received a degree in occupational therapy from Tufts and became a psychiatric occupational therapist until ’53, when she moved to the Altoona PA area and became women’s editor at WVAM radio station. In ’69, she became field director for Talus Rock Girl Scouts Council and administrator of mental retardation programs for Blair County. Phyllis was very active in her church, where, among other things, she served as ruling elder, a deacon, and mission advocate, was a member of the church choir for 54 years, director of the junior choir for 8 years, taught Sunday school for 20 years, and served 4 terms on the board of directors for Presbyterian Homes in the Presbytery of Huntingdon. She also served on many boards related to mental health needs.

Sylvia Thompson died 1/9/11. She lived in Versailles KY most of her adult life. Sylvia was born and lived in Puerto Rico until she entered Northfield. After graduating, she attended the Univ of Louisville and then graduated from Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth U) with a degree in occupational therapy. She worked at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Lexington KY for 40 years, becoming chief occupational therapist.

Sylvia was a member of St John’s Episcopal Church and a member of the Pilot Club. She was predeceased by sisters Faith Thompson Schall ’35 and Emma Thompson Roper ’38.

Irene Emmons Gibson died 1/23/11. After graduating from Katherine Gibbs, Irene became a secretary at Hollingsworth and Whitney in NYC. She and her former husband did commercial fishing in Ft Pierce FL, where they owned and ran the Katonah Fish Market. They later owned Deer Run Farms in Hillsdale NY and raised sheep, guinea fowl, and cattle. Irene spoke fondly of her days showing dogs and assisting her mother-in-law with training ponies.

Jean Henderson Read passed away 3/29/11.

Jean graduated from Colby Junior College and worked in medical laboratories at Mass General, Holyoke Hospital, and Mt Holyoke College. After retiring, she operated a stuffed-animal store in Springfield. Among her survivors are sons John Read ’67 and Bruce Read ’69, daughter Betsy Read Chadwick ’72, grandson Carter Read ’01, and niece Candace Reed Stern ’65.

Wilhelmina McFee died 4/17/11. Billie graduated from Boston U’s Sargent College, where she was inducted into the Hall of Fame for her extensive athletic career at the competitive, coaching, and officiating levels of 13 sports. She earned her master’s from Smith College, her PhD from Ohio State, and a law degree from Franklin Pierce College. Billie was a member of the US field hockey and lacrosse teams and MA badminton team. She was a certified official in field hockey, a National Basketball Association official, and a USLTA national tennis umpire. She taught field hockey, lacrosse, riding, and tennis at Mt Holyoke,

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Smith, Wellesley, and Boston U. Her survivors include sister Barbara McFee Kiarsis ’35. She was predeceased by sisters Anne McFee Marston ’39 and Martha McFee Serratore ’30.

We are searching for a secretary for the Class of ’43. If you’d like to volunteer, please contact Sally Atwood Hamilton ’65 at shamilton@nmhschool.org.

band of 62 years, in 4/10. She still teaches sociology as an adjunct, at U of Hartford and Central CT State U. Dave and I are celebrating 59 years of marriage this month, and we feel blessed with basically good health. Do write.

From the Alumni Office: Sad news comes from Southern CA that Olivia Heminway Ruth died 6/30/11. A graduate of Pembroke in ’48, she worked as a librarian at a parochial school in FL and at the Fuller Theological Seminary in CA. For the last 36 years, she lived in CA. She is survived by her husband and 2 daughters.

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Dave and I just returned from NMH reunion and found the school in great shape. The food was so good, I will have to diet for a week to undo the damage. The rain dampened everything except our spirits, and the school did a great job relocating some events because of it. The hymn sing on Fri night is one of the highlights for me. How often can we sing our hearts out for 1 and a half hours with all those familiar class hymns? We had hoped to come home with more news for you.

Mary Lighthall Compton had planned to come but her knee was acting up, so Bill Compton ’44 came by himself. They are very comfortable living at Loomis Village in South Hadley MA. So I represented the better half of the class.

The ’44 scholarship does have a direct descendant as its recipient, Pete Leyden’s grandnephew Luke Leyden ’14. He has enjoyed his freshman year very much.

I hasten to report the death of my twin sister, Ruth “Micky” Webb Martling, which happened in 12/09. I did report her husband’s death in the last issue, and failed to look back to see that I had missed Micky’s. She had been in failing health for some time and it had reached the point where there was nothing more that could be done, so we miss her but are glad she doesn’t have to suffer anymore. We are close to the 2 children, Phyllis Martling Brackett ’74 and Bill Martling ‘74.

Phyllis lives in Durham NH and Bill on the Cape.

I do have some good news from Jim and Ebbie Baker Frazer. They still live in their home and spend summers at the beach (as do we). The grandchildren reunite there each summer (as do ours) and 2 granddaughters graduated from Harvard in ’10. Ebbie says she still has happy memories of Northfield and sends her best to everyone.

Helen Martin Raisz wrote that she had just returned from Radcliffe/Harvard reunion, where they let the alums march. As she was in Division 1, Classes of 1920–55, she was near the front of the line. The oldest alum was 103. She wonders how many of you have email? Send her a note at Helenraisz@gmail.com. Helen lost Larry, her hus-

We held a very satisfying and enjoyable off-year reunion. (It wasn’t a “last hurrah”—plans and promises already are made for our 70th in ’14. ) Attendees included 15 men and 1 woman of the Class of ’44, plus 8 spouses and significant others, including Anne Webb Burnham ’44, class secretary, and husband David. Lifetime class prexy Peter Leyden III made this happen. He’d been saying since last winter that “if we don’t get it done now we might not get it done.” So we did. Other attendees included Pete’s handler Ken Kolkebeck (Mary Ann Duffy), Alan “Dinty” Moore, Dick Fry (Justine), Bill Compton, Peter Harkness (Hella), Bob Carpenter (Sandy), John Hamlin (Eileen), Bill Bolger, Jim Babcock, Dan Pawling, Ross Mulford (Diane), Charlie Young (Joan Mintz), and Phil Smith. Not present but sending greetings and salutations to us all, in response to a message I had sent from reunion headquarters on campus via the new NMH community email system, were Art Chickering, Bob Small, and Charlie Wadhams. (You others who got this group message from me: please check in now.)

Thanks to a new and permanent NMH reunion policy, all Grands (aka senior citizens, Old Guard) from Classes of 1950 and before now get a free ride at reunions—registration fees, bed (on campus if you wish) and board (great food and an especially elegant class dinner, plus fermented and brewed beverages with dinners and receptions if you wish), and several other special recognitions.

The weather was ideal: sunny daytimes, some showers after dark. The campus is gorgeous (only fault found anywhere: scum on Shadow Lake). We held a quick class meeting to congratulate ourselves for showing up, but also to receive thanks from Luke Leyden ’14 (Pete’s grandnephew), who is the current recipient of the Class of ’44 Scholarship. We awarded honorary class membership to NMH staffer Becky Neubert Dominguez, who provided us with TLC and special help before and throughout the weekend. We also designated all attending SOs (spouses and others) as “NMH 1944 Associates.”

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

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

Class of ’44 had a good turnout of alums and their partners for reunion in June. Front row: Justine Fry, Bill Compton ’44, Hella Harkness, Peter Harkness ’44. 2nd row: Jim Babcock ’44, Ken Kolkebeck ’44, Mary Ann Duffy, Bob Carpenter ’44, Charlie Young ’44, Diane Mulford, and Ross Mulford ’44. 3rd row: Dick Fry ’44, Charlton Price ’44, Pete Leyden ’44, Eileen Hamlin, John Hamlin ’44, Alan Moore ’44, and Dan Pawling ’44.

Not pictured: Bill Bolger ’44.

Your MH ’44 scribe gave a heavily attended and (many said) a well-received seminar: “The Middle East and the US: What’s Next?” Premise: All history was once an unknown future. Therefore, what each of us believes will happen or hopes will happen is based on what we think we know, but also on things we don’t know now or may never know.

Because the facts and personal beliefs that each of us may consider important may well differ, seminar participants came up with a variety of different forecasts. Conclusion: We NMH people have special responsibilities and opportunities to keep ourselves well informed. We are entitled to our own opinions but not to our own facts. Let’s not be among those who don’t know what’s happening currently in the Middle East mess. Too many don’t know what they don’t know. And even worse, some don’t know that they don’t know what they don’t know.

See you at NMH in ’14 –or, if possible, sooner.

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

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

On our annual drive back from FL, wife Inga and I stopped to visit Pris and Wink Cornwell in North Palm Beach. They are gracious hosts and enjoy old Hermon stories. Wink is still trim and athletic and loves to watch golf tournaments on TV. We also stopped for dinner in Annapolis with former class secretary Carnot Evans and wife Judy. They go to

the British Virgin Islands every winter, and Carnot is still active in medical organizations. While there, he twisted my arm to take over class notes. Thank you “X” for serving us well for many years.

Donald Sherk passed away on 11/26/10 in Peterborough NH. At Hermon he was a legendary cross-country and track runner. Don graduated from UNH, obtained a master’s at U of Hartford, served in the USN during WW II, and taught school for 45 years. Don was a loyal and active class member with whom I had the pleasure of working on several reunion committees. He and wife Shirley generously and frequently supplied gifts and favors. A devoted husband, father, and loyal classmate, Don will be missed by all. In addition to wife Shirley, he is survived by a daughter, a son, 2 nieces, and a nephew.

Howard Keating died on 3/31/11. He was secretary of the class and the last surviving class officer. The others: Tiny Alderson, VP, died 3/1/73; Monk Hoffman, VP, died 5/26/95; Roger Goodspeed, president, died 1/19/96; and Buster Forrest, student council president, died 5/10/03.

At Hermon, Howie was a baseball pitcher with a wicked curve ball. However, he is perhaps best known for academic achievements: high honor roll, a perfect 2,000 on the college entrance exam, and an unheard-of 97 in English from Tommy Donovan at the end of ’42. Howie graduated from Harvard and UCLA Law School and was VP at Teledyne Electronics, a communications firm that put up an early satellite. Howie loved Shakespeare and had several rooms filled with books. His correspondence often included an appropriate Shakespeare quote, and he often gave talks on Shakespeare topics. Howie is survived by wife Marie, 2 children, 2 grandchildren, and 3 greatgrandchildren. We extend our deepest condolences to Marie and the family.

Louis Gallo writes that his wife passed away 4 years ago after 52 years of marriage. He now lives alone in a condo complex in Orleans MA and is in pretty good health, except for arthritis. He used

to row a boat in Pleasant Bay until a few years ago.

Now Louis enjoys walking his dog every morning.

Richard Sands Underhill died on 3/29/11.

Dick received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from U of MI and a doctorate from IN U. He served in the USN during WW II and 3 years as a CIA intelligence officer afterward. He worked for an equipment company and U of Richmond before founding and heading an international consulting firm from which he retired in ’94. He is survived

by Frances, his wife of 40 years, 4 children, and 9 grandchildren.

Colin Selley, our hard-working class gift cochair, got banged up when the motor scooter he was riding collided with a car. He is recovering well.

Jack Hipps and wife Sheila live in Tucson AZ. He worked for Control Data and then in corporate real estate before retiring.

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

Only 2 of our classmates made it to our 65th reunion this year, but each had good stories to tell.

Our 65th reunion chair Priscilla Adams Moulthrop drove to campus Fri with husband Don. They checked in around 11:30 and received a nice welcome from the Alumnae Assoc. Their room at the infirmary was pleasant and near everything. Happily, they found that the school provided a fleet of golf carts driven by wonderful NMH students, who were available anywhere, anytime. Priscilla reports: “I received a card inviting us to a luncheon and a special celebration for the alumnae of Northfield School for Girls, hosted by the NMH Alumnae Assoc. This was not a fundraising event. It was followed with a program on Northfield presented by NMH archivist Peter Weis ’78. Later, there was a reception for all alumnae, followed by dinner with our Northfield and Mt Hermon Class of ’46, and later a hymn sing in the chapel. The Northfield song was among those chosen. We were moved in spirit by this. I enjoyed the Northfield coffee bread every morning at breakfast. Lunch was good, as were all the meals. Sun brunch was followed by the alumnae service. We could see many friends were missing a wonderful tribute with a candle ceremony. We then packed a lunch and drove home. The spirit of Northfield was felt. I purchased the book Lift Thine Eyes, which is a wonderful story about both schools.”

Jane Everett Haslun attended reunion with husband Bill Haslun, secretary for MH ’46. Jane had this to say: “The highlight for me was the Fri night hymn sing. The special luncheon for Northfield School for Girls was very nice and special, too. It was a lovely gesture by the school. We had fun with the wives of the Mt Hermon men.

Too bad more classmates couldn’t make it, but it does get harder.”

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Although Sunny Sundt-Busch could not attend, she created a remarkable DVD to be shown at our class meeting. While beautiful music we often heard in Northfield played in the background, Sunny gave a wonderful tribute to Northfield and gave thanks for her many years there. She also caught us up on her life. Later, I received this DVD from Priscilla and listened to it for the 1st time on my computer. It awakened many memories for me, and I was touched that Sunny cared so much to share these thoughts with her classmates, as well as to update us on her life as it is today.

Both Sunny and husband Bill enjoy a large extended family and most live nearby, including her daughters and their families. Sunny’s son Paul Murtha ’69 (whom we read about in fall ’09 NMH Magazine) stays in touch when he is in the US. Paul lives part time in Ecuador, working with his nonprofit Mountains of Hope. Sunny and Bill’s beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (Hannah, 3) completes the picture. She follows Sunny and Bill everywhere and is much loved by all. That includes Sunny’s 4 children, 10 grandchildren, and 12 greatgrandchildren.

I have Sunny’s DVD at my home and will happily create a round robin to send it around to anyone who would like to hear and see it. Sunny looks happy and well. Let me know of your interest, and I will put it in the mail. Or, perhaps by the time you ask, I will have learned how to upload it to YouTube, which would facilitate the process.

Sadly, Joan Thompson Baker didn’t make our reunion this time, although she made the 60th.

She writes: “My husband Hank died of lung cancer on 4/18/11. It had been diagnosed in Dec at stage 4. Fortunately, he went fairly quickly and didn’t suffer much. I put my house on the market, thinking I’d have 3 or 4 months at least, but the 1st person in the door bought it. I made a rather quick move to The Lodge at Otter Creek, a local retirement community. I’ve been here 1 week, and I do know that I’ll enjoy living here. Nice residents and lovely staff. No more cooking for 1. We had a good marriage and a good life. Hank was a keeper, and I do miss him. Our children Cathy and Stuart have been wonderful about helping me settle in, and my apartment does feel homey. Love and hugs to fellow classmates.”

And that’s the news for the first half of ’11. I’ll end with Sunny’s concluding thoughts: “I also know that the experiences we shared gave as much to you in your life as they did for me, for which I am so happy and thankful. God bless each of you and be well.”

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BILL HASLUN 233 Salmon Brook St, PO Box 498 Granby CT 06035-0498 genebuff3@juno.com OR Haslun@mailstation.com

Another reunion is over and our chairs Ed Finch and Bill Shores and the NMH staff under Josie

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Rigby did a great job. All ran smoothly and the facilities in O’Conner were perfect for our turnout.

We were 9 classmates and 4 spouses: Ed Finch, Bill Shores, Ralph Roy, Bob Wilkinson, Flo and Bill Zimmerman, Amelie and Hugh Findlay, Joyce and John Jones, Sheila and Ted Jacobs, and Bill and Jane Everett Haslun. It was a small but quality group. We know it gets harder each reunion to expect many to travel from any great distance.

The programs in the Alumni College were many and varied. Ralph Roy led a popular one based on his experience in the ’60s with Martin Luther King Jr and the Selma March. I attended an overflow seminar by Charlton Price ’44 on the situation in the Middle East and a concert by a student group of 9 males. The Fri hymn sing, as usual, was a highlight. Tell that to a non-NMHer and they respond with: “say what?” The food service was buffet style, excellent, and overwhelmingly varied. Whole lobster was available one night.

Class dinner on Sat was in the dining hall private room with tablecloths, waitress service, and wine provided by the school. Good chatter when we all were together. Talk of fond memories: the Bull, the Toad, Laughing Louis, the Mighty Molecule, hours wasted at the nook, and great pals on various sports teams. It was wonderful, and I wish you all could have been there.

Peter Fithian had to cancel out at the last moment, as did Rod Scheffer and Dan Richardson.

“C” Sommer and Bob Mulcahy sent their best to all. “C” is well in Asheville NC with wife Nancy and would welcome a call or visit from classmates.

Hugh Findlay still goes into his insurance agency office 5 times a week and is active in his church.

He and Amelie have a new great-grandson, whom they are enjoying very much.

John Jones and Joyce also have a new greatgrandson. Roly Coates ’47 (started out as a ’46er) checked in via his Christmas letter. He is an avid gardener and artist.

When time permits, check out the school website from time to time. NMHschool in your Google search box is fast. Also check a new one at community.nmhschool.org.

You will note that I do not write about illnesses or deaths. Illness we all seem to have in our 80s.

Classmates’ deaths can be found in the back pages of this magazine. I try to keep our column upbeat and fun, but please know that I care, as we all do, about one another. This was so evident at the reunion.

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CYNTHIA BALDWIN DUTTON PO Box 428 York Beach ME 03910-0428 cbdutton@earthlink.net

Joan Campbell Phillips sends thanks to those who have contributed to the Annual Fund this year.

“Your support by participating means a great deal to the school. Be sure to mark your calendar for our 65th reunion in early June ’12.”

Meredith Cushman Ransohoff writes that they recently returned from FL, where they have a small apartment in Ft Lauderdale, to MD, where they are closer to children and grandchildren.

“Just had a visit from son Tom and grandson Will Ransohoff ’10, who has just finished his freshman year at Washington U. in St Louis. My health hasn’t been the greatest recently, but so far I’m still hanging in there.”

Diana (Danny) Wittmer Rivet still grows organic food for friends, family, and the food bank, especially heritage tomatoes in an amazing variety of colors. She retired from the practice of environmental law in ’99. She shares a home with a daughter and a son, 2 teenage grandsons, her husband, who is working overtime as an energy consultant, and 10 rescued cats. Another son works for the NYS assembly in Albany. And there are 3 daughters: 1 a retired principal, 1 involved with urban forestry, and 1 who just earned her doctorate and counsels families with severe trauma.

Pamela Farnsworth French writes: “I have spent 2 months in hospital and rehab this spring. I am grateful for the good care that I am receiving.

I send my best wishes to all members of the great Class of ’47.”

Sylvia Jander was an observer at the NMH reunion in June to prepare for our 65th reunion next year. She hopes many of you will be able to return.

Olga Samardak Winocur writes from Argentina that she has little time to spare since she cares for her husband, who lost most of his sight due to macular degeneration. “There has been great joy in the family because our youngest grandson received his degree as a medical doctor at the age of 24.”

Joan Colt Hooper had an exhibition of her paintings at the public library in Marblehead MA last Dec. My daughter Beth and I went to see them and then had dinner and a delightful visit with Joan. She is a very talented person.

Marion Speers Blackshear lost husband David on 3/ 2/11. He was a graduate of Union Theological Seminary and served as minister at churches in the Northeast, Midwest, and southeastern US. Our sympathy to Marion and to their 5 children and 5 grandchildren.

Judith (Judy) Guild Frautschi Stewart died at her home in Chapel Hill NC on 5/1/11.

Judy was a Vassar College graduate. She served as personal secretary to Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh from ’52 to ’54 and remained a close friend of the family. She worked for the Orange County Dept of Social Services for 16 years. In ’89 she received her juris doctor from NC Central U School of Law and practiced law in Chapel Hill until ’02. She is survived by 4 children, 4 grandchildren, and former spouses Richard Frautschi and William Stewart. In lieu of offerings, Judy wants us to pause for a moment to be thankful and to count our blessings.

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

One year to go until our 65th reunion. Judging from the spirit and vigor of nearly 1,000 alumni at reunion in June, there’s a lot of excitement when classmates gather again on campus and marvel at the new construction, appreciate the current students driving the golf carts for the old codgers, and smile gently (or laugh loudly) at memories of teachers and friends. Start planning now to come back so we can top the members of the Class of ’46 there this year.

Chris Armen got an early start: he stopped by on his way to/from NH to check out the campus, so we had a few minutes to talk. He plans on returning next June.

One feature of this year’s reunion was a (male) a cappella singing group that put on a concert of the latest thing—doo-wop. Reminded me of the Triple Quartet of yore: Jack Daggett, Richard McLoon ’48, William Wilcox ’48, Fred Cushman, Dick Ekdahl, Ray Helfer, Roly Coates, Allan Kennedy ’49, Hank Sellares, Robert Cobiella ’48, Jack Frederickson, and Charles Kennedy. Maybe we can get a quartet together out of this group for ’12.

The Bob (RA) Elliott extended family (spouse, kids, grandkids) spent a couple of weeks in Apr touring Sicily. For the last 10 years, RA has been working at the CA public utilities commission but expects to retire next year, if he lasts that long. He lives in a suburb of San Francisco, and his main avocation is puttering in the garden.

Harper Lohr and wife Yvonne plan to return next June after a warm-up reunion over the summer in AZ with his former unit, the 11th Airborne.

Speaking of AZ, Bob Lenker and wife Victoria will visit their son, a border patrol agent there, this fall. Bob has been trying to contact his roommate, Bill Altieri, last heard of in CA. Anyone seen Bill?

Hank Kusel, like a number from our class, spends half the year in FL and the rest in NJ. He and Dolores hope to return for reunion.

Talked to Harry Cook on the phone. He didn’t want to take the chance of waiting until ’12, so he called in to note that he was the only member of the championship cross-country team of ’46 to make it to campus for the athletics awards last year.

Finally, a word of thanks to our class agent, Jack Daggett, and his intrepid team of callers: Bill Samardak, Harper Lohr, and Roly Coates.

They helped the school realize a great total for the Alumni Fund. Besides your gift to the school, feel free to pass along news to them that can be used in the class notes: all the news that fits, we print.

See you in June ’12.

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JAN HIBBS TESTA 1926 Parkwood Dr Scotch Plains NJ 07076-2618 hillbeech@aol.com

PHIL BAKER 1900 N Signal Hills Dr Kirkwood MO 63122-6831 bakpn30@earthlink.net

From Jan: Congratulations to Joan Clausen Vander Vliet, who received the Franklin County Citizen of the Year Award, which she says was surprising and touching, with all sorts of accolades along with handsome certificates from the MA governor and from the US Senate. More than 400 attended the presentation breakfast at Deerfield Academy in the town Joan calls home. Joan well deserves the honor and recognition. Her latest volunteer project was organizing a warming room in a Greenfield church, much needed during frigid NE winters.

More congratulations go out to Beverly “Sandy” Anderson Baker. Sandy had 2 paintings accepted for this year’s St Louis Watercolor Society’s juried show. We hope the jury is just as smart as it was last year, when it sent Sandy home with a medal.

Sad news came from Amy Blatchford Hecht.

She and Jim lost their son Charlie unexpectedly in Oct ’10. Amy says the support of friends has helped them through the sad and challenging days.

Charlie leaves behind Amy’s 2 grandsons. We send our love to both Amy and Jim, who are now living in a lifecare retirement community in Highlands Ranch CO. Email me for the address.

It was a busy year in ’10 for Hester Watson Farmer. A FL stay, a granddaughter’s graduation from U of ME, another’s from high school with Ithaca College next, a cruise to Bermuda from the Hudson waterway, a grandson’s engagement, an extended family visit at the Farmers’ beach house, a trip to Boston for Thanksgiving, and an 80th birthday. Hester says she and Bill are thankful they are still able to be on the go.

Marge Ingham Warren doesn’t let any grass grow under her feet, either. Her latest photo offering is of herself with a camel on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem in Oct ’10. She traveled to Israel on a MD public TV tour. She floated in the Dead Sea, swam in the Red Sea, hiked around Masada, and went to Petra in Jordan. Marge also visited her pediatrician daughter in Chicago and hiked in both Glacier Park and Mt St. Helen’s, the latter with her son and youngest grandchild. This year she plans a trip to China, where her sonin-law will participate in the Triathlon World Championship. Marge, our own triathlon champ, introduced him to the sport.

Some dog news from Marjorie Bowen Hunt, who writes that standard poodle and best friend Atticus (4) had to stay home with a sitter when Marge flew off to France with 3 friends for vaca-

tion. She arrived to be greeted by a national strike that canceled trains and caused anxiety that the supply of gasoline could run dry and leave them stranded. One thing that did work was the French she’d been renewing. Her 80th birthday in July left her speechless when her 3 children arrived unannounced from London, CO Springs, and Baltimore to help celebrate. The children, she reports, are doing well and enjoying college-age children of their own.

We have received a letter from Kirsten Breau ’13, a day student from VT who is the recipient of the ’48 Memorial Scholarship. She writes in part: “Thank you for your contribution to my education at NMH, for I greatly appreciate it. My classes have all been enjoyable and I had great teachers and great classmates. I look forward to continuing my acting, as well as taking a few visual arts classes. I participated in JV field hockey, played JV basketball, and got the coach’s award at the athletics banquet, a huge honor. I’m on the varsity softball team and went to FL with them during spring break.” Kirsten has 3 siblings who went to NMH— Jeffrey ’07, Miranda ’09, and Alexander ’11.

“All my siblings have shared story after story of their NMH experiences from a trip to France to placing 5th at the Head of the Charles. They have all been changed and shaped by NMH and have advised me to take advantage of everything I can and not take anything for granted, even work job.

I have made a promise to myself to participate in extracurricular activities outside of sports and art. With everything going on at NMH, this hasn’t been hard to do. This scholarship has allowed me to begin my journey at NMH. I’m truly grateful to have this opportunity and will try my hardest to take advantage of everything it has to offer. I want to leave my mark on this school, because there is no doubt that it has already left its mark on me.”

Remember, you can add to our ’48 scholarship fund at any time with a gift (mark your check for the ’48 fund) or by listing the fund as a beneficiary in your will. With over 39% of students receiving some $7 million in financial aid, our gifts play an important role in the overall scholarship picture at the school.

Some fun facts from the 2010/11 school year: 650 students from 31 countries and 28 states were enrolled, 80% were boarding students, average class size was 12 students with a student-teacher ratio of 6 to 1. The 100 teaching faculty had an average of 23 yrs teaching experience; 76% had advanced degrees.

They taught 184 courses and 23 AP courses.

Ann Denisevitch Anderson writes that she and Al ’47 are still busy with his allergy/nutrition practice and singing in their church choir, which often includes NMH favorites such as “The Omnipotence” and “How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place.” The year 2011 brought 3 regional programs with their Creation Study Group. Son Paul, a clergyman in Providence RI, does a weekly radio program that can be heard on the web at WARV.net.

Becky Waller Bright says she and Harry are in the business of staying well. She is back to singing finally, after some medical problems, and gave

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performances at an Advent concert, 2 group sings, and on Christmas Eve. Another who keeps busy is Joan McCain Hurst, although she writes that selling the 115-yrold home where she had lived for 47 yrs was a bittersweet time. To Joan’s delight, it will once again be a family home. Her children are all doing well.

Daughter Vicky joined Northern Trust Bank as a VP. Joan spent the summer in Hursthill NY, visiting with family. Sister Alison joined her after all had left and it was a special time as they shared memories of days gone by. Joan still dances with “The Adorables,” serves as social cochairman of the retirement complex, is active in her church, and visits with friends and family.

Nancy Heflin Johnston writes that it is nice our Northfield campus is finally sold and being put to good use. She hopes to see it once again, also the new campus and buildings. It has been too many yrs since Heff returned to NMH. Another pleased to see our lovely campus sold is Jesse Miller Linicus. She reports she’s maintaining her health and was looking forward to a FL respite after Christmas as it was 9° in CT when she wrote.

Connie Taylor Anthony included an extended family photo, which included her 3 children and 2 grandchildren, with her Christmas greeting. The photo was taken on a Lake Chautauqua NY vacation to celebrate Connie’s 80th. She writes that she still enjoys weaving and is making prayer shawls for her church. Pool yoga, being a hospital volunteer, church, DAR, and family activities fill her days.

Connie writes of sadness in losing her brother after a long illness, but she was pleased to spend a week with him shortly before his passing.

Love goes out to Lindy Clapp Macfarland on the loss of her husband Will in Mar ’10 after 58 yrs together. Reunion attendees will remember Will fondly, as he and Lindy never missed being on campus. The entire family met for the celebration of his life and gathered again at Christmas from points as far away as Germany. This year 2 college graduations among the grandchildren, from U of MI and DePaul. When you read this, Lindy will be comfortably installed in what she calls a fabulous retirement community in Orchard Park NY, where many of her friends are in residence.

You write this column and we’d all like to hear from everyone. Just a few lines to say hello with word of whatever you are up to would be welcomed by all of us. Whether email or snail mail, let me hear from you. If you’d rather, you can now leave notes on the NMH website and they, in turn, will be forwarded to me.

News from your secretary is scant, and that’s probably a good thing. There’s no great trauma or loss at the present time, just more of the old patch, patch, patch. As long as I can still walk the dog, you’ll hear no complaints. Our youngest grandson graduated from high school and is now at UCLA. I’ll be on campus for reunion ’11 and will report later.

From Phil: A while back Dick Reeves reported that under neighborly pressure he returned as a member of his condo board where he and

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Roberta live in Mason OH. He said he thought at 80 his days of taking on such responsibilities were over. The neighbors clearly disagreed.

Ted Dow writes that he and Joan are in good health. They did get to Christmas Vespers but missed the Sacred Concert in ’11. They had their whole family home for Christmas: 4 children, 2 sons-in-law, a daughter-in-law, 7 grands from 13 to 25. They plan to visit the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone in the fall of ’11 and perhaps Norway’s west coast in the spring of ’12. They continue to enjoy life in Townsend MA and Rockport in the summer.

Had a nice chat with Joanne and Bob Ball, longtime residents of Avon CT. Both seem well, despite having been subjected to the same cold, wind, and rain with which we were infested in MO in the late winter and early spring. He says they have greatly reduced the Internet activity, for which I can easily summon admiration.

When Sandy and I were in Florida last winter, we stayed overnight with Ann and Norm Ashworth at their amazing home in Punta Gorda.

They still lead active productive lives, and it was wonderful to see them again. I was the only 1 among the 4 who didn’t grow up in Southington CT. I’m winding up my year as president of the Civil War Roundtable of St Louis; 2011 was the sesquicentennial of the Fort Sumter attack, and it has been an interesting year. Met a lot of nice people along the way. A grandson is back from Army duty in Afghanistan. His sister and her family, including great-granddaughter Penelope, just moved from Reno NV to nearby Kansas City. Read a lot, history mainly. Also sort and price donated books for the local public library book sales, take shifts in our church’s food pantry, and write letters to editors as the spirit moves. Have kept the weight down following the 9/09 6-bypass unpleasantness and am adeptly lurching about as an 81-yr-old tends to do.

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

Phyllis Meras Cocroft continues to travel and write. Last year she and Mickey Kniesner (who lives in Paris) went together to visit Mont St Michel when Phyllis was on a trip to Europe. Then she went on an interesting but depressing visit to Cuba. The traveling only occurs when she has markets for the stories she writes. Now she is updating “Rhode Island: An Explorer’s Guide” that she coauthors every 3 years. She is now readying a collection of her nature essays about Martha’s Vineyard that will be illustrated with her late husband’s work. It is due for publication in 2012. And to think it all began with the Northfield Star.

Ann Jessup Martin and Phyllis keep in telephone touch when she is passing through Woods Hole on her way to the Vineyard, and occasionally

they have a chance to visit.

Betsy Greensmith Dole and husband Stanley have moved to a new continuing care retirement community not far from their home of 48 years.

They are comfortable in a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment and will still be able to spend 4 or 5 months at their summer home in northern MI. They eat dinner every evening in the dining room, where the meals are excellent and Betsy is happy not to have to plan, shop for, prepare, and clean up after dinner. Write me for their address.

Barbara McAllister Naughton is working on a committee to “Green up Wyoming” with her local UU fellowship. Very few people recycle there, and they are digging another huge landfill instead of legislating a minimum amount of recycling.

Living in a university town is a blessing because of the opportunities to take courses and attend the many musical, theatrical, educational, etc., events the university sponsors. Betsy will be back in RI and on the Vineyard in July for a family reunion and hopes to see some Northfield friends. She plans to be back for the ’14 reunion.

Carol Jennings Clemens passed away on 10/19/10. In ’53 she graduated as valedictorian from Middlebury, where she majored in economics. That same year she married David Clemens, her devoted husband of 57 years. With her family she enjoyed nature, walking, identifying wildflowers, gardening, cooking, and skiing. At work she was a positive influence for young people by teaching business and computer skills to high school students. In retirement, Carol and David became avid birders. Carol was a member of the Franklin Hill Presbyterian Church, where she served as elder and loved singing in the choir. She was active in the Susquehanna County League of Women Voters, was a founding member of a women’s book group, and served on the stewardship committee of the Florence Shelley Nature Preserve. She is loved and missed by her husband, 3 daughters, and 6 grandchildren.

This has been an exciting year for me musically.

Our Westchester Choral Society was joined by the Greenwich Choral Society to present Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with 200 voices and full orchestra. It is gorgeous music, and it was thrilling to sing in the Palace Theater in Stamford CT. Don’t forget to drop me a note or email from time to time.

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JIM HANCHETT 300 First Ave, Apt 8B New York NY 10009-1844 jch46@cornell.edu DAVID DURHAM 149 Ontario St. Honeoye Falls NY 14472-1139 dedur@aol.com

From Jim: A fine time was had by all at reunion ’11, at which Ken Hungerford represented the

Class of ’49. He hung out with old boys of ’44 and ’46, notably Charlie Price ’44, a Middle East expert who looked hard at US involvement with Iraq and Iran, and Ralph Roy ’46, who recalled the Civil Rights struggle in the company of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Ken has his eye on our 65th—in ’14.

“We’re survivors,” reports Ron Meikle (Tucson, AZ) from his desert digs. “We dehydrate and live a long time. I’m a healthy son of a gun.” Ron and 2nd wife Betty have 8 kids between them, “none living around here.” That makes him a Facebook fan. He says he’d like to use it to show off his saguaro cacti. Ron was deep into advanced philosophy studies when we spoke. He fondly remembers Chaplain Buchanan and the philosophy course, which took the place of Bible classes our senior year. Ron was going through ancient Greeks— Socrates, Plato, and such—and heading for Nietzsche during our St Patrick’s Day chat. Ron labeled the Buch as an Aristotelian who guided him to Oberlin, which Ron considers a very good thing, indeed.

Don Bond, responding to Bob Grayson’s appeal for support to the Annual Fund, reported plans to marry a woman who had been his student 55 years ago. Don was widowed last year.

“Attending Mt Hermon was the best thing I ever did,” he told Bob. Jack Crawford, divorced in ’07, told reporter Bob that he had “taken in a handicapped woman to whom he has become devoted—a reason to live.” Jack sponsored her son to come to the States from Southwest Asia for a kidney transplant. Jack’s still heavily involved with the Milton Amateur Radio Club. Old buddy Bud Jones (Pulaski NY) mentioned that after coaching boys’ track and field for 34 years, he’s now his son’s official volunteer assistant for girls with the goal of a 5th straight league—and state—championship.

There are no former Marines, it has been said, and Jim Lyon (La Canada CA) remains semper fi besides rooting for Notre Dame a lot. Lately, he’s been watching local high schools, where grandlings have been attracting notice for sports achievements. Granddaughter Madison (Maddy) Lyon, for instance, a 15-year-old sophomore, was most valuable player for her LA-area high school water polo team.

In 56 married years, Hugh Cook (Sumter SC) had, at last count, 4 children, 7 grandlings, and 3 great-grandkids. Medics who should know “tell me I have a good shelf life left. Spouse Fran and I take long walks. She went sky diving on her 80th birthday. I ate chicken on mine.” He says he’s being charged extra for haircuts . . . finder’s fee, he explains. And “I’m still playing duplicate bridge, keeping the mind busy.”

Retired since ’98, Bill Browning (Ann Arbor MI) enjoys the unique pleasures of a heartland college town after an outstanding career coaching the soccer he played so outstandingly in our time on the Hermon hill. Young Herb Huene (Savannah GA), who maintains that he’s always been 2 years younger than most of the rest of us, says he’s healthy enough to play golf 6 days a week, and

tennis, and run a shelter for homeless dogs. They sounded healthy and full-throated during a recent phone visit. Mike Atheneos (San Francisco), strolling in his adopted hometown not long ago, spotted a fellow stroller wearing a shirt emblazoned NMH track and field. “Hey, I ran track for MH,” Mike sang out. The other introduced himself as Bill Batty ’59, longtime NMH teacher and NMH track-and-field coach. He was in the City of Giants, 49ers, and cable cars to speak on literature and film studies. Good conversation ensued, says Mike.

Hugh Barbour (Ft Myers FL) picked up on your correspondent’s reminiscence on life at Sampson AFB in the ’50s. Like many others, I did some time there. Hugh recalled teaching math at Sampson. One of his students was Dave or Jack Powell (the ’48 twins), but Hugh claimed he wasn’t sure which one. Olie Wilcox (North Palm Beach FL), when most recently heard from, was “keeping his fingers crossed” that a slight improvement in the housing crisis would trend ever upward.

Retired 14 years, Colgate prof Jim Clarke (Hamilton NY) says he’s stopped thinking but doesn’t sound that way. He says he owes “the intellectual stuff in my life to teachers like Louie Smith and his Hermon colleagues.” He’s proud of a son who’s completing MBA and JD degrees at Hofstra. ”Some people like Mercedes,” says he. “I like John Deeres.”

Bruce Pelton (Orleans MA), ever more at home full time on Cape Cod (it can take decades), says he’s been “pretty free from medical difficulties up to this point . . . and it’s been beautiful.”

He’s seeing medics more often now. It was an early spring day when we spoke. He was rejoicing in the simple but strong pleasure of burning excess bushes with a grandkid.

Ken McCurdy (Boyne City MI in the lake and ski country of the upper part of the Lower Peninsula) has become a horseman in recent years.

He’s “still trying to ride my horse” in the wooded trails of that Hemingway country. There are mailboxes around there that have names on them familiar to readers of the early Ernie. Ken takes pleasure in “helping out in the barn” a few hours every week.

Bob Kay (Philadelphia), dedicated these many years to the idea of ending the testing of schoolchildren, suggests doing most if not all educating by stimulating young minds in different ways that promote curiosity and self-esteem. “Just 31% of US college seniors are proficient in reading,” he notes, and that’s “down 40% from 10 years ago.

China, meanwhile, is beginning to emphasize curiosity, creativity, self-esteem, and cooperative learning as we often see in home/unschooling situations.” He calls for replacing classroom drudgery by exposing kids to really interesting stuff from daily newspapers—news, sports, human interest, for instance. It’s been shown to work, he says. He cites www.Invitational.Education.net.

Here’s hoping many ’niners will seize the opportunity to report on themselves electronically.

You can do it by going online to community.nmh-

school.org and using the magazine notes link to make the needed connection.

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JANET-MARIE FITZGERALD WHITLEY 6794 Willow Rd Vacaville CA 95687 janwhitley@aol.com ROBERT C. WHITE 100 Old Amherst Rd Sunderland MA 01375-9558 rcwhite@admin.umass.edu

From Jan: BettyJane (BJ) Graves Porter got a call this spring from Jane Heywood Brown, who was traveling with her sister through the South visiting friends and family and golfing, that she heard a pipe bomb had detonated in a neighborhood in Vacaville. They were concerned with my safety. It didn’t happen near us, but it was a block from my fireman grandson Brian, who evacuated with his family to his mom’s. It turned out to be an isolated incident and not a terrorist plot. Thank you BJ and Janie for thinking about me.

Marion Clausen Gray shared her Christmas letter with me. Her sister Joan Clausen Vander Vliet ’48 was named Citizen of the Year for Franklin County MA and was honored at a breakfast for 450 at Deerfield Academy on 12/21/10.

Granddaughter Cathryn (9) sang with the Georgia Regional Girls Chorus at Orchestra Hall for 4 concerts with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and dance group. Cathryn underwent extensive foot surgery in Minneapolis and is a straight-A student at Cornerstone Christian Academy. Granddaughter Ally is a star athlete and in late ’10 made the volleyball club top traveling team for 12-yr-olds. She opted to return to public school in the gifted and talented program, making straight A’s also.

Barbara Bolger Collett writes that she is disappointed not to read more news in the magazine from our class. I am also disappointed. I do solicit news, but few of you have responded. Barbara is doing well. In Feb ’11 she attended grandson Bobby Gates’s wedding in Woodland TX. Watch for Bobby on the PGA Tour. Both he and his wife played for Texas A&M. Though he hasn’t won on the “Big Tour,” he did graduate from the nationwide tour, receiving his PGA card for ’11. Her twin brother David Bolger continues to be involved in communities in which he lives. He made recent donations to the Sarasota Hospital in FL and the Ridgewood Hospital in NJ. The Bolger family was in Sarasota earlier in ’11 for his involvement in the Ringling Museum. “I am proud of his generosity to the NMH schools as well.” We all are proud of him, Bobbie; he is such a great member of the Class of ’50.

Katherine Jente Siebel continues her life in LA, where she has 19 piano students. She has recitals in her home and has her students put on

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programs in her church. Katie is an accomplished pianist and also has a wonderful voice, which she uses as a choir member. Katie is an avid bird watcher and travels around the state to pursue her hobby. When we talked on 5/24/11, she was considering a mile drive to see the happenings with the Mississippi River, which was at flood stage.

Jean Cook Glidden continues to recover from her fall, and decided to hang up her realtor’s license for good.

As for me, Janet-Marie Fitzgerald Whitley, when I last wrote we were about to pour the foundation on our new country home. This week they are stuccoing the outside walls and installing drywall on the interior ones. We lost a lot of time with the excessive rain this winter. By the time you read this, we will be living in the house. Grandson Brian II started as a national forestry fireman recently and still works part time at 6 Flags as a supervisory EMT. He plans on entering paramedic school this fall. I was talked into not re-retiring in 12/10 and am currently on authorized leave without pay until further notice, as I am out of hours until 7/1. Those receiving state retirement are allowed a maximum of 960 hours a yr. I may get really retired someday. It’s only been 47 yrs and 7 mos.

Did not get much response to my request for info this time, so the result is another short column. Our 65th reunion is in ’15. The school pays all the expenses (except travel) for classes with 60+ yrs. Think about making your appearance. Two columns before this, I listed all our classmates who passed away “since graduation.” Somehow, it came out in the magazine as “since reunion.” Hope this finds you and yours happy and healthy.

From Bob: Again, we have Mark Jander to thank for his steadfast leadership in the campaign to keep the Class of ’50 supporting the fine progress NMH continues to make in its efforts to attract, support, and educate the worthy students who make up its diverse student body. In fact, his and his teams’ efforts caused us to exceed our class gift goal; at least on the financial side. I still lament that we haven’t done as well on moving toward our participatory goal, which should be at least equivalent to the number of years since we walked those paths on the hill. (We are far too short of that 60% mark.)

Sadly, as we reference the statistics pages of our magazine, the deaths column is including those from our class too often. In addition to Alan Morrison listed last time, we received belated notice that Lisle Kramer passed away 9/23/10. On a personal note, I was sad to see the name of Edwin “Skip” White ‘48 included, as the 2 of us spent time with “Blackie” baking in Gould Hall on the Northfield campus during summer conferences.

(That’s where we learned to break 4 eggs at a time with 2 hands and hit the large mixing bowl sitting in front of us.) His brother “Big Bo” White ’51 and cousin Harland Williams ’49 were also members of the summer conferences’ team. Along with our Northfield sisters, we also long for the success of C S Lewis College so that “our” Northfield campus is preserved and can still perform an educational mission.

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Previously, while Brad Abele was still with us, we learned that his dad, the captain of the USS Grunion submarine SS216, had gone down with all hands off Siska AK during World War II. Brad and his brothers were involved in trying to find its exact location on the ocean floor. They were successful, and I invite you to read the intriguing account at http://ussgrunion.com/. That electronic site is being continuously updated.

To quote Marv Kelley ’60: “Spring is the reward for being a New Englander. It is what most of us who live in New England believe. Here on campus, signs of spring are increasingly evident every day.” A visit to campus will attest to those memories, and believe it or not, the current campus is improving with age, and with its new additions is looking toward the future with positive anticipation, knowing that the “Head, Heart, and Hand” provide a solid foundation for living.

Marcus Mello shares that his frequent trips to Brazil are going to cease: he is moving to Rio permanently. Brazil is the largest producer of cattle in the world (and with more square miles than continental US). Maybe we can talk Marcus into giving us a tour with a steak/hamburger included for lunch.

Classmates worldwide, like Bruce Roberts in Venezuela, state that they look forward to receiving NMH Magazine and immediately go to the class news to “mentally reconnect” with old classmates. Are you failing to meet your responsibility to let such classmates reconnect with you? Let’s hear from you, even if it is secondhand, like the nice note that I received from Barbara Bolger Collett, who will be celebrating her and David’s birthday together (remember, twins) 8/12 as the new wing at the Sarasota Hospital is dedicated as the result of David’s continued philanthropy.

In a call from Mark, I’ve learned that Donald “Brownie” Brown, while heading to Louisville for square dancing last summer, got as far as CT and Walter Hirsch’s when he experienced a heart attack that landed him in the hospital for “33 days horizontal” followed by 19 days in rehab. He now has 2 new arteries in his lower legs and a “cleanedout neck artery,” which has interrupted his dancing for a while. Pete Lanoue stopped by for a short visit, which cheered him up considerably. We look forward to a future report, Brownie, telling us that you are completely mended and back at square dancing again. Glad to hear that Walt and Pete were able to be around. After this visit, Pete called in with a suggestion: when any of us is out on a trip, make time to stop in to have a chat with a classmate wherever/whenever it might be—it’s a win/win opportunity. (If you need the name/address of a classmate where you might be, contact the alumni office or me, and we’ll provide it: plan ahead.)

Also, we are pleased that there are class contacts even when we don’t know about them. To facilitate such interaction, the alumni office has introduced a new service that allows classmates to send their own notes directly online. Go to the NMH alumni homepage (www.nmhschool.org/alumni). If you need help, contact Sally Atwood Hamilton ’65 (shamilton@nmhschool.org).

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

Reunion ’11 is over, but wonderful memories remain. Unfortunately, the sun chose to shine elsewhere, so our weather ranged from cloudy and damp to downright wet. Speaking for one who lives far from “the noble river,” it is always a treat to return to NMH and renew friendships, rain or shine.

Eighteen of us attended for most of the weekend. A highlight for our class was the presentation of the Alumni Citation Award to Shirley Vanderpool Romoser at the Annual Convocation. Shirley has served us well as class gift chair for many years. Due to her efforts and your responses, our class has always met or exceeded its goal. Shirley continues to be involved in numerous volunteer activities in her community and church. In her spare time, she created our centerpieces for the tables at the class banquet Sat night.

Congratulations, and thank you Shirley.

I had planned to highlight a bit of each of us at reunion but soon discovered a recurrent theme in all of our lives. Like Shirley, we are active in multiple volunteer activities in our churches and communities. All aspects of society are addressed and benefit, from the very young to seniors, from the impoverished to the illiterate, from the hungry to the ill and dying. We serve in our churches and schools, teach, sing, travel, read, garden, and, of course, enjoy grandchildren. In general, we seem to have embraced the ideals of “head, heart, and hand” after leaving Northfield. I, for one, am proud to be a member of such a group.

Skip Smith Noll presented a beautiful memorial service in honor of our 40 deceased classmates, 10 since reunion ’06. After the service, we enjoyed talking and sharing our lives during and after our years at Northfield. If you would like more information, please email me and I will try to fill you in. Jonni Audette Feige led our class meeting at which we donated our banked treasury monies to the class reunion gift. By mutual assent, class business meetings are history.

Our class gift monies were given in honor of Al Raymond, who led us in song and gave us all the gift of music. Thanks to the Mt Hermon reunion team’s efforts, a plaque from NMH ’51 has been placed in Raymond Hall in the Rhodes Art Center.

We held a short, memorable dedication at this location prior to our class banquet.

Notes from those unable to attend: Jean Elliot Nobbe writes that they have spent many years traveling the country in an RV but are now “parked” in Walnut Creek CA. Dayton and Margo Peabody Thorne have decided to dispense with a 2nd home in AZ and stay in Gardnerville NV. Diana Lowe Chang is busy with the “head, heart, and hand” in Honolulu HI. Betty Eaby Taggart sends love and best wishes to all. Nancy Maker was involved with planned family commitments

and sent special greetings to her old East Hall pals.

Audrey Sewell Moore has moved to NC, where she enjoys free time after retiring as a postmaster.

Jan Swanson Burbank has retired from nursing and moved to the resort community of Chelan WA. Originally a volunteer in hospice care, she was led by her background in social work to a paid job through which she has the privilege of enhancing the end-of-life experience for those in hospice.

Amy Rhodes Cummings sends greetings from England. She writes that her late husband credited Northfield with every asset in Amy, “from child raising to independent thought and stamina, as well as having unlimited time for every lame duck whose feet came up our path.” I will save more specific news of those who attended reunion for the next column.

Our Northfield campus is being well cared for by the C S Lewis Foundation. Sage Chapel repair and renovation is complete and absolutely beautiful.

All buildings are to remain architecturally intact as we knew them—just repaired, cleaned, and brought up to date with 21st-century technology. NMH is in good hands with the interim head of school Charles Tierney. In spite of the economy, NMH is financially stable and enjoying full enrollment.

I would love to hear from you with questions or news. Cheers.

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

Camaraderie. Renewing friendships. Singing with gusto, and remembering our beloved music director, the late Al Raymond, with a memorial gift and plaque.

These, and a bit of rain, were highlights of our 60th reunion, June 9–12, on the Mt Hermon campus, now the site of Northfield Mount Hermon School. Boy has time flown. Most of the 26 of us were housed in Shea House, one of the newer cottages between Memorial Chapel and Ford Cottage (formerly the president’s house) for this reunion.

We shared the quarters with some of the 18 Semites who returned.

Charlie Tierney, interim head of school, joined

Plaque honoring Al Raymond was given by the Classes of ’51 at reunion.

Bill Butler ’51, left, and Bruce Muller ’51 at reunion. us during the dedication at Al Raymond Hall. Bob MacFadyen played 3 recordings of music we sang under Mr Raymond’s direction, from vespers, Sacred Concert, and the Mikado. Several members of the class spoke highly of our memories of Al Raymond, his music, personal leadership, and quiet spirit.

For some Hermon men, this was the 1st time they have returned to the hill in those 60 years. It was so for Bruce Muller and Stan Poole, although both have visited the campus at other times—Bruce because his daughter Brita Muller Boer ’86 and granddaughter Danielle Kratter ’06 attended the school, and Stan because he visited family in the area and stopped in. Bob Burnham drove his 34-foot motor home from NH to reunion and joined us for meals and events.

Our singing was exuberant during social hour before our top-notch dinner in Beveridge Hall, a facility being built in the spring of our senior year.

Several times we raised our voices, with much gusto, as we sang the familiar “When freshmen first . . .” We didn’t have to remember the words, they were printed neatly on the 4 sides of the room, just down from the ceiling. What a neat idea—the words on the wall.

Golf carts driven by NMH staff and students were put to good use by our class members, especially because of the Thurs, Sat, and Sun rains.

During the Sun morning Alumni Service of Worship and Remembrance, 14 of our classmates were listed among those who have died in the past

Bob Owen ’51, class president, left, and Bob MacFadyen ’51, reunion chairman.

5 years. At choir practice before the service, we sang Happy Birthday to John Bassette’s wife Ruth and to Charlie Hume. We also sang the birthday song for Dan Chu at our class dinner.

A couple of comments caught my attention.

Bill Butler said he had been to 3 reunions at different sites over a 2-week period this spring and said the NMH reunion was by far the best organized and the best run. Ed Richter said he felt newly invigorated and enthusiastic about the school after reunion, and also said he sensed a return to “core values” by those at the school.

From Henderson NV, Larry Levine writes that “life has been great and busy” since he retired to Las Vegas 15 years ago. He set up a tennis league of 35 players, 3 days a week, and still plays and has become a life master at bridge. His younger daughter was to get married in Oct in CA, his older daughter lives in Minneapolis, and his autistic son has a good living and working situation in MN. He was sorry to have missed reunion but had only recently been “back east” for 10 days for a grandson’s graduation.

We were saddened to learn of the death on 3/15/11 of Davis “Bugs” Rohl at his FL home from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was a 4-year Hermon man, lettered in soccer and lacrosse, and sang in every group, including Triple Quartet. He graduated from Cornell and served in the US Army and reserves. He spent his early career in cosmetics manufacturing with Avon, Dana Perfumes, and Estée Lauder. In 1980 he moved to FL and began a career in real estate as owner/ broker of Del Mar Realty in Hobe Sound. He also served the community, including the Friends of the Hobe Sound Library and as a board member and past president of the Martin County Taxpayers Association. He is survived by Irell, his wife of 46 years, and 4 sons.

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JULIE TAYLOR CLEMENS 2258 Lamberton Rd Cleveland Heights OH 44118-3552 jtclemens@cs.com BRUCE G. HOLRAN 80 Sycamore Dr, Apt 313 Elizabethtown PA 17022-3016 (10/1–5/31) PO Box 293 Lake Clear NY 12945 (6/1–9/30) bruceholran@comcast.net

From Julie: This news will be sent out in a class mailing through NMH and then will be used for the fall magazine, so those needing “snail mail” will receive it as well.

This week an email from Mel Smith caused shock waves for many of our classmates, especially those who have attended the Oct mini-reunions.

Brad Roberts called Mel with the sad news that his wife Nancy Stewart Roberts had a stroke while visiting family in CA. Nan is exercising daily, and it is helping her recovery, but her memory is still a

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problem after 3 weeks in the hospital. They hoped to return to CT in June. Nan and Brad’s 2 sons have been helping in CA, and they have daughters who can help when they get to CT. Those of you who don’t attend the minis will not be aware of what a mainstay Nancy has been to the planning and shopping for the lobster dinner. She has been the Northfield rep to all the Hermonites and spouses who originally began that ritual. Brad has become a true member of the group with his photography of the gatherings. Nan lovingly took care of Brad through his cancer and even came once by herself in order to take pictures when Brad couldn’t. Her spirit of support and caring is monumental and all-encompassing. Our hearts go out to her and the family in this time of distress. Such a determined and positive-minded person probably has a better chance of recovery than most. The address for cards is: 36 North Glenwood Rd, Gates Ferry CT 06335. Brad says he and Nancy “will be attending the mini, even if he has to carry” her.

Several classmates have been reading the class notes, and it made them realize how much delight there is in knowing about the lives of the others from ’52. Here is their news.

Ruth “Pete” Murdick Walker writes: “I have wonderful memories of my 4 years at Northfield and hope to spend some time at our 60th reunion.”

Ruth worked for the federal government, moving from PA to MA and buying a “little house on my own.” Then she started square dance lessons to meet others outside of work. “I quickly got involved in a very large family of square dancers” and they traveled to conventions—even Bermuda and Hawaii. “After almost 16 years of dating Dick Walker, we married and now live in East Longmeadow MA.” They still square dance and are officers of their local club. Ruth gardens, quilts, and regularly visits her sister Joanne Murdick Noyes ’47 in Camden ME. She travels to PA to visit son, daughter, and grandchildren. Her grandson, who is chef at the Biltmore in NC, presented Ruth with her first great-grandchild last winter.

Diana “Pooh” Fuller Sears reports that she has “embarked on a personal adventure—building a house.” Diana purchased rural/forested creekside property adjacent to her daughter. Over the last 18 months, Diana has been deciding between buying and building. Husband Bill is in a facility that specializes in Alzheimer’s dementia some 50 miles away. His illness and her need to “occupy my 76-yr-old brain” led to the decision. “Always thought about building a house—from mansion to ranch and now it’s a 2-bedroom cottage. My children are fabulous in walking me through the permitting for well, septic, road, etc. I’m looking forward to a sun room and expect to enjoy it yearround, even in the OR rain. My view is reminiscent of the one Jean Munro Bedell and I had from Holton Hall freshman year, looking north up the river toward Brattleboro. This one looks toward Mt Hebo in the Coast Range. There’s a resident turkey couple on the acreage and a bear. Hopefully, the latter will move back into the hills when I take up residence.” Diana admits that it’s an emotional

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wrench to leave the beach and areas she and Bill shared, but it’s a good thing in that their children will worry less about her. “It’s a win/win—I give up a bit of independence to keep most of it. The distance to see Bill remains the same—55 miles.”

Pooh sends her best wishes to classmates as she builds her “House at Pooh Corner.”

Another classmate talks of extensive travels and adds her news and travels with her husband of 52 years, Tom Beers. Judy Richardson Beers writes: “We usually take a trip in Sept and ’10 was among the best. We flew from NYC to Capetown, South Africa, and enjoyed 5 days there, including a day trip to the Cape of Good Hope. Then we flew to Zambia and Victoria Falls, then flew into Botswana for a 9-day safari. We had luxurious accommodations at 3 different bush camps, saw animals galore in the wild from our Land Rover, and met wonderful people. Africa tugs at our hearts and souls—the people, the landscape, and their problems.” Judy visits daughter and family in Dallas twice a year and sometimes at Christmas. She also visits Mary “Sudsy” Sutherland Adams ’54 (Diana’s college, Syracuse ’58), who lives nearby and is raising a grandson (17). Other ties to ’52 and Syracuse include Audrey Haeberle Krois and Winnie Bogardus Luche. Judy is still active in their business, Sudberry House, and has lots of energy, helped by Pilates and yoga classes 4 days a week.

Your scribe Julie Taylor Clemens and husband Drew just returned from a 55th reunion (I mistakenly said 60th in the last letter to the class) at Mt Holyoke College. It was especially nice to see Northfield classmates Arlene Bailey Prince (Seattle) and Libby Barrett-Connor (CA). We wondered why we hadn’t been able to convince Nancy Stuart Philippi and Mary Newman McMahon to attend as well. Libby gave a delightful talk on recent news in the medical world about aging and what one should do (exercise) and eat (now whole milk has some good attributes, as do chocolate and caffeine—all taken in moderate amounts, of course). Arlene and I exchanged family news, then went to the alumnae office for college catalogs (for my granddaughter and for Arlene’s college recommendations and counseling work). A questionnaire was passed out for some thoughtful thinking about where we are in life. “How old are you?” “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” “What is old?” “What would you have done if you had chosen a different life path?” Libby helped produce the questions. The instructions said: “Questions are meant to be fun with no correct answers.” Will Libby use this in her research on aging? There was even time to take in some memorabilia to the alumnae office: an original newspaper article about my mother skiing at Mt Holyoke in the ’20s.

It was well worth the effort to drive from OH to MA and then to our cottage on Lake Chautauqua for the last day of Memorial Day Weekend.

Now let’s hear about other college reunions and your experiences. Did you see the people you really wanted to see again? Did you meet new and unusual classmates you didn’t know well before?

Did you have time to renew your acquaintance with the college campus and/or faculty? Did your class get together for a big sing? (They did last year at Drew’s Wesleyan U in CT.) Was there any kind of memorial service for class members who have died?

There’s so much to share in the way of news and experiences. Don’t hesitate to write; it encourages others to enter the exchange and communicate with past friends from the Northfield years.

Please give NMH your new address and email if there is a change. Without your email, you won’t receive the many letters being sent through the NMH office to the class between magazines. There have been 4 long class letters sent since 1/11. If you haven’t received these, let me know and I’ll be sure the office gets the proper address.

Remember our 60th NMH reunion—June 8–10, 2012.

Take care and keep in touch.

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WILL LANGE 1309 Towne Hill Rd E Montpelier VT 05651-4143 willem.lange@comcast.net

ABBY “AJ” NICHOLSON HODGES 2300 Totem Trail Minnetonka MN 55305-2242 ajhodges@comcast.net

From Will: Dick Beers wrote in mid-Mar to say that Bobbi Wilson Merkl was in OR to be with her youngest daughter, who’d just had her 1st child. Dick and Bobbi are tentatively planning a trip to NE this fall.

Bob Chutter’s wife Aileen broke bones in her lower leg during the winter. But Bob wrote in Apr: “Three months to the day, Aileen was freed from her nearly constant foot cast . . . She has new HI hiking boots and uses a cane when out and about and seems to be more comfortable each day with her movements. She will continue with PT and we see her surgeon in mid-May. She has reclaimed part of the kitchen and I expect to be given the total ‘boot’ shortly. Since our spring has yet to spring, we’ll enjoy it even more now with her expanded scope of coverage. We’ve planned a fall celebration with a trip to Turkey and maybe more.”

Stewart Crawford ’53 was featured in the spring issue of the MIT alumni magazine.

Rene Gonzales, who lives in AL, wrote to Bev Bolton Leyden on 4/29: “Missed 1 [tornado] by 10 miles, another by 2 miles. This did give me serious butterflies, but all is well with me. The devastation is unbelievable—as of now over 400 still missing in 2 communities. In true American spirit, we are not waiting for the feds. We are all neighbors down here, even if you live 100 miles away.

Volunteers, churches are on the move. Healing will not be overnight.”

My old roomie Stewart Crawford was featured in the spring issue of the MIT alumni magazine in an article about his passion for old cars and an early job chauffeuring an elderly lady about Boston. When we visit him at his summer place in Keene Valley NY, we ride around in his 1940 Cadillac sedan.

Ida and I continue well and busy, she with multiple activities at church and I with my writing, speaking, and trying to get the house finished while I can still work. This summer my group of friends and I will take yet another canoe trip to the Arctic coast of Canada.

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DENNIS KELLY 668 Main Ave Bay Head NJ 08742-5346 dskelly007@gmail.com BE JAY FROEHLICH HILL 747 Water St Apt 349 Framingham MA 01701-3236 bhill24@juno.com DAN FRICKER 165 King St Waterville CQ, Canada J0B 3H0 dcfricker@hotmail.com MARGEE WELLS NEWELL 72 Matthew Dr Brunswick ME 04011-3275 jmnewell3@yahoo.com

From Margee: Jim and I just got back from singing in Sacred Concert. The Northfield campus looks beautiful and it’s wonderful to be able to go inside the chapel again.

Nicky Nichols Boday sent me a note sharing the sad news of the death of her roommate Priscilla “Pebbles” Bruns Glander on 11/7/10 after a year-long battle with cancer. After receiving her doctorate from U of Hawaii in ’81, she moved to CA, where she continued her research in pharmacology. After retiring in ’95, she moved back to Honolulu. She remained active playing competitive tennis and bridge. She loved travel, exploring the world, and visiting family and friends. Rennie Williams McLean wrote that she and Pebbles “lived on the same floor in West Gould, remained friends, spent a few days together in San Francisco not too long ago, and planned to take the NMH cruise around the Horn.” But the cancer diagno-

sis came instead. I’m sure each of you join me in sending sympathy to her family.

We also have had a tough 6 months with the death of our much-loved daughter-in-law late in 12/10 and the death of Jim’s brother in 2/11. In addition, we left our NJ home of 40 years and moved into Thornton Oaks, a retirement community in Brunswick ME. It has been fun to reconnect with Phyllis Gansz Greene, a math teacher in our era, as well as one of our class teachers. She and husband Sam Greene, who also taught math at MH, live across the street from us.

Tobi Scheinblum-Freund writes: “Sadly, my beloved husband Gene died in 12/08 after a heroic struggle with kidney failure.” As a class we send our love and sympathy. Tobi and Gene had sold their home and moved into a retirement community closer to medical facilities. It’s been a difficult adjustment for Tobi, and she’s not certain she will remain there. In ’09, Tobi and Jean Gammie Ridge took a trip to Italy. Tobi also accompanied sister Esther Scheinblum Yeck ’68 and her husband on a drive through Ireland. In Feb ’11, Tobi and sister Sondra Scheinblum Kay ’51 attended an NMH get-together in FL with Tom Sturtevant.

“I have become increasingly accepting and at peace with the decision to vacate the Northfield campus.”

Suzanne Buckson Crowder and husband Jim have also moved into a retirement community, Broadmead in Cockeysville MD, where they have run into several people with NMH connections.

They continue to be active in their parish church and are very active at Broadmead. Suzanne writes: “I think of serving in these ways much like our responsibility to do dummy at Northfield in that all of us are responsible for doing the things necessary for the community to function well. Our 4 children (all NMH graduates) have visited us and thanked us for making this move so they will not have to manage our care from CO, MN, and VA.” Mary Ann Bond Gebhart retired from Sears in ’99. Her last position was manager of an inhome-decorator—one of the tops in the country. In ’73 she was divorced and raised 5 children alone and alone put them all through college, “a huge accomplishment in my life.” She has traveled throughout the world and visited 49 of our 50 states, not OK, plus several Canadian provinces and Mexico. Mary Ann volunteers at a local correctional prison for teenage girls and sings in her church choir.

Cathy Olney Irzyk writes: “After 26 years of military life, Bob retired and we spent the next 20 in CA.” She had a long, satisfying career as a critical care nurse and is now a hospice volunteer and enjoys that equally. In ’05, Cathy and Bob moved back east into the house where she grew up in Dunstable MA. They were avid sailors in CA, cruising the coasts of AL and BC in the summer. Now they are boatless but planning a trip to England, Ireland, and Scotland in Sept. Cathy says “I plan to attend my first reunion in ’14, God willing.”

I also heard from Kathy Hoey Thompson, who spoke of a really tough course she took at Northfield as well as several others that she loved.

And like all of us, she emphasized the singing. By the time you read this, it will be late Dec or early Jan ’12. Keep in mind that our 60th reunion is scheduled for ’14. Meanwhile, don’t forget the Annual Fund.

BeJay Froelich Hill has moved to an apartment in Framingham MA. Please continue to send news to either of us.

From Dennis: With this letter I have very sad news to report. Our good friend, ever-loyal classmate, and Mt Hermon guy Dick Hubbard passed away 7/14/11 from vascular problems.

Dick was from Springfield MA and spent 4 years on the “hill.” He played football, was a swimmer, and played tennis. Dick roomed next to me in Crossley, and we became and remained good friends over the past 58 years, always sharing wonderful memories. He went on to Northeastern and then earned an MBA from Columbia. He married Marjorie, started his business career, and settled in Woodbury CT. Their daughter Kristin Hubbard also graduated from NMH in ’84. Dick always came back to every reunion and generously contributed to our McVeigh Scholarship Fund and the general fund. A memorial service was held 7/19 at the North Woodbury Congregational Church in North Woodbury, which unfortunately I was not able to attend. He is survived by wife Marjorie and daughter Kristin, and son Andrew, plus a collection of grandchildren. We will all miss Dick’s extraordinary good humor and friendship, and express our deep condolences to his family.

This past winter Ed Snyder came down to Hilton Head Island for a visit. I have a rental home there where I go in the winter months to “maintain” the place. Ed came over one evening and we all went out to dinner along with Suzie Craig Hastings, who was also renting a home nearby.

Ed’s son Zack Snyder has become a very successful movie producer and director in Hollywood.

In April, I saw Phil McKean at the D L Moody Society reception held at the Yale Club in NYC. Phil is leaving his beautiful home in Cushing ME to move to CA to be nearer his son Tom, who lives in Santa Barbara, but Phil is going to keep his home in Cushing as a summer place. I can understand beating it out of ME in the winter months as beautiful as ME is. While at the Moody Society reception, we both approached Head of School Tom Sturtevant to insist that our class tree be replanted to its original position on the path leading up to the chapel. Mr Sturtevant said he would see that it was done.

I saw Stan Peck in Apr at a reception for wife Nancy, who was exhibiting her recent paintings at the Glen Rock NJ library. Nancy attended the Art Students League in NYC and has become quite an accomplished painter. Stan and Nancy then rented my neighbor’s big old house here in Bay Head NJ for 2 weeks in July for a place at the shore for their extended family. They were so busy that we were only able to get together once for dinner at our local yacht club. Stan asked me to thank all the folks in our class who have been such loyal phone callers, raising money for NMH’s Annual Fund as well

Fall | 2011 CLASS NOTES 59

Ed Snyder ’54, Suzie Craig Hastings ’54, and Dennis Kelly ’54 at Hilton Head Island SC. as our McVeigh Scholarship Fund. Kudos to those callers, who include Jay Crawford, Dave Jansky,

Dave Lloyd, Phil McKean, Curt Ormond, Bob Salisbury, and Ed Sundt. They just wish that

more of us could contribute, as the funds are an important part of NMH’s revenue.

I spoke with both Dave Jansky and Dex Jones this past spring to see if I could persuade them to return to the 75thth anniversary party for the Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club in Oceanport NJ. When we were kids, we all sailed small 14' sloops at the club in the late ’40s and early ’50s, and the club was encouraging early members to return for the affair. Unfortunately, Dave and Dex were unable to attend but they should know they missed a wonderful party. Dave mentioned that he had talked with John Ostrom, who lives in Falmouth MA on the Cape. John’s wife passed away a short time ago, but he plans to be at our 60th reunion.

I was able to track down Al Wakeman recently. Al moved from FL to Southern Pines NC, and he is still in the real estate business. Al plans to be back at our 60th reunion.

Last Feb I received a nice letter from Jim Fannin, who reports that he has left health-care admin and has joined his wife’s historic preservation consulting firm, Fannin–Lehner Preservation Consultants in Concord MA. The firm specializes in gravestone/monument condition assessment and actual conservation of historic monuments.

Jim has no plans of retiring, as he is having too much fun. He plans to be at reunion.

I had a recent conversation with Toni diStefano Norton, who lives in Boston but was summering at their place in the country in Acton MA with husband John. She is in good health, and John was planning a sailing trip.

Cathy Olney Irzyk moved back to her childhood home in Dunstable MA about 60 miles northwest of Boston. Husband Bob was in the military for 26 years, and they moved all over the place, but after he retired they lived outside of San Francisco for 20 years. While in CA, they owned a 42' trawler yacht that they cruised to British Columbia and AK. Cathy roomed with Suzie Craig Hastings while at Northfield and also roomed with her in college at UNH. Cathy promises she will be at our 60th.

Bob Salisbury sadly called to inform me of

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Dick Hubbard’s passing. Bob lives on his farm in upstate NY but plans to spend the coming winter in Vero Beach FL, having had his fill of digging out of 75" of snow. It seems about half the population of the little village of Bay Head NJ where I live spends the winter in Vero Beach, and I occasionally get down to visit with old friends, so maybe I’ll see Bob this winter.

Thank you all for your generous donations to the Fred McVeigh Scholarship Fund. The current book value as of 12/31/10 was $154,615 and a market value of $165,850; it just keeps growing thanks to all of you. Every year we receive a thankyou note from the recipient of the scholarship.

Fred would be very proud.

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DONALD HILLER 102 Javelin Ct Cary NC 27513-5110 dhiller@nc.rr.com LISA TUTTLE EDGE 1110 Cooperskill Rd Cherry Hill NJ 08034 (11/1–5/31) 180 Main St Chatham MA 02633-2424 (6/1–10/31) etedge@aol.com

DON FREEMAN 23 Avery Brook Rd, PO Box 132 Heath MA 01346-0132 d.freeman4@verizon.net

From Don: Mimi and Rich Rice have been boating in the Bahamas on their 30-foot Gemini catamaran. They saw Sampson Cay in the Exumas, continued to Eleuthera, and returned through the Okeechobee Canal to St Petersburg. Mimi and Rich have started a radio theatre program that does new and classical scripts before a live audience that are recorded by WMNF in Tampa and then played on the air Sun nights at 9. “The nice thing about radio performance,” Rich writes, “is that age doesn’t matter for casting and lines don’t have to be memorized. Great attributes for old folks.” Rich reports that our classmate Bill Svanoe

Ernie Imhoff ’55 is third from the right in the Remembering the Newsboys Band.

was on Oprah Winfrey’s 50th anniversary tribute to the Freedom Riders, which aired 5/4/11.

Don Freeman reports that after 59 years he finally got to sing a tenor solo at Sacred Concert, performing the Gloria from the Beethoven Mass in C with the NMH choirs and 3 other alumni soloists. At the concert he was joined by Al Smiley in representing the Class of ’55. Don also is celebrating the birth on 3/1/11 of his first grandson, Paxton Cho Freeman, to son Roger and daughterin-law Mi-Sun. Judy and Ben Lindfors took a 6-week junket through Switzerland, France, and England in the spring of ’11 so Ben could collect more documentation on performances by Ira Aldridge, a 19thcentury black actor whose biography he is writing.

Africa World Press recently published Ben’s Early East African Writers and Publishers.

Sharon and Dick Fitts entertained Marv Kelley ’60 (brother of our classmate Ray Kelley) for lunch in early ’11. Dick was invited to NMH in May for a luncheon in honor of the scholarship fund that our class initiated and contributed to for our 50th reunion. Al Smiley was there as well, along with at least 100 alums and many scholarship students.

Ron Sewell writes that he is still working and helping his marketing communications clients endure the stressful economic times. He and Brenda have moved back to Davidson NC. You can reach him at ronaldnbrenda11@gmail.com.

Ernie Imhoff writes with an interesting Baltimore story: “On 7/4/1924, a Chesapeake Bay excursion boat, the Three Rivers, caught fire off Cove Point in MD killing 10 people. The tragedy was especially acute since 5 were teenage members of a popular Baltimore Evening Sun newsboys band whose players delivered the paper, performed music in concerts on land and at sea, promoted the newspaper, and were led once by John Philip Sousa. Amid much civic grief (and politicians), the 5 boys were buried at Loudon Park Cemetery, Baltimore, near the place where the Evening Sun’s H L Mencken would be buried later. For 10 years the Evening Sun paid homage with flowers and then the boys were forgotten.

“I wrote a column about the tragedy 70 years later for the Evening Sun, where I worked for 36 years. We decided to keep remembering while we were still around. So at 9 am each July 4 for 16 consecutive years, some ex-Evening Sun reporters and editors come equipped to recall the boys we never knew. We gather at the 5 tombstones, lay flowers at the memorial sculpture of Pan, the Greek God of music with his panpipe, raise and sip a little single malt scotch, and toast the lads, ages 13, 13, 15, 15, and 17. It was reported they delivered the paper on time and played their music well.

“Our newspaper itself was killed in 1995, leaving just the sister paper, the morning Sun, so we also mourn the Evening Sun. To be sure, we friends also get to gossip, exchange news, tell a few lies, and on occasion, look silly. One year I made news-

Mimi and Rich Rice ’55 near Sampson Cay, Exumas, Bahamas. paper pressmen’s hats for all. We think the newsboys would have liked that.”

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NELSON LEBO 1046 Millers Falls Rd Northfield MA 01360-9622 nlebo@nmhschool.org

DEBBY ADAMS MCKEAN 633 Leyden Ln #203 Claremont CA 91711 deborah_mckean39@gmail.com

From Deborah: One week has passed since my husband Phil McKean ’54 and I returned from my 55th reunion at NMH, enough time for us both to process this memorable experience and for me to hear from a few classmates about their own impressions of the weekend.

Before hearing their voices, I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to Dorrie Krakower Susser, reunion cochair with John McClintock, and Benita Pierce, reunion gift chair(we met our reunion goal of $20,000), as well as the following members of the Northfield ’56 reunion committee, of which I was honored to be a member: Sue Chandler, Lynda Gregorian

Christian, Betsy Tanger Eggleston, Jill Ayers Gilbert, Fiona MacKinnon, Judy Fellows Nelson, Caro Woolley Peterson, Joan Hendrickson Rogers, Elaine Tetreault Smith, and Evie Walsh Stevenson. Led by Dorrie and

Benita, in cooperation with the NMH staff, this committee provided us with a wonderful introduction to NMH as it is thriving today, as well as plenty of opportunities to visit with one another.

Classmates and their guests (in parentheses) present at reunion were: Deborah Adams McKean (Phil), Ruth Ann Fredenthal, Lynda Gregorian Christian (John), Priscilla Klein Zink, Dorothy Krakower Susser, Benita Pierce, Elaine Tetreault Smith (Bill), Evelyn Walsh Stevenson (David), and Caro Woolley Peterson (Peter).

Dorrie reports a “bang-up off-campus Italian dinner” on Thurs evening at a mountaintop restaurant in nearby Bernardston, where 14 Hermonites and their guests joined the Northfield contingent, as well as our honorary classmates

Marggie Slichter ’84, Josie Rigby, and Sue Clough, all members of the NMH alumni and advancement staff. She characterizes the dinner as “a dynamite way to renew old acquaintances and begin bonding with new friends.”

Fiona MacKinnon, who lives in Bowling Green OH, was unable to attend but helped with the solicitation of our class gift to the Annual Fund. She reports some welcome improvement in the symptoms of a chronic auto-immune disease known as polymyalgia rhuematica, which has caused her great difficulty in walking in recent years. She was, however, able to travel to Nepal and Bhutan, fortified by pain pills and antibiotics, and enjoyed a rafting trip, an oxcart ride, a flight to see Everest, Fishtail, and the Himalayas, and sightseeing on an elephant, all without walking.

She reports that Betsy Tanger Eggleston was in Bhutan at the same time, studying the weaving, fabric, and arts of the Bhutanese. (Betsy, if you read this, we’d love to hear more about your own trip and the study you have been doing there.)

Ruth Ann Fredenthal will remember our 55th reunion for the opening-night dinner; a class on “The Middle East Today” given by NMH faculty member Ted Thornton; the Fri evening hymn sing in the chapel; the “wonderful food”; riding to reunion with Priscilla “Kip” Klein Zink; taking a side trip to the Northfield campus with Lynda and John Christian; and hanging out with classmates at meals, receptions, and in the late evenings in the new MacKinnon dormitory, recently constructed along “cottage row” near the chapel and looking out across the valley.

Kip reports having traveled extensively with husband Donald in recent years. They have planned 1 major trip a year, to Antarctica, the Amazon, and Africa. Though she feels “traveled out,” she would “still like to see Russia and the British Isles before the money runs out.” Kip visited her children and grandchildren in NJ before reunion, looks forward to returning there in Oct, and “returning to NJ one of these days to stay, as I am a NJ girl at heart.”

Elaine Tetreault Smith, who lives in Sarasota FL and summers on Bailey’s Island ME, writes of the opportunity she and Bill had to crew on the Stars and Stripes, one of the retired America’s Cup 12-meter yachts now located in the waters of St Maarten. “Each of us had a job to do for an actual race course, which at times was very exciting, especially when racing to the finish line.” Elaine particularly enjoyed the special luncheon for Northfield girls at our recent reunion, appreciating the recognition for Northfield’s part in the school’s history.

Lynda Gregorian Christian and John have recently moved to a condo in Burlington MA. “The house is delightful, but it is challenging to find places for everything.” In June, Lynda gave a talk in San Jose CA on “Lincoln’s Sanitary Commission,” the title of a booklet she has recently written about the commission that was established to provide an improved quality of medical care for the wounded of the Civil War. The occasion was the display of a wax doll with all her dresses and accessories that

sold in 1864 at a Sanitary Fair in NY. Over 100 people attended, and the event raised $18,000 for the Veterans Administration.

My own news is that Phil and I have moved from ME to Claremont CA, where we will live at Pilgrim Place, a long-established intentional retirement community for those who had careers in the church or in nonprofit charitable orgs. This spring Phil retired from his job as dir of planned giving at the PenBay Healthcare system, and I retired as deacon in the Episcopal diocese of ME. We moved in late Apr, driving cross country to meet our moving van at our new condo on 5/17. We enjoyed our trip to CA, taking time to visit national parks and monuments and important historical family sites along the way. Son Tom, his partner Marq, and our grandson live in the Santa Barbara area, a 2-hr drive north, and we welcomed them to our new home. We will maintain our home in Cushing ME for the “foreseeable future” and will continue to enjoy summers on the ME coast. This was a big move, as you can imagine, but we look forward to the more forgiving winter climate while still finding winter sports within easy driving distance; the ability to walk year-round and become less dependent on cars; the ability to take classes at the Claremont Colleges and enjoy the offerings of a college community; and the opportunity to explore the western part of our great country.

Kristin Kellom ’80, NMH dir of donor relations, reported that during 2010–11 the Class of 1956 scholarship has been helping Casey, a sophomore from NY. Casey’s academic studies have included geometry, French II, world lit, 10th-grade health, world religions, world history, and biology I. She played varsity soccer, hockey, and softball.

I am saddened to report news of the deaths of two of our classmates within the past year. Alison Seeley Howard died at home of ovarian cancer in Berkeley CA on 8/16/10. She is survived by her sister Anne Seelye Stoltz ’53 and her daughters Esme Howard ’84 and Keridwen “Kerry” Howard Dahm ’78. Kerry writes: “If anyone does remember my mom, I would love to hear from them.” She can be reached at keridwen@comcast. net or 510-222-6830.

Carole Coleman Morning of NYC died 1/10/11 after a long illness. A graduate of Stanford with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, she moved to NYC in ’64, where she married graphic designer John Morning.

Carol became active in engineering affairs, serving as chair of the NY state board for engineering and land surveying, the state licensure agency.

Carol earned a second master’s in statistics from Columbia and in ’89 founded a consulting firm, Higher Education Extension Service, to help colleges and universities improve minority representation in engineering. She had 2 children and 5 grandchildren.

In closing, I would like to urge you to take advantage of a new service being provided for the NMH alumni community that will facilitate communication among alumni. To check it out, login to the alumni community at community.nmh-

Fall | 2011 CLASS NOTES 61

school.org. In the lefthand column, click on the link that says magazine notes. At the top of the next page, you’ll see a button that says: submit/ edit my NMH Magazine notes. Click on that and follow the directions to submit a note. To search all notes that have been submitted online, click on the NMH Magazine notes button and fill in the appropriate boxes to define your search. This site will not be an archive of notes published in the magazine. It will only display notes that alumni submit through the site. Direct any questions to class notes editor Sally Atwood Hamilton ’65 at shamilton@nmhschool.org.

Please send personal news or news of other N ’56 ers that you would like to share with your fellow classmates to me at deborah_mckean@msn.com.

From Nelson: Approximately 30 Mt Hermon and Northfield classmates, along with some spouses and 2 fiancés, attended our 55th reunion in June.

Highlights included a Thurs evening reception/ dinner at Bella Notte restaurant in Bernardston; an alumni college session moderated by Dick MacKinnon and John McClintock that asked: Compared to your plans and dreams at graduation, how did things work out (in your adult life?); the Fri evening hymn sing, during which we sang our new class hymn, “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah”; the Sat convocation during which John McClintock received an alumni citation for services to our class, the alumni council, and the school; our class was also honored for our gifts/ donations of over $300,000 this year; a gathering of Hermon classmates on senior rock to remember classmates now deceased, whose names were read followed by a moment of silence; the ’56 class meeting, at which John McClintock shared the essence of an hour-long phone conversation with Todd Duncan ’68; and an after-dinner session in MacKinnon Cottage with humorist Willem Lange ’53.

In other news, Paul Rothwell retired from the Air Force Research laboratory at Hanscom Air Force Base in eastern MA in July. Betsy and Bruce Zimmerli traveled with one of the Lindblad/ National Geographic Expedition ships in Mar to the Galápagos Islands. Bill MacKinnon has recently completed his term as president of a Mormon Historical Association. Neil Sheeley reports: “I am still playing tennis on Sat mornings and am still going to work during the week.

Figuring out solar puzzles is still interesting. Like most people our age, I am trying to keep up with all of the rapid changes in computers and the world in general, and having summer students helps a little bit in that direction. My latest experiment was to download the free Kindle software to see if I might like reading books electronically.

Although I may eventually give in and purchase an iPad or Kindle, I really still prefer to have an instantaneous overview of the entire book (by thumbing through it) than to scroll through multiple screens.”

Frank Thoms conducted a workshop with 60 MNH faculty last Jan. Hugh Silbaugh (academic dean) and Tom Sturtevant bought copies of his

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book, Teaching from the Middle of the Room: Inviting Students to Learn (Stetson Press, 2010) for each member of the faculty. Frank reports: “We had a lively workshop that included interesting exchanges during and after. I took time to sit in on the English department meeting as well.” Frank returned the following Mon for an overnight to work with new teachers, attend an all-school meeting, and a math department meeting, among other happenings.

Although retired, Carol and I continue our very close connection to NMH. We live 2 miles from campus in Northfield and attend many events, concerts, contests etc. We tutor students in math (Carol) and chemistry (Nelson). Carol is a member of several school-related committees and acts as an occasional consultant to the school. I still retain my locker in the faculty locker room in Forslund gym and take advantage of the fitness center, track, and woodland trails. We live in a special place.

And finally, you know the term shipping and handling. We are the shippers and handlers for the new NMH book Lift Thine Eyes. If you haven’t done so, purchase a copy soon by phone or online at the NMH website. I’ll even write a special hello note on the box.

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DAVID C WILLIAMS PO Box 6 Alton NH 03809-0006 revdcwms@metrocast.net

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

From Barb: It’s with sadness that I report on the passing of classmates Nan Pauley Johnston and Phyllis Behuniak Bruce. (Contact Barb for more details.) Our hearts go out to their families.

Our 55th will be only a few months away when you read this. Here’s news from many who may attend. Martha Johnson, Judy Wagner

McKernon, Wendy Hsu Lee, Susanne Wright,

and Peg Wilson Taylor were at Peg’s wonderful B&B in KY for a 3d annual get-together. They enjoyed fun time but also explored how to age gracefully and productively. (They all exemplify that balance. And Marty has been so helpful to me, passing on what she learned from cocoordinating our last reunion.)

Ginger Roe Lang and John are safely in their new condo in Concord MA after 2 moves in a year.

Then they celebrated with a Rhine cruise. She and Jeanne Schwartz Magmer will hike together again this fall in Italy, Austria, and Slovenia. Ginger was pleased to hear from Weston roommate Carol English Diamond, who lives in Montpelier VT. Martha “Betty” Welsh Goldstone retired last year from teaching science in a Washington DC public school. She’s liked hearing positive things about NMH’s green initiative, and she wonders if 10 pm lights-out was just old-fashioned and

if we composted our leftovers? (I thought we had to finish them on Sat.) She and Don summer in Boothbay ME, where family is close by.

Many classmates attended 50th college reunions this year. Marianne Severance Parris lives in Pensacola Beach FL and headed for ME, seeing Sally Paine Ford, Martha Young Hansen, and Linda Shemwick Lindquist along the way, as they attended their respective Bostonarea events. Marianne raves about Linda’s B&B in Cambridge—a 2nd terrific B&B option for us all.

Kay Mingolla Wardrope headed for UVT and then planned to enjoy other northern events and friendships. Robin Foster Spaulding went back to Conn College, then on to a busy sailing season with extended family. And Joyce Moore Arthur came east early for Brown’s 50th..

In the spring Joyce and other members of the Gang of 5—Judy Clifford, Frela Owl Beck, Debby Chater Richman, and Marcia Damon Carpenter—met in AZ at Marcia’s home, then went on to her Gulf of CA cottage in Mexico. They continue to have mini-reunions in different parts of the country. Joyce still summers in CT and is involved with 55th planning, too.

Joy Goddard Knightly had East Marquand news: Sunni “Debby” Fraser Falconer simplified life by selling their NH camp but keeping it in the family. Her biggest joy is her first great-grandchild, blue-eyed Natalie Kate.

Peggy Johnston Quinn will retire soon and is taking painting lessons. Her daughter Molly will solo at the Berkshire Festival this summer, and her son is a painter in NY. Joan Kendall Hyer is restoring an acre of her land to reclaim its prairie past. Bill and Ellie Gross Pendleton took rigorous trips around Africa and to India. Ellie was able to build on her NMH class in comparative religions and appreciated new related learning. Joy herself is taking a quilting class and enjoys yearly family camping in Canada. Her grandson lived with them during his college year, and they all benefited from the experience.

Gail Minault headed north for her 50th and then went to Paris. In July she and I will meet other Northfield ’57 friends for fun and 55th reunion planning at her Smith classmate Sarah Drew Reeves’s NH home. Gail still loves her work and continues to teach at UT. Another Marquandite, Carole Coleman

Marquand friends from the Class of ’57 got together to celebrate their 70th birthdays: Marianne Severence Parris, Linda Shemwick Lindquist, Sally Paine Ford, and Martha Young Hansen.

Martha Johnson, Judy Wagner McKernon, Suzanne Wright, Peg Wilson Taylor, and Wendy Hsu Lee from the Class of ’57 got together at Peg’s B&B in KY.

Morning ’56, has passed on. She was my wonderful “cop” in Marquand when I was a shy newcomer.

She had been living in NYC, as does our classmate Norma Darden, who was her equally helpful roommate. What a great dorm I lucked into.

After the meeting at Sarah’s, my husband Sterling and I will vacation in ME/Canada, then return for more 55th planning with cocoordinator Paul Reyes and others during the weekend of Judy and Darrell Cooper’s annual ’57 NMH reunion and salmon roast, and we’ll take in the NMH lobster fest, too. Then we’ll visit old CT and NYC friends and relatives before driving back to TX. We’ll see you this coming June for our 55th.

Write the dates on your calendars now: 6/7–10/2012.

From David: Marshall Greenspan learned of the untimely passing of Bob Pease, our valedictorian, from their MIT class secretary. Bob died in a car accident on 6/18/11 in CA. Marshall writes: “Although I don’t remember what Bob said at our graduation, I do remember that it was full of humor and probably very different from any other valedictorian’s speech that Mt Hermon ever had. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I saw Bob at our 50th MIT reunion and spoke with him about that speech, which, although he didn’t have a copy, said he still remembered and would write it down and send me a copy as soon as he had a chance. Bob will be missed, not only for his unique outlook on life but also for his true caring about the environment and his many friends that he left behind.”

I’m sure we all have Bob stories from our days on Hermon’s hill and since, so I ask that you feel free to email me your story at revdcwms@ metrocast.net.

Most of us have been celebrating our college 50th reunions this spring, and soon we’ll be descending on the NMH campus for our 55th. In the meantime, Judy and Darrell Cooper will host us for our annual salmon dinner in South Portland ME on the eve of the annual NMH lobster dinner, also “down Maine.” Please watch for communications about other regional gatherings and registration materials for the 6/12 gathering.

Having little news from you all prompts me to request that each of you drop me a message at revdcwms@mertrocast.net with a neat paragraph (or more) about the exciting things you are doing in these retirement years, whether you are fully re-

tired or not. My news is simple: I finished a 10-year part-time “retirement ministry” as the stewardship associate for the NH Conference of our United Church of Christ in 10/10 and was then recruited by our national church’s United Church Funds as the regional rep for NE and NY conferences, encouraging congregations to invest their endowment monies with UCF. That gives me an ongoing sense of worth for my professional life and still leaves me with plenty of time for family, skiing, snowmobiling, motorcycling, and boats as the seasons change. So, what is on your bucket list?

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CLAIRE KURTGIS-HUNTER 7595 Solimar Cir Boca Raton FL 33433-1034 mizzengift@bellsouth.net

WILLIAM HAWLEY PO Box 91927 Anchorage AK 99509-1927 hawleys@acsalaska.net

From Claire: Trinka Craw Greger and a goodly bunch of 1958ers were at Sacred Concert in May. She writes: “The main works were Haydn’s Te Deum and the Gloria from Beethoven’s Mass in C. Glorious music and such a joy to share it with the students.” Tom and Ellie Watson Payzant sang with Trinka in the alumni choir. Kathy and Bob Burnett, Steve and Joan Millett Walker, and Howie Scheinblum with his wife and sister, Tobi Scheinblum-Freund ’54, and John Stone were in the audience.

Trinka enjoyed seeing many friends in exotic places last winter and spring. After an idyllic sail in the British Virgin Islands in Feb, she and John “Stoney” Stone spent a week on Jost van Dyke with Debby Martin Pearse and Bruce Donath.

In June, they went to ME to launch Epilogue. She writes: “Looking forward to being back on this lovely seacoast and to sharing good times with friends.”

Tom and Ellie Watson Payzant with Trinka, John Stone, and Howie Scheinblum enjoyed their tour of the Northfield campus on Sacred Concert weekend. One of the highlights was a visit to Sage

Members of the Class of ’58 who gathered at Sacred Concert included Howie Scheinblum, Trinka Craw Greger, John “Stoney” Stone, Ellen Watson Payzant, Tom Payzant, and Steve and Joan Millett Walker.

Chapel, which has been repaired and cleaned. Ellie reports: “It, along with the rest of the campus buildings, looks terrific. The C S Lewis group has given the chapel new life through renovation, and they graciously opened it for us to visit.”

Of Sacred Concert, Ellie says, as usual, “the ‘Benediction’ brought tears. We thought we did a better job singing ‘Jerusalem’ than they did at the royal wedding.”

Ellie attended the special luncheon for Northfield women and spouses last Feb when the trustees met in Boca Raton FL. Dorrie Krakower Susser ’56 hosted the group. Ellie says: “It was a nice gathering, appreciated by all. I encourage everyone to attend one or more of these events, because they are special and a superb way to reconnect, reminisce, learn about NMH today, and have fun.”

In June, Tom and Ellie traveled to London and Scotland with a group of ’62 classmates from Williams preparing for their 50th.

Jane Hougen Fast is smitten by the travel bug: she spent Christmas on a Danube cruise from Budapest to Passau, Germany, where she enjoyed the Christmas markets and the historical towns.

She traveled to Tlaquepaque, Mexico, sister city of her home in Springfield, MO. She loves the Mexican culture, crafts, and art of the region. Next Jane went to Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. She writes, “It was not the most scenic trip, but the cultures and histories were fascinating, despite the many sad tales we heard about the Vietnam War. It is, indeed, an experience to spend the New Year (of the Cat) in that culture. Ho Chi Minh City was beautifully decorated and the million motor scooters on the streets were quite a sight.” Jane was home all spring and admittedly had “itchy feet.” No doubt she’ll be planning her next travelogue soon.

Steve and Joan Millett Walker have had an interesting few months. By late summer ’10, they thought the “small house” on Nantucket had been sold, so they made alternative plans to live in a 38' trailer, which once belonged to Joan’s sister Craig Millett-Yohn ’60, at Oak Embers Campground in W Greenwich RI for ’11. At this writing in May ’11, Steve is putting everything back into the house on Nantucket, since the state of MA caused the sale to fall through. When the house does sell, they will be able to finish their geodesic dome home in Bell FL. In Jan, Joan and Steve went to PA for the Cabin Fever Expo, where he again exhibited and ran some of his creations (remember Steve in the yearbook photo with some of his steam engines?). On Feb 23, Steve donned a suit to walk his daughter down the aisle. Daughter Mary celebrated her 40th birthday by marrying Chad Koonsman.

Of Sacred Concert, Joan adds that the auditorium looked wonderful “if strangely empty from the days we were singing. Our chapel looked beautiful— we can all be happy at the job Hobby Lobby has done to restore it.” A highlight for them was a postconcert dinner at nearby Bella Notte with Trinka and Stoney, and then several days later another at Foxwoods with them and Linda and Tom Chase.

Joan and Steve volunteered at Sun ’n’ Fun, the

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annual fly-in in Lakeland FL. Joan worked in the office registering pilots and Steve worked the flight line directing planes. “We were there during the mini-tornado that came through on 3/31/11, along with about 8 others who chose not to head to the hangers to which we had been directed. We had only about 10 feet of visibility, and saw only horizontal rain and hail. About 40 planes were damaged or destroyed, but fortunately, no one was badly hurt, and the campground itself suffered little damage. Amazingly, the show did go on the next day: volunteers worked all night to make it happen, and the Blue Angels even came in to perform all weekend as scheduled.”

Finally, Joan adds: “I would like to ask for some help from the Northfield portion of our class. I will be working on the Annual Fund again, with Trinka, and ask that you all help support the school as strongly as you have in the past—or even more so, if you have missed the past few years. I have missed talking with so many of you, and look forward to catching up.”

A note from your secretary, Claire KurtgisHunter: After much consideration and some kicking and screaming, and after pitching out about what seemed to be 500 lbs of papers and files, I’ve decided to give up adjunct teaching at the college from which I retired in ’06.

Even after I formally retired, it was hard to give up my side of the desk, so I went back as an adjunct. It wasn’t any easier to give that up this May. Yet now, having turned in my final semester grades and after 48 years of teaching, I realize there are still so many challenges out there I am eager to meet—I have a book to finish, more paintings to paint, and faraway travel to yearn and dream after.

From Bill: Everyone must be traveling except Dave Eberhardt and John Stone, the only classmates who responded to my request with news. Dave is visiting Dave Newman and Dale Bailey this summer. He retired in Nov ’10, turned 70 in Mar, at which time he planned to tell everyone that “70 is the new 50.” Unfortunately, between gout and sciatica, it was the new 90.

Former Northfield employee Doris McNabb, Trinka Craw Greger ’58, and Ellen Watson Payzant ’58 on Sacred Concert weekend.

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John Stone spotted Susan and Steve Fuller in Stonington Borough getting their boat Jubilee ready for a summer cruise to Nova Scotia.

Linda and Tom Chase, Woodstock CT, along with Kathy and Bob Burnett, Riverside RI, sing in choral groups in their respective communities.

Jane and Norm Barstow will spend the summer at their retreat in Romania. Joseph Bassett carves marionettes in his workshop in Peabody MA. Bill Curtiss has discovered a new hobby— antique clock collecting to go along with antique car restoration in Delmar NY. Betsy and Bill Hawley attended a mini-family reunion Easter weekend in Scottsdale AZ with our 2 children Bill and Eliza, their spouses, and Eliza and Derek’s 3 children. Bill’s sister, Mary Hawley Siquig ’65, and her daughter Katy, a recent graduate of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, joined in the festivities.

John also tells us that the NMH wrestling team won the New Englands and placed 7th in the nationals. Next Feb the New Englands will be at NMH. John says you should mark your calendar for a mini-reunion in anticipation of our 55th in ’13.

Another mini-reunion was planned for Aug this year on Bailey’s Island ME as part of the annual NMH ME lobster bake.

It is sad to have to report that Frank Eten of Bellport NY passed away on 3/17/11. He graduated from Dickinson College, obtained a pharmacy degree from Columbia, and later obtained a master’s in hospital administration. He enjoyed careers as a pharmacist and as a hospital administrator. He is survived by his wife, 6 children, and 9 grandchildren.

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NANCY BISSELL GOLDCAMP 2002 Chantilly Dr Sierra Vista AZ 85635-4866 ngoldcamp@cox.net PETER WELSH 10246 Old Shiloh Rd Pefferlaw ON, Canada L0E 1N0 peter@cantope.ca

From Nancy: Mia Bulgarin Gay and I, both residents of southern AZ, shared a rental car and a hotel room the night before reunion, so we had extra time to visit, and I enjoyed that very much. After reunion Mia stayed in NE for a few days, visiting friends and places in the Lakeville CT area, where her family settled after their arrival in the US. Here’s her story of the weekend.

“Staying in touch with classmates since graduation fits certain personalities (geographic proximity helps). Descending after 50 years was more daunting, but also a hoot—a weekend of laughter, nostalgia, heartfelt welcome, food, and singing. If you’re going to make any reunion, it should be the 50th. We aged well.

“I don’t know if 44 out of 155 mostly well-preserved ladies (or 15 out of 40 from the freshman

class) is a high or low number as far as half-a-century blasts go, but adding spouses and guests and those active, fraternal, popular Hermonites with current wives made us a huge, noisy group (and a formidable economic asset for the school, having raised more than $3.8 million in 5 years). My admiration and thanks to the organizers, promoters, fundraisers, cheerful greeters, and janitorial helpers, and to Peter Welsh for pre- and postreunion hoopla.

“I connected with about 30 of our 160 composite attendees and have reread their bios in the 50th reunion yearbook with renewed enthusiasm. I haven’t heard from or written to anybody yet—our meeting after 50 years was understandably more fluffy and superficial than continuous long friendships, but fun. Several people commented on not knowing I was a refugee. It was a time of assimilation; one hid being foreign. Nancy Johnson—I sure enjoyed her—apologized for taunting me— whoa, what a burden to carry for 50 years. Now the school boasts students from 30 countries.

“The Northfield campus was hazy and placid, like my memory of it, and meeting at Mt Hermon did not upset me, although Crossley was a bit spartan and monastic (one blanket, 2 hangers), and the party room was cramped. But people make a party, not the place. The good weather fit our mostly outdoor activities in tents, the golf carts helped with the hills. The buffets at Alumni Hall were ample and varied, the steak and shrimp and Thurs lobster feast were great. I especially enjoyed the more intellectual seminars on Fri, the poetry reading, and excellent concert by mezzo soprano Bonita Hyman ’74. Dave Winchester’s keyboard talent blew me away—he deserved a good piano. And singing aside, the acoustics in the chapel were challenging.

“Besides educating the youth of today, providing leadership training and ethical growth, the school needs the financial support of alums and knows how to woo it. We were coddled and dined, stimulated and praised, coaxed and honored. And we responded, and had a hell of a weekend.”

Mia had hoped that Barbara Fanning Jay, one of her closest friends while at school, would come to reunion. Mia sent the above letter to her, and here is Barbara’s response.

“I am so happy to have received Mia’s description of reunion. I was sorry to miss it.

“I was amazed to learn that not everyone knew Mia was a refugee. We roomed together for 3 years, and for me her background and story were such an important part of her.

“Her mother, who was an artist, wrote Mia wonderful letters in her European hand, filled with her colorful English and her humorous, improvisational drawings when her English didn’t suffice. She arrived for day visits with Mia’s elegant Russian grandmother Omushka and a picnic basket filled with food more interesting and delicious than anything I had ever eaten. I remember loving her stuffed eggs and beef tartare. Also, she made at least one folkloric summer top that I admired so much that I received one just for me. I

listened, aghast, to Mia’s story of her father being taken away to fight for the Russians and of her never seeing him again. I still have one very good sketch her mother made of a soldier while they were in a displaced persons camp. Then there was the story of the Bulgarins being adopted by the town of Lakeville CT and of Mia’s lovely mom finding John, a good CT man, who loved all the Bulgarin women. It was a romantic story, but a very hard one as well. An education for me, and as important as anything I learned in the classrooms at Northfield.”

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HANNAH SIBLEY GRAY 306 Cotuit Bay Dr Cotuit MA 02635-2916 hsgray@verizon.net SARAH MAHONEY RUGGLES 2945 Ash Meadows Blvd Zanesville OH 43701-9795 sruggles@columbus.rr.com AL CHASE 1141 Kumukumu St Apt A Honolulu HI 96825-2645 nmh60uh66@yahoo.com

From Happy: It’s been one year since our glorious 50th and our classmates have news to share.

Mary Stevens has moved from Princeton NJ to nearby Cranbury NJ. She enjoys her beautiful new home with 10-ft ceilings and a butterfly garden. Sons David and Isaiah continue in their old schools, which send many students to Princeton.

Mary keeps busy with aerobics, political activities, and taking care of her grandsons in Philadelphia.

She also has reconnected with her old roomie Sarah Buermann and says “the reunion was great.”

In their retirement, Jessie-Lea Ehrich Abbott and husband Curtiss have started a photography business: “He is the genius behind the camera” and she is “his (unbiased?) promoter. She designed the website—her first—and makes cards to sell. Check out curtissabbottphotographer.com and ‘like’ us in Facebook.”

Deb Wright retired from private practice as a clinical psychologist in Monterey CA in 6/10.

Now she is moving to a retirement community in Walnut Creek CA, near Berkeley, San Francisco, and family. Downsizing and moving are “grim,” but she looks forward to a smaller space, less stuff, someone else doing the garden, and splashing in the pool.

Sheila Raymond Hazen reports that she is active in the Presbyterian church in Charlottesville VA; she’s a pastoral deacon, serves on the music committee, and belongs to a women’s singing group nicknamed SIS or Sisters in Song. SIS goes out to retirement communities and sings one Sun afternoon a month—always receiving a warm reception. Sheila also tutors 2nd-grade math in a

local public school. She has become reacquainted with fractions and bar graphs. Sheila says: “What these children do at age 7 is so much more advanced than what I remember working on at the elementary school in Northfield.”

Your secretary has been traveling a bit this past year: a delightful river cruise on the Danube, to Frisco TX near Dallas to see our daughter Laura Gray Breitenfeld ’86 and family, and to Naples FL for some sun in Mar. Now I’m doing some ESL tutoring and working on the gardens and my golf game, a never-ending challenge. Thanks for your news. Please send Sally Ruggles some for the next NMH Magazine.

From Al: George Banziger missed our 50th reunion, as he and his wife moved back to OH from IL to be closer to 2 of their 3 children. He still works part time as a grant writer for Lewis and Clark College in IL. Jay Kerney and wife Bonnie celebrated 42 years of marriage in June. They live in the West Indies on Grenada, their home since he retired from Cunard in ’89. After living on a boat for the better part of 17 years, they are adjusting to shore life. Diagnosed with prostate cancer last summer, Jay underwent 9 weeks of apparently successful proton bean radiation treatment at Shands at U of FL in Jacksonville.

John Kawecki passed away 11/16/10 at his home in Montague MA. He attended NMH as a post grad and was employed by the Veterans Administration before retiring. He also owned John’s Custom Crafted Jewelry for many years.

The Class of ’60 Scholarship for the 2010/11 academic year was awarded to a freshman girl from VT. Her courses in the fall were religious studies, English I, and arts foundation—visual arts, and she was a member of the junior dance company. In the spring she studied geometry, honors physics I, 9th-grade health, and beginning modern dance.

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GRETEL PORTER P.O. Box 369 Damariscotta ME 04543 sangam1008@yahoo.com CRAIG WALLEY 573 S 6th St Columbus OH 43206-1272 bozocraig@aol.com

From Gretel: Glad to be class secretary.

Northfield girls were 40 strong at our 50th reunion. Despite torrential rain, we had fun, exchanged deep hilarious thoughts, and missed those absent. Michele Mutschler-Bopp and Lucinda Benjamin Hazler came from France and Austria; from the West Coast Kay Dinolt Frank, Linda Galloway, and Patty Howell Jones.

Enjoyed Carol White Odell’s art show, Barbara Hare’s sunflower book, and Sally Johnson Ackerman’s impassioned fundraising, so like Charlie Chaplin. The Northfield luncheon

featured dummy smocks, and recent grads gave us golf cart rides. Betsy Stephenson Hansen, Cynthia Van Hazinga, and Gail Buerger Kerr left too early.

The more we talked the more we had in common. The banquets went well—best was the singing—and the ultimate song, “Jerusalem,” wrung our hearts. Historical talks by Ayo Oum Weiri Shanti and Anne Rodgers gave the perspective of multigeneration alumni families. Nancy Schwanda Kida and Bruce Schwanda are also from a long NMH line.

Trina Wynkoop Simmons won kudos for best outfit: earrings, blouse, red high-tops, and overflowing heart. Susan Swartwood Berk and Susan Meader Tobias made us howl with laughter. Class teacher Mary-Ann Efird Higgins ’51 showed love and compassion. At chapel we heard Episcopal priest Sue Hayden Russell.

Perennial thanks to ’61 couples Al Higgins ’50 and Mary-Ann Efird Higgins ’51, Monte and Sally Johnson Ackerman, Stuart and Sue Flasch McCalley, who lend great stability and integration at united NMH. Today’s school is thriving, which makes us proud of the founders, ourselves, and the parents, teachers, and staff who educated us. Blessings on the benefactors.

Where were Kate Alling Throop, Lois Isenman, Hannah Beecher, Tobey Hiller, and so many others? I missed roommates Louise “Petie” Robinson, Rhoda Smith Fantasia, and Maud Pilkington Easter. Please be in touch. We want to hear your news. The Class of ’61 has get up and go.

From Craig: Our 50th reunion in June was a resounding success but perhaps not meteorologically. It was fantastic for me to march up the center aisle in the chapel with the rest of our classmates for the convocation, between applauding members of all the other reuniting classes.

I don’t have the total count of attendees, but it was a large group. Forgive me if I miss you in the listing: Fred Fox, Chips Arend, Graham

Cole, Warren Ferris, John Berlin, Joe Berlant, Sherif Nada, Peter Johnson, Bruce Schwanda, Dick Miller, Pete Donavan, Ed Payne, John Gagnon, Jeff Stillman, John Bryan, John Hann, Monte and Sally Johnson Ackerman, Chuck Bennett, Jim Lawler, I-Lok Chang, Paul Derounian, Stanley France, Fred Gray, Brew Harding, Bruce Jackson, Larry Leffingwell, Wayne Magoon, Stu and Susan Flasch McCalley, Richard Milk, Allen C. Myers, Rick Najaka, Jeff Newsom, Robert Rieffel, Tom Smith, Paul Swatek, Brian Walsh, Al Simpson, Bill Forbes, and John Wheeler. As always, there was too little time to talk to everyone.

Among the many highlights for me was the memorial service our class held, remembering our deceased classmates. Dobbs Hartshorne performed one of Bach’s cello suites on his bass. Beautiful.

Speaking of Dobbs, I enjoyed meeting his wife Emily and their son, Scotty (nearly 3). Honest.

It was a great pleasure to see so many returning faculty, including David Burnham, J J “Cadillac”

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Baker, Al ’50 and Mary-Ann Efird Higgins ’51, Bill ’44 and Mary Lighthall Compton ’44, Lou “Sky King” Turner, Walt Congdon, and Gar Allen.

Kudos to the NMH staff for making this event wonderful in spite of challenging weather conditions.

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SUE SAUNDERS CHANDLER 3/50 Walsh Street South Yarra Victoria, 3141 Australia susanchandler1@mac.com

Please save the dates for our 50th reunion—6/7–10/2012 in your planning diaries.

From the outline of plans provided earlier this year by our reunion chair Cindy Kidder, the weekend promises to be enjoyable and stimulating. Thurs will be the lobster dinner. Fri is Alumni College, with a host of seminars and other various class activities. Sat is the Alumni Convocation and a class dinner that night. Sun is church. There will be a Northfield ’62 luncheon and trips to the Northfield campus, plus plenty of time for informal gatherings.

By now, you should have received full details of the weekend from the reunion committee and also a questionnaire for the reunion yearbook. Please return the questionnaires as soon as possible. I look forward to seeing many of you at our reunion.

In other news, Vicki Koo Hitchins reports that Diane Kenney and her sister Linda Kenney Miller were on NPR Morning Edition’s Story Corps in Feb. Diane and Linda were in Montgomery AL talking about their grandfather, John A. Kenney, best known as Booker T. Washington’s personal physician. Vicki looks forward to attending the 50th reunion. She was 1 of 10 of our classmates who went to Wellesley. Vicki graduated from Wellesley in ’67, having taken off a year to go to Taiwan, so she will also have a 45th college reunion in 6/12.

Kathe Dennison Chipman sang at Sacred Concert in May. She reports: “The day was perfect and afterward we got to visit restored Sage Chapel, which was lovely. It was a treat for the alto section to have our math teacher Sally Curtis and the new algebra and geometry teacher singing.”

Nancy Rolfs Scott also enjoyed being back on campus and singing in the alumni choir for Sacred Concert. She writes: “Sheila Heffernon is an amazing conductor and brought out the best in all of us. The student orchestra is concert quality, and the smaller singing groups within the large chorus are amazingly talented. The whole Sacred Concert experience brought back a flood of memories and truly reinforced what a unique school NMH is. The Auditorium feels just the same. What a thrill to sing in that huge space. (Memories of that stage as I was 1 of the ‘3 little girls from school’ in our senior-year production of the Mikado.) As an added treat, the Northfield chapel was open. It has been lovingly refurbished—more memories.

“The Hermon campus is alive and lively—students from all over the world sharing and discovering. There is still a sense of connectedness to the campus, despite the changes in dress code, choice of courses of study, and food. You can hardly imagine the choices in the dining hall for meals— everything from salad bars to make-your-own deli sandwiches to steamed mussels for lunch. (I still miss Anadama bread and coffee ice cream with homemade butterscotch sauce.)”

After 49 years Pamela Thompson Baldwin and Abigail Finch met by chance in their local library. Pamela writes: “Being more an Amazon buyer than a library borrower, I visit our smalltown (Lovettsville VA) library only occasionally, but had spoken several times there with the friendly librarian before I finally learned her name one day this spring. ‘Tabby Finch!’ I exclaimed as recognition dawned. ‘Is your real name Abigail?

Did you go to Northfield?’ Yes to both questions.

‘We were in the same class and the same dorm,’ I exclaimed. Looking bewildered, she asked, ‘But who are you?’ After I told her, we quickly caught up on (yikes!) 49 years. Learning that she’s also a musician who plays with several area ensembles, I’ve since had the opportunity to see and hear her play zither and accordion with an Irish band and to hear recordings of her great bluegrass and Latin performances as well. I’m now working hard to convince her to join me next spring for our 50th.

Marty, Sandy, Louise, Marnie, other East Hall folks—please help me.”

Classmates from ’62 once again participated in Sacred Concert with past and present faculty singers: Nancy Rolfs Scott, Sarah Curtis (retired faculty), Ladd Jeffers (bass soloist), Rosey Atkinson (current faculty), and Kathe Dennison Chipman. serve as FL state chair, as well as a national finance cochair, for Governor Tim Pawlenty’s campaign for the Republican nomination for president. Phil is continuing his long career in FL (and national) politics and education leadership “serving as Jeb Bush’s gubernatorial campaign state chairman in ’94 and ’98 and a cochair in ’02. He has been engaged in private equity for the past 30 years and is based in Orlando. Until 1/07, he served 6 years as chair of the FL state board of education, a 7-person board appointed by Governor Jeb Bush with constitutional responsibility for FL’s public educational system with over 4 million students.” Phil was appointed twice by President George W. Bush to the Senate-confirmable position as vice chair of the National Board of Education Sciences. In ’08, Phil served as Senator John McCain’s FL chair and national cochair.

Phil remains in “continuing communication with Dave Stocking and Jean Meyer Martin.

The latter has been a friend since the 2nd grade.

Dave still writes beautifully and is still a hopeless romantic in love with his first and only lovely wife Cynthia.” He anticipates attending our 50th.

On that note, this will be my last call for notes from the class before we gather in 6/12 for, gasp, our 50th reunion. You can send me email or use the new NMH community website (community@ nmhschool.org—check it out). We don’t know if you don’t tell.

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E. SCOTT CALVERT 8714 Second Ave Silver Spring MD 20910-2733 scalvert@his.com

Abigail “Tabby” Finch ’62 (left) and Pamela Thompson Baldwin ’62 (right) recently discovered their Northfield connection at their local library in VA.

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From the revered land of the still working, Brent Bowers reports: “ I continue my journalistic career by editing the latest blockbuster book

by Kurt Eichenwald (as I did for his 2 previous, The Informant, made into a movie last year, and Conspiracy of Fools about the Enron debacle, also under contract to be made into a movie).”

Not to be outdone, from the land of perpetual politics and never-ending primaries, a press release crossed my desk reporting that Phil Handy will

Bill Fitch ’62 and wife Linda drove up from CT for the NMH lobster bake in Harpswell, ME, last Aug.

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DIANE SEWALL CHAISSON 25 Williams St N Grafton MA 01536-1237 diane@meadowlarks-farm.net WILLARD THOMEN 417 Nicholson St Joliet IL 60435-7043 wthomen@stfrancis.edu

From Diane: A simple Christmas note remembering our ’62 vespers brought an amazing response. I can’t cover it all here, but one of the earliest came from Wendy French Palm. “Carole Larson Pratt and I were remembering that amazing moment. It was mystical, marching out of the warm, candle-lit chapel after singing our hearts and souls out, to a raging blizzard with lightning and thunder. Al Raymond instilled a lifelong love of choral music in all of us.” Carol Fishman Czaja wrote: “It’s so special sharing the memory of that night at Christmas Vespers with others who were there. Although I, too, have told family and friends about the power of the thunder and the magic of the snowfall, no one really understands how we all felt that night.” Margaret Martin Marcus sent along a favorite quote from her father that covers the whole Christmas ’10 experience, “Never a Christmas morning, never an old year ends, But someone thinks of someone, old days, old times, old friends.” Many more like that culminated in Mardi Coyle Kildebeck producing CDs of the concert and sending them to about 45 of our classmates.

Her only request was that those who received the CD make a donation to NMH for our class gift.

The rest of the class will get a vespers CD in ’12.

She has also taken on the project of remastering and making CDs of Sacred Concert for reunion.

Karen Eldred Stephan (one of the soloists) wrote about vespers: “What a wonderful Christmas present to hear all your ‘voices’. There is not a Christmas that goes by that I don’t think about that vespers in ’62. And I, too, get all teary when I remember Mr Raymond (‘rise and keep on rising’—and to the Mt Hermon singers—‘look at the girls, they’re not flat.’). We often do Christmas concerts here in Germany, and we always end with ‘Silent Night’ (‘Stille Nacht’). We begin with the 1st verse in German from my husband, then I sing a verse in English, and then we invite all to sing with us the 2nd German verse, and I sing the descant. It blows everybody away. They love it. I do, too.” To catch up on Karen’s info, she and husband Erwin have moved to a little farm in Waldmühlen north of Frankfurt. Both she and Erwin have had some health issues in the last 2 years, but continue to sing and teach. She was recovering from pneumonia around Easter. They are scheduled for an opera gala in June and an operetta evening in Herrnsheim in Aug. Katie Steinmetz Dater’s end of year news included much travel to places far and wide visiting family and friends in GA, VT, CT, WI, AZ, and FL.

This year featured a 4th grandchild. She was also back in VT to help with sugaring off in Mar ’11.

Lucille Howell Sansing is retiring from Argosy U and will be enjoying time with grandson Oliver.

Candace Kent continues to downsize and hopes to move within a year. She was very happy that her Northfield records, yearbook, and other memorabilia were welcome in the NMH Archives.

Sally Magoon Chamberlain is still subbing in Portland Public Schools. Their 6 kids are mostly well and employed, and they have 7 healthy grandchildren. Sally’s husband continues to rebuild player pianos. They both volunteer in their ward and temple. Sally sent along pictures of our years together for sharing at reunion.

Elise Elderkin writes: “It’s been really great to read everyone’s reminiscences and to realize that, no matter how good a time we had at Northfield, or not, we had this great solid traditional foundation, which will never leave us and which, willy-nilly, we share. And I, for one, am really thankful for it.”

Kathy Shordt’s daughter (20) just returned from a few months in Costa Rica, learning Spanish and doing volunteer work. She is taking a year off before entering college in the Netherlands. Kathy has gone back to work part time, and enjoys it a lot. She said they would be in Bangladesh for most of Jan.

By Jan the emails transitioned from vespers to memories of teachers and their influences on our development as people and professionals. Heidi Herrick Davis provided many funny memories of her experiences in East Hall. Several mentioned memories around the election of JFK. Renee Warnock Cowenhoven sent a piece, “Frozen in Time,” about her early memories as well. Spring ’11 found stories of dummy assignments to share.

Margery Attwater Mosher has offered to make a book of all these emails to share at reunion.

Carol Tyler Kirk writes: “All packed for a move to Huntsville AL. I haven’t made it to any of the reunions. A 20-plus-year career in the Army generally had me far, far away. And then life was just too hectic for a while. Perhaps ’13 will be the year that I finally make it back there. I did visit the campus some 15 years ago, and it was as lovely as I remembered.”

Wyndie Estes Eberle is recovering from a total hip replacement. Thank heaven for Medicare.

Carol Larson Pratt hopes to attend reunion.

She’s been reading the funny stuff written in her yearbook. “This wild child taught physics after college. I have a wonderful family that I love, and the grands keep me on my toes. Retirement has been terrific—started early at 58. Somehow I will get to the lower 40 in 6/13 (from AK).”

Lynn Dow Drinkard was a psychologist working at the state psychiatric hospital, but 2 years ago moved to the home-based primary care program for the Veterans Admin. She is part of a medical team that provides services for home-bound veterans in ME. “It’s a great job and I don’t plan to retire for several more years. Sometimes I feel I would like some more free time, but mostly I’m still happy getting up at 6 every day.”

Barbara Wilson Daunheimer writes that her

son and his family moved to New Zealand in Apr. Craig’s an audiologist, and apparently, they really need them there. “I’m excited for them, but I’m a little sad for me, as it seems like another loss so soon after losing Ed. On the upside, I may get to visit New Zealand. It was so great hearing from so many classmates earlier in the year.”

In May Carol Waaser wrote: “Currently cycling thru Italy, following Garibaldi’s route from Marsala, Sicily, all the way to Turin—1,400 miles in 4 weeks.”

Lydia Adams Davis has a new CD. You can check out clips at www.oneearthsogreenandround. com. She has a new car and is singing, gigging, and helping seniors. She recently talked with Jean Blackburn, who is considering coming to reunion.

I know some of you are technophobic or Facebook averse, but if you are on Facebook you should join the Facebook Group NMH1963 at www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38206648730.

For those who don’t join, make sure I have your email so you will get email announcements. Also, with your email you will be tuned in to the sharing that has been coming along since last Dec. It has been fun to hear from so many of you.

From Willard: Thanks to the responses to my recent request for news, I have the following to report. Holt “Beau” Anderson continues working more than full time on moving the health-care industry to electronic health records and secure exchange, so everyone will receive informed care at the point of clinical decision making. Holt is working with a nonprofit, collaborative organization established in ’94 in NC and is the vice chair of the coordinating committee for the Nationwide Health Information Network. “Really looking forward to the 50th in ’13 as part of the most disruptive class in NMH history (offenders know who you are).”

Pete Conklin is looking forward to the 50th.

So is Peter Jenks. Back in Dec, Lloyd Jones wrote that he and Anne are busy with their highly productive vegetable gardens and orchards in ME (summers) and FL (winters). In Mar, they went on a 2-week cruise to the southern Caribbean aboard Celebrity’s Constellation. Ricker Winsor and wife Yien Liang Kwee “Jovita” moved in Aug from VT to Trinidad, Tobago, where Rick is teaching studio art at the International School of Port of Spain. The school has a diverse student body. He and Jovita will be back in Indonesia visiting family and friends in the summer of ’12. His last Upper Valley VT art show was held last Memorial Day weekend, and his last concerts playing mostly delta blues on his guitar and singing were in Grantham and Haverhill NH in May and July. On a recent visit back to NMH, Rick observed that the new art center is “the best I have ever seen on the secondary level—really wonderful and the campus looks more beautiful than ever.”

Rob Liotard and wife Marcia continue to enjoy retirement in VT “despite the recent recordsetting rain.” Recently they had lunch with Richer Winsor and his new wife in Burlington. They have been enjoying CDs of his performances and the

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link to his website showing his paintings and furniture that he has made. Following the unexpected demise of their beloved German shepherd, they have acquired a new German shepherd puppy and are “enjoying” having a new baby in the house “(just call me sleepless in Starksboro).”

I appreciate all your updates and information.

Much of this material will be used for the class biography booklet for the reunion. I will be at the 50th reunion planning committee meeting at NMH in July.

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EASTY (ROBERT) EASTMAN PO Box 218 Shaftsbury VT 05262-0218 rheastman4@comcast.net

PAMELA STREET WALTON PO Box 33 Spofford NH 03462-0033 pawalton@myfairpoint.net

From Pam: Sadly, I write that after a long battle with lung cancer Pam Hicks died on 3/3/11. She was quite a woman—an advocate for mind-body fitness and for those with nonsmoking lung cancer—a voice for Vietnam veterans, and she was our classmate whom we will miss and remember. Visit Pam’s profile page on our 50th reunion website at northfieldandmounthermon1964.com.

On reunion weekend ’14 we will remember our classmates not in attendance and we shall sing.

Shall we enjoy a general sing-along as we once did as we traveled to and from Mt Hermon by bus, or relive our Northfield years by belting out songs from the ’60s, or perhaps we will sing classical chorus, or perhaps all 3? Music was a notable part of our lives. You can’t remember Northfield without having the verses in praise of Christmas vespers and Sacred Concert cross your mind.

Kathy Childs Jones wrote last Dec that she, Alison Phillips Cushing, and Kathy Marsh attended Christmas Vespers at Emmanuel Church in Boston. Singing the processional “Sing We Noel” brought back fond memories of vespers in Sage Chapel for the threesome. Kathy Childs Jones, recently retired, is in the associates program at the Museum of Fine Arts, training to be a tour guide. Before vespers, she met Alison at the MFA and toured the new wing devoted to art of the Americas. She also included an update for both Alison and Kathy Marsh. Seems quilting, genealogy, and travel are among Alison’s interests, and travel she did. In ’10 Alison and husband Randy took 2 Mediterranean cruises and welcomed a new grandchild, Lucy Cushing. Lucy, sister Jocelyn (6), and brother Nolan (3) live in Weymouth, so Alison and Randy see them regularly. As for Kathy Marsh, she also traveled in ’10—to Peru.

Gail Myers Pare attended Sacred Concert last May. Close your eyes and remember. The people at C S Lewis opened Sage Chapel, and Gail said it

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looked terrific. She posted photos with Sally Curtis on our website. Gail also attended NMH reunion weekend. I continue to ask her to look for another “class tree” weeping willow for my home. The sapling I planted in ’10 is thriving.

Betsy Bates Valsala emailed that this year she enjoyed some Landmark Education courses, trips from Albuquerque NM to Naples FL to stay with her parents, and a visit from her Reiki master Phyllis Lei Furumoto to discuss the future of their Reiki community. While we still call her Betsy, to those in her Reiki community she is known as Elizabeth—a change in ’82.

In May, Linnea White Powell took a trip to Ireland and France. It was her “hurrah” vacation to celebrate her retirement. In France, she visited Elizabeth Saunders Dutertre, her Northfield roommate whom she had not seen since her own wedding 42-plus years ago, though they have kept in touch by snail mail, email, and phone over the years. Once she gets a handle on retirement, Linnea plans to become involved with “giving back,” a Northfield tradition.

Heard from Schatzie Brunner that Joan Blood was again a grandmother so contacted Joan for the specifics. Her new granddaughter is Taylor Helena Stone, born to Benjamin and Robin Stone.

They live in Wilmington MA. Ben’s twin brother Andrew also has a daughter, Paige Elizabeth (2).

Andrew, wife Sarah, and Paige live in Golden CO. Sue Chapman Melanson and husband Art were presented in Nov with their 2nd grandson by their daughter who lives in MA. In Apr, Sue resigned from a stint on the local school board, so Art had his wife back to help gather 191 gallons of maple syrup. Their cottages in South Hiram ME continue to thrive. As for ’14, Sue will have two 50th reunions to attend. Remember why? Sue is our honorary classmate but actually graduated from Wellesley HS. While many of us are approaching or enjoying retirement, Karen Singer Baker has embarked on a whole new career. She completed her master’s degree (counseling) in ’08, and last May also earned her certificate of advanced graduate study in mental health counseling at RI College, so is qualified to sit for the state licensing exam and will do so soon. She continues to work as a counselor at a residential treatment facility for recovering addicts who are pregnant, postpartum, and parenting. Ultimately, she hopes to hang out her shingle in private practice. Brava, Karen.

As for my news, husband Ken and I had dinner with Jim Ault and his soon-to-be-wife Margaret before their marriage in June. When I sent over chocolate chip cookies and apple pie via the Catholic connection in ’64, little did I know that 45-plus years later I’d be repaid in spades by Chef James. I must get the recipe for the brussels sprouts dish. Congratulations Jim on your marriage and the ’11 graduation of son Henry from NMH. Have some notes you’d like to submit online?

Alums now have the ability to post news about themselves on the secure NMH online alumni community. To check it out, please login to the

Don Sawyer ’64, left, Jim Vincent ’64, right alumni community at community.nmh.org. In the left-hand column, click on the link that says, magazine notes. At the top of the next page, you’ll see a button that says: submit/edit my NMH Magazine notes. Click on that and follow the directions to submit a note. To search all notes that have been submitted online, click on the NMH Magazine notes button and fill in the appropriate boxes to define your search.

That’s all folks, but do take some time to peruse our 50th reunion website. Tidbits to be gleaned: Liz Ames Shoffner is retired. Mary Savage Raub lives in CA. Kerry Horton Donovan owns a doggie daycare. Nancy Schouler Smith is a retired school administrator. Go to northfieldandmounthermon1964.com and catch up.

From Easty: After mediocre careers as journalist, editor, manager, consultant, and writer, Rich Laska found something he’s good at: he conducts heavy equipment. In summer, it’s a wheezy Kubota tractor to till a few garden plots. In winter, it’s a half-century-old Austin-Western motor grader to pry open the 4-mile dirt road to Rich and Marcia’s remote farm—Laska’s Grove—overlooking Green Bank WV. Laska’s Grove abounds with heirloom apple trees and (in summer) all manner of strange, but legal, vegetables. When not badgering government officials to serve public rather than corporate interests, the Laskas are helping to create a local farmers market in Marlinton. Marcia’s work as a fabric artist recently expanded to include a line of herbal salves she developed to treat the sores, bites, and bruises that accompany mountain life. The Laskas sell their stuff (dog treats, salves, fresh food, and fabric arts) locally and may, if pushed, start to sell online.

Jim Vincent attended the 16th annual Diner Don Dam Diner Art Show at the Dam Diner in West Townshend VT, where Don Sawyer has his show there every Presidents’ Day weekend and sells watercolor prints of old NE diners, books, commissions, and generally has a great time chewing the fat with old and new friends. He even brings in his good friend, Mort Soule (this year escorted in by the local sheriff, lights flashing, siren wailing, for going 52 mph in a 30 mph speed zone) to entertain with his rendition of “Casey at the Bat” while dressed in an antique baseball uniform.

The uniform is the only thing that got Mort out of a $218 speeding ticket. Don has been recuperating from a quadruple bypass and doesn’t currently have an email address. However, you can reach him by phone at 802-254-6192. Also check out his

work on his website at www.donsawyerart.com.

David Mensel has been doing a bit of genealogical study and discovered that Dwight L Moody is his 7th cousin, 2 times removed. Distant, but still fun. “My background is primarily English and since some of the family arrived in MA as early as 1621 (2nd ship after the Mayflower), I guess being related to many people in western MA is to be expected.”

Phil Sargent is retired after 40 years in the insurance industry. Last spring he stopped teaching certificate-level courses at USM after 25 years but still teaches a 6-week course in coastal piloting and navigation for Yarmouth ME community services. Wife Cindy retired from 20 years of teaching 7th grade in ’09, so they have been traveling to VA to see daughter Jesse and grandson (16 months).

Daughter Becca had her first child in Jan. During the winter, Phil and Cindy try to ski 2 or 3 days a week. “I can’t believe my Medicare card arrived a couple of weeks ago. Seems like yesterday that I was going to Thurs vespers or cracking eggs in the kitchen for Skib.”

Jim Vincent forwarded news from David “Skip” Smith, who is in Abuja, Nigeria, where he has been director of business development for a small consulting and investment company since 7/10. Skip has been a marketing professor for more than 25 years. In ’85, he started doing short-term teaching and research assignments in Nigeria. In ’89–90, he was a Fulbright scholar there. Then he became a visiting professor of marketing at Lagos business school. In ’08, he retired from his position as professor of marketing at Southeast Missouri State and became dean of the school of business and entrepreneurship at American U of Nigeria in northern rural Nigeria.

For unedited notes, please check out our class website at www.northfieldandmounthermon1964.com.

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WENDY SWANSON AVIRGAN 106 Blueberry Dr Stamford CT 06902-1828 wsavirgan@aol.com

I begin with the sad news that Nicholas Afentakis died 5/8/11 after a long illness. We extend our deepest condolences on behalf of the class to Nick’s wife of 35 years, Mary Ellen Lavenberg. Following graduation from Mt Hermon, Nick graduated from the Tufts School of Engineering and worked for many years at Digital Equipment Corp. In retirement he worked as a fishmonger in Brewster on Cape Cod. Nick was a devoted supporter of the school and requested that donations in his memory be made to NMH or Tufts.

Steve and Abby Ayres Bruce welcomed granddaughter Ellie in 12/10. Abby and Steve enjoy traveling from CT to Seattle to visit Ellie, her brother Jaden, and their mom and dad.

Marcia Franzen-Hintze and Ulli had another busy travel year in ’10 with trips from Hamburg to the US; Sylt, an island in the North Sea; Rügen, an

all of us to “start looking down the road at ’15, our 50th reunion.”

Remember to send your contributions to the Annual Fund and your news to your class correspondent. If anyone would like to volunteer to be a secretary for our class, please contact our classmate Sally Atwood Hamilton, class notes editor for NMH Magazine.

Candace Reed Stern ’65, Jean Moon ’65, and Candace Lindsay ’65 got together last summer in ME. island in the Baltic Sea; and Istanbul.

Cynthia Gilbert-Marlow and James enjoyed trips in ’10 to Hawaii, Disney World, San Diego, ME, Williamsburg, and a cruise from Barcelona to FL. Cynthia still flies for United, most often traveling to Dubai and Buenos Aires from her home base of Washington DC. She hoped that the merger with Continental this year would enable her to once again be based in Newark, much closer to home in NJ. Her hobbies include singing with the Larks, taking courses through Interweave, and practicing yoga.

Bruce Johnson has begun planning a rousing 65th birthday party for our class in 7/12. The venue will be Moore Cottage. Tentative plans are for participants to prepare meals in our dorm headquarters, perhaps using Alumni Hall as a backup location. Watch for details in the coming months. Please contact Bruce if you would like to help with the planning.

Judy Mintie Scollay stays active with water aerobics, gardening, genealogy research, teaching outdoor education for the Girl Scouts, and her newest hobby of heirloom sewing, which evolved from a part-time job at a fabric/sewing center teaching machine-mastery classes. She and husband Rich Scollay enjoy frequent camping trips.

Rich volunteers with Habitat for Humanity doing electrical work on new houses.

Betty Naughton and Cathy Heckel had a busy year in ’10 with travels to the East Coast from Boulder to visit family and friends and an RV camping trip to Glacier and Banff. Betty traveled to Guatemala with her sister to study Spanish for 3 weeks, and they ended up helping with rescue and cleanup efforts following a major mudslide in the area. Betty works as a seasonal naturalist, leading groups on nature hikes into the foothills of Boulder CO and giving indoor presentations on bears, mountain lions, and tracking. She also volunteers for peregrine and prairie falcon nest monitoring and does a breeding bird survey each year.

Betty writes, “I’m still singing in the Resonance women’s chorus with 135 other women. We put on a fundraiser for Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center this fall, performing our long piece about war and the struggle for peace, and it was amazing, uplifting, and felt like it brought community together as well.”

David Stone’s new email address is dstonester@gmail.com. Dave will be retiring from his church job at the end of 1/12. He encourages

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JEAN PENNEY WHEELER 77 Old Ferry Rd Deer Isle ME 04627-3330 theinn@ferrylanding.com

FRANK SAPIENZA 425 Washington St, Apt 6 Brookline MA 02446-6128 sapienzafc@cdm.com

From Frank: Guys, reunion was a blast, really. We sang, danced, reminisced, did yoga, learned about NMH today, toured, were amazed by the new buildings on campus, and just hung out and shared our lives and experiences with each other. High points of the weekend were a rousing hymn sing, our class meeting led by Jim Weiss and Jean Penney Wheeler, jitterbugging to the tunes of the Prescriptions, a rockin’ band, an entrancing poetry reading by Peter Fulton, and daily yoga

by Jim Weiss and Day Merrill. On with the news.

Peter Fulton is winding down his law practice but has kept busy writing poetry. He wrote and presented to us on Sat evening his poem How to Carve an Angel. By chance, he got in touch with Charles Curl, and they put together a captivating presentation of Peter’s poem put to music and video by Charles. It was quite a treat. Following reunion, Peter and family flew off to Swansea, England, where he presented his poem at a performer’s festival with violins and dancing maidens in the background.

Hugh Bache, a native of London, has retired from his career as a tax professional for expatriates.

Hugh made it to the reunion and also to the festival. He gave Peter our support and says the presentation was well received. Charles Curl, after serving on several corporate boards of directors, has retired and now lives with wife Yvonne in Hilton Head SC. Charles keeps busy with his musical and recording interests and biking (100-mile trips ev-

Class of ’66 at the poetry reading during reunion.

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DONNA EATON-MAHONEY 97 Gifford St Falmouth MA 02540-3306 dmeato@aol.com

DANA L GORDON 106 Westphal St W Hartford CT 06110-1183 mounthermon1967@comcast.net

Class of ’66 at reunion

ery now and then).

Alan Coulter has stayed true to his love of the great outdoors and continues to inspire our youth, instructing for the National Outdoor Leadership School, leading backpacking and canoeing trips in northern Canada, and working for Outward Bound, teaching sea kayaking on the Outer Banks of NC. Stuart Bennett still looks good and is “still hitting on 8 cylinders.” Stu practices law (business litigation) and lives in Shelburne VT, where he skis with his son, and plays and coaches lacrosse with his daughter, now at UVM grad school in education. Stu plans to drop in on Kingsley Parker in NYC and get us an update. Bob Bruce is still swimming and amazingly getting better at it.

He swam his lifetime best time in the 1,500-meter freestyle 3 years ago. Bob lives in OR and has returned to nearly every reunion.

Great to see Peter Weeks at reunion. Must admit I didn’t recognize him at first since my last image of Peter was this muscle-bound Goliath in the locker room. Peter is currently assisting his wife with her law practice. Jim Weiss has been an inspiration, reunion chair, and key organizer for our class. Jim manages a financial investment firm in CT and still finds time for our class and yoga, and he can dance.

Benson Blake still looks the dapper sailor.

Ben recently sailed his 53-ft sailboat off the coast of Nova Scotia. He frequently sails up and down the East Coast, stopping in on NMH alums along

Ben Blake ’66, Jean Penney Wheeler ’66, Stuart Bennett ’66, and Alan Coulter ’66 at reunion

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the way, and he has done some transatlantic sails.

Great that Georges Rocourt made it back to the reunion. Georges has had an interesting career, initially as chief economist for a financial company that financed a couple very successful movies—the 2nd Flipper movie and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He got to rub shoulders with a lot of Hollywood folks. Georges has been living in Switzerland for the last 8 years, where he is teaching economics at a Swiss university. He recently toured Barcelona with 110 students.

Wil Everhart is another inspiring leader of our class. Wil has been a tireless fundraiser and spokesman for our class. Wil is looking forward to retiring from his career in the medical supply field and plans to spend more time fly-fishing near his home in PA. Bill Gresham has made it back to many of our reunions. This one was quite a road trip for Bill and family, traveling from Des Moines IA, dodging tornadoes along the way. Bill’s 3 children are all married, and Bill is in retirement mode.

Dave Edsall is also retired but still likes to swim regularly. Dave was a big help during reunion planning, performing an Internet search for lost members of our class. He found names and addresses for several lost alums and wrote letters to each of them. Hopefully, we’ll find these alums.

Peter Talmage lives in Northfield and is the true environmentalist. He has put his mechanical engineering skills to good use and has been teaching solar energy and energy conservation courses at Greenfield Community College. He recently decided that the 12-mile each way bike ride to work was a bit too much, so he built a 3-wheel electricpowered reclining bike. I tried it. It was really fun and can go nearly 30 mph. The batteries on the bike get recharged from the solar panels at his house.

The solar panels power his entire house. In fact, he feeds power back to the electrical grid most of the time. Peter also showed a few of us at reunion the 500X power telescope he built and the observatory shed in his yard where it’s housed. If we all lived like Peter, there wouldn’t be an energy crisis.

So classmates, mark your calendars, 5 years from today—You Will Be at Our 50th Reunion.

Trust me, you’ll have a tremendous time, and you will even get to laugh along with your former Northfield sweetheart. ‘Til then, Happy Trails.

Brad Waterman proudly reports the marriages of both daughters, Kerry to Michael Epstein 10/09 and Lauren to Andrei Kallaur 4/10. Brad’s son Brendan lives in the Sierra Nevada Mts. Brad was named by Washingtonian Magazine as 1 of a select group of tax lawyers whom taxpayers should engage “when the IRS calls,” based on peer review.

After 37 years with 2 law firms, Gary Barnes set up his solo practice and really enjoys it. He still represents CPA firms defending malpractice claims and proactively advises on risk management. He also enjoys the occasional gig as a neutral mediator or arbitrator. Son Tyler Barnes ’96 lives with wife Meghan and Gary’s grandson Maddox in CT. We heard from 2 Beths. Beth Goodman Kiendl works part time as a nurse at Brattleboro Retreat. She’s also into singing, the outdoors, and traveling when possible. She has a new knee, a great husband, 2 very cool kids, and lots of friends and enjoys living in VT “where there’s some hope of sanity.” Beth Gordett is expanding the educational business she started in upstate NY a decade ago. Big Mind Learning runs programs and tutors in all subjects, specializing in math, science, and writing. One exciting development is a blending of writing and yoga called Saga Yoga, which she runs with son Daniel. One of the organization’s goals is to help students of all ages develop skills in emerging technologies and clean energy. Check out their website at www.bigmindlearning.com.

Linda Hoff-Hagensick Irwin visited Moody Bible Institute to meet with their dean of counseling and found it to be a very nostalgic experience.

They have a Northfield room and a little D L Moody museum, and their church is very much like the Northfield Auditorium. Linda says it’s worth a visit if you’re in her neck of the woods (Chicago).

Debby Buhrman Topliff’s website has a new name that should be pretty easy to remember: www.debbytopliff.com.

Since retiring from teaching 4 yrs ago, Helen Fowler has been fulfilling her travel dreams. She’s studied poetry writing on the Cote d’Azur and art in Florence as a member of Boston-based Teachers as Scholars, and taken other trips to Italy, Mexico, Alaska, England, Costa Rica, Paris, Greece, Spain, and Morocco, She’s also toured the western US national parks. Son Chris is doing postdoctoral studies in viral immunology at Scripps in CA, and daughter Sarah recently completed nursing school.

Helen is thrilled that she has been able to visit with grandson Joshua in CA about every 3 months. She

enjoys many and varied volunteer activities and is glad to continue to make a difference in the life of others. Helen has missed the last 3 reunions due to conflicts, but looks forward to connecting with long-lost friends next year.

Martha Ratcliff Rix is thoroughly enjoying retirement, taking formal saxophone lessons, and finally learning to read music. She has a house in East Hampton that she gets to every other weekend.

Still not retired, Sheila Morse is busy, working in behalf of Charles Ansbacher, husband of her longtime employer Ambassador Swanee Hunt and founder of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, to create the Free for All Concert Fund, an organization attempting to raise a $20 million endowment to support free high-quality classical music for all in the Greater Boston area. Sheila is pleased to report they raised nearly half of the endowment goal before Charles died from brain cancer in 9/10.

This job was in addition to her 2 others: director of the Hunt-Ansbacher Family Office and deputy to Swanee. Sheila and partner Dick took a 2nd road trip in 2 years from VT to Yellowstone in Sept, then on to UT for a nephew’s wedding, traveling with her parents, who are in their mid-80s and unable to fly. Less than a week after returning to VT, they flew to HI for another nephew’s wedding.

Then it was off to India with Swanee for a shared 10-day vacation and the opportunity to observe 2 days of meetings with the Dalai Lama.

In past issues we’ve told you about the HIV/ AIDS research Patricia Watson Bartlett and her husband have done, shuttling between Duke in NC and Tanzania. For more detail and pictures, visit her blog: www.ngirilover.blogsplot. com. Trish’s daughters Christina and Katrina are actresses in NYC. Son Isaiah just earned his MSW from NYU and is working in Somerville MA. Their granddaughter and parents Michelle and Lexton live near the Bartletts’ home in Durham, as do stepdaughter Julia and her husband. Brother Rick Watson ’63 is newly retired and working on a family genealogy. Brother Jim Watson ’66 is also in NC and continues his oldtime and bluegrass music with his groups the Ramblers and Green Level Entertainers. The Watsons also have a cabin in Boone NC. Karibu Sana (most welcome) to anyone who’d like to visit any of their 3 homes and put their feet up for a while.

After 30 years of self-employed doctoring, Bill Johnson became an employee of the hospital in Apr, and despite some adjustment, it’s going OK. He’s still active in scouting, serves as camp doc for a large scout reservation, and looked forward to the 30,000-strong World Jamboree in Sweden. Bill is a deacon at church and helped push through a vote to become an open and affirming congregation of the UCC. Bill’s son got married in 6/10 and to Bill’s delight, moved from San Diego to Boston. His daughter left a job at State Street in Boston to swing a chain saw with AmeriCorps in the wilds of NV. Irma-Riitta Simonsuuri Jarvinen and Gene Harmon met in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, continuing a relationship begun in ’67 and resumed in ’07. This time it was to meet her son and daugh-

ter-in-law, attend a wedding, enjoy romping around Melbourne’s tea rooms, parks, art museums, and tram lines. They also made it out to “Puffing Billy,” a circa 1920 narrow-gauge steam railway line through the hills east of Melbourne. And they made plans for their next get-together in Helsinki.

Anne Barrus Zeller and husband Bill have 4 grandchildren and enjoy motorcycling, paddling, and hiking. They split time between home in Dunbarton NH and volunteering at Red Rock State Park in Sedona AZ. They also have a cabin in Greenville ME, where their only bathtub is the lake.

Anne says: “If any of you would like to photograph moose up close, Bill is a registered Maine guide; come visit us.”

To commemorate the Civil War Sesquicentennial, Bruce Burnside recorded the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra and released a new Civil War CD featuring songs from Lincoln’s Living Legacy, a stage show he wrote for the 100-year celebration of Lincoln’s birth. Bruce is also recording a new CD of original songs about history, make believe, and the need to care for the planet and its inhabitants.

After retiring and moving back to the US from Canada, Chris Crosby has adapted to life without traditional work. High point of the year was a trip to Tanzania to experience the “great migration” across the Serengeti. Chris spent 2 weeks in a Land Rover following tens of thousands of zebras and gnus, as well as thousands of elephants, giraffes, and gazelles, watched a pride of lions attack zebras at a watering hole, and spent a day in a Masai village.

Vin Kennedy reports busy times with wife Becky Parfitt Kennedy graduating with a master’s in clinical mental health counseling from Lesley U, daughter Meaghan Thomas-Kennedy ’01 graduating from UVA law school to work with Weil, Gotschal & Manges in NYC, and son Peter ’06 returning home from a year of playing, teaching, and coaching lacrosse in Manchester, England.

Daughter-in-law Jaclyn Thomas-Kennedy ’00 completed her writer’s fellowship with the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and has been named a MacDowell Fellow with residence at the colony in NH. Vin and his partners decided to liquidate their “distressed loan” investment portfolio so he has, therefore, re-retired and now looks forward to completing a 2-yr cabinet- and furnituremaking program at Boston’s North Bennet Street School. He continues to practice/teach Tae Kwon Do and occasionally lectures on restructuring and turnaround management.

While Asia is still very much part of life for him, Dick Flagg has settled back in the US in Park City UT and embraced the local religion: skiing. He’d love to welcome any classmates who are ski or board buffs to visit and experience the “best snow on earth” in winter, or discover hiking, biking, and camping in the Wasatch and Uinta mountains during the summers.

Charlie Watt lives in Sarasota FL doing financial planning and writing. His 1st book, a comingof-age tale (with plenty of Mt Hermon stories) was an FWA ’10 finalist for memoirs. He expects to have

it published this year and would happily accept an introduction to a traditional NY publisher or agent.

Pam Crawford has moved from Sarasota to her childhood home in CT. She is engaged to a wonderful guy she dated as a teenager. Son Luc and daughter April are happy living and working in FL. Grandson Sebastian is off to college. Pam has had recent visits with Chris Anderson ’66 and Betsy Cassell Randall ’66. She and Betsy were reminiscing about a talent show in which they did a Sonny and Cher routine and wonder if anyone might have pictures.

Laura Thompson is a high school special-ed teacher in a small, economically depressed town in NH. She also works in the wine tasting room at Zorvino Vineyard, the perfect counterpoint to special ed and the only job she’s ever had where drinking is part of the job description. Laura is enjoying good friends, good health, a wonderful son, and a cozy home in the woods.

Sylvia Kuhner Baer is still teaching at Gloucester College in NJ, including some online teaching with a few courses. She absolutely hated it at first, but now finds the discussions more interesting online when folks have time to think about ideas, rather than in class, where the pace is faster.

She’s still playing tennis (and became part of a 4.0 team), golf, loving both yoga and Pilates, enjoying performing her Emily Dickinson play A Passion for Life around the country, but mainly, she and her husband adore hanging out with their grandson (2). Daughter Heather entered him in an online contest and now he’s on a best-selling Hallmark card. And a sibling is on the way.

After selling his retail business in ’06 and retiring, Willy Hermann ended up with a cottage industry repairing Nakamichi cassette decks. (www. willyhs.com). Hard to believe anyone still uses them, but there are quite a number of people who are still dedicated to the cassette format. Both sons have graduated from college and are employed— in the fields in which they graduated.

Madeleine Lenagh’s practice as coach and counselor is well under way and she has gradually expanded the English content on her website, www.lenagh.nl. She works part time for the city of Utrecht, managing a citywide program to improve and innovate public services and improve digital access for all clients.

Joking that all the running he did at Mt Hermon may have taken its toll, Ross Mason finally gave up the sport in favor of cycling. He even got his picture in an “old guy magazine” after competing at the national championships.

Will Melton wrapped up his assignment at the Scripps Institute in FL and has moved on to a new challenge at UMASS Amherst. He and Eliza Childs were proud to visit another Northfield (MN) for their daughter’s graduation from Carleton College.

Have you seen the name of a Northfield classmate on Facebook or elsewhere and asked: “Did I know her?” The confusion comes about, naturally, because many of those women, through marriage, divorce, remarriage, or other circumstances, have

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adopted names other than the ones you may be familiar with from our school years. To help you sort out who’s who, we have assembled a handy chart so you can cross-reference the surnames your Northfield classmates used “back in the day” with the ones they go by today. You can find it at www. nmh1967.com/67names.html.

In Dec, Wendy Alderman Cohen, Donna Eaton Mahoney, Eliza Childs, Will Melton, Vin Kennedy, and Dana Gordon met for dinner in Boston and then proceeded to Emmanuel Church to attend Christmas Vespers. Much of the dinner conversation focused on our upcoming 45th reunion. Your class officers continue the planning since observing the Class of ’66 celebration in June for ideas. Your input is important. Please mail, email, or Facebook any suggestions, and plan your schedule around the 2nd weekend of 6/12. We are hoping for record attendance. This is our last practice before the 50th . . .

From the Alumni Office: We are saddened to report the death of Deborah Krum Douglas on 12/10/10, one day after her 61st birthday. At Northfield, Debby was a class committee volunteer.

A graduate of the U of CA San Francisco School of Medicine, she specialized in anatomical and clinical pathology. During her career, she was assoc professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins, chief of the Department of Pathology at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and practiced in Roanoke VA. Debby is survived by 2 daughters, a grandson, her parents, brother John Krum ’77, and sister Katherine Krum Cordier ’72.

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KRIS ALEXANDER ESCHAUZIER 49 W Lynne Ave Portland ME 04103-1656 pkeschauz@maine.rr.com PETER L. ESCHAUZIER 49 W Lynne Ave Portland ME 04103-1656 pkeschauz@maine.rr.com

MARK G. AUERBACH PO Box 60784 Longmeadow MA 01116-0784 mgauerbach@gmail.com

Many in our class are sharing news via our NMH68 Alumni Facebook page. If you’re on Facebook, join us there for more current class news and chat.

Condolences to Nancy Alexander Randall, whose husband Dick passed away on 2/18/11. For the VT Standard obituary: www.thevermontstandard.com/2011/03/richard-randall-obituary/.

Mark G Auerbach writes: “I produced a performance with the Capitol Steps last Dec as a benefit for the South Hadley Youth Commission, and I’ve taken on the public relations for ‘The David

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Pakman Show,’ an internationally syndicated, multi-platform political talk show on radio, TV, and the web.”

After some time off for health issues, Carol Bolton Dane got back to traveling with a trip to Australia in Dec. She missed the birth of the newest granddaughter but caught up with her in Mar in LA. She’s looking forward to being back in NE this fall. She’s an attorney working at the San Francisco Superior Court, representing kids or parents in abuse/neglect cases.

Ted Bretschger and wife Nancy live in Chicago and are new grandparents. Recently, eldest son Teddy and wife Elizabeth, who live in NYC, were away on business in Hong Kong and China and “grandma and grandpa” took care of Louise (9 mos). They had a great time but felt fortunate that daughters Lindsay and Heidi (and husband Alex) also live in NYC, so they had lots of quality family time.

Harriet Chessman has been in Palo Alto CA since ’02 and is writing a new novel. Daughter Marissa Wolf is artistic director for Crowded Fire Theater Company in San Francisco; son Micah is post-production assistant in editing for the new Alvin and the Chipmunks film after being on the editing team for Water for Elephants; youngest son Gabe is making a good effort to finish high school and is in a band. Husband Bryan Wolf teaches art history at Stanford and is at work on a new book on Martin Puryear and other artists.

After 3 years as the US Ambassador to the Central African Republic, Frederick Cook moved back to the US last year to take up an assignment as the foreign policy advisor to the commandant of the Marine Corps. Daughter Heather Cook O’Donnell ’96 has taken time off from teaching to raise 2 kids, and son Trevor ’03 is a lieutenant in the Army in Afghanistan. “Moving back into our house in Arlington VA has been a challenge as the house was rented for 15 years, but we are making progress and the guest room is available.”

Susan Donaldson James checked in: “Daughter Megan, a reporter for ‘Seven Days’ in Burlington VT, wrote about filmmaker Camilla Rockwell, never realizing she was our NMH classmate. Small world.”

Wendy Golenbock’s son Max has been selected as cocaptain of the ’11–12 MIT soccer team.

Wendy invites classmates to MIT’s Steinbrenner Field this fall to cheer on Max in center midfield and the rest of the intrepid Engineers.

Paul Haagen is still senior associate dean for academic affairs at Duke Law School, advising Duke athletes and opining for the media on matters related to sports and the law. He also has responsibility for Duke’s initiatives in China. Older son Jonathan started an education company there, and younger son Christopher is about to move from Beijing, where he is a teacher/administrator at the Tsinghua University International High School, to Nanjing to go to grad school in the Johns Hopkins program.

Carol Harman Barre says she spends about

50 hours a week with her mom (95), who still lives in her own house on the beach, but needs 24/7 companionship and help with ADLs (activities of daily living in gerontology parlance). She volunteers with her local advisory board of first book, writing grants and other fundraising. Carol says: “I exercise my compulsiveness in bouts of weeding and pruning of our lawn and garden. Jim, dear husband for 38 years, helps me remember to take time to just sit and visit—or just sit –and he keeps the household husbanded while I’m off on my various missions.”

Louise “Weezie” Miner is asst professor at St Catherine U, teaching in the master of arts in organizational leadership program, and is in her 21st year as an organization development consultant.

“My greatest joys are singing in the Minnesota Chorale, a symphonic chorus associated with the MN orchestra, singing in a hospice choir, and being an involved grandmother of 2 girls. I’m happily married to Rob Wilcox and living in St Paul MN.” Bill Newman has visited Gary Hopson, Ren Davis, and Don Stanton since the beginning of the year. All are in the DC area, and Bill reports that all are doing well.

Glenn Perry moved back east from CA a few years ago and now teaches archetypal cosmology and conscious evolution at the Graduate Institute in CT. “For the last 35 years in CA, I had been working as a psychotherapist in private practice, utilizing astrology as a diagnostic tool. My real passion, however, is writing and teaching, which I get to do more of now that I’m back in CT.” Glenn lives in Haddam Neck on the CT River, is an avid kayaker, and was recently featured on CBS3’s “Better Connecticut”: www.wfsb.com/betterct/27506710/detail.html.

Irving Priest married Sara last June after being together for a long time. He is superintendent of public works in Wrentham MA. “We spend time at our place in Concord VT and are working on refurbishing our 38-ft sailboat. Our dream is to sail our own boat south.”

Roger Quinn and wife Jody, married 36 years, recently became grandparents for the 1st time when Emory Reagan Quinn was born on 4/30/11 to son Billy (in officer training school) and Rebekah. Their youngest son Teddy graduated from Lynn U in May and will begin business school there in Sept. Roger and Jody live in Belfair, a scenic golf and tennis community in the Hilton Head SC area.

Last winter, Betsy “Ali” Rose released a new CD, “Real to Me,” of original songs, including several inspired by her son Matt’s teenage years and the joys/rigors of parenting. She reports that Matt is home from his freshman year at UC Berkeley, happier and healthier than she expected/feared.

Her partner David is very engaged in his nonprofit, which offers volunteer opportunities to CA Berkeley students in mentoring and other programs serving low-income/minority youth. Betsy’s website is: www.betsyrosemusic.org.

Bob Schwartz’s older son Daniel recently married and younger son Aaron was best man.

Daniel went to SUNY-Binghamton for his bachelor’s and his master’s in philosophy. While pursuing his master’s, he and a partner wrote and sold a screenplay. He also writes lyrics with a new band, Peaches and Crime. Aaron graduated with honors from SUNY Plattsburgh, where he’ll continue for an MS in leadership.

Ruth Stevens was named 1 of “20 women to watch in sales lead management” by the Sales Lead Management Association. For the award details: www.20women2watch.com/2011/03/2011-winnerruth-p-stevens-emarketing-strategy.html.

Jay Ward still teaches physics and chemistry and coaches JV soccer at NMH, finishing his 35th year. Son Bill Ward ’07 graduated in ’11 from Georgetown and is working for Morgan Stanley in NYC. Son Brady Ward ’10 is a soph at Yale this fall, where he is a member of the Spizzwinks(?), a male a cappella group. Jay reports that “NMH is in fantastic shape these days, and we are in a good position to attract a new dynamic head of school.

Start making plans for our 45th reunion in ’13.

Best to all.”

From Alan Winslow: “Sam and I are just completing a transatlantic cruise for our 40th. Other than that, my 20 years at Intel ended a few years back and now I’ve joined a small Web2.0 start-up doing Software QA. We still live in wonderfully kinky and queer San Francisco and would love folks to come visit.”

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SUE PINEO STOWBRIDGE PO Box 29 S Tamworth NH 03883-0029 nfld69@aol.com

Some news came in after the last deadline and others took a little time to write after my recent email. I hope to give you more notice in the future so there will be time to send your news. Many of us now have grown children with families of their own, and while it is certainly fun learning of those marriages and births, please remember that these events should be reported after they occur. If your news of an upcoming marriage or birth does not appear, just drop another note after the fact and I’ll be sure to publish your news.

Bonnie Blair Peterson reports that life has been busy in south GA. Her father, who has Alzheimer’s and has lived with them for 2 yrs, just turned 86. She says his goal is 100 and he just might make it. They are enjoying the relationship developing between him and his new Shih-Tzu puppy, which they gave him for a pet. The household is getting quite lively. Bonnie says that after 3 yrs of struggle, she has completed her doctorate in public administration and will be teaching courses for Valdosta State U, starting this summer. She celebrated her 60th birthday by “Swimming with the Giants” in the Atlanta Aquarium. “I wanted something new, exciting, and different, and I think I got it.

Now, if the sharks just don’t see me as appetizing…’’

Chris Fleuriel moved to ME to become the

librarian at the Veterans Admin Medical Center in Togus in late Mar. The position was vacant for a year, so she is rebuilding the library. She says it is interesting to be in a place with a broader scope than Dana-Farber—a good challenge. She enjoys ME and doesn’t miss the 3-hr commutes at all. She says: “I’ve managed to continue my small-world experiences: in 1 week I met 2 Northfield alums, Lynne Dow Drinkard ’63 and Ann Hadley Greenberg ’64.” Chris’s son Sam graduated from Cheshire Academy and is headed to Champlain College.

Daughter Shoshana will celebrate her 16th birthday in Israel during her 2-week trip there in July.

Marti Hall Malabad still lives in VA Beach VA with husband Ellis (40 yrs in July). She has 2 grandchildren and loves retired life, taking time to sail, hike, bike, and travel. She was thrilled to receive a phone call from roommate Ann DainGoeschl during the Annual Fund drive. They’re hoping to connect in CA. She stays in touch with Ann Pettengill Shea, enjoying visits when possible, and would welcome hearing from anyone coming through VA at m.malabad@gmail.com.

Libby Leonard Siegmund writes that her daughter graduated from U of Mary Washington, and Libby retired from teaching in June. She hopes they can leave the DC area in a few yrs.

Wendy Rosan Costa had a great year working on educational programs at a historic plantation that is near her house in MD. Her oldest son finished his PhD in biomedical nanotechnology, and her youngest is halfway through a master’s in engineering. She says: “I like having grown-up kids.”

Leslie Robinson Sharp in Portland OR reports that she is still fairly healthy after a cancer recurrence in ’08, but is retired now and on disability because she is now stage 4 (metastatic). She says the drug she is taking is effective and that many people live quite a while at stage 4. Daughters Clair and Emily are in their 20s and living in the Pacific Northwest, too, so she sees them regularly. Leslie’s husband Bill is making more art lately, while working at IBM as a systems lab manager; happily, he manages to balance the 2 careers.

Becky Rounds Michela writes: “All of our children are out of high school and 5/6 of them are done with undergraduate college. We have 1 grandchild and greatly enjoy the time that we spend with all our adult children.” Otherwise, Becky still manages a pool in the summer, coaches swimming in the winter, teaches an early morning religion class, and works in a health food store. She says: “I have also found a lot of delight in sussing out my family tree roots.”

Donna Thurston Downing has left ME Medical Center, but husband Tom is now working there. He moved his Lifeline Workplace Health Promotions Program to the Division of Family Medicine at MMC and loves the freedom and challenge. Donna is now in a full-time teaching position at UNH in the occupational therapy program 3 days a week. She is getting used to commuting and tries to take the Downeaster train 1 day a week.

She says: “I’m adjusting to reading a lot of papers and preparing lectures/class activities, but love the

change and challenge.”

Danielle Zuraitis Zora is in Waterbury CT, where she is looking for a job again and willing to relocate. She says: “I expect to need to work until I am at least 70.” She received her bachelor’s in sociology/adult ed and her master’s in human services/community counseling. Her work in human services has included supportive housing for the homeless; STD, health, and drug education for high-risk individuals; the correctional system, rehab centers, and shelters; counseling and support services for HIV-positive homeless individuals; housing advocacy; home visits; and health education.

I am happy to report we have just celebrated the girls’ master’s degrees. Susie Strowbridge Simmons ’02 earned a degree in technology in education through Lesley U’s distance learning program. Jen Strowbridge ’05 has received her degree in teaching elementary and middle school and special education from U of Southern ME. Husband Marc is retired and still pouring his energy into the Mt Washington Valley Children’s Museum, where he designs and builds exhibits, and the NH Astronomical Association’s Library Telescope Program. He conceived and developed the LTP, which enables library patrons to take out a telescope much like taking out a book. The program is now spreading across the country under the auspices of a variety of different astronomy clubs and interested organizations.

NMH is working to improve news gathering. Go to community.nmhschool.org and log in with your username and password or register as a new user. Then, click on Magazine notes (on the left). Please note that that are two buttons: NMH Magazine Notes or Submit/Edit My NMH Magazine Notes. Once you click on the latter, click on Add a New Note.

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PETER KROPP 150 Seaview Rd Brewster MA 02631-1532 pkropp@cape.com

Not much news has been emailed to me since my last column in Jan. Here is the news I have received.

George Chaltas sent a picture of our MH ’69 class banner that he displayed during a trip to Antarctica in 12/09. Ed Isaacs was reading Sarah Palin’s new book, which makes reference to our classmate Tim Petumenos, who conducted an interview with Ms Palin in 10/08 during her vice presidential campaign. Tim’s report concluded that there was no ethics violation.

In 4/10 David Smith and wife Susan hosted a dinner at their home for Tom Drake and Roland Leong and his wife Kathy.

Steve Shapiro was traveling to HI and Mexico over the winter.

Our son Adam married Amanda Escamilla on 6/11/10 in Bar Harbor ME. Roger Long has sold the naval architecture firm he started a quarter century ago. In that time, he

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Alums from ’69 got together at George Chaltas’s home in Palo Alto CA. Front row: Ed Craine, Ben Bullard, George Chaltas. Back row: Bob Linderman, Rob Steinberg, Al Gilbert, and Steve Pollock. designed more vessels in the coastal oceanographic fleet than any other naval architect. He will now begin cruising on his 32-ft sailboat, which he plans to do until someone has to carry him off the boat.

That’s it from sunny Cape Cod on the eve of Memorial Day weekend, when we begin to share the Cape with the world.

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DEBORAH PERSONS BROOKE 68 Hidden Bay Drive South Dartmouth MA 02748 dpbrooke@gmail.com

Hello, Classmates. This must have been a busy spring or else the extreme weather across the country redirected everyone’s energy, because I didn’t receive much news. Please know that you now have the ability to post news and search news posted by classmates on the secure NMH online alumni community at community.nmhschool.org.

This site will not be an archive of notes published in the magazine. Also remember that whether you choose to submit news or not, you can join and search the NMH alumni database at http://community.nmhschool.org. It is an easy way to get and stay in touch. Please consider adding your email address, as it will make it easier for me to share news with you.

Muffie Michaelson continues to donate fundraising and marketing services to various nonprofits, especially the hospital where her husband practices, and IRC Atlanta, the local office of the International Rescue Committee, a refugee resettlement organization. Her favorite exercise is digging and hauling in her garden, and now that she is no longer managing long-distance elder care, she has been trying to work in some photography classes. Husband Rob’s infectious disease practice keeps growing, but he stopped taking weekend calls this year, allowing them to restart dance lessons and travel more. Muffy writes: “We head out west a couple of times a year to ride at ranches and ski. Last fall we traveled to Spain with our younger daughter, Charlotte, who had just graduated from Northwestern. She is now working in Buenos Aires

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with a goal of developing fluency in Spanish, so we are heading there in May to spend a week with her. Our older daughter, Alex, is a 4th-year medical student at Emory and lives near us in Atlanta, so we get to see her often.”

Cynthia Roney writes that her son Will graduated from Macalester College this spring and his first stop after graduation is working on a ranch in northeastern NV. Her daughter Jennie is moving up to assoc director at the Arab American Assoc in Brooklyn and enjoying that role. “I am busy with work and a few organizations, the Westside Campaign against Hunger and the International Grenfell Association (which gives me a chance to go home to Newfoundland every year).”

Kim Wade Ryan and husband Jim recently moved back to Medford MA after 4 years in NYC and are new grandparents. Lillyan Grace Ryan was born in Dec to eldest son Scott and wife Rachel.

Kim writes: “Having raised 3 sons, I am thoroughly enjoying looking at pink and frilly.”

Leslie Brooks Scott and husband Bob have been in Lyman SC 19 years. She writes: “We have grown the farm to 400 acres, and I teach 70 riders a week. Another 2 years and I’ll be teaching the children of my 1st students here. Bob has been birding, and the list is up to 118 species spotted on the farm. Uof SC upstate botany teacher came out and did a botanical inventory and the count was over 650 different plants on the farm. It justifies the decision to put a conservation easement on the farm so that it can be used for farming, horses, and wildlife.”

As for me, I am still adjusting to being back, after 30 years, in my hometown, where it seems everyone knows or knew me and my family. There are definite pluses and minuses to this situation.

In addition to my work as a buyer for a local independent book/gift store, I serve on a few charitable boards and have most recently been chasing a winter’s worth of spiders and dust out of my beach house in preparation for the summer tenants, who always seem to arrive just about 1 week before the “squirrel problem” has been resolved. Please keep the news coming. Photographs are always welcome, but don’t send photos taken on cell phones. NMH prefers JPG or TIFF files.

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NEIL KIELY 111 Ferry Rd Bristol RI 02809-2902 neil@marketinginmotion.com

By the time you read this, 12 Hoggers will have (hopefully) completed a 3-day hike in the Presidential range in NH. This mini-reunion was organized by the originator of the terms “Hog” and “Hogger,” our own Gene Ward. Pictures and lots of stories to follow, I’m sure.

I’m hearing from many of you who have turned, or are about to turn, the big 6-0. Congrats to all who have achieved this milestone. I also heard from Hap Schadler, who said he is “still the baby of the

class at 58.” He just returned from a 30-day cruise through the So Pacific. Worst part was realizing that many onboard (his age) were already retired.

I was thrilled to hear from Ross Dolloff’s wife Care, who says that Ross is home and “continues to push hard in his stroke recovery following surgery 2 years ago.” He gets around with a cane and is acclimating to computer use, which has been frustrating since he had been something of a computer geek. Ross thinks fondly of his MH days and would love to hear from classmates or have them visit in Boston.

John Hargreaves was recently inducted into the Franklin & Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame for cross-country and track, where his career included 8 varsity letters and being named most outstanding male athlete in his graduating class. John “JD” Martin, headmaster of St Andrew’s School in Barrington RI, writes: “I had nothing to report until yesterday (6/16) when Dale Graden blew into town and knocked on my door.” Dale grew up in Barrington and used to play in the SA gym. He was accompanied by daughter Louisa (8th grade).

They were going to visit Dale’s mother in ME and planned to visit colleges along the way. “He looked great. Stays in shape hiking and lifting and is gregarious as ever,” quipped JD. Hey, Dale…I live about 6 miles from JD. Because of the economy Steve Row has been “reduced” to a substitute teacher. He teaches calculus, statistics, chemistry, French (thank you, Mr Weber), and music. Looking for a part-time job with a local newspaper. He was editor of a paper in NJ for 8 years. Also works as a pastor in a Baptist church, much to the chagrin of his Presbyterian colleagues. He’s fighting the aging process by working out regularly, and he still rows the Head of the Charles every fall with former Harvard teammates.

Jon Rounds and wife Eve become empty nesters this fall (Jon—take it from me; it’s temporary— they’ll be back.) and with 3 tuitions is reminded (too late) of the need for good financial planning.

He is one of the founders of a technology strategy start-up, Cloud Technology Partners. “Typical of most start-ups, we have had lots of success but with negative cash flow.” Derek Cavanaugh just returned from his 5th trip to China, where son Jake has lived for 5 years. This 2-week trip to Shanghai was to celebrate Jake’s marriage to Jade Li. Alex Lotocki de Veligost is thrilled that daughter Isabelle will be entering NMH as a frosh in Sept. She is “super excited about going.” Alex and Susan are also excited but somewhat anxious about having their only child leave the nest so early. Alex continues to enjoy his new position with JPMorgan.

By the time you read this it will be over, but maybe some of you will have caught a performance on the summer reunion tour of AJ Eckert’s band, the Magnetics. They played up and down the East Coast. Tom Baldwin thinks he and wife Trisha “live such boring lives.” He works long hours (often 7 days a week), they have no children (and are not expecting any), which is why “I don’t have anything exciting to report. However, it’s nice

to check in every once in a while, so thanks for the opportunity.”

You may recall that Wayne Cochran moved to Binghamton NY a few years ago when his partner Carol accepted a new position. Because of the lack of stimulus money, he has been looking for a job for 4 years in his field—the public and nonprofit sector. Says he used to ask himself: “Is there a God?” but now asks himself, “Are there any jobs in Binghamton?” Mark Jacobsen is an engineering manager with Eaton in SC where “the best part is living on a lake, having virtually no snow, and being 15 minutes from work.”

In my last column I reported on Steve Chiasson and his involvement with Belfast ME cohousing and ecovillage. He has since been appointed chair of the steering committee. They will break ground this summer on 36 energy-efficient homes, creating a self-sustaining planned community. This concept is growing in popularity, and there are now more than 100 nationwide. Check it out at mainecohousing.org.

Matt Quint is still working in PR in CA but recently moved from Silicon Valley to Sonoma County. Last Oct, he extended a trip to Boston and attended NMH homecoming. “The campus looked amazing in the fall foliage, and the students are more accomplished than ever.” A former coxswain, he attended crew coach Chuck Hamilton’s induction into NMH Athletics Hall of Fame and was amazed that “he remembers all of us.”

In Jan, Mark Carta was elected managing partner of the 22-member law firm in CT where he has practiced for 16 years. As wonderful as that was, the highlight of his year was attending the graduation of oldest daughter Sarah, who received a master’s in social work from Washington U in St. Louis.

Although it will be ancient history by the time you read this, I was thrilled to hear from Dan “Peach” Petrie. He was cocreator and executive producer of an ABC summer series called Combat Hospital, which ran from June to Sept. He also echoed the sentiment of many: “I find it very hard to believe we’re all starting to turn 60. Surreal.”

Jerry Fraser is still in Portland ME but no longer edits National Fisherman; however, he continues to publish it along with WorkBoat. “This is a good job with a great company.” He continues to refine his golf game and had full intentions of attending reunion before a work-related crisis surfaced.

Edmund Dehn is about to open in a play in London in which he plays a manic depressive in an asylum. He commented that it was “good to hear of George Lewis, the roommate who landed with this weird Englishman in 1/70.” Well, Rajan Batra has officially made the move to the “left coast” after purchasing a home overlooking the ocean in San Clemente. “We have lots of room and an open invite to friends and classmates.”

Jake Duvall journeyed to Indonesia last Nov for a 30-day cruise, which included 65 scuba dives in 85-degree water. This was his 3rd such expedition, and he is already eager to return.

Please remember that this is your column, and it doesn’t work unless you do. I welcome your in-

put and updates to my email address. Thanks in advance for your consideration.

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SUSAN HIRSCHMANN 806 S 2nd St Fairfield IA 52556-3607 windsong@lisco.com

REBECCA GOHMANN BECHHOLD 4755 Miami Rd Cincinnati OH 45243-4037 rbechhold@gmail.comt

From Susan: Marta Ozols Pate sure has been busy. After 4 years working with AmeriCorps VISTA with a nonprofit in WV (the last 2 as VISTA leader), Marta transitioned last Jan to staff as the new National Service Program Coordinator with Step by Step. Marta recruits VISTAs, collects and collates data for grant reporting, and serves as liaison between Step by Step and the site supervisors. They have just finished recruiting 12 summer VISTAs to work with at-risk youth in their drop-out prevention program, Summer of Service, which combines hands-on experiential education activities with community service for youth at risk of dropping out of high school. During the rest of the year, she serves as mentor to roughly 20 VISTAs at any given point.

In addition, Marta volunteers with the WV Geri Olympics. She says it’s a far cry from the scientist she had hoped to become in ’71, but much more satisfying.

Carol Majdalany Williams has been busy with the graduation of her son from Colby College, and then on to Johns Hopkins for the white-coat ceremony for her daughter, who is a 1st-year medical student. She is no longer working as a middleschool science teacher at the Montessori school in CT where she taught for many years, and is wondering if others in our class are taking stock of where they are and what they have left to give in life. She has started riding again and loves it.

Ann Macartney had hoped to go to reunion, but she broke her leg, had surgery in RI, then returned home. She hopes to make our 50th. Ann and her husband have owned Lapland Lake Nordic Vacation Center in the southern Adirondack Mountains in NY for 34 years. The resort features kayaking, canoeing, swimming, fishing, hiking, and mountain biking in the spring, summer, and fall, with lodging and day-use guests participating in cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, tubing, and other activities in the winter months. She and her husband have attempted retirement before, but now are more serious about it. So if you’re in the market, check out www.laplandlake.com. Ann’s daughter Leila (25) has just completed the 1st of 3 years in the graduate program at Pratt Institute, majoring in interior design. NYC is only 4 hours door-to-door by train or car, so Ann and her husband are able to see Leila often. Linda Phinney ’72 and Ann remain the best of friends and see

Alison Elliott ’71, her daughter Sarah Blank, Claire Bechhold, Christina Bechhold, and Becky Gohmann Bechhold ’71 dining together in San Francisco. each other frequently.

Becky Drew Guerra lost her dad last Mar. School is going well, and she and husband Frank love working with students.

Marilynn Acker Ezell was honored by her local Lions Club with a donation of $1,000 to Lions Club International in her name for their effort to wipe out preventable blindness in the world.

Marilynn has been a Lion for 19 years and is now secretary of her club. As an optometrist, she has been providing glasses and eye exams to all those who apply to her club for assistance. She has also helped with vision screenings of hundreds of local children. She’s active in her community chorus, her state optometric organization, and in the town of Jaffrey NH, where her office is located.

Although I was not able to make reunion, I understand that everyone had a wonderful time, and it looked like a big crowd—almost as big or bigger than our 25th. Pictures and other info can be found on the NMH 71 group on Facebook: http:// on.fb.me/kPmMgG. From Becky: Reunion was well attended and great fun. I didn’t know I would be reporting, so I apologize for not taking notes. I must say, I enjoyed talking with Ginny Geiss, my first roommate from Marquand. She is doing family law in NYC. Suki Whilton Agusti hosted a group of us—Merrill Mead-Fox, Alison Elliott, Susan Terry, and Deb Young Coletti—at her home in Gloucester. It involved a large amount of alcohol and seafood.

Please send me any news—even if you told me already at reunion. I want to be sure you want it to be public info.

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DAVID C. ELDREDGE 311 E 10th St, Apt 1B New York NY 10009-5106 d.eldredge@verizon.net

Post-reunion columns are always the hardest to write because there is no way to convey accurately the emotional roller coaster—always ending up— such a weekend brings, which is in no small measure due to ALL who attended:

Fall | 2011 CLASS NOTES 75

Susan Whilton Agusti, Sara Anderson, Gail Ash-Morgan, Sally Atwater, Judith Trembley Barrett, Rebecca Gohmann Bechhold, Ellen Bernstein, Raul Chavez and wife Deborah Arnold Chavez (celebrating their wedding anniversary on site), Lisa Paszamant Clark, Deborah Young Coletti (and husband Noel Coletti), Austin Duvernoy, yours truly (and wife Jilleen), Alison Elliott, Marilynn Acker Ezell, Mychelle Farmer, George Forish, Virginia Geiss, Sarah Melling Guterman, Leigh Hansen, Michele Boardman Harrelson (and daughter Jennifer), G. Stetson Heiser (and wife Ammy), Cynthia Kitchen Hogan, Peter Horne, Marshall Horwitz (and wife Susan), Claudia Istel, Jeremy Jansson, B. Lauren Jarvi, David Kjeldsen (and wife Deb), John Lewis, Merrill Mead-Fox, Stephen Michaels, Joseph Mingolla, Jason Moehring, James Morrisette, William Parker, DonnaMarie Peters (and Cy Burke), Dennis Phillips (and daughter Olivia), Deirdre Spillane Prisco, Elizabeth Hubbell Riggs (and husband Geoffrey Riggs), Gifford Rogers (and wife Sharon), Virginia Rice Roscioli, Michael Ruane (and wife Marcia), Susan Terry, Biddle “Tom” Thompson, C. John Townsend, Robert Upton, Jonathan Whitehouse (and wife Miriam), and Janet Brugggemeyer Wilson. It was such a big, great crowd that we needed to take 2 “official” class photos to try to capture everyone—but even then, a few probably escaped (check out these and many other photos posted on the NMH 71 group page on Facebook).

In addition, we were especially blessed to have our classy “class teachers” Hal and Becky (yes, we’re finally of age to call them by their first names, even though we often lapsed back into the Mr and Mrs) McCann onboard for most of the weekend, despite the conflict with reunions at that other school half the state away.

High points were many: gathering in the lounge and catching up and revisiting past times poring over old yearbooks and photos; laughing around the table at meals (unbelievable how good the food is compared to our days); a fearsome foursome hacking around the Northfield course (John Lewis sinking the round’s only birdie); the “guerrilla” installation of Biddle Thompson’s handcrafted bluebird house behind Crossley; an uplifting concert by the Hogapella students/alumni; the many chances to sing “Jerusalem” (lyrics not necessary); and the personal moments of reflection in both the physical and natural beauty of both campuses.

Highest points were undeniably on Sat. First and foremost, at the morning Alumni Association meeting, our class shone brightest with Mychelle Farmer receiving the Distinguished Service Award—the association’s highest award—for her ceaseless clinical practice and health-care policy advocacy on behalf of children and adolescents at home and abroad; and Marshall Horwitz receiving the Community Service Award—the association’s 2nd highest—for his missionary dental

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work in some of the world’s poorest, most isolated regions.

The 2nd highest point came later that evening when, during our class dinner, the Northfield alums challenged the Hermon alums present to “put up or shut up”—in short, to come up with more pledge contributions to the school than they by Sun lunch. The final score? It was 15 Northfield alumnae: $3,201; 13 Hermon alumni: $1,910. The winner? NMH: $5,111.

So what if the weather most of the time was “eh”? Two days of rain could not dampen our spirits. Perhaps Joe Mingolla summed up the weekend best when he announced upon arrival: “I’ve laughed more in the 10 minutes I’ve been here than I have all year.”

Thanks to all who came out for the weekend, as well as to my reunion committee coconspirators Peter Horne, Cynthia Kitchen Hogan, Stetson Heiser, and Jon Whitehouse (and our respective spouses) for helping make it happen. The 5 of us are pleased to welcome new coconspirators: Judith Trembley Barrett, Lisa Paszamant Clark, and Leigh Hansen, who’ve volunteered to help us plot for the future. And a special thanks from all of us goes out to my collaborative columnist for the past decade Sue Hirschman. The reunion class voted the volunteering Becky Gohmann Bechhold back into the Northfield class secretary saddle.

See you all in 5 years—in the meantime, keep the emails, calls, and notes coming.

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SARA ROBINSON 1225 Ellis Hollow Rd Ithaca NY 14850-2920 sarajimdl@aol.com

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HEATHER BLANCHARD TOWER 46 Main St Northfield MA 01360-1023 smtower@comcast.net BILL STEWART 28 Wildwood Pl El Cerrito CA 94530-2049 BillStewartNMH73@gmail.com

From Heather: Spring has finally arrived. The final snowfall was 4/22. This year’s Easter bonnets were a bit warmer than usual. Sacred Concert happened 5/1 and was fabulous. The students continue to amaze me with their musical ability and professionalism when it comes to performance.

We have been treated to many productions this year of superb caliber: dance, theatre, orchestral, jazz, world music, a cappella, and choral ensembles. Each time we have to remind ourselves that these are high school students. They are amazing, and we feel so lucky to be able to be a part of it.

Check the arts calendar when you come east to see

what’s happening.

I have a few notes to share. Karl Schmidtmann reports that he moved to Santa Clara CA and is working for a femtocell wireless start-up.

Thatcher Stone writes: “Andy Nebenzahl and I have reconnected and are trying to work together on a few legal matters. I got pulled in to a group of former clients to help establish EA Group Brazil, an investment fund manager in São Paolo that will launch a debt fund for US investors backed by Brazilian high yield receivables. I am looking to spend more time in Brazil and Argentina as a result. This year our sailboat is with friends’ boats on a mooring in Jamestown RI opposite Newport. So the family is looking forward to that. Still teaching fall semesters at UVA Law School and enjoying it.

New office at 45 Rockefeller Center, great view of the tree, the rink, and the summer strollers.”

Mark DeGarmo continues to enjoy amazing and creative performances, workshops, and liaisons in the NYC area. He makes it back to campus periodically to share his craft with the students and inspire the rest of us.

We are in the final stretch of college: Sara ’07 and Chris ’05 will both graduate next May, 1 day apart. We’re already planning the split-second timing necessary to be in RI and PA at the appropriate times and days. Sara spent the fall in Jaipur, India, followed by a month of traveling with her friend in India and Nepal. Chris is headed to London and Paris for a course this summer, and maybe to the Amazon next Jan. Travel is so much easier now, and the places you can go weren’t on most of our radars at their age. Someday, I’ll get to see some of the places they’ve been, too.

Keep your news coming. We know this is the first page we go to in the magazine.

From Bill: I have renewed a longtime interest in music, singing in a local choir, Kol Truah, and playing with a recorder consort. My son Blake married Stephanie Adrian May. Blake and brother Christopher Livengood run Ember Audi/Video.

(The world did NOT end that day.)

Tim Shear reports that he is CEO of Capital City Energy Group of Columbus OH. He is also involved in Indigenous Pictures LLC, Rotary Club, and OH politics. He is in contact with David Mojekwu, who is in Chicago, and Pete Pfluger, who divides his time between FL and Martha’s Vineyard.

Linda and Jim Blumenthal are relieved and happy to announce that he is finally clear of throat cancer after a 2 ½-year fight that combined conventional and natural medicine. He is back to swimming and sailing, practicing and lecturing, and has launched a new company, NeuroHealth Diagnostics (www.NeuroHealthDx.com), which helps doctors understand and treat their patients’ metabolic imbalances.

With great sadness we note the untimely passing of David Dwight and Edith “Cookie” Smith Hall.

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STEPHANIE LYNN GERSON PO Box 382 Woodstock VT 05091-0382 steffilarc@aol.com

Hi, everybody. First, I want to thank you all for writing in. We had a great turnout for this issue: we’ve heard from 3 boatsmen, a pair of geologists and an energy specialist, 2 environmental remediators, 6 child raisers, 2 designers, a photographer and 2 artists, an architect and an engineer, 2 making a career of athletics, 2 singers, and 2 members of the clergy.

Let’s start off with some celebratory news.

On 12/26/10, Bill Martling married Sue Hardy and moved from Nantucket to a golf course in her hometown of Cotuit MA. Bill now works at Crosbey Yacht Yard on the Cape in Osterville MA, primarily as sailboat rigger, with additional related duties. Sue is also a sailor, works in a boatyard, and is a shellfisher with 2 boats. “We both love water and being on the ocean. A match made in heaven.” says Capt Bill.

Our class has several sailors and yachtsmen.

John Burnham and wife Rachel Balaban have lived in Middletown RI for 22 years. He is editorial director for boats.com, boattrader.com, and yachtworld.com to keep up with the college tuition bills. John reports that their youngest daughter Sophie is in college-decision phase, with some great options; Olivia is a junior at Tulane, a dance and Spanish major studying abroad this year in Madrid. Their oldest, Isabel, works in the Burlington VT area, having graduated last year from UVM with a degree in film and television studies.

Andy Tofuri, Houston TX, is still with Environmental Resources Management (25 years) managing groundwater remediation projects.

His older son finishes college in a year, while the younger starts his junior year of HS. Like John, Andy will be working for some time to pay tuition.

He spent spring ’10 on a 17-day sailing trip to the Bahamas, including cruising the Exuma Islands from Georgetown to Warderick Wells and back to GT for the Family Island Regatta, then returning to FL. Andy writes: “The Exumas are a fantastic place, just far enough off the beaten track to be fairly pristine. These sailing trips have become my favorite outside activity since the late ’90s.” Andy would like to hear from the San Antonio–based NMH ’74 classmates he met at Willy Thorton’s when the pirates landed while he sailed BVI in 6/09.

Andy talks to Priscilla “Bitsie” Lance Reynolds and is trying to get her to join our Facebook page. Bitsie’s daughters Carolyn (25, MBA track) and Samantha (23, working in Fairfield CT) both went to Deerfield and it was strange when they played NMH. Son Adson (11) plays lacrosse, and she sees Pam Miller Dysenchuk at his Ridgewood vs Darien lacrosse games. Bitsie still sees and talks to former roommate Jill Riihiluoma Lukasiewicz ’75, who lives in S Hadley MA. Bitsie has worked full time selling

real estate in Ridgewood NJ since ’92, and is currently in her own transition.

Pam Miller Dysenchuk and husband David just celebrated their 30th anniversary and have lived in Darien CT for 24 years. While raising their 3 children, Pam volunteered at local schools and in the community. Daughter Blair, Miami of OH ’07, now lives in NYC and works at MOMA. Marika, Middlebury ’07, lives in NYC and reverse commutes to work at Greenwich Associates in CT. Son Nikki is a Dartmouth soph, where he plays men’s varsity lacrosse. Pam has been executive dir of the Darien Technology and Community Foundation for 6 years.

After youngest daughter Grace finished freshman year at Ithaca College (followed by a Caribbean semester at sea), Susan Fenske McDonough began her own transition from NJ to Amherst NH life near her brother and dad (94).

She is putting in a produce garden and looking for professional and volunteer work after 8 years as assistant to the headmaster at an independent NJ school. Middle child Jamie finished junior yr at U Scranton, and eldest daughter Cate works in pediatric occupational therapy in San Francisco, after earning her master’s from UNH. Susan keeps in touch with good friend Pam Miller Dysenchuk, and has seen Melissa Alden ’72 and talked to Susie Davidson Falzone. She’d like to hear from other classmates, especially now in NH. Sheryl Street Cabot and family spend weekends in Wakefield NH enjoying water sports at their small lake house. They’ve been at home in Concord MA for 25 years, Sherry working as assistant kindergarten teacher while raising their 3 daughters, and husband Marshall as GM of BMW and MINI of Peabody. Audra (31) married now for 10 years, graduated from Holy Cross and is a manager at UMass Medical, Worcester. Following her bachelor’s from CU Boulder, Amanda (24) completed her master’s in library science and works at the Boston Architectural College library on Newbury St in Boston. Youngest daughter Heather just graduated from James Madison in VA and works for CVent software near DC. They travel 2–3 times per year in the Western hemisphere. Says Sherry: “Life has been a wonderful adventure, and we know that we have been very blessed with a great family. I hope that life has treated you well or if not—that you have been able to weather the storm and come out on the other side.”

Becky Nash McKay lives in suburban

Chicago while working as administrative principal in her husband’s business. They are also empty nesters, as younger daughter Elizabeth is a freshman at Tufts, and older daughter Julia graduated from Miami of OH in ’10 with a degree in accounting and headed to work at Deloitte in Boston. Becky asks: “Just wondered if any other New Englanders might have students at Tufts?” She traveled in FL last year with Stewart Battle Staudinger, Lisen Cameron, and Addie Havemeyer.

Another remediation specialist, Laurie Lee Jillson Mason is president/owner since ’90 of Inner Space Services, Inc, an environmental dredging and contaminated sediment treatment specialists’ business based at Sebago Lake ME. They travel the East Coast doing hydraulic dredging and hazmat remediation and work frequently at the Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear site. She and husband Bob see her cousins David Paige ’70, Richard Paige ’73, and Meredith Paige ’77.

Laurie Lee is still passionate about riding and competes with her Thoroughbred/Percheron, 17-hand horse Merlin.

Adam Thomson practices adaptive reuse and simplification in his Canton NC furniture studio plant by purchasing revitalized equipment and milling his own lumber from hurricane-downed trees. After years of experience with other manufacturers, he is fitting out his own 1-man shop, guided by the advice of a top industrial plant engineer.

Adam continues to update his production knowledge and skills. Adam’s mother passed in Mar 2010.

After 20 years, the Adam G Thomson Boys Track Prize is still awarded at the NMH athletic banquet.

Adam asks classmates to contact him on Facebook.

In Charlotte NC, Andre Fleuriel spent several years building a residential design practice. He devoted ’10–11 to continuing the NMH tradition of meaningful service as medical caretaker for loved ones in NYC. Andre enjoyed staying in Irving Sq during the recent winter blizzards.

Also continuing the NMH tradition of meaningful service, Gregory Baker is health and wellbeing coordinator at the Williamsburg VA YMCA. He continues to play harmonica. Greg visits his son Jamieson ’04, who is a talent agent with William Morris in Hollywood.

Samuel Koch is in his 21st season as head men’s soccer coach at UMass Amherst and lives in Hadley. He recently talked to fellow NMH alum Brian Crowley and plays golf with Sam Roundy.

Wife Suzanne continues work as forensic inter-

Andrew Tofuri ’74, onboard his yacht, sailing in the Caribbean Sea in ’10

John Burnham ’74 at home with daughters Sophie and Olivia, wife Rachel, and daughter Isabel

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Valerie Jarrett ’74 and Hans Goff ’01 looking at NMH Magazine during a reception at the Eagleton Institute of Politics, where Hans was a past fellow and Valerie delivered a talk. viewer at the DA’s office. Oldest son Christopher is looking at Boston-area colleges. Son Jeff and daughter Katie performed with their Greenfieldbased group JaDuke at Disney World FL. Ben (11) plays indoor soccer and takes flying lessons at Northampton Airport flight camp.

In Greenwich CT where he grew up, Everett Smith cofounded NewWorld Capital Group of NYC, a private equity firm focused on providing equity growth to companies in the environmental opportunities sector (reducing carbon intensity, extending resources, or improving health and welfare). He serves as chairman of the board of Rumsey Hall School in Washington DC. Everett’s youngest is a college senior, with 2 already graduated. He occasionally talks to Rob Brougham ’75.

Holt McChord and wife Shelby have launched son Ian (21), who just graduated from UCO Boulder. Son Austin (25) successfully launched from RIT to found Datto Inc, a computer start-up in Wilton CT, which grew from 1 to 30 employees in 3 years. Daughter Kendall (23) graduated from Lehigh in civil engineering and works in Rocky Hill CT for SEA/Kleinfelder. All children take after Holt with his own civil engineering firm.

The McChords enjoy skiing, sailing, and motorcycling together. Last fall they explored the Blue Ridge Parkway and the back Smokies NC by motorcycle. Holt has seen Scott Johnson and Jeff McDonough.

After NMH, David Foell took 2 years at U of OR, then transferred to Cornell to complete his B.Arch. Like so many of us, he worked in NYC, traveled, and then worked in Rome for 2 years, where he met his wife Daniela, a fellow architect, artist, and writer. They returned to Boston, then NYC, and he worked at various architecture firms before becoming an architectural designer of subway stations for the NYC Transit Authority.

Daniela is writing a book on forms in nature and their computer reconstruction. David and Daniela have 2 daughters, Daphne a recent math grad from NYU-Binghamton, and Zoe (6th grade), who is a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. They also collaborate in their own upstate NY design firm, spaceink.net.

David writes: “Facebook has brought amazing connectivity to the lost generation of ’74ers. For those of you who are interested, go to Facebook and search Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1974.

Ironically, I have learned more from the Facebook

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traffic than from our very own NMH Magazine.

With nearly every issue, I find our lonely ’74 heading without notes. What happened to our class?

“I have my own theory. I think that the mid’70s corresponded to the nadir of NMH’s existence. Coming on the heels of the merger between the 2 schools, the institution was bulging with the largest population of any private boarding school.

Furthermore, the mid-’70s featured what I call the ’60s hangover, when the fallout of the ’60s with its broken societal barriers, protests, and questioning of the status quo all came down on us and our teachers. The result was a lack of cohesion within our class. We were just ‘travelers passing through,’ enjoying a moment together and then moving on.

“I have one request for everyone: please go through your old NMH photos, stick them on a scanner, and share them either through Facebook or the magazine or some other website that we can all find. I did a big search and then realized that I didn’t even own a camera in that period. Hope you are all well.” David’s family enjoys hiking trips to ME, Miami, Saguanay River, the Gaspe PQ, and Italy.

Former Mandala literary magazine contributor Carolie Parker won a MacDowell Colony Poetry Fellowship last Feb and is now a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome. Kudos, Carolie. When at home in LA (Altadena CA), Carolie still teaches art history and humanities at LA Trade Tech College.

David Trout has been married to Lori since ’02 and lives in Detroit. He writes: “I am on hiatus from painting but have shown and sold my work in 5 states. These days I grow species lilies and work in a neighboring town.” David occasionally sees David Schut and Chip Barr, who both say hello.

Michael Price lives in North Palm Beach FL, working as a photographer and an Apple support technician for a local company. He was recently a columnist for the Palm Beach newspaper. He’s heard from David Trout and Steve Meyer, as well as Jim Garst ’75 in NV and Richard Morse ’75 in Haiti. He also sees Kerry Rosenthal, principal of a Miami real estate and entertainment law firm, and Jon Zeeman ’73. You can see Mike’s work at www.michaelpricephotography.com.

After 15 years as senior exploration geologist for Shell International in The Hague, the Netherlands, Steve Meyer has finally acclimated to the weather, the Dutch, bicycles, and cheeses.

Daughter Justine (12) is interested in board-

ing schools. Steve’s work sends him to Warri, Nigeria, Oman, and Borneo, as well as Calgary and Houston. He keeps in touch with Hillside friends Chris Boyd and Michael Price through Facebook, and reads Mike’s collected columns. Email Steve at: yankee.in.clogs@gmail.com.

Stateside, Stephen Laubach is senior research geologist at the Bureau of Economic Geology, U of Texas Austin, where he’s been since ’86. Steve is happy that daughter Eva ’15 is entering NMH as a freshman this fall.

After recording “Of Visions and Truth”—a song-cycle ensemble on the “Recorded Music of the African Diaspora” CD, Germany-based opera singer Bonita Hyman has now completed a year-long course certifying her as a qualified choral conductor.

“Talk about coming full circle in life,” says Bonnie.

She is sorry to report that her mother passed in ’09, but her son (12) is growing at the speed of light.

Chandler “Chris” Cudlipp has lived near Zurich (Zumikon) since ’03. After many years of singing professionally, Chris went into orchestra management, working for the Opera and Tonhalle Orchestras in Zurich, and the symphony orchestras of the Bavarian Radio, Monte-Carlo, and Detroit. His primary client is the Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Monaco, as artistic advisor and planner for the wedding of Prince Albert of Monaco. Chris has previously lived in Detroit, France, Zurich, and NYC, after graduating from UMI Ann Arbor. His Hungarian wife Susanne is also a singer. Daughter Alexandra (17) attends Swiss schools. He is happy to hear from classmates at chandler@ggaweb.ch.

Christopher Matthews writes from Sevilla, Spain, where he has been since ’98 following an original NMH semester in ’74. As director of

Chris Matthews’74 and his family in Mijas, Spain, in ’10. Front row: Chris’s wife Beth, son Nick’s wife Alaura, and daughter Emily. Back: Son Pete, Chris, Nick, daughter Emily’s husband Jorge, and Sam.

Bill Martling ’74 and wife Sue Gale Hardy Martling on their wedding day, 12/26/10

Holt McChord ’74, Jeff McDonough ’74, and Scott Johnson ’74 at Kent Island MD, 10/10

Laurie Jillson Mason ’74 on Merlin at the ’10 Mollyockett Pony Club 2-phase event in North Yarmouth ME. Seminario Teológico Al-Ándalus, Chris has followed in the footsteps of Dwight L Moody by beginning a college-level school with graduate degrees, training Spaniards for Christian service. He and wife Beth have 4 children, 2 of them married.

“El que no ha visto Sevilla, no ha visto maravilla.

Write to let us know you are coming.” Chris can be reached at chris@fundacionabre.org.

Judy Armbruster had a lot of fun when Claire Bamberg visited this winter at her 8,400foot-altitude Littleton CO home. She would love to have more visitors. Judy is happy to make Facebook contact with her freshman-year roommate Margery Schaetti.

This has been a tapestry year so far for another minister in our class, as Claire Bamberg and family kicked off ’11 with a CA wine country trip, including 2 days with son Matthew “Bam” Bamberg-Johnson ’02 in LA. She and husband Bob continued on to visit Judy near Denver. Claire, who is senior minister of the Congregational Church of Plainville, UCC, then returned home to CT to lose the roof over an extensive part of her church due to the weight of ice and snow. In Mar Bob Willard had a total knee replacement and he was a rock star on the joint rehab front.

Medication mismanagement in the hospital and rehab have set him back a bit on other fronts, however. At this writing he is regaining ground and they continue to plan a trip to Scotland.

Daughter Hilary is managing the wine department at Whole Foods in Hastings Ridge CA; son Brendan is now full time doing sound design for NPR’s Marketplace, Minnesotar PR; son Matthew has just completed his first year in the master’s program in performing arts at CalArts; and son Nathaniel continues to pursue his bachelor’s, having won awards last spring for both his poetry and his metal sculpting. Claire writes: “I’d say we were

David Foell ’74

leading a quiet life here in CT, but by now you certainly know that is not true. We eagerly anticipate some time to ourselves on Prince Edward Island this summer. Would love for people to give us a shout if they are in either necks of the woods where we have homes.”

After CU Boulder, Faith Cowgill studied medicine at Case Western Reserve. She now pulls 4 to 5 all-nighters a month, working as an attending ER physician at Central Washington Hospital. Faith lives in Wenatchee WA and enjoys biking, hiking, and skiing in the Cascade Mountains with daughter Sadie (8th grade) and son Tucker (HS senior).

Tucker is a Div 2 lacrosse champion, and Sadie competes in national dance championships.

I’ve been intermittently in touch with Faith, Sherry, and Bitsie, and it means a lot to me to see my old friends and classmates on Facebook.

After 20 years in the big cities of Montreal, DC, Paris, San Francisco, and NYC, I lived for 12 years in VT and went back to school for what I always wanted—architecture. I spent 8/10–1/11 on an American road trip, traveling between Cape May NJ, Eureka Springs AK, Denver CO, Deadwood SD, Chicago IL, and back to Baltimore. I photographed American architecture and visited towns big and small while writing for an online architecture journal. Then I got out of the car and spent a week hiking in VT. I hope you all have the chance to spend some time in the fresh open air this year, in a safe place where you are happy and well.

We hope you all take a few minutes to join Facebook, and become a member of our own FB page, Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1974, where we can keep in touch on a regular basis. See you here again in about 5 months.

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KAREN PERKINS 252 Monte Grigio Dr Pacific Palisades CA 90272 onoclea@verizon.net

First I need to report that Nancy Carroll, sister of Timothy Carroll, has informed us that her brother passed away. We are very sorry to hear this news but have no more information at this time.

Congratulations to Ruth Lapin on her marriage to Brent Finley. The wedding took place at Ruth’s parents’ house in Westchester on 5/1/11.

Ruth wrote to me from New Orleans, where she had just seen Richard Morse play with his band, RAM. Ruth says: “He is awesome.” Ruth also saw John Hobby at SOB’s when RAM played. “Great music, great company.” Ruth is always in touch with Ilene Feldmann Steele, and they plan to get together in Dec. I heard from Henrietta Walker Koffi, who left her job as deputy dir at a small nonprofit in Brooklyn and started a (deliberately) small computer training company called Workshop Central. She is having a blast. Henrietta heard from Wallace Womble out of the blue. Wallace normally lives in Las Vegas but was in NC work-

Ruth Lapin ’75 and Brent Finley on their wedding day ing on a project. Henrietta connected Wallace with Frenise Logan, so they could get caught up. Henrietta also heard from Brenda Daniels over the holidays. They are searching for Arlene Garcia and Carmen Leon Sullivan, so if anyone has heard from them, please let me know.

Leslie Ferrin spent an evening with Carol Hills ’77 catching up in Boston. They sent an iPhone self-portrait to Linda Nowlan in Vancouver. Leslie wrote of her recent visit to NMH with her 2 kids (17 and 14) neither of whom attend NMH but both of whom play Ultimate Frisbee and were at a tournament held at NMH each spring. Leslie writes: “Spending the spring day admiring the budding trees, smelling the farm, talking to other parents about having gone there, and sitting down on the super green grass brought back memories of the 2 springs I spent there in ’74 and ’75.” Leslie lives nearby in the hill towns, the area that straddles Pioneer Valley and the Berkshires, and she runs Ferrin Gallery based in Pittsfield MA. I can’t believe that my daughter Shannon graduated from high school this spring. She is going to MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) this fall. I am not an empty nester yet, however, as son Brendan is a junior in high school. My own 1-year leave of absence as a STEM principal has expired, and I have chosen to return to teaching high school science for the next school year. I will be at his school, Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades CA. As I close these very short NMH notes, I want to remind everyone to please send me your updated email addresses. About 20 emails bounced back to me recently, and this may be a reason for the length of these notes. I miss you all. Let me hear from you soon.

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SUSAN LORING-WELLS 12 Ames Haven Rd, PO Box 273 Shutesbury MA 01002 loringwells@fastermac.net

JOE MCVEIGH PO Box 883 Middlebury VT 05753-0883 jmcveigh@middlebury.edu

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ANNE HOWSON 85 Sutherland Road #2 Brighton MA 02135-7159 ahowson@rics.bwh.harvard.edu

On Memorial Day weekend ’11, Annie Oskam and Tami Elass Percle met up at the 13th biennial AramcoBrat reunion in Dallas TX. After 5 years of business, Max Hartshorne decided to close his beloved GoNOMAD Café and concentrate on his travel website business.

“In the little farming village of South Deerfield, the café had become a central gathering place, and it was sad to have to close but a relief since anyone who has ever owned a restaurant knows it’s a tough business.” He counted several members of the Class of ’77 as regular customers, and Joe Shea, now a partner at the Boston law firm Nutter McClennan and Fish, stunned him last year by making an appearance with his family and son (who is applying to NMH).

Now after building a man-cave addition to his house, Max is enjoying life much more fully and spending time with his grandchildren, Nathan (6) and Sofie (2). Daughter Kate Hartshorne Cosme ’98, a nurse in Greenfield, enjoys taking trips and contributing family travel articles at GoNOMAD.com. GoNOMAD has introduced a new line of ebooks called Plane Readers that are selling well on Amazon and BN.com.

Max travels all over the place. This year he hiked the Great Ocean Walk at the bottom of Australia, joined 30,000 other riders in the 52 km Tour de Ile in Montreal, and visited Aquitaine, France, then took trains through the middle of Norway’s fjord country.

Barbara Jean Pendleton writes from Charleston SC, where she is the dir of college counseling and marketing at Charleston Collegiate School. She’s in a wonderful relationship with Mark Madden, who is the dir of interpretation and stewardship for the Charleston County Parks.

They are members of a local band. He’s the drummer and she’s the lead singer.

Jim Gullickson traveled to ME in late June for his nephew’s wedding and will go to AK in July for a cruise. He is also mulling over starting a support group for beagle owners, an idea inspired from observations of his independent-thinking dog Biscuit.

Steve Burnham’s eldest John Burnham ’11

Megan Wonnacott Sutton ’77 and Anne Howson ’77

Hirath Ghori ’78, Annie Oskam ’77, Tami Elass Percle ’77, and Mark Tracy ’78

just graduated from NMH and has moved to CA, where he will spend the next 2 years as a Thiel Fellow. His fields of research are space technology, propulsion systems, and nuclear power.

Megan Wonnacott Sutton visited Boston in mid-June with her husband Clark to celebrate daughter Elsie having just finished up a year with City Year. She and I met for breakfast in Washington Square, Brookline, and had a wonderful time catching up. We last saw each other at our ’02 reunion.

“So this year my husband and I officially became empty nesters,” writes Joanie Kaplan Williams. “Both our kids are in art schools (U Arts—Philly and SCAD—Savannah). They are both home for the summer so we are enjoying that.

Just got back from M D Anderson and got a clean bill of health, so I am now 2 1/2 years cancer-free.

We love FL and encourage all our friends in the North to come visit during the winter when they get sick of the snow. Still love my job as CFO of HRA Senior Living. We are developing a prototype building for assisted living for the baby boomers, so we are having fun with that. There is starting to be a lot more investment interest in senior living due to the demographics of the baby boomers. We will certainly capitalize on that. Can’t wait to see everybody next year at reunion.”

James Hallock attended this year’s NMH ’ 76 reunion and saw Grace Mauzy, who was our class observer for next year’s reunion. Earlier this spring Jim attended a private company function in CO where he, Paul Crowder, and Jim’s son Bud were regaled with stellar music from rock act Foreigner, which includes classmate Tom Gimbel.

Speaking of the talented Tom Gimbel, he is very happy to be touring Europe and the States this year playing in Foreigner. He writes: “We are

Tom Gimbel ’77 of Foreigner playing guitar

Just under the singer’s hand you can see from left to right: Jim Hallock ’77, Paul Crowder ’77, and Jim’s son Bud Hallock.

on a bill with Journey, and it’s a pretty cool package. We have done Scotland, Ireland, and England so far. Wonderful places. (foreigneronline.com) My golf is a bit rusty, but the sax, flute, vocals, and guitar still seem to work pretty well. Big shout-out to all NMH alumni. Come say hello on Facebook.

(Thomas Gimbel@facebook.com) Best to all.”

Bryan MacDonald saw Nat Thompson at the 30th college reunion at Connecticut College.

He writes: “Let’s get ready for our 35th NMH reunion next June. You all will be hearing from the reunion committee soon.” Actually, by the time you read this, you will have already heard from them, and we hope are planning to attend our 35th reunion.

There is sad news that we have lost another classmate: Susan Leavitt died suddenly on 6/4/11 at her home in Lawrence MA. She grew up in Northfield and was daughter of Jane and the late Richard Leavitt, both former faculty members at NMH (asst librarian and biology teacher, respectively). After graduating from NMH, she received a degree from Roger Williams College in RI. She worked in Harvard’s Cabot Library for over 25 years as an evening supervisor and earned a master’s in library/information science from Simmons in ’09. An active member of the Harvard University Union, she advocated for employee rights and for the best possible health care for family members. Susan enjoyed all animals, nature, photography, creating beautiful stained-glass objects, and spending time with her extended family. Condolences may be sent to her mother Jane at 149 East Side Drive #147, Concord NH 03301.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Animal Rescue League of Boston, 10 Chandler Street, Boston, MA 02116. Please keep Susan and her family in your prayers and meditations. May she rest in peace.

From Anne: The last 2 sentences above also go out to everyone who has lost a loved one this year, be it friend or family. We are coming to an age when this will be happening more and more often. It’s not all beer and skittles any more, as my mom used to say. Eight weeks ago my beloved father Arthur died, and it is not easy. I always remember with a smile what his friend Mr Walklet said, describing their group get-togethers: “We used to have cocktail hour and now it’s an organ recital” (describing their various ailments). See you in 6 months.

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CARRIE NIEDERMAN 1021 Arlington St Houston TX 77008 elhsvet@aol.com

CATHY ABRAHAM HOPKINS 2 Arbour Glen Dr St Catharines ON Canada L2W 1B1 cathy.hopkins@gmail.com

From Carrie: Martha Piscuskas and Susan Shell comprised 2/3 of a triathlon team that won the women’s division in Belfast ME in May. Susan swam and Martha biked. Not bad for middle age.

Oh, that’s right, 50 is the new 35.

Paul and Edna Armstrong Montague are alive and well in central ME. They volunteer for the DEW Wild Animal Kingdom in Mount Vernon ME, where there are lions, tigers, and bears, among other critters. “Our favorite is a young mountain lion that is very friendly. The facility is not much to look at. It is all about the animals. Many have been rescued from bad situations.”

Edna is dir of the early childhood center at U of ME at Farmington. Paul works for the town of Wilton as they begin to deal with a building code imposed by the state.

Their new pastime is sailing a boat weekends off the coast. Turns out the harbormaster in Belfast ME is a Northfield native whom Paul went to elementary and jr high school with.

Paul writes: “The cabin in the woods is great.

We have not purchased oil in quite some time and harvest our own firewood from the property. We have also installed a solar hot water heater that provides most of the hot water. We both ride small motorcycles in an effort to keep the gas bill down. Too bad that they don’t make snow tires for the bikes.”

Their son Jim Montague ’08 is in his 3rd year at UVM in civil engineering and doing quite well.

Paul and Edna would love to see any classmates who are visiting the area.

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PAIGE RELYEA LEHMAN 5236 SW 89 Ter Cooper City FL 33328-5140 paigerelyea@yahoo.com CARY LIEBOWITZ BONOSEVICH 1972 Littleton Rd Monroe NH 03771-3275 bonosevich@hotmail.com

From Cary: Sadly, Benjamin Huen died unexpectedly on Memorial Day ’11, May 30, 2011.

He will be missed by his Friday night poker buddies and longtime friends from college and prep school and his co-workers at UMass Amherst. Ben had been a fixture in the northern Pioneer Valley since he attended NMH and received his bachelor’s in microwave engineering from UMass. He

Martha Piscuskas ’78 and Susan Shell ’78 were two-thirds of a triathlon team that won the women’s division in Belfast ME last May. loved to cook and worked at several nearby restaurants. After working at the Artisan’s restaurant in Greenfield, he became a chef at UMass. Ben loved the outdoors, fishing, hiking, etc. He was quite the marksman and would show off his talents at local gun clubs. He was a proud member of the Democratic Party and enjoyed discussing the day’s politics with his friends. He is survived by his mother and brother of Hong Kong, and aunts, uncles, and cousins in the Boston area.

Catherine Johnson Lewis writes that son Freddy (16) is an avid mountain biker, track athlete, and soccer player. He loves physics and all things mechanical. She writes: “We are resting up for the ’12 election and will be campaigning for Obama and other Dems. I continue to thrive as dir of bus dev at ENGEO. Our firm has been winning many awards for engineering and for being a best place to work. Life in San Ramon CA is good—we welcome visitors.”

Melanie Phippard recently returned from the 30th reunion of the American School of Tangier.

Yrs ago Melanie met kids from NMH in Tangier on exchange. She recalls thinking: “I don’t know where those kids came from, but they are so bright, intuitive, and caring, I want to go there.” Her dad agreed to let her apply, and happily, the rest is history. Melanie adds: “I have the NMH kids that came over to thank for a wonderful time at NMH and my grandparents, who were in Greenfield.”

Bill Heidbreder lives in Paris, where he has returned to school to study philosophy at the Sorbonne. He is interested in continental philosophy and is studying Hegel, the philosophy of art, and contemporary French philosopher Alain Badiou. A fanatical film buff who loves European, Japanese, and classical American cinema, he spends his free time at the Cinémathèque Française. He also runs an editing service, Academic English Editing, assisting college students, graduate students, and foreign professors writing papers in English. Bill is thinking of spending part of the year in India and part of it in Mexico or Argentina. He’s searching for a large city with a nice climate and good wireless broadband Internet availability so he can run his dot-com editing business, a good foreign film scene, and a low cost of living. He asks that anyone with suggestions write him at editor@academicenglishediting. com. He also likes to travel and would like to hear from classmates living abroad.

Tania Williamson-Moore is taking classes at CU at Colorado Springs so she can apply to occupational therapy school. She writes: “Watching friends get sick with PTSD has, along with a few other times in my life, led to my wanting to help.

It’s been a long time coming. I tested out for physical therapy while I was at NMH and didn’t pay attention. God finally got my attention. CO is beautiful, but a lot of sad things have happened while I’m here, so I look forward to a fresh start.”

Skip Barger writes: “Hey, Class of ’79. A big shout-out from Switzerland.”

Tracy Longacre is in Namibia near the Zambian border and a few hours from Botswana and Victoria Falls, working as an organization development advisor with a local HIV and AIDS organization called Caprivi Hope for Life. Tracy says the Caprivi region has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world. “If anyone wants to visit Namibia, now is the time. I’m living here for the next year— beautiful country, fascinating culture.” Before going to Namibia, Tracy spent time in San Francisco with Michelle Smith Donaldson and has enjoyed reconnecting with many people on Facebook. You can find Tracy at www.facebook.com/tlongacre. You can follow her adventures in development at http://tlongacre.wordpress.com and her running adventures at http://revruns.blogspot.com.

Dwayne Jones and Mike Wise, roommates in C1 junior year, hooked up in Kansas City recently. Great discussion about faith and family.

Amazing how time collapses even 32 years later (great picture of Dwayne and Mike at NMH Class of 1979 Facebook page). They wondered about Ralph Bledsoe, Roger Simmons, Greg Bryant,

and Jay Shores, and have connected on Facebook with Neal Scarbrough “Strawberry Letter 23.” In 1/11 Comcast-owned cable network Versus hired Neal as VP of digital media to oversee its digital media operations and manage Versus.com, as well as serving as the website’s editor-in-chief.

Janet Silber lives in Baltimore with her 2 black cats in a lovely apartment near Johns Hopkins. Son Jordan just finished his freshman year at Evergreen State U in Olympia WA. Janet celebrated her 50th birthday in New Orleans. “I hope to make the trip to NMH one of these years, see old friends, and lie on the grassy slope where I saw my first and only (so far) aurora borealis.”

Carlton Heine recently writes of a move to Juneau AK, where he is an emergency med physician at Bartlett Regional Hospital and an adjunct faculty at U of AK Southeast. He invites classmates to look him up when visiting the region.

Beverly Schwartz writes: “I am now on the board of our local Pop Warner football organization, and in a great irony of life, the anti-mainstream-sports person has become a big booster for Somerville’s youth football program. I’ve even had a pro–youth football letter published in the Boston Globe. For 40 years, our local Pop Warner chapter has never turned a child away for want of funds, supplies almost all equipment, and is truly accessible to the most needy in our city. I am proud to be part of it and will continue to serve on the

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board, whether or not my nephew decides to play football again next season. Right now, he’s saying no, but if experience bears out, that will change at least a half dozen more times before football season begins.”

As for me, Cary Liebowitz Bonosevich, I still work for the US Postal Service. I am part of the finance dept, doing data collection. My husband Len and I still live in northern NH with 3 of our 4 children—Sara (23), Sam (21), and Lauren (19). Mike (25) lives in TX. Over the yrs we have had many of our kids’ friends live with us for one reason or another—currently Kelsie (20) has been our guest for almost a year. We always have room for kids, friends, and animals. Visitors are also welcome.

I have connected with many NMH ’79ers on Facebook. Many of these posts were sent to me through Facebook. Recently, Susannah Clifford Blachly asked: “If I write on the NMH wall does it automatically go out to folks via email? I never think to check the NMH wall but love hearing what folks are up to.” Yes, our posts on our NMH Class of 1979 Facebook page automatically emails posts to users, if that is your chosen setting. Paige and I post on our personal pages and the NMH class page. Join us on Facebook if you can.

From Paige: The Class of 1979 is thriving.

Our classmates are doing well, raising families, enjoying interesting careers, and doing lots of travel.

Keep up to date with everyone by joining nearly 150 classmates on our Facebook group Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1979. In addition, you can submit notes anytime to the NMH website. To check it out, please login to the alumni community at community.nmhschool.org. In the left-hand column, click on the link that says, magazine notes.

At the top of the next page, you’ll see a button that says: submit/edit my NMH Magazine notes. Click on that and follow the directions to submit a note.

To search all notes that have been submitted online, click on the NMH Magazine notes button and fill in the appropriate boxes to define your search.

This site will not be an archive of notes published in the magazine. This site will only display notes that alumni submit through the site.

David Gessner writes: “Pretty much doing the same things I was at NMH 30-plus years ago—writing, cartooning, reading, drinking. Live in NC now.” He has 2 books coming out summer 2011: My Green Manifesto, which tells the story of a wild ride down the Charles River, and The Tarball Chronicles, which grew out of spending summer ’10 blogging and writing in the Gulf for the Natural Resources Defense Council during the BP oil spill. He is an assoc professor of creative writing at U of NC-Wilmington, where he lives on a marsh with wife Nina and daughter Hadley (7). He and the Maine nature writer Bill Roorbach keep a blog called “Bill and Dave’s Cocktail Hour,” which they hope is occasionally funny. He looks back fondly on NMH for teaching him everything he knows about English lit and partying. The view from his writing shack can be seen at the NMH Class of 1979 Facebook page.

James Philcox invites anyone visiting the St

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Members of the Class of ’80 gathered for a mini-reunion in DC. Front row: Jeff Leyden, Catherine “Kit” Crawford Arthur, Sarah Browning, and Lee Coykendall. Back row: Phil Schoenfeld, Jessica Elfenbein, Marya Fogel Flanagan, Susan Gibbs, Henry Wooster, John Mannino, Catherine “Cab” Dempsey, Jae So, and Christine Lindstrom Schaeffer.

Augustine FL area to look him up. He was planning a trip of the East Coast this summer and stopping to see classmates along the way.

Jay Kanzler lives in St Louis, where he is a lawyer and Episcopal priest. “I just completed my 4th documentary, Close But No Cigar, which is making the rounds on the film festival circuit. Also, working with my son (12) on his fastball so I can retire soon. Why doesn’t anyone ever come to St Louis? Please come to St Louis.”

Jennifer Baker Warren lives at Verde Valley School in Sedona AZ, helping with the riding program, so she gets to ride 4 or 5 days a week. Her middle child just finished jr year. They were planning on an East Coast road trip this summer to look at colleges.

Anita Nordal is also checking out colleges. “I thought a lot about NMH recently as I toured some colleges with daughter Emma, who is a jr this yr. (I don’t remember giving the choice of college that much thought.) It’s fun to see some schools, and the whole process has taken us to places we might not have visited otherwise.” Son Aidan is a sophomore in high school. Anita teaches at White Plains High School, where she is in her 5th year after a career change. “I think a lot about NMH, its philosophy, and the sense of community there that is often missing elsewhere.” She has been in touch with Cuppy Howe ’80, whose son is also touring colleges, Jane Cunningham ’80, and Susan Gibbs ’80, and usually runs into Sam Pettengill ’80 when they head to VT in the summer. She and husband Kevin were hoping to take the kids to Italy this summer and perhaps to France, where her brother and family now live.

News from Rob Magie, who lives in London and escaped the royal wedding festivities. “Our son Will just started his 1st yr at U of Leeds, so we’re halfway to an empty nest. Daughter Jen has transferred to one of the American community schools in London and is thinking about college in the States; my wife just finished a grueling 2-week college tour through NY and NE. I am commuting between Poland and Italy, the latter is great as it gets me to our farmhouse in Marche on a regular

basis. We are counting the days to our upcoming trip to Tbilisi, Georgia, which is hosting the 2011 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, where we’ll be watching Will represent the USA.” And for me, Paige Relyea Lehman, husband Charlie and I are navigating the teen yrs with our 2 daughters—it’s truly never dull. As 50 approaches, I’m updating my “bucket list” with the things I want to accomplish in the next 50 yrs. Looking forward to the annual Nov visit from Estelle Dorain Burgess and husband Ray. We hope James Philcox and family will be able to join us this year. If any other NMHers are in south FL the first weekend of Nov, email me.

Brad Will has been going through major transitions, which he says started with his dad’s passing (John Beaver ’46) in Mar ’08. In May ’09 he re-met Sari in the Bay Area and life started to change. Sari made the move across the country on June ’10, and they settled into the 2nd-floor home of his company, Ashokan Architecture. A short commute to the office, 22 steps up. “We made the most of a situation that was not initially designed for living—meals from a hot plate, crock pot, microwave, and toaster oven—the Indian and Chinese restaurants down the street. We managed to coexist with the gallery Art On Wall, tough it through the winter, and deal with a busy commercial sidewalk right outside the front door.” In 3/11, they purchased a vintage 1900 Victorian with beautiful leaded glass, abundant light, 3 and a half bedrooms, a carriage house, a huge yard, and in desperate need of some attention. Professionally, Brad has been busy: the 53-unit Woodstock Commons Intergenerational Community project that has been in the works for 6 and a half years is slated to break ground in July; at Bard College a 20-bed dorm, an extension of the original Village Dorms begun in ’01, is under construction. He started a 5,400-s.f. house in Woodstock in June, a 2,300-s.f. vacation house, and an addition project will be starting shortly. You can read about his work at http://westfaironline.com/2011/12403geothermal-gains-momentum/#comment-35610.

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JACK FARRELL 22314 Cairnloch St Calabasas CA 91302-5873 jack@jackfarrell.org

ANTONY PANG 33 Club St 08-14 Singapore 069415 aa1105@yahoo.com LYNELLE KUCHARSKI 94 Cambridge Dr Glastonbury CT 06033-1379 lynelle@lynellekucharski.com

From Lynelle: Hi, everyone. What a gorgeous spring we are having in NE. I am sure the NMH campus looks spectacular with all the colorful blooming trees and bushes. Of course, as you read this it will be fall, and we would have to ask Jeff Leyden to tell us how the school looks since he’s on campus now. He says he loves being back at NMH and is looking forward to reconnecting with classmates. Jeff organized a mini-reunion in DC, that from the picture looked like a lot of fun.

Thanks again to Jim Hurwitz for creating the Class of ’80’s “unofficial” Facebook page. We now have 60 members. It was there that I left a request for information, and these are the responses. Mara Keggi Ford works for the National Rowing Foundation raising money for rowing athletes who compete for the US. After rowing at NMH, in college in Wisconsin, and for the US in the ’88 Olympics, she is pleased to help the athletes who will compete in ’11 and beyond. She works from home in Middlebury CT, so she can find time for her twin boys (10) and daughter (7).

Cynthia Berglund Smith checked in to say her son is graduating from Virginia Tech and has received a National Science Foundation fellowship, which will allow him to study at Berkeley this fall.

Cynthia still lives in Raleigh NC. Sarah Browning writes that the next Split This Rock Poetry Festival is in March ’12 and is

dedicated to the legacy of poet and activist June Jordan ’53, a Northfield alumna, who died in ’02.

Jae So says hello from India, where she was working when I contacted her. Jude Lane Landis reported that her son (17) is thriving at Montana Academy and recommends books authored by the school’s cofounder, John McKinnon, on the subject of teens struggling with maturity. She is looking nationwide for the best high school for her other son, who needs an environment in which to “learn and thrive with autism.” Jude still works for Fannie Mae. Karyn Ginsburg and husband Ken Moraff and daughter Laura (15) took a trip to Italy this Apr with me, Lynelle Kucharski, husband Mark Cutler, and our daughter Camille Cutler (16).

We had a blast visiting Rome, Perugia (home of Perugina chocolate), and Florence.

That’s the latest from the centennial class.

Please update your info and leave messages for class notes via the NMH alumni page at NMHschool.org and join us on the NMH 1980 Facebook page.

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FRANK CHANDLER 20 Overlook Park Newton MA 02459-1344 frankchandler1@verizon.net class of ’81 website: www.nmh81.us BETSY van OOT 10 Campus Dr Dedham MA 02026-4041 vanoot@nobles.edu

RICHARD PISCUSKAS 4750 Lincoln Blvd, Apt 141 Marina Del Ray CA 90292-6981 r_piscuskas@yahoo.com

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SALLY WILLIS PO Box 1456 Frisco CO 80443-1456 willissally@hotmail.com

MICHAEL RICKARD 1470 N Grand St W Suffield CT 06093-2521 mrickard330@cox.net

Sarah Browning ’80 at the Split This Rock Poetry Festival.

From Sally: By the time you read this issue, we will be within months of our 30th reunion. Wow! I had the opportunity to observe the Class of ’81’s reunion last June. It was great to see so many friends, but I am more excited to see all of you this June. Campus looks great. Come back and see for yourself. As we get closer to June, check for updates or add an update yourself on Facebook either the NMH Class of ’82 or NMH 82-30th reunion page. If you are interested in being involved with our 30th reunion, please contact David Whitman or Barbara Salthouse Massoudi. David’s email

Lynelle Kucharski ’80 and Karyn Ginsburg ’80 and their families toured Italy together last spring.

At the Rome Coliseum: Lynelle’s husband Mark Cutler, Lynelle, daughter Camille Cutler, Karyn’s husband Ken Moraff, Karyn, and daughter Laura Moraff. is whitman101@gmail.com. Don’t miss out on any reunion info. Stay in the loop by making sure NMH has an email address for you.

Last winter, I had a fun dinner with Le Bowditch Pettipaw and Mary Peck Castle in Frisco CO. Le was skiing her way through CO. The 2nd annual Rocky Mountain—NMH Pie Race was held in Boulder in late May. Fun way to bring the traditions of NMH to the West plus meet fellow alumni in the area. Classes from the ’60s all the way up to ’05 were represented. Thanks to Paul Crowder ’77 for organizing.

From Ben Pease in the Bay Area: “My partner Shizue Seigel and I have had a busy spring working on maps for guidebooks. My maps are getting more artful—last year we worked with author Rebecca Solnit on 22 maps for her amazing book: Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas; this winter we collaborated with her creative writing students at the U of WY on maps of Laramie. I recently published a complete trail map of San Francisco. In my spare time, I help improve a network of 120-yearold trails on Mt Sutro (right at the heart of the city). Every so often I get away from the computer; last spring we spent a month in northern Italy.

This year we’re planning to stay in the Bay Area, camp in the Sierras, and take Shiz’s grandkids (1, 3, and 5) out into nature. Hope to see everyone at our 30th reunion. I missed Bill Batty’s ’59 visit to San Francisco last month. So the only NMH classmate I’ve seen recently is Buster Olney, who was holding forth on baseball from my seatback TV screen as we flew home from Laramie.

For Claire Rodman, ’11 has been good, kicked off by a pre–New Year’s Eve dinner with Toby Green and his squeeze Rebecca King.

I had a great time at the Apr NMH NYC Moody event, where I got to see many folks I’d not seen in a while, and especially Phil McKean ’54 and Deborah Adams McKean ’56, Carol and Nelson Lebo ’56 (all of whom are enjoying retirement). And, as always, spending time with my goddaughters Chloe and Sylvia Niemann, via mom Carrie Worthington. Facebook has also reconnected me with lots of ’82ers and led to Christmas cards, FB, email, and phone chats with Erik Haslun, David Rutan, Chris Zurcher, Katrina Harriman Conde and Juan Conde,

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nmhschool.org. In the left-hand column, click on the link that says magazine notes. At the top of the next page, you’ll see a button that says: submit/edit my NMH Magazine notes. Click on that and follow the directions to submit a note. To search all notes that have been submitted online, click on the NMH Magazine notes button and fill in the appropriate boxes to define your search.

Robin Hirshberg Jobe ’83 and family at daughter Meryl’s bat mitzvah: Meryl, Robin, Tric, and Austine Jobe.

Charlotte Alston Legg, Ardith Welwood, Beth Wilner Vallee, Brett Jacobs Axelberg, Dan Kellison, Brooks Kraft, Jim Bailey, Christoph Hermjakob (who sent me a postcard from New Zealand during his round-the-world tour), Dave Perrotta, Christine Vielmetti

Daniloff, Cynthia Cummis, Kate Stookey Haviland, Janice Ribeiro, Dan Rowley, Sally Willis, Diane Petrowski Ferry, Dylan Brody, Liz Harmon, Le Bowditch Pettipaw, Kris Lanphear LaPorte, Gene Ward, Josh Selig, Courtney Lowe, Kelly Min (safe and sound in Japan, thank God), Ken “Hibel MacGregor” Fraser, Emily Popper, Jennie Anderson, Alison Feola-Mahar, Andrea Sferes, Marion “Mickey” Gill, Andy Murphy, Mike Rickard, Nancy Whitney-Carroll, Steve Soren, Peter Mubanda, Stef Canas, Kevin McCoy, Andrew Chang, Suzy Smith Long, Amy Price Lutz, Vi Jackson Carter, Amy Kosh, Linda Paolozzi Mastrangelo, Andy Hewitt, Tod Dimmick (subscribe to his “The Wine Minute” online),

Tim Longacre, Sue Houriet, Mary Rowsey Swinney, Tanis Williams, Karen Krejmas DeJoy, and Steve Jackson. I’m looking forward to attending reunion in June led by David Whitman and Barbara Salthouse Massoudi.

Find us on Facebook at NMH Class of 82 and NMH 82-30th Reunion.

From Christoph Hermjakob in Germany: “In mid-Feb I finally started my once-aroundthe-world travel lasting almost 5 weeks, bringing me to countries from all continents: Munich to Bogotá, Colombia; Houston TX and LA; Auckland, New Zealand; Melbourne and Victoria, Australia; Bangkok, Thailand; Siem Reap (Angkor Temples) and Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Kruger NP, Blyde River Canyon, and Johannesburg/Pretoria, South Africa; and Frankfurt. I got to see lots of friends whom I hadn’t seen for a long time, but also beautiful and impressive places of this wonderful planet, cultures, people, nature. On my way from LA to Auckland, Christchurch got hit by a severe earthquake, and when I was in Cambodia the earthquake/tsunami hit Japan followed by the massive problems in Fukushima’s power plant. Best regards from Munich, and I look forward to being back at NMH next year.”

One last thing—post your own notes for the next magazine via the NMH community. Please login to the alumni community at community.

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ALLYSON GOODWIN 45 Mount Hermon Rd Gill MA 01354-8801 agoodwin@nmhschool.org ANGELA LAMBERT 6434 North Kerby Ave Portland OR 97217-2043 drangela@mac.com

Rick Jacobsen stopped by campus with wife Izabela and daughter Mikaela. They live in Corvallis OR (near Eugene) and were en route to Poland. Rick lived in Poland for 12 years and that’s where he met Izabela. He looked through the yearbook and our junior year Facebook, and we reminisced about faculty members Ted Thornton, Charles Hamilton, Nick Fleck, Karen Cunningham Van Adzin ’75, and Glenn Vandervliet ’56. He hopes to return with his family to our reunion in ’13. He gives a shout-out to Peter Gunas, his fellow crew teammate.

Via Facebook, Anita Cook Wilson writes that she is “living happily in Jacksonville FL, working as a fire inspector. Bursting with pride that my daughter Linda was accepted into the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Paxon School for Advanced Studies.” Georgia Dunn Belk’s actions were mentioned briefly in the 2/17/11 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek about the Turks and Caicos Islands. Janice Russell reports that in Feb she had an awesome trip to Antarctica.

Only 1 more continent to go. If people want to see some pictures, they can check out http://facebook. com/OrganizeYourTravel.

Sadly, 1-year classmate Thomas Hutchins died10/5/08, at age 44. He graduated as an anthropology student at Portland State in OR. Survivors include his mother and sister.

Rick Jacobsen ’83, daughter Mikaela, and wife Izabela during a quick visit to NMH in June ’11.

Mark Short and Allyson Goodwin ran into Marian Andrews while at a crew race last year.

She was randomly driving by, saw the NMH tent, and stopped in. We had a great chat. In other news, we had been living for the past 5 years in Daly House, a baseball’s throw away from Round Top on Northfield but moved in July across the river to Mayberry House, a stone’s throw from the farm. It has a gorgeous view and provides incredible ease for our 2 NMH kids Jordan ’12 and Haley ’14.

We plan to throw a fabulous party for our 30th reunion in June ’13 at Mayberry House.

Send in more news. Check out our class Facebook page: look up Class of 1983 and you’ll find us.

From the Alumni Office: Robin Hirshberg Jobe reports that daughter Meryl became a bat mitzvah in Mar. She heads off to Europe for 2 weeks this summer with school. Daughter Austine knows 4,000 Mandarin characters and has finished 4th grade. Robin says: “Tric and I are just trying to keep up with them. Can’t wait for reunion June ’13.”

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MARGGIE SLICHTER 294 Birnam Rd Northfield MA 01360 mslichter@nmhschool.org

Hello from NMH. Thanks for all the news; it has been great to hear from you. I also happen to have the best job—my travels for NMH take me around the country. It has been fun connecting with all of you on the road and on campus. I am in regular contact with Mary Batty and Julie Greaney.

This spring I visited Chris Nagle on the Cape and we had dinner with 2 members of the Class of ’56.

Chris also serves on the Alumni Council, so he gets back to campus at least twice a year.

Rich Gross stopped by with wife Jen and 4 kids on their way north. I sent them off with syrup and NMH T-shirts. Rich says his eldest daughter thinks NMH looks like a cool place to come to school. Annie Peterson Keller came to an event in San Francisco this winter and Nicole Armstrong Williams came to one in LA. We are lucky to have Lea Thompson Emery running the NMH financial aid office in admissions. Her son is Tucker ’13.

Facebook has been a great place to share photos and catch up. Join us there at Northfield Mount Hermon Class of 1984. If you haven’t updated NMH with your email address, please do so—we send out information on regional events and reunion electronically and don’t want you to miss the fun.

I was completely impressed when Corina Goulden De Bellis showed up at our 25th reunion with a toddler (1 ½) and infant twins. Corina says: “I think often and fondly of NMH. Now I am busy with 3 small children. I hope that they get the opportunity to have as wonderful an educational experience in their lives as I had at NMH.” Speaking of twins—Eleanor Hager Temelini and husband Dave are busy with their twins Charles Mercury and Kaya Hannah, born 4/3/10.

They join big sis Ariana Rae (7). All are doing well and adjusting.

I was delighted to see Stephen McCrocklin when he returned to campus with his mother Callie Nakos McCrocklin ’48 for NMH homecoming last Oct. He lives in Louisville with wife Claudia and Mariah (14) and Ethan (11). He and Claudia are in the 19th year of running Langsford Learning Center in Louisville, where they help kids develop the love of reading. He and his family spent the Christmas holiday in Greece, and they had a great visit thanks to the recommendation of Bob Cooley. If anyone is in the Louisville area, they have room for guests.

Nancy Bishop was on campus last year working with NMH theatre students. Nancy still lives in Prague, where she bought and renovated an old flat. She works freelance as a casting director, and last year did the European casting on Mission Impossible IV and is now working on a new ABC series called Missing. Nancy says: “Europe seems to be home. People ask if I will be here forever, but in my experience it’s better not to make plans ... so I’m playing it by ear. Sometimes I feel very homesick for NE lately.”

Walid Yassir lives in Ann Arbor MI and works in Detroit at the children’s hospital. He’s finishing a master’s in health care management at Harvard School of Public Health. Wife Lisa Prosser teaches at U of MI in Ann Arbor. They have 2 sons, Khaled (7th grade) and Samer (3rd grade). “We love this university town but still get back to the Cape every summer. I would love to hear from the ‘fellas’ that lived in Tron with me.”

From Tyler Tawahongva: “I think it is apropos to let my classmates and former instructors as well as administrators know that I am now a substance abuse mentor on the Hopi reservation in northern AZ. I work with alcoholics and addicts to change their lives, with some relative success. I have committed myself to helping people and left the city for a more humble life. Some of my experiences at NMH have served me well in my new position. I would like everyone to remember Erik Peterson in their prayers; he is still fighting and someday hopefully he will walk and talk again.

Erik had a stroke a couple years back. He lives in London with his wife and is slowly recuperating.”

Ron Randall and I have exchanged several emails reminiscing about freshman year and

Kristin Kellom ’80, Ellen Plummer ’78, and Marggie Slichter ’84 at Sacred Concert ’11.

Kathy Miller ’84 and Akbar at her business Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens. catching up after 30 years. Ron writes: “Although I didn’t get to graduate with you, the year I spent at NMH has made an everlasting impression on me, as I have dedicated my life to education. We live in CA and enjoy hearing from you and others from NMH.” And more news from the West Coast—Kim Kirby Matthews reports: “All is good here in Southern CA. Colby and I went to the Angels/Red Sox game in Anaheim this Sat and it wasn’t until we were at the game that I remembered there was an NMH tailgate event.”

From Gene Lipitz: “Moved back into Seattle from off the island. We’ll miss Faerie Hill Farm and our chickens and goats, but 10 years of Green Acres adventures is enough, we think. Still think fondly of the time spent with classmates at last year’s reunion with my daughter (6).”

Sasha Ackler sends news of her family: her father Lynn Ackler ’55 is teaching at Southern OR U, raising large black hogs and goats. Sister Stephanie Ackler ’80 just returned from a trip to Brazil. She is growing her business, Ackler Wealth Management. Sasha lives in Portland OR and is celebrating her 20-year anniversary with her company. Son Drew (14) loves sailing and is finishing his 1st year on the sailing team.

Great to hear from Juan Rachadell: “NMH was a turning point in my life, and I remember it fondly. After finishing my PG year at NMH (Crossley rules.), I went back to Venezuela and pursued a medical degree. Afterward, I did a residency training in general surgery. In the meantime, I married and had 2 boys and a girl. I had the chance to live again in the US for 1 year while doing a fellowship in laparoscopic and pediatric surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami in ’00.

Going back to Venezuela was a shock. The political situation prompted me to emigrate to Europe.

We have been living in Portugal since ’02. I’m now working as an attending surgeon in a small hospital in south Portugal, a beautiful place full of sun.

Not a day goes by without having some memory related to NMH. And when some clown says bad of the Americans, I say that I know better. I met some of the very best people there. I would like to catch up with Javier Urtiaga, Jose Pokorny, Ricardo Peña, and others.”

Rachel Clapham Gambone lives with her husband and son near Reading PA. She and her husband recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. She switched careers from teaching

history part time in college to desktop publishing and online communications for historic Trinity Lutheran Church in Reading. For her other church (where she worships), she coordinates adult education programs, especially a series of presentations by local professionals to help people cope with life passages and issues such as parenting, aging, and health care. She’s been singing for 15 years with Reading Choral Society and served on the society’s board of directors. And she plays Baroque and Renaissance recorders regularly with a local ensemble. Rachel loves to read, garden, take nature photographs, and make bead jewelry.

Adam Berlew is working hard in this start-up software company that has a product that is helping to defend our nation and critical infrastructure from cyber attacks. In his spare time, he has taken up yoga and meditation practice. Looking forward to connecting with other NMHers.

Kathy Miller and I are neighbors in Northfield. Kathy writes: “I’m still a Northfield girl. I’ve lived here for the past 15 years, and my fiancé Donald and I just bought a house up behind the Northfield campus. No matter what’s on that property, it will always be the Northfield campus to me. We are busy planning for our upcoming 10/22 wedding. I’ve only had furry children, but thanks to my fiancé, I will become the stepmom to 2 daughters and a stepgrandmother to 2 boys. It’s all been very exciting. My family business, Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens (www. magicwings.com), takes up most of my time. My father George, my brother George Jr ’83, and I run the show, along with an amazing staff. I am the general manager as well and the weddings and special events coordinator. Our conservatory is home to about 4,000 live butterflies from around the world. We also have lizards, turtles, birds, and fish. It’s a lot of dedication and hard work to run our business, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

From Erik and Siobhan McCready Bunaes: ”After 15 years on the West Coast, we decided it was time to move back east. Siobhan and I both wanted to raise our kids on the East Coast, and be closer to family and friends. So, in Jan we moved from CA to Albany NY. Obviously, we had lived too long on the West Coast, as Jan is not the best time to move to upstate NY. Our kids, Jack (4 1/2) and Christopher (2 ) and our yellow Lab loved all the snow at our new house. Plus, we told them

Nicole “Nikki” Armstrong Williams ’84 and grandmother Carrie Brown (102)

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that we were very lucky because we now live much closer to Santa Claus. Looking forward to getting back in touch with our friends from NMH. If anyone is near or coming to Albany, please come visit us.” You can reach Erik at ebunaes@gmail.com and Siobhan at sbunaes@gmail.com.

Sadly, I report that Nancy McAdoo passed away in Jan. Our hearts go out to her family. The following is from her obituary in the Boston Globe (3/8/11): “Nancy was active in music and performing arts. She danced and played flute, piano, and violin. Nancy’s interest in social justice, women’s rights, and world issues expanded throughout her personal and professional life. She was environmentally conscious and deeply appreciated opportunities to make a difference in others’ lives.

Nancy’s quiet sensitivity, loyal friendship, keen mind, and gentle humor will be missed by her friends, family and colleagues.”

Finally, from yours truly: Life in Northfield is relatively peaceful—last summer all 3 kids were in Nantucket working and I had the house to myself.

Can’t tell you the last time that happened. Work is busy year round, but I find time for great walks with the dogs, horseback riding, reading, and cooking. My big adventure this year was “Cowgirl Camp.” I spent a week at a working cattle ranch in southwest NM. I hope to go back next year with some local 4-H kids and volunteers. This fall Olivia ’11 heads to college in FL, and Mike ’10 returns to NYC for work and classes. One left in the nest—this is really a new phase of my life.

It was great to hear from so many of you. Keep the news coming. You are now able to post news any time in the NMH Alumni Community. To check it out, please login to the alumni community at community.nmhschool.org. In the left-hand column, click on the link that says, magazine notes.

At the top of the next page, you’ll see a button that says: submit/edit my NMH Magazine notes. Click on that and follow the directions to submit a note.

To search all notes that have been submitted online, click on the NMH Magazine notes button and fill in the appropriate boxes to define your search. If you haven’t registered for the alumni community, please do. There is a great online directory available so you can find classmates and friends.

Ron Randall ’84 and family at his son’s 6thgrade graduation. Trinity (4), wife Kathleen, Tristan (12), and Ron.

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Nicole “Nikki” Armstrong Williams writes of the loss of her grandmother Carrie Brown (102) in 5/11. “She had 9 children at home, drove a model T in 1924 in MS, saw 19 presidents in her lifetime, witnessed women getting the right to vote as well as the passing of the civil rights act, saw the first moonwalk, and the election of Barack Obama to the White House. She was a 7-year breast cancer survivor, staying in a hospital for the first time at age 95. She survived Hurricane Katrina by swimming up to her attic, and much more. What a blessing she was to my life.”

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JENNIFER BUELL HORSCHMAN PO Box 442-4013 Atenas 20501, Costa Rica jenhorschman@yahoo.com

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GEOFFREY LOCKE 19 Whittier St Northampton MA 01062-9722 gwlocke@gmail.com

LI LIN HILLIARD HALLY 3584 SW Hillside Dr Portland OR 97221-4102 Lilinhally@hotmail.com

From Geoffrey: Our 25th reunion was a major success. We had well over 70 classmates on campus over the weekend, too many to list here, but we will share some of the reunion highlights. Bruce Mendelsohn and Liisa Grady Dowd did an excellent job decorating our class dorm, Wallace, before we all arrived. Ian Hill lugged stereo equipment from NYC and set it up for listening both indoors and out, with multiple mixes of ’80s music. Friday night we had a bonfire at Shadow Lake, and Jim Rymes supplied the essential ingredients for s’mores.

Kendel Leet traveled farthest (from Indonesia) and arrived Fri evening, happy yet jetlagged, in a minivan with Li Lin Hilliard Hally,

Nilda Lopez, Holly Bachmann Bennett, Kim Snyder Burke, and Julie Trela Tantillo. On Sat,

some of us got up early and rowed in the rain, others ran a road race, and most of us spent hours socializing over food in Alumni Hall (aka West Hall).

Later in the day we visited both the Northfield campus and the Northfield Creamie, and we ended the day in front of Memorial Chapel with a moving remembrance led by Chuck Abel for our classmates who are no longer with us. Afterward, we dined (filet mignon and grilled shrimp) under a large tent on the south side of Alumni/West Hall, and, later, we moved the party, including the bar and bartenders, back to Wallace, where we danced, laughed, and carried on well into the morning hours. Sun morning was the Alumni Service of Worship and Remembrance, where I led the moment of silence and Ben Robertson sang in the alumni choir. Afterward, we had brunch in Alumni

Hall, and then packed up and said our goodbyes.

Many of us also brought children, who enjoyed Camp NMH and staying in a dorm. Fellow alums with kids in tow were: Kristi Dixon Burns (with 4 little kids.), Susan Albee, James Coleman, Wendy Mansfield Donovan, Erik Hanson, Ginny Wasiuk Lay, Mariah Ennis Lombardo, Andi Mead, Michael Newsom, Erika Riddington, and Scott Whitney.

Our Facebook class page is still the place to keep in touch and to read about reunion, and we have heard that many of you are already planning to attend our 30th reunion in June of ’16.

Erik Hanson came to reunion with wife Meg and their 2 boys. Erik teaches Latin at the Fieldston School in New York City. Jessica Ginsberg Stoops loved the 25th reunion. She writes: “It was so great to see everyone and being reminded why NMH is such a special place.” Anne Bartfay Platzner had a great time at reunion “full of memories, sharing old and making new ones.” Anne is a family physician at a UW clinic in Bellevue WA. Daughter Lizzie is a 4th grader who is also a swimmer like Anne. Husband Joe is a randonneur (long-distance bike rider) and is preparing for his first Paris-Brest-Paris ride this summer. Anne would love to hear updates from Kelly Higgins Gonzalez, Cricket Crawshaw Johnson, and Loan Luong.

Bertha “Buffa” French-Harkless and sister Dorothy “Dee Dee” French Boone were fortunate to make it to reunion. Buffa writes from Amsterdam: “We were reenergized just getting back on campus and reconnecting with our NMH family and witnessing Bill Batty ’59 enter a new phase (or should I say, NMH enter a new phase without the Battys). We feel strongly that we do something to help NMH through its transition, or frankly speaking, its identity crisis. NMH’s legacy is too precious.

We beg all alumni to get involved in some shape or form.” Buffa works on HIV/AIDS, gender, and sexuality issues with UNAIDS based in Amsterdam.

She has 3 kids—Josephine (10), Gabrielle (7), and Philippe (3). Buffa was sorry to miss Jackie Stolte, Alex Zaroulis, Alegra Feldman Corkran, and Xandra Castleton at reunion.

Kendel Leet still lives and works in Jakarta at the International School and says “all visitors are welcome.” Tom Louderback enjoyed reunion and seeing everyone, especially Turfer Throop and Norm Schneeberger ’85, and he and the “Marquand girls” hope Steve Patrick can make the 30th. Tom is moving to Cape Cod in the near future to handle the legal matters of a communications company with its home offices in one of the villages that comprise Barnstable.

Gretchen Ganzle-Kidder made it back to reunion from a 6-month sabbatical in Europe with her family. They spent 4 months in Ireland “working” and learning to surf and 2 months traveling by train through Italy and Spain. “It was a wonderful time, but it was equally wonderful to return home to reunion and share time with some of my favorite people. I am back in VT, exploring new job opportunities and hoping for a great ski season,

since I missed what I have heard was one amazing winter.”

Bruce Mendelsohn says the reunion was the highlight of his summer. He only wishes it lasted longer. Bruce plans to attend the Aug mini-NMHsponsored reunion in ME between trips to the Hamptons and VT. Ginny Wasiuk Lay writes: “My family enjoyed reunion tremendously.” She noted that we spent the entire time reminiscing, not catching up, so she sent an update. Ginny lives in St Louis with husband Andy, a federal prosecutor, and their 2 kids Kate (10) and James (7). Ginny heads the government solutions unit at Hesse Martone and still runs and lifts weights.

Rowing on the CT was the highpoint of reunion.

She sends thanks to Vicki and Peter Jenkins for getting everyone out at 7 in the pouring rain.

Rob Foregger says the weekend was “the most amazing 25th reunion that I could ever imagine.” Rob lives in Stowe VT, has 2 daughters, and is starting a financial services company.

Erika Riddington came to reunion with husband Hugh and children Annika and Magnus.

She says: “I downshifted about 2 years ago when I stopped working crazy hours with a high-end landscape architecture firm. I’ve had the time since to get much more involved in our community (Arlington MA), starting a cooperative learning garden, volunteering with the Mystic River Watershed Assoc, coaching youth soccer, doing school stuff, yoga, and basically making time to stop and smell the flowers when I’m not chasing after our kids. I continue to do a little landscape design work on my own as well. It’s been a real gift.”

Ben Robertson, also at reunion, started an acting career 3 years ago and in his downtime is living in Keene NH. Ben has done some film and television work and has a lead role in a feature film, not yet released, by the Italian director Lorenzo Faccenda.

Jim Rymes loved reunion and “can’t wait 5 more years to see everyone again.” He enjoyed seeing Sally Curtis at reunion, “It did my heart good to see her. I was awful at math until I got out in the real world and started working with real money and truck meters. I could not hide from her, and she never gave up on me.” Jim’s middle child Bailey graduated from middle school; his oldest Colby is driving with him during the summer. Jim is riding horses again for the first time in 22 years. “I have really missed it over the years. I’m a cowboy at heart.”

Schuyler “Skip” Bush made it back for the Fri night bonfire. He moved back to Amherst MA 10 years ago with his wife and 2 daughters. Kenny Fikes came back to his 1st reunion and writes: “NMH is sacred ground to me (literally) and I’ve always known that, but to have it verified and renewed was special. I think if I ever get married again, I’ll do it on campus in the chapel. It would be fitting in bringing my life full circle. NMH is the only meritocracy on earth as well. I also found (again, knew but verified) that we were surrogate siblings and not just classmates. I saw people I loved, loved, loved (like Buffa French) and others

I didn’t know as well, and the beauty is that we are all connected for life.”

Many ’86ers who couldn’t make it wrote to express regret and to update us on their lives. Abbe Bartlett Lynch writes: “I was so sad to miss out on our 25th reunion, but I am determined to make our 30th. It was really nice to see the pictures and videos on Facebook, though Facebook will never replace actually being somewhere live.” Abbe lives in the Seattle area and has 3 children—Kieran (9), Drew (4), and Sarah (1). After an almost 5-year hiatus, she’s back working for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in a group that focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

Albert Chu writes: “It has been a good 25th year since I parted with some of my best buddies at NMH and college in the US. After graduate school, I worked at Merrill Lynch Bank of America, Schroders, ING, and Daiwa as a financial advisor or asset manager. With some classmates from NMH, I cofounded a start-up IT company back in ’00 with a regional presence in Asia. At present, I am a senior vice president at the wealth management firm KGI Asia with headquarters in Taiwan.

Recently, I was glad to hear that my roommate Hasok Chang ’85, valedictorian from NMH, has been offered a tenured position at Cambridge as a professor of the history of science. If you happen to be around Hong Kong for business or pleasure, please feel free to drop me an email at albertchu@ post.harvard.edu.”

Chip Konowitz is thrilled that he is finally putting his MBA (Western NE U) to good use as a primary care physician practice manager at Boston Medical Center. He is moving to Boston, and his family will follow from Northampton MA next year.

Eileen Pierce gave birth to Maeve Caitlin Donnelly on 4/ 21/11 and Maeve’s half-brothers and sister from Northern Ireland can’t wait to meet her. Eileen is still working on lighting for museum projects; she has recently received several lighting awards for her group’s ’10 restoration of the McKim Building at the Morgan Library and Museum in NYC. Donna Kadis missed reunion but says hi, as she enjoys summer vacation on the beach in NC. Alysa Ray was sad to miss reunion. She moved to south FL, where she is working in a private practice specializing in borderline personality disorder, eating disorders, self-injurious behaviors, and trauma. She loves the work, the palm trees, and the sun and chilled-out atmosphere. She misses NY and the people, especially Charlotte Jones Voiklis, who had joined Alysa and partner Adam last season in their passionate Jets fandom.

On Facebook, she has been connecting regularly with Hiba Ramey Fennelly, Ian Hill, Geoffrey Locke, Geoff Weed ’87, Felicity Bean Beede ’87, Martha Slater ’87, and Vivian Bean Curren ’90.

Trisha Suggs Johnson was sad not to make it back to NMH. She and her husband are stationed in Germany. They miss living in Singapore. “I think I am going to hang up the basketball sneakers. Even though we won the Military European

Championship this past season, I think that I am getting to the point of saying I am too old to play this game.” Rick Sanford missed reunion and was happy to hear that it was a great weekend.

And finally, after reunion, Holly Bachmann Bennett humorously writes about “things we learned at reunion: beer and tequila do, in fact, mix (thanks, Kim Snyder Burke); ’80s music never gets old; we’re mostly mature enough to handle coed bathrooms; the Northfield police are not as tough as they seem; the Northfield Creamie is still a happening hot spot; bagpipes are eternally beautiful (thanks, Chuck Abel); Juniors Eat Squid (take that, Class of ’87); an ‘onion’ is more than a vegetable; Sherif Anis ’85 is one heck of an architect; Kendel Leet traveled the farthest to reunion; Tom Louderback traveled the most frequently to reunion; NMH Snuggies would make an ideal gift for our 30th; we all look exactly the same as we did in ’86, only better; and friendships strengthen over time, rather than lessen over distance. We hope to—and imagine we will—see even more of our class rally for the 30th. Yes folks, you can go back again.”

From the Alumni Office: Transitional Year alum Tracey LeBeau joined the Obama administration in Jan when she was appointed to lead a newly created Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs. Cofounder of Red Mountain Energy Partners, Tracey divested her interests in the company when she accepted the position.

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KIT GATTIS PO Box 38034 Cambridge MA 02238-0282 kitnmh@gmail.com class of ’87 website: www.blackirish.net/NMH/1987/

It is a cold and rainy day in the middle of May as I write this. I’m in the middle of preparing Harvard students for their graduation next week, as well as preparing for my own 20th college reunion.

And in 3 weeks, I’ll be in Russia as part of Lowell House’s ongoing cultural-exchange program with the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. I’ll be keeping a blog at bellstruck.org, so check it out and see what I’ve been doing.

Don’t forget to check out the NMH online community: http://www.nmhschool.org/alumni It’s only a year until our own, amazing 25th reunion— not too late to get involved.

And now, the news. Meg Clews lives in Blue Hill ME with her family and works as a nurse in the emergency department. She is also pursuing a graduate degree to be a family nurse practitioner.

She enjoys her children, 6 and 9, and her rescue dog Nina, who joined the family last year from the Dominican Republic.

Marci Clarke Crowley lives in NH with her sons Aidan (11) and Carter (9). She works part time in a 3rd-grade classroom and is gearing up for her 4th softball season as pitcher for her team.

She plays in a women’s league during the summer

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for doing the math.

Tamson Smith and husband Shannon Scott

Kit Gattis ’87 performs in Harvard’s 11th annual Dancers’ Viewpointe. months. She hopes to go back to work full time as a classroom teacher in the fall.

In the past year Alex Palmer Gormley started her own clothing company, called Palmer Noelle.

Although the business is less than a year old, she is in some fabulous shops, most notably Scoop NYC. It has her up early talking to her manufacturing facility in Mumbai and working the market by day.

Check her out on Facebook or the website. Alex is also a Girl Scout leader to her daughter’s troop of 14 five-year-olds. She thought it would be a total drag but is totally surprised to love it. Alex also teaches religious education to 5th and 6th graders at the Unitarian Church in Westport.

Chuck Linton is busy as export manager for oil equipment firm Barclay Wholesale in Stafford TX and even busier with 2 girls Sydney (4 1/2 years) and Nicole (2 1/2 years). Later this year he will visit Indonesia to see wife Linda’s family.

Nora Minton Urdi has moved yet again. She and her family just bought a house in the beautiful area of Mammoth Lakes CA, just minutes from the entrance to Yosemite National Park and Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. Husband John is exec dir of Mammoth Lakes Tourism. Nora and her children Bryn ( 7) and Jace (5) are thriving in this beautiful new landscape.

Morgan Sturges Vaughan got married in Dallas TX in Aug 2010 to Tristan Vaughan, whom she met while they were getting their MFAs in acting at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting at the George Washington University in DC. They now live in NY, where they split time between Queens and the Hamptons, performing, auditioning, and teaching.

Richard Weis has had an eventful last 18 months, moving down to the civilization of Northampton from the hills of Conway MA, taking a new job managing ServiceNet’s Early Intervention program, marrying the delightful Kelly Coffey (1/17/10), seeing his daughter Faith Weis ’10 graduate, renovating the new house, and welcoming new daughter Cerys Mary Margaret Coffey (4/4/11). “On 4/23 at 4:06 pm, with Faith home from AmeriCorps before starting at George Washington, we got to celebrate the moment when Faith’s age in years and Cerys’s age in days converged at 18.687 each—thanks to Mike Fleck ’84

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moved to just over the MN border to WI. She hopes that 3M will leave them there for longer than 9 months this time. However, the brief sojourn in MA allowed Tamson to spend some quality time with Julie Smith and her adorable son Hugo. Tamson is looking forward to reconnecting with Anna Meek, who lives in Minneapolis.

Paul McDaniel has been busy with his band Wormburner. They just returned from a West Coast tour of LA, Portland OR, and Seattle. Paul caught up with Corrina Wright and Dakota Smith ’89 at his show in LA, where they both live.

In LA, Wormburner performed on the popular morning TV show, “Good Day LA,” and in Seattle appeared on an in-studio performance on KEXP’s radio. Wormburner also just landed an opening slot for the band Cracker (with David Lowery) in Brooklyn in July. Paul’s “other band,” the Jazzholes, just learned they are opening for Blues Traveler at the Ridgefield Playhouse in June—rock ’n’roll.

See you all at our 25th in 6/12.

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ANNE STEMSHORN GEORGE 10 Fox Chase Lane Durham NC 27713-9458 cr.george@verizon.net

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CHRIS ROOF 465 Concord Ave Cambridge MA 02138-1217 roofsound@comcast.net JOHN CARROLL Box 4722, One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon MA 01354-9638 jcarroll@nmhschool.org ETHAN KLINE 61 Ramdsen Rd, Flat 3 London England SW128RA ethankline@gmail.com CARYN CROTTY ELDRIDGE 20 Glover Rd Needham MA 02494-1414 caryn@eldridges.net

From Ethan: If anyone is coming over for the Olympics next year, please get in touch. Thanks to all those who responded, starting with Charlie Bankart, who is at U of KS, where he is the asst vice provost for international programs and is finishing up his PhD in higher ed admin. He was recently elected to serve on the board of dir for the Assoc of International Educators, and his wife just received tenure in the Dept of French and Italian.

Laine Romero-Alston is moving back to the NYC area to head up the Ford Foundation’s program on Next Generation Workforce Strategies, supporting low-wage and immigrant workers.

Lauren Burns is back in DC after spending the better part of last year in Afghanistan. Her time in Kabul reminded her of NMH, and she credits NMH for instilling the desire to take on new challenges.

Gail Doolittle is working on her 17th year as an NMH employee and is now the asst dir of campus services. Colleen Nielsen Gibney is a technology consultant and SBIR program dir at ITAC in NYC. She lives in Plainfield NJ with husband Paul and daughter Gemma.

Sarah Watson and her boyfriend Ian welcomed Viggo Watson Engberg in 4/11. Julie Siegel Falatko and husband Dave welcomed Ramona Greta in 5/10, joining siblings Henry, Eli, and Zuzu. Julie completed her master’s in library science the day before Ramona was born and eagerly awaits the chance to use it. Kristen Broadhead Cashel and husband Colin welcomed son Teddy in 3/10. He joined siblings Charlie (5), Will (3), and Katie (3). She would love to get back in touch with Carrie Bruggeman.

Katy Clapp Sonin welcomed son Viggo in 8/11, who joins Udo (4). She recently saw Eileen Williams, Larisa Mendez-Penate, and Bethany Wood Beatty and would love to find

Trixie Souza.

Alice Austin splits her time between LA and

Boston playing music, painting, and running a massage therapy studio. She recently had an art show with Nick Houghton and is looking for other LA NMH people.

Mac Ritchey lives in Carlisle MA and keeps busy with his recording studio Possum Hall and his music groups 35th Parallel and Ensemble Datura. He will be performing at the Tamburi Mundi international music festival in Freiburg Germany in August. J J Holbert lives in San Diego with husband Philip and son Hobie (5). She teaches English as a second language to adults, which she started in Japan, where she taught at an engineering university for 3 years.

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ROBBIANNE MACKIN 113 W 69th St New York NY 10023-5132 robbianne.mackin@gmail.com

TRAVIS LEA 2447 Claremont Ave Los Angeles CA 90027-4601 travislea@gmail.com KRISTIN STEELE 458 Montauk Ave New London CT 06320-4606 kaste@conncoll.edu TORYN KIMBERLEY STARK 1828 Birch Heights Ct Charlotte NC 28213-4047 torynk@yahoo.com

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Wow, what a reunion. It was great to see so many people. My only regret is that I didn’t have enough time to really catch up with everyone. Special thanks to David McClintock and Megan Buchanan Cherry for organizing a great event. I’m told we had a record turnout for a 20th reunion, and we were the largest class, 2nd only to the class of ’61. I can only imagine our 25th. I’m already looking forward to it.

Until then, the conversation continues on our reunion Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/169295376446612?ap=1. If you’re not a member already, take a minute to join. Video of the flute lady alone is worth the effort.

After reunion, I had the opportunity to see other classmates who weren’t able to make it, including Bill Abel, Sasha Harris, Jeff Wibecan, Sharon Isaacs, Tonya George, and Aly Baiter.

All are doing well.

David McClintock writes: “It was great to see everyone who attended reunion. We had over 50 classmates on campus. Thanks to everyone who made the trip. We had over 20 4-year classmates back, too. It was great to hang out with so many friends, especially the East Hall boys. Thanks to all the new volunteers who expressed interest in helping plan for our next reunion. Let us know if you’re interested in helping out, too.”

Regan Trombly Kirkland is sorry she missed reunion, but she has her hands full with Bria Kail, born 12/23/10. Bria, sister Kacie (8), and the rest of the family are spending the summer on Cape Cod and hope to catch up with other NMHers while there.

Also new to the world is Leila Kabage, born to Joshua and Katie Johnson Kabage at the end of May. The family is doing great and sends their best.

Erin MacLean continues her Muay Thai training in Thailand and hopes to be at reunion in ’16.

While last in the US, she saw Daniel Finn, who is doing well and teaching Bikram yoga in western MA. David Allard had fun at reunion, as did his 3 boys. They especially enjoyed running into every room of the new Rhodes Center for the Performing Arts, which is “unbelievable.” He enjoyed seeing old and new faces and hopefully more of us will make it to the 25th.

Robert Munger, who regrets missing reunion, writes: “I haven’t kept in touch with many NMH friends or done class notes, but I am currently in Boston, studying finance and economics at BU. I love getting back in touch. Feel free to drop me a line to say hi. Heh. Just caught myself writing a comma before ‘but’ when the second clause was dependent. It brought me back to senior-year English class with Mr. Block.”

INI OBOT 297 Sickles Ave New Rochelle NY 10801-3700 iniobot@yahoo.com

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DAIRO MORENO 3102 Durand Dr Los Angeles CA 90068-1614 demoreno@post.harvard.edu

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JENNIFER SADULA DE VORE 2830 Brook Dr Falls Church VA 22042-2302 devorejr@msn.com

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METTA DAEL Box 4804, One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon MA 01354-9638 metta.dael@gmail.com

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NEL ANDREWS 120 S Bouldin St Baltimore MD 21224-2201 nel_andrews@hotmail.com

LAURA SNYDER CRAFORD 2015 N Jantzen Ave Portland OR 97217-7812 laurascraford@hotmail.com

From Nel: Bryan Nesteriak, wife Beth, and daughter Emma Ann, born 5/20/10, live in Seymour CT. Bryan runs a civil engineering and real estate company, and Beth is an engineer for the city of Hartford. Julie Sontag moved from Chicago to LA and is managing a private swim school for kids. Carla Andrews is still working for the same consulting firm and has been living overseas for the last 3 years, first in Madrid, and now in London, which she really loves. She writes: “In Feb, Ritu Asija came to visit, and we had fun running around cold, rainy London eating fish and chips and other good pub food. In Mar I caught up with Emeka Iheme during a trip back to Boston, and while hanging out in the South End, we bumped into Mark Spence ’93. Sudi-Laura Gregory Overstreet ’95 visited me during Easter, and we had our own mini-reunion—coffee and shopping with Sarah White Albertyn. I also saw Azania Andrews ’96 on her recent trip through London. It’s been so much fun catching up with people. If others are going to be in London, definitely let me know. I plan to be here through at least the end of ’11.”

From Laura: KT Doud reports, “After living in Ecuador for 8 years, I am permanently back in the States and trying to make the transition to the ‘normal workforce.’ I’m in my home town of Ann Arbor MI and am enjoying all the cool kids’ stuff it has to offer. My mother and brother are also here, and it has been great to catch up with them. I’m back in school to complete a master’s in healthcare admin and will graduate in 6/12. In between studying and chauffeuring kids to various activities, I have managed to complete a certificate of medical interpretation in Spanish and a medical office asst program. I also volunteer for the U of

MI hospital and Arbor Hospice on a weekly basis. The kids—Virginia (7), Antonia (6), and Marc Alexander (3 1/2)—have flourished here, and I love watching them interact in both Spanish and English. Husband Marcell finally received his residency status and work permit. We have not been back to Ecuador due to school, finances, etc, so we have had his immediate family here a couple of times to visit. Wanda Vargas also came through last summer. So, while I may not be a dorm parent when the next reunion rolls around, it looks like I will be a little closer and hopefully get to see some of you in the meantime.”

Philip and Christina Lamb Sidell welcomed Quinn Stevenson Lamb Sidell (hopefully, NMH Class of ’29) in 3/11. They have moved to northern VT and love it. “We just bought a tractor and are becoming real country folk.” Christina works for a consulting company that does patent valuations and licensing, and Phil is still consulting but is not traveling as much.

In Dec, Carol Koldis Foote and family moved to Shelburne MA into the post and beam house her husband built. It’s still unfinished but definitely home. Daughter Lydia (4) can be found until after dark on her swing set, singing at the top of her lungs. She can’t do one without the other, it seems. Carol invites everyone to stop by.

Jim Baxter lives in Tucson AZ, where he works from home, developing software for smart phones. Son Jack (7) spends his free time skateboarding at the local park, while Jim challenges the local foul-mouthed teens to games of basketball. Wife Renee is a nurse at UMC. Jean Billings Sanchez writes: “I don’t think I have ever contributed the basics, so here they are: I married Rene Sanchez in 3/05. We have 3 children—Cesar (5), Gracie (3), and Alejandro (1). I am a special-ed administrator at the high-school level and Rene is a high school principal. We are moving from Austin TX to Corpus Christi this summer and would love any NMH guests wanting to beat the snow and enjoy a cheap beach holiday anytime.”

As for me, I continue to live in Portland OR with husband Kent and kiddos Lillian (5) and Jack (3). I work part time for CASA for Children as a supervisor, and I am finally getting my master’s in social work.

KT Doud ’94 (seated) with her 3 children and husband Marcell (back left) and other family members gathered after KT and her family moved from Ecuador back to MI.

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AMINA GAUTIER 1038 W Balmoral Ave Apt 1 G Chicago IL 60640-1847 amina.gautier@gmail.com

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KATHERINE “CRICKET” BORNTRAEGERWHEELER NISBET 15 Allens Rd Southsea, Hampshire, PO4 0QB, UK katherinebw@hotmail.com

NICHOLAS VIDA 27 Sachem Rd Greenwich CT 06830

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JON RINI 40 Owen St Apt E6 Hartford CT 06105-3282 jonathan.rini@dechert.com HEIDI GEIS 2140 Woolsey St Apt B Berkeley CA 94705-1890 heidi_geis@hotmail.com

From the Alumni Office: Kristina Horton was sorry to miss reunion due to the death of her father, William Noble Horton. Also husband of Diane Brown Horton ’71, he was deeply invested in NMH, although not an alum himself.

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Christine Schifani Moldenhauer ’00, husband Jacob, and son Taos

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JOSH GRUBMAN 14 Deldorf St Quincy MA 02169-1820 joshuagrubman@gmail.com

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LAUREL HAVAS 701 St SE Apt 402 Washington DC 20003-4813 laurelhavas@yahoo.com

JULIA COHEN 6 Lanark Rd, No 1 Brookline MA 02445-1834 jmacleodcohen@yahoo.com

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HEATHER KOLPA 132 S Quinsigamond Ave Shrewsbury MA 01545-4218 hkolpa@yahoo.com

TOBY ROWER PO Box 275 Newbury VT 05051-0275 tobias_rower@yahoo.com

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AUDREY KORTE 5 Oyster Ln Warren RI 02885-1522 aekorte@cox.net

MELIA KNOWLES-COURSIN 427 Aaron Cir Durham NC 27713-3201 meliakc@gmail.com MOLLY LOVEDAY 175 Grant St Lexington MA 02420-2126 molly.loveday@trincoll.edu

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CHRISTOPHER A ZISSI 11 Exeter St Apt 11 Boston MA 02116-1252 christopher.zissi@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who attended our 10th reunion. We had a group of over 30 grads making the trek from as far away as Japan. We are looking forward to seeing many of you in 5 years at the next reunion.

Caitlin Inglehart married Benjamin Galuza on 9/25/10 on the coast of ME. There were many NMHers (faculty and alumni) in attendance, including Christopher Zissi, Julia Schofield, Alex Fischer, and Alexis Putzel. Caitlin and Ben live in Oakland CA. Amy Marks has opened a great new eatery and catering business in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, called Radish Prepared Foods. She invites everyone to stop by for a bite and say hello.

A big thank-you goes out to Brian Kolpa for his years of service as our class secretary. For those of you in Boston, sign up for the NMH-Boston group on Facebook and join us at any of our monthly events.

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ANNE MORGAN 150 E 56th St New York NY 10022-3634 annelucasmorgan@gmail.com

Anne Morgan has changed jobs and now works in preproduction with Talbots in its NY creative office, but she still works as the NY-based intern

for Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte. “It always surprises me when NMH connections come to light. My first day at Talbots, I had my NMH calendar up at my desk, and my colleague Kate Ackermann and I realized her mother, Kackie St. Clair, was my video art teacher senior year.

In April, Annie Hinkes exhibited her work at the SOFA expo in NYC. She was a part of “Costume Costume,” an opulent project sponsored

by Sienna Gallery, which is coincidentally owned by an NMHer. I continue to see Bridgett Borg ’03 a lot around the city. She is now the US press mgr for Giuseppe Zanotti Designs.

Our 10th reunion is next spring. We had such a fantastic turnout for our 5th reunion, and I really hope and encourage you all to take part.

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DEE GUO 143 Separatist Rd Storrs Mansfield CT 06268-2003 deedith@gmail.com MIRA SHARMA 350 Prince Arthur West, Apt 1105 Montreal, QC H2X 3R4, Canada mira.sharma.mcgill@gmail.com

From the Alumni Office: On 6/4/11, Ryan Rooney was ordained a priest for the Roman Catholic diocese of Springfield MA. David Dowdy, NMH English teacher, advisor for Catholic students, and Ryan’s longtime mentor, and his family attended, as did Allison Boyd.

Josh Raymond graduated as valedictorian from film school in ’08. He works as a development coordinator in reality TV for the company that does “Jersey Shore” (495 Productions). He lives in Studio City CA.

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BRENDAN MYSLIWIEC 530 3rd St Brooklyn NY 11215-3003 brendan.mysliwiec@gmail.com JAMIESON BAKER 636 North Hayworth Ave, Apt 3 Los Angeles CA 90048-2338 jamieson.baker@gmail.com

JANE WARREN 1800 Pickering Rd Phoenixville PA 19460-2133 jlillyw@mac.com DANIELA FRIAS 779 Ave E Apt 2 Bayonne NJ 07002-4051 daniela8_5@hotmail.com

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DONNIE BLACKWELL 40 Passaic Ave West Paterson NJ 07424-2517 ptowndon@gmail.com ARJUN PANT 14 Egmont St Brookline MA 02446-3615 arjunpant@gmail.com JING PING ZHANG 114A Prospect St, Apt 3 Somerville MA 02143-4109 jingping.ellen.zhang@gmail.com

From the Alumni Office: Kyler Chávez graduated summa cum laude from Boston U’s School of Hospitality Administration in May. At graduation, Kyler was also inducted into Eta Sigma Delta, the national honor society for top academic scholars in the hospitality field. Also a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Kyler is now in Denver at Hyatt’s corporate management training program. Debbie Arnold Chávez ’71 and Raúl Chávez ’71 are proud parents.

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LAKOTA COON 67 Coon Holler Lane Castleton VA 22716-2931 wackylacky@gmail.com

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NAOMI-COLLETT RITZ 60 Merriam Rd Walpole NH 03608-5033 naomi.collett.ritz@gmail.com

From the Alumni Office: Jason Ellis, a Gulf Scholar at NMH after Hurricane Katrina, graduated from Loyola U in New Orleans in May with a bachelor’s in business admin and marketing.

Becky Eldridge ’05, left of bride Abby Eldridge ’03, and Ryan Koppes ’03 with their wedding party after their marriage at Memorial Chapel on 10/10/10.

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HENRY HUTCHESON 1940 Knox Ave S Minneapolis MN 55403-2839 henry.hutcheson@gmail.com EMILY JACKE 48 Bullard Rd Jaffrey NH 03452-5902 ejacke@middlebury.edu

LILLY RICHARDSON 929 Sabattis Rd Long Lake NY 12847-2801 lilly.richardson@gmail.com

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ANNA STEVENS 1329 Lapham Bay Rd Shoreham VT 05770-9612 annagstevens@yahoo.com GALEN ANDERSON 58 Piper Lane, PO Box 39 Harrisville NH 03450-0039 gjande01@syr.edu

ESHALLA MERRIAM 7527 Rhode Island Ave College Park MD 20740-3505 eshallamerriam@gmail.com FAYETTE PHILLIPS 43 North St Upton MA 01568-1581 fayettephillips@gmail.com

Laura Bartell is in Australia for a semester at U of Queensland, Brisbane. While there, she plans to see Nicole Dancel, who is studying in Sydney, Australia.

Johannes Wesselhoeft and Leopoldo Toralballa are both studying in Salamanca, Spain, for the fall semester. The former NMH roommates didn’t plan to be there together—Johannes is at UMass and Leo is at Goucher—but are enjoying renewing their friendship in Spain.

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ELI SPECTOR PO Box 75 Old Westbury NY 11568-0075 eli.spector@rice.edu

Brady Ward had a fantastic first year at Yale, es-

Kyler Chávez ’05

Jason Ellis ’07 graduated from Loyola in New Orleans in May.

pecially with his a cappella group with whom he has traveled to northern Europe, CA, and New Zealand. This summer he is in Spain but invites any NMHers who are ever in southern CT to contact him when they are in the area. Over winter break, Brady, Natalie Norton, Olivia Thompson-Bessett, and Everett Irving met up.

Caitlin Bryant finished her plebe year at the US Naval Academy and reports that her quality of life has increased as a result. Caitlin looks forward to pursuing a major in English at the academy and rowing another great year with Navy women’s crew. Justin Gong reports that he will take a leave from U of Chicago for 2 years to enter the Korean

Fall | 2011 CLASS NOTES 91

military; he enrolls this Aug. Justin joins Danny Shin, who entered the Korean military last winter.

Will Baker is pursuing a film/screenwriting and business degree at DePaul U. Will is now the president of DePaul men’s a cappella and has begun a solo production company based in the Chicago area. Hannah Pelletier is studying English communications with a minor in theatre at Emmanuel College. She regularly sees Anna Finbury ’09. This summer, Hannah worked at Brooks School day camp.

Mary Diaz had an amazing, fun, and wild first year at Wesleyan. She is pursuing majors in government and feminist, gender, sexuality studies. Over the summer, Mary interned at Skadden Arps, a law firm in NYC. On the side, she is trying to master the harmonica, hang out with friends, attend concerts, and enjoy the sun. She misses all of her friends at NMH and welcomes their calls or emails.

Matt Goode enjoyed his first year at Gonzaga U, especially on the crew and basketball teams. He is in frequent contact with Will Hurt, Shengyu Chen, and Daniel Discenza ’11. Ivy Santos reports that she is a mechanical engineering major at Olin College. She worked this summer at Olin, learning the ins and outs of the working world.

There are a number of class members who are transferring colleges this year, including Su Min Lee, who is transferring to Brown University, and Simon Lee, who is transferring to Johns Hopkins.

As for me, I will be in Lithuania in July and Aug to attend a summer Yiddish institute at Vilnius U sponsored by Rice.

Dylan Freehauf ’11, Scott Pelton-Stroud ’10, Mike VanCott ’10, and Andre Gobbo ’09 made it back for commencement in May.

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Faculty Notes LYN KELLOM PO Box 1546 New London NH 03257-1546 rbmzkellom@tds.net

Excepting Friday, a fairly steady weekend rain did not appear to dampen the spirits of 2011’s reunioners. From Rhodes Arts Center’s stellar offerings to varied special activities to overflowing convocation to the always-inspiring hymn sing to Alumni (West) Hall’s impressive food presentations to Sunday’s meaningful service of worship and remembrance, sunny faces, bright chatter, and joyous song erupted from alums and faculty alike. The weekend seemed to draw an exceptional number of former faculty.

At Friday’s reception and Class of ’61 dinner, Dick and I caught up with Dave Burnham and Anne Webb Burnham ’44, Bill Compton ’44, Elaine Rankin Bailey ’55, Al Higgins ’50 and Mary Ann Efird Higgins ’51, Lee and Lou Turner, Gar Allen, Al Burnett ’62, Jeff Baker and Barbara Bernache-Baker, Kristin Steele ’90, and Hal and Becky McCann.

Saturday’s award winners breakfast yielded Sally Curtis, Gloria Savcheff Gancarz ’43, Betty and Walt Congdon, Joan Clausen Vander Vliet ’48, and Phil McKean ’54 and Debbie Adams McKean ’56. At lunch we chatted with Al DeMaria, Bill Schweikert, Kyp Wasiuk, Barbara Piscuskas, Jeanne and Dale Conly ’52, and Christine and Don McCollester. Sunday’s ongoing extensive brunch drew Carolyn Mann, and Linda and Bill Batty ’59. Other returnees listed were Carol and Nelson Lebo ’56, Alice Kells, Ed Lemon, Tim McCabe, Rosemary Payne, Jeanne Rees, Jerry Reneau, and David Schochet. I’m sorry to have missed you, and, of course, apologies to the others who may have escaped being seen.

Births and Adoptions ’86 Maeve Caitlin Donnelly to Eileen Pierce, 4/ 21/11. ’87 Cerys Mary Margaret Coffey to Richard Weis and Kelly Coffey, 4/4/11. ’89 Viggo Watson Engberg to Sarah Watson and Ian Engberg, 4/27/11. ’89 Thomas Cashel to Colin and Kristin Broadhead Cashel, 3/19/10. ’89 Ramona Greta Falatko to David and Julie Siegel Falatko, 5/25/10.

Last year found Gar Allen traveling to Brazil, Egypt, Australia, Canada, and OK to give talks for the Darwin bicentennial (of his birth) and sesquicentennial (publication of On the Origin of the Species). Still teaching at Washington U in St Louis, Gar usually spends May (giving a workshop) and Aug (doing own work) each year in Woods Hole on Cape Cod. He stays in touch with the Turners, Lyons, and Jeff Bakers.

Happy grandparents Salvatore Lauro (teacher and soccer coach from 1976–80) and Janet Masiello (dorm head and media director on the MH campus from 1972–80) wrote of the arrival of Emma Frances Cronk, born to daughter Livia Lauro (NMH summer school ’97, ’98, ’99) and Paul Cronk on 3/10/11.

With the good fortune of a weather-perfect 1st day of summer adding to the delight of happily reconnecting retirees, Fud Fest ’11 was enjoyed by a sizable group. Gathered on the Kellom hillside were Ed and Ginny Brooks, Betty and Walt Congdon, Jeanne and Dale Conly, Sam Greene and Phyllis Gansz-Greene, Barbara Harris, Cynnie and Terry Irwin, Kay and Elliot Rowsey, Chuck Sanborn and Wendy Blackman-Sanborn, Margot Torrey, Glenn Vandervliet ’56, Mary and Bob Weis, Mary Covey Williams ’45, Deane Lanphear ’53, Carol Kelley and Marv Kelley ’60, Bev Bolton Leyden ’53, Sandy Perkins and Mary Beth Whiton, Carroll and Elaine Rankin Bailey ’55, and Nancy Alexander Randall ’68.

Sadly, faculty notes seem to include too many obituaries of former colleague friends. On 4/8/11, Ann Sorenson (79) passed away in York Harbor ME. At NMH from 1969–88, Ann taught religious studies and then became chair of the Outreach Program.

Teacher of English and history and coach of football and baseball from 1975–95, Bill Hillenbrand died on 5/5/11 in MacClenny FL at age 61. Margaret Jones (94) passed away peacefully on 6/9/11 in Yarmouth ME. Wife of the late former NMH president Howard L Jones, Margaret was an energetic hostess, and an active and visible presence everywhere on campus. It is with special sadness that I conclude with Cynthia Lanphear. Library colleague and gentle friend, Cynthia (76) passed away in Topsham ME on 1/27/11.

’89 Viggo Sonin to Juhan and Katie Clapp Sonin, 8/14/10. ’91 Bria Kail Kirkland to William and Regan Trombly Kirkland, 12/23/10. ’91 Leila Kabage to Joshua and Katie Johnson Kabage, 5/11. ’94 Quinn Stevenson Lamb Sidell to Philip and Christina Lamb Sidell, 3/11. ’94 Emma Ann Nesteriak to Beth and Bryan Nesteriak, 5/20/10. ’00 Taos Moldenhauer to Jacob and Christine Schifani Moldenhauer, 5/12/11.

Weddings and Civil Unions ’74 William Martling to Susan Gale Hardy, 12/26/10. ’75 Ruth Lapin to Brent Finley, 5/1/11. ’87 Morgan Sturges to Tristan Vaughan, 8/10. ’87 Richard Weis to Kelly Coffey, 1/17/10. ’01 Caitlin Inglehart to Benjamin Galuza, 9/25/10.

Deaths ’27 E. Parker Calvert, 3/31/11. Brother of Robert Calvert ’35 (dec’d). Uncle of Scott Calvert ’62 and Peter Calvert ’66. ’28 Gethine Williams Brown, 5/16/11. Cousin of Marion Lewis Mattox ’34 (dec’d). ’28 Marion Waterman, 6/22/11. Daughter of Bertha Tozer Eddy ’01 (dec’d). Sister of Elizabeth Eddy Ives ’30 (dec’d). Mother of Byron Waterman ’60 and Holden Waterman ’66. ’29 Miriam Gleason Thompson, 5/11/11. Sister of Henry Gleason ’34 (dec’d) and Edmund Gleason ’34 (dec’d). ’30 Lois Smith Burdick, 1/14/09. Daughter of Eva Manville Smith ’98 (dec’d). ’30 Margaret Mowery Liljegren, 3/28/11. ’30 Catherine Coffin Yarnelle, 6/19/11. Sister of Miriam Coffin Remmers ’27 (dec’d). ’31 Eunice Campbell Vanderkolk, 3/1/11.

Grandmother of Damien Saccani ’91. ’32 Vera Korner Haigh, 4/6/11. ’32 Charles Lang, 12/24/10. ’32 Edith Studley Ward, 2/4/11. Sister of Ellen Studley McConnell ’33 (dec’d). Aunt of Louise Studley ’38. ’33 Margaret Pease Netsky, 12/9/10.

Daughter of Luther Pease ’05 (dec’d). Niece of Eleanor Pease Fincke ’03 (dec’d). ’33 P. Wilson Schiller, 4/7/11. ’34 George Bolton, 2/18/10. Father of Bruce Bolton ’59 and Ronald Bolton ’59 (dec’d). ’34 Jean Cuthbersen Gordon, 3/31/11. ’34 Henry Howe, 2/24/11. Brother of Florence Howe LePoer ’35 (dec’d) and Warren Howe ’39 (dec’d). ’34 Ella Beckwith Schoonmaker, 8/10/10. ’34 Alta Shultis Thorpe, 11/18/10. Sister of Bessie Shultis Lee ’33 (dec’d). ’35 Jessie Denton Caron, 1/5/11. ’35 Frances Lambert Elwell, 5/6/10. Mother of Rebecca Elwell Axelrod ’64. ’35 Louis Hall, 2/20/11. ’36 Adele Harris Gwynn, 7/1/09. ’36 William Holmes, 9/26/10. Brother of John Holmes ’38 (dec’d). Uncle of Gail Holmes ’63 (dec’d). Cousin of Helen Ross Patterson ’39 (dec’d) and Stuart Patterson ’75. ’36 Eugenia Karras Latchis, 2/21/11. Sister of C. Conrad Karras ’34 (dec’d). Mother of Joan Latchis Amory ’64 and Jane LatchisSilverthorne ’67. Cousin of Terry Dritsas Tough ’38.

’36 Jeanne Woodward Thomsen, 6/1/11. ’37 Janet Hartwell Hand, 1/23/11. ’37 Shirley Brown Lunman, 10/6/09. Daughter of Mabel Brown ’14 (dec’d). ’38 William W. Herold, 5/5/11. Son of William Herold ’16 (dec’d). ’38 Marguerite Bryant Powers, 11/3/09.

Cousin of Barbara Gibbs O’Brien ’33 (dec’d) and Robert Gibbs ’36. ’38 Roger Prior, 12/5/10. ’38 Philip Robinson, 3/14/11. Father of David Robinson ’63. Brother of Louise Robinson Swainbank ’35 and Oliver Robinson ’41 (dec’d). Uncle of Daniel Swainbank ’66, Lois Robinson Eddy ’67, and Malcolm Robinson ’70. Cousin of Mildred Bradford Scott ’18 (dec’d), Shepard Robinson ’43 (dec’d), John Robinson ’52 (dec’d), and William Robinson ’85. ’38 Nancy Harper Wedderspoon, 4/19/11. ’39 Edward Appelquest, 3/19/11. Uncle of Andren Appelquest ’66. ’39 Marjorie Fields Bruno, 1/9/11. ’39 Marion Lundberg, 4/10/11. Sister of Edith Lundberg Salisbury ’35 (dec’d). Cousin of Phyllis Raymond Newman ’35 and Charlene Newman Davis ’59 (dec’d). ’39 Dorothy McNichols Mackenzie, 4/27/11. ’39 Stanley North, 10/18/10. Brother of W. S. Wright North ’44 (dec ‘d). ’39 John Truelsen, 6/2/10. ’40 Susan Mitchell Crowell, 5/6/11. ’40 Barbara Dixon Morton, 4/27/11. Daughter of Frederick Dixon ’14 (dec’d). Sister of David Dixon ’41 (dec’d). Mother of Martha Morton Coco ’65. Niece of Luella Bancroft Dixon ’12 (dec’d) and Herbert Dixon ’13 (dec’d). Cousin of Lois Dixon Woodard ’37. ’40 Alvin Rathbun, 2/23/11. Brother of Stanton Rathbun ’40 (dec’d). ’40 Frank Samuel, 3/23/11. Son of Hannah Lantz Samuel ’12 (dec’d). Father of Nancy Samuel Turnbull ’66. Nephew of Vernon DeLong ’16 (dec’d) and David DeLong ’22 (dec’d). Cousin of Parker DelPlaine ’16 (dec’d), Gloria DeLong Vickery ’40, Alice Oyler Perkins ’42 (dec’d), David Boehnke ’43 (dec’d), David DeLong ’43, and Robert DeLong ’48. ’40 Mary Holton Soderberg, 3/3/11. Sister of Nancy Holton Calhoun ’53 and Robert Holton ’53. Aunt of Kristin Bolton ’84. ’41 Thomas Bean, 7/2/09. Grandfather of Hallie Bean ’08. ’41 J. Hale Chamberlain, 2/25/11. Son of Evelyn Taggart Chamberlain ’16 (dec’d).

Grandson of Charles Taggart ’93 (dec’d).

Nephew of Miriam Taggart Smith ’18 (dec’d). ’41 Stanford Clock, 4/8/11. ’41 Donald Duerk, 4/3/11. ’41 Phyllis Madsen Hart, 3/9/10. Daughter of Norah Williamson Madsen ’20 (dec’d). Granddaughter of Kate Freeman Williamson ’86 (dec’d). Grandniece of

Anna Bingham Freeman ’85 (dec’d), Katharine Bingham Clark ’86 (dec’d), Fred Freeman ’88 (dec’d), and Alice Bingham Blackwell ’90 (dec’d). Cousin of Eva Freeman ’19 (dec’d) and Beatrice Freeman ’27 (dec’d). ’41 P. Elizabeth Smith Houseman, 12/2/10. ’41 Patricia Goodyear Jackson, 6/10/09. Sister of Jane Goodyear Sandkuhle ’38 (dec’d). ’42 Barbara Stoke Betts, 2/8/11. ’42 Gerard Cook, 9/26/10. Brother of Richard Cook ’43 (dec’d). ’42 Mary Bookhout Rager, 5/9/11. Daughter of Tallman Bookhout ’11 (dec’d). Wife of Peter Rager ’42 (dec’d). Mother of Elizabeth Rager ’75. ’42 Dale N. Schoonmaker, 9/9/09. ’42 Edwin B. Shultz, 4/4/11. ’42 Bernard Sternsher, 7/16/11. ’42 Jane Maguire Temple, 6/30/10. Sister of Elizabeth Maguire ’43. ’42 Anne Parker Tuck, 11/15/10. Sister of Jane Parker Huber ’44 (dec’d) and Susan Parker Hanshaw ’48. Mother of Susan Tuck ’67.

Cousin of Phoebe White Wentworth ’36 (dec’d) and Mary Morgan Ryan ’41 (dec’d). ’43 Mary Utterback Barr, 3/1/10. Sister of Margaret Utterback Confrey ’42 (dec’d). ’43 Lloyd Bensen, 1/12/11. ’43 James Fairbank, 12/16/10. Father of Susan Fairbank ’75. Stepbrother of J. Alfredo Carbonell ’46. ’43 Irene Emmons Gibson, 1/23/11. Sister of Marie-Louise Emmons Miller ’39 (dec’d). ’43 Phyllis Greenwood Hauenstein, 11/14/10. ’43 Elizabeth Pilon Kozikowski, 7/6/11. ’43 Wilhelmina McFee, 4/17/11. Daughter of William McFee, 1894 (dec’d). Sister of Martha McFee Serratore ’30 (dec’d), Barbara McFee Kiarsis ’35, and Anne McFee Marston ’39 (dec’d). ’43 Jean Henderson Read, 3/29/11. Mother of John Read ’67, Bruce Read ’69, and Betsy Read Chadwick ’72. Grandmother of Carter Read ’01. Aunt of Candace Read Stern ’65. ’43 Russell Snow, 4/23/11. ’44 Olivia Heminway Ruth, 6/30/11. Sister of Lynette Heminway Emery ’41. ’45 Joseph Fleck, 1/14/11. ’45 Russell Housman, 11/11/10. Brother of Kenneth Housman ’43 (dec’d). Uncle of Jeffrey Housman ’73. Cousin of Patricia Gruenwald Underwood ’56. ’45 Howard Keating, 3/31/11. Son of Ruth Knowles Keating ’21 (dec’d). Brother of Ruth Keating Hyde ’43. ’45 M. Patricia Martin Milton, 11/9/10. ’45 Richard Underhill, 3/29/11. Brother of Patricia Underhill Bowman ’52 (dec’d). ’46 Gordon Griswold, 11/28/10. Son of Arthur Griswold ’14 (dec’d). Father of Kimberly Griswold ’70. ’47 Hugo W. Matson, 6/6/11. Father of Katherine Matson ’74. ’47 Philip Merrow, 6/29/10.

Fall | 2011 CLASS NOTES 93

’47 Judith Guild Stewart, 5/1/11. Sister of Virginia Guild Watkin ’42. ’48 Sterling Bolles, 4/10/11. Husband of Shirley Wright Bolles ’47. Nephew of Irving Thrasher’ 23 (dec’d) and Mary Bolles Mingolla ’37 (dec’d). Uncle of Robert Krebs ’78 and Keith Krebs ’81.

Cousin of Kay Mingolla Wardrope ’57 and Joseph Mingolla ’71. ’48 Dorothy LaGuardia Gillespie, 8/30/10.

Sister of Olive LaGuardia Yazid ’45. Niece of Italia LaGuardia ’13 (dec’d). ’48 Julia VanFleet Gurian, 4/16/11. ’48 Joyce Phillips McCann, 6/20/11. ’48 D. Christine Paige Metzer, 4/29/11.

Cousin of Carolyn Cheney Wolfe ’45. ’49 Carol Jennings Clemens, 10/19/10. ’49 Robert Larkin, 7/21/10. ’49 Anne Doane Mack, 3/7/09. ’49 Marilyn Schenck Lewis-Waugh, 5/6/11.

Mother of Ann Lewis ’79. Cousin of Jean Miller Koistinen ’36, E. Eliot Miller ’39 (dec’d), and Dwight Emanuelson ’51. ’49 Roger Mallory, 2/11/11. Cousin of Donald Vander Wolk ’45 (dec’d). ’49 Herman Parker, 12/27/09. Son of Hilton Parker ’25 (dec’d). ’49 Thomas Ormsby, 2/17/11. Husband of Patricia Curtis Ormsby ’48 (dec’d). ’49 Robert Sturtevant, 12/19/10. ’50 Joan Abbott, 2/4/11. ’50 Dale Blandin Golis, 6/10/11. Cousin of Anitra Bingham Kolenkow ’52 (dec’d) and Cordelia Bingham Kohrman ’59. ’51 Lee Scanlan Cameron, 6/23/11.

Daughter of Vivian Ray Scanlan ’30 (dec’d). Sister of Frances Scanlan SmithMerrill ’54 and Charles Scanlan ’59. Niece of Harold Ray ’25 (dec’d) and Robert Ray ’30 (dec’d). Cousin of Josette Ray Crook ’50, Harold Ray ’55, and Frank Ray ’61. ’51 Janice Miller, 4/30/11. ’51 Davis Rohl, 3/15/11. ’54 Astrid Hagenguth, 4/11. ’54 Richard Hubbard, 7/15/11. Father of Kristin Hubbard ’84. ’54 Robert Pattison, 12/26/10. Brother of Ann Pattison Casey ’49. Cousin of Harold Stoddart ’38 (dec’d) and Amy Stoddart Hughes ’49. ’55 Douglas Rollings, 9/4/10. ’55 Peter Stadler, 12/15/10. ’56 Joyce Alison Seelye Howard, 8/16/10.

Sister of Anne Seelye Stolz ’53. Mother of Keridwen Howard Dahm ’78 and Esme Howard ’84. Cousin of Nancy Bixler Isaacs ’47, Nicholas Seelye ’54, Ralph Perry ’54, and Matthew Perry ’58. ’57 Nan Pauley Johnston, 7/20/10. ’57 Robert Pease, 6/18/11. Father of Benjamin Pease ’82.

94 NMH Magazine

’58 Frank Eten, 3/17/11. Brother of John Eten ’59 and Catharine Eten ’62. ’58 Gardner West, 3/27/09. Son of Gardner West ’30 (dec’d). Brother of Soren West ’59. Cousin of Raymond Bartman ’37 and Gary Bartman ’65. ’60 Anthony Farmer, 3/20/11. Brother of Timothy Farmer ’59. ’60 Stuart Rogers, 5/12/11. Son of Kenneth Rogers ’33 (dec’d). ’61 Thacher Fisk, 12/4/09. Brother of Lloyd Fisk ’55. Uncle of Susan-Rachel Ballard Hebert ’80. ’63 Steven Ludemann, 5/16/11. Son of Ruth Moffett Ludemann ’38 (dec’d). ’64 Pamela Hicks, 3/3/11. ’65 Nicholas Afentakis, 5/8/11. ’66 Charles Shillito, 8/23/10. ’67 Deborah Krum Douglas, 12/10/10. Sister of Katherine Krum Cordier ’72 and John Krum ’77. ’69 Steven Denny, 6/10/10. Cousin of Richard Starbuck ’64 and Jonathan Starbuck ’69. ’72 Christopher Allen, 7/8/11. Son of Norris Allen ’48 (dec’d). ’73 Nancy Kalfayan Alberti, 5/29/11. ’73 David Dwight, 4/11. ’74 Mary Valenzuela, 10/10/09. ’75 Timothy Carroll, 7/22/11. Brother of Nancy Carroll ’76 and Diana Carroll ’79.

Father of Zephram Carroll ’15. ’76 Claire Lowrie, 4/12/11. Sister of Amy Lowrie Taivalkoski ’77 and Theodore Lowrie ’81. ’77 Susan Leavitt, 6/4/11. Sister of Deborah Leavitt Longman ’79. ’79 Benjamin Huen, 5/30/11. ’84 Nancy McAdoo, 1/15/11. Sister of Laura McAdoo ’86 and James McAdoo ’97. ’92 Thomas Morgan, 6/11/09.

Deaths—Former Faculty and Staff Marjorie Bistrek, retired staff, 6/29/11.

Raymond Collis, former staff, 3/11/11.

Paul Gerding, former staff, 3/22/11. Father of Aaron Gerding ’91 and Margaret Rothermich ’93.

William Hillenbrand, former faculty, 5/5/11.

Father of Sarah Hillenbrand Malloy ’95 and Emily Hillenbrand ’96.

Charlotte Potter, former faculty, 5/27/11.

Ann Sorenson, retired faculty, 4/8/11. Mother of Marael H. Sorenson ’79 and John Sorenson ’83.

Virginia Wirtanen, former staff, 6/8/2011 Marjorie Wood, former staff, 3/28/11.

In Memoriam

by Noelle Anson

Ann V. Sorenson, 79,

who was a member of the NMH faculty from 1969 to 1988, first as a religious studies teacher and later as director of the NMH Outreach Program, died at her home in York Harbor, ME, on April 8, 2011, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Born on December 30, 1931, in Lancaster, OH, Ann was the older of two children. Ann earned her undergraduate degree from Sweet Briar College in 1953 and a BD from Union Theological Seminary in 1957.

Ann met her husband, John, in graduate school, and she spent the early years of their marriage as a minister’s wife in Panama and NJ. They had two children, Marael (Mary) and John. Subsequently, the Sorensons separated and Ann arrived at NMH in 1969 with her children and became a member of the faculty in the religious studies department.

In the early 1970s, she became the first director of the school’s Outreach Program, placing students in

William R. Hillenbrand,

61, who taught English at NMH from 1976 to 1994, passed away on May 5, 2011, in MacClenny, FL. Born in Syracuse, NY, on December 6, 1949, Bill was one of seven children.

He earned his undergraduate degree from the SUNY at Cortland in 1973, and obtained a master’s in English from Penn State in 1976. An outstanding high school athlete in football, track, and gymnastics, Bill continued with gymnastics in college.

In 1976, Bill, his first wife, Cathy, and daughter Sarah arrived at NMH. He became a member of the faculty in the English department. Colleague John Clark said: “I consider him to be one of the best teachers in the department.” Bill was appointed writing coordinator at the end of

community service programs and offcampus apprenticeships. A lifelong social activist, Ann was known for her antinuclear activities and her commitment to the peace movement.

Former NMH chaplain Ginny Brooks recalls: “Ann especially admired the biblical prophets for ‘speaking truth to power,’ so it is no surprise that her own efforts on behalf of social justice mirrored their persistence and courage.” Ann set an example for students and colleagues alike by refusing to put aside her beliefs even when the threat of arrest and confinement in jail arose.

Retired science teacher Alice Kells said that Ann became one of her first friends when she arrived at NMH in 1970. In recent years the two enjoyed meeting at Tanglewood for open rehearsals of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Alice remembered: “She was an antinuclear activist and would often picket near train junctions when one carrying nuclear material was to pass. I believe that she got jailed at least once.” A message from former

chaplain Ron Evans and his wife, Janet, read: “Ann was passionate about social justice and sought to unite her religious faith with her response to the world’s injustices.”

Ann retired from the school in 1988 and then lived in IN, OH, and TX, where she focused on AIDS ministry, offering comfort and support to terminal AIDS patients at a time when the rest of society shunned them.

She also continued to speak out in support of the peace and antinuclear movements. Ann moved back to MA in 2001 to be near her children.

In 2007, she moved to the Sentry Hill retirement community in York Harbor, ME, as her struggle with Alzheimer’s began.

Ann is survived by daughter Marael (Mary) Sorenson ’79 and son John Mark Sorenson ’83, two grandchildren, two greatgrandchildren, and her brother and his family. Memorial donations in Ann’s name may be made to Beacon Hospice Inc., 42 Brickyard Ct., York, ME 03909. w

the 1983–84 school year and threw himself into developing new ways for all faculty to work together to improve the quality of student writing. He served in this capacity for two years and then coordinated writing workshops for new students each fall, in addition to teaching both regular and AP classes. He also coached gymnastics, football, and baseball.

Other special interests included training championship hunting dogs.

Chuck Hamilton wrote: “Bill was one of my favorite people. His mind was quick, his sense of humor lively. He managed to be a scholar while also being a teacher and an outdoorsman, a hunter, a trainer of dogs, a good friend with some who hated firearms and the Yankees.

He managed everything with such naturalness that one never wondered

how he managed to do it all.” Jim Block said that, in addition to having a keen analytical mind, Bill met another of the important criteria for a boarding school teacher: “He had the background and capacity to teach in college but chose to teach in a school.”

Bill left NMH in 1994 and took a position in the English department at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, FL. He was working there at the time of his death.

He is survived by daughters Sarah Hillenbrand Malloy ’95, Emily Hillenbrand ’96, and Rebecca Hillenbrand Flemer; his wife, Marti; three brothers; and three sisters.

Memorial contributions in his name may be made to the Bolles Scholarship Fund, 7400 San Jose Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32217. w Fall | 2011 CLASS NOTES 95

Parting Words Embrace the Unknown Ella McDaid delivered the Class Oration at the 2011 Commencement Exercises. This is a condensed version of her speech. McDaid now attends Grinnell College.

WHEN MY ENGLISH TEACHER asked us in class what we would be feeling on graduation day, none of us knew what to say. Our NMH experience has been filled with joy, pride, and tranquility, as well as mind-boggling stress, anxiety, and sleep deprivation. It’s no surprise that we didn’t know what we were feeling. On the one hand, we felt ready. On the other hand, no one is ever ready.

NMH has prepared me for college and taught me more things than I can count. I have learned how to balance three plates, a mug, five cups, and two bowls while navigating the sea of people at Wednesday lunch.

My science teachers instilled in me a sense of organization for lab reports and offered the advice that if you use mice in an experiment, you’ll probably end up too distracted to make any headway. The lessons I learned at NMH have become a part of me, so it is no surprise that when I think about leaving, it feels impossible. But the day has come, despite my best efforts to slow down time.

The past few months have been tinged with nostalgia and “lasts.” The nostalgia comes from remembering past “firsts.”

The first time we drove through the front gates. The first day of classes. The first friends, the first time someone pointed out to us that the term “work job” was redundant. The first time we realized NMH felt like home.

Then we had the lasts. The last first day of school. The last NMH winter. The last Mountain Day, with more than a hundred students crowded into a single photograph. And, suddenly, the last month. The last time sitting on top of Chapel Hill or in Beveridge Bowl, looking at the trees and clouds and admiring the beauty that sweeps across campus and coats everything in spring.

Here we are, on the last day that all of us will be together in one place, not knowing how to feel. When I asked seniors and

96

NMH Magazine

BY ELLA McDAID ’11

postgrads what they would miss most about NMH, they said: We will miss Beveridge Bowl and the long hallways of the RAC. We will miss having to explain that “by ‘Chat,’ we mean prom.”

We will miss the chapel bells ringing, always there, even if we are not listening.

There is a theory in psychology called cognitive dissonance: the uncomfortable feeling one experiences while holding two conflicting ideas simultaneously. There are many of us who are thinking only about being free and running wild, and there are others who are just plain terrified, wondering and worrying about the future. I think most of us are a little bit of both. And you know what? It’s OK to feel both happy and sad. It’s OK not to know exactly what you’re going to do in your life.

There are so many things I wanted to do at NMH before I graduated. I even created a list way back in freshman year. One: Go up on top of the chapel. Check. Two: Make the dining hall look like Hogwarts. Check. Three: Witness the first school snow day in what seemed like an eternity. Check. Four: Climb Mount Monadnock. Check.

There are also things I never did, things I just never quite got around to. I had a goal freshman year that by the time I graduated, I would have sat under every tree on campus. (I don’t know what I was thinking.) There are people I never talked to, despite seeing them in passing twice a day for the past four years. There are tests I could have studied harder for, papers I could have written better, activities I wish I’d gone to.

The good news is that we have accomplished so much in our time here. We should focus our attention more on what we’ve been proud of at NMH and less on what we didn’t do. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we are all human: We make mistakes and we are able to hold two contradictory things in our hearts simultaneously. We can embrace the unknown and believe the little voice that says, “I can do this. NMH prepared me for anything.” Seven am work job? Yeah, that’s what that was for.

We will walk across the stage, both literally and metaphorically. So be reflective. It’s all right if you don’t know what the future holds. Think back to your first day at NMH and see where you are now. NMH changes us, whether we like it or not. Trust yourself. Trust that you can get through whatever happens.

Take a deep breath right now. Inhale. One, two, three. Exhale.

We got this.

Giving Back RICHARD GILDER ’50 AND LOIS C. CHILES

Photog raph by Harr y Stuar t Cahill

“ Seeing the campus, and particularly the buildings dedicated to the arts, made me want to go to school all over again.”

Richard Gilder ’50 has set the bar high for any husband searching for a grand, theatrical statement of love for his wife. Gilder, who recently made a $1 million gift to support Northfield Mount Hermon’s arts program and theater, asked that the 225-seat Rhodes Arts Center theater be named in honor of his wife, Lois C. Chiles.

“The most meaningful time of my life was during the years at NMH,” says Gilder, explaining his long-standing support of the school through the Gilder Foundation. “It was a wonderful period for me because I could meet all kinds of people, and I became very close with a number of them.” Gilder, founder and partner at the New York City investment firm Gilder, Gagnon, Howe & Company, still gets together every September with old NMH friends at his vacation home in Maine.

Chiles and Gilder, who married six years ago, made their first joint visit to campus in May 2010. “My husband wanted me to see his beloved NMH, so we flew up and took a tour of the campus,” Chiles recalls. “Seeing the campus, and particularly the buildings dedicated to the arts, made me want to go to school all over again.”

Now, with the newly named Lois C. Chiles Theater, she’ll always be a presence at NMH. An actress who appeared in The Great Gatsby, Moonraker, and Broadcast News, Chiles serves on the board of advisors for the Yale School of Drama. Of her eponymous theater, she says, “I like that it is modeled on the Globe Theatre. This is what any school would like to have. It is the perfect size and has a classic orientation.”

How did Chiles react upon learning the theater would bear her name? “She was very excited,” Gilder says understatedly. Chiles is more descriptive: “I was overwhelmed. I didn’t believe it for the longest time. It is only now becoming real to me.”

NMH

Magazine

Nonprofit Org. US Postage PAID Northfield Mount Hermon School

One Lamplighter Way Mount Hermon, MA 01354

change service requested printed in the united states

Calendar 121st Bemis-Forslund Pie Race november 16 3 pm

Christmas Vespers december 4 3:30 and 7 pm

Christmas Vespers in New York City

december 16 the church of saint mary the virgin

Family Days february 3–4

Reunion Work Day (on campus) february 18

Concert of Sacred Music

may 6 the auditorium northfield, mass.

Commencement may 27 thorndike field 11 am

Reunion june 7–9

FOR MORE INFORMATION about alumni and parent events, contact the advancement office at 413-498-3600 or email events@nmhschool.org. Find updates and other school information through the NMH website: www.nmh school.org. To reach the switchboard, call 413-498-3000.