Alumni Day 2016 The Meeting House was abuzz with hugs and laughter on Saturday, April 30, as alums and their family members from across the country arrived for an afternoon of celebrating friendships old and new. Alumni Day 2016 was especially important for the Class of 1966, celebrating its 50th reunion, and the Class of 1986, which was honoring its 30th reunion. The retirement of long-time faculty members, including Debbie Stauffer and Carol Palmer, also was a big draw for former students who wanted to thank the educators in person for being good mentors. The day began with a reunion luncheon and remarks by Head of School Rich Nourie in the John Barnes
room. Then it was time for Meeting for Worship in the same sacred space where the alums had worshiped every week while they were students at the school. A series of class photographs were taken to ensure a permanent memory of the day. Then the alums were off on a tour of campus to see the many changes that had occurred since they were students in the school. For some, the Triangle Building was the only classroom building they had known, and this was a chance to see the modern and expanded campus. In the evening, groups of alums and family members gathered with their individual classes at restaurants to extend the fun.
On the day before Alumni Day, about a dozen members of the Class of 1964 gathered in the John Barnes Room for a presentation about the new arboretum on campus and the Class of ’64 Tree Tour that they had funded. The tree tour is a mile-long loop of 30 significant trees that are part of the 300-tree arboretum. Alum Sally Goldschmeding Branch of Dallas rallied her former classmates to donate $11,622 for the Tree Tour. After the presentation, the alums met with Middle School students who have been active in gathering photos and information about the trees and uploading the data to a new website, www.abingtonfriendsarboretum.org.
Class of 1966 photo
Class of 1986: Front row, left to right: Pam Hamburg Helzner, Wendy Goldberg and Jenny Bornholdt Hammond. Back row, left to right: Chris Cantley, Jeff Hoffman, Jeanie Englebach and Brad Kovnat.
Class of 1964 with Middle School students and Teacher Mark Smith, who have been gathering data on the trees for a new website, abingtonfriendsarboretum.org.
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oak leaves fall/winter 2016
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