Connections Fall 2012

I S S U E T WO | FA LL 2 0 1 2

EDITOR

Dulcey Antonucci ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Michael Schwartz ’98

ART DIRECTION, DESIGN & LAYOUT

Nicole Patterson

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Caroline Henderson Steve Lisk Libby Roman ’05 PHOTOGRAPHY

William Bishop Eric Forberger Nick Gould Growing Tree Photography Phil Haralam ’98 Jeremy Hess Matthew Lester Crystal Meashey Nicole Patterson Michael Schwartz ’98 David Sinclair Jen Townsend ’93 Donna Wilcox LCDS CONTACTS

Peter Anderson Director of Admission ext. 227 andersonp@lancastercountryday.org Dulcey Antonucci Director of Communications ext. 232 antonuccid@lancastercountryday.org Shelby LaMar Chief Advancement Officer ext. 231 lamars@lancastercountryday.org Maggie Miller Director of Annual Giving ext. 325 millerm@lancastercountryday.org Libby Roman ’05 Alumni Director ext. 328 romanl@lancastercountryday.org

…

Lancaster Country Day School 725 Hamilton Road Lancaster, PA 17603 717-392-2916 www.lancastercountryday.org CONNECTIONS is published twice a year. ©2012 Lancaster Country Day School

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I S S U E T WO | FA LL 2 0 1 2

13 FEATURES

10 – 12 A World in the Making 13 – 19 A Rigorous Freedom

20 – 23 Spectrum of Inspiration 26 – 29 Homecoming 2012

NEWS I S S U E T WO | FA LL 2 0 1 2

05 – 09 In the News

24 – 25 Student Crafts 30 – 33 Class Notes

On the cover: A detail of potter Phil Haralam’s ’98 piece, Major.

34 Keeping Past Present 35 The Excellence Fund

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AN ENLIGHTENED FOUNDATION I

A message from Steve Lisk, Head of School

n a region that boasts such a robust craft tradition, it should come as no surprise that over

the years, more than a few LCDS students have made this their professional path. Yet our

cultural location does not give us the full picture. To work in any creative venture, especially as a professional, involves continual challenges and real risk. As we recognize and celebrate alumni who create objects of both beauty and function, it is important to recognize the role of school culture and program in their formation.

Our curriculum at LCDS does not directly train students for careers as artisans. In fact, in no area are we a finishing school. Our liberal arts curriculum does, however, go far in

enabling our graduates to pursue the creative arts. In a classical sense, a liberal arts education

provides a foundation for work across a broad spectrum of human endeavor. Here at LCDS, we have a powerful, time-tested curriculum that serves our college-bound students effectively.

“

It can only be effective if it gives our students the core skills and the orientation that

The alumni

featured in

encourage their continued growth. The alumni featured in this edition of Connections testify to the empowerment that a good liberal arts foundation gives emerging adults.

Anyone involved in craft — or any creative endeavor — draws from the breadth of their experience

this edition of

and worldview in order to create. They can only do this with the benefit of a certain habit of

Connections testify

Happily and appropriately, LCDS has long developed and nurtured this. Dating back to the

mind, a pattern of acting on curiosity and a developed sense of imagining new possibilities.

to the empowerment

1940s, the school chose a motto that underscores this element of our institutional culture. Fax

that a good liberal

a lifetime. We remain dedicated to this central aspiration, with the understanding that the

arts foundation gives emerging adults.

”

mentis (et cordis) incendium gloraie. The spark that kindles the mind (and heart) illuminates

spark will often carry today’s students into areas they cannot fully predict at age 18. Curiously, as we travel further into the 21st century, we realize that the most valuable education is the

one that develops our students’ ability to think independently, to communicate effectively, to collaborate well and to create. We’re fortunate that our ongoing work in these areas is not a new challenge. We continue to build on an enlightened and informed foundation that has animated our school for generations.

The athletics website shares news, team Web pages, season wrap-ups, current award winners, photos and links to local sports resources. The site also hosts a list of alumni athletes. To send corrections or additions for this list, please visit the site: www.lancastercountryday.org/athleticspe

IN THE NEWS CNN Hero of the Year CNN | December 2, 2012

Scott Strode ’92 is one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes for 2012. His nonprofit provides free athletic activities and a sober support community to thousands in Colorado.

Andrew Porter: Social Novelist in San Antonio San Antonio Magazine | September, 2012

Andrew Porter ’90 has effortlessly and enviably made the tough transition from best-kept literary secret to bestseller material.

Artist Adds Stories to Her Roman Holidays Sunday News | September 1, 2012

CONNECT

Upper School art teacher Susan Gottlieb has released her first book, “The Skin of the Milk: A Roman Sketchbook.”

Facebook

“Glory Days” Event to Look at Rock Legend’s Life

Foursquare

Inside Indiana Business | August 2, 2012

www.facebook.com/lancastercountryday Lancaster Country Day School

Mark Bernhard, Ph.D. ’85, associate provost for outreach and engagement at the University of Southern Indiana, has put together the third “Glory Days: A Bruce Springsteen Symposium.”

LinkedIn

Fresh on Ideas

www.oldschoollanehills.nextdoor.com

Reading Eagle Business Weekly | June 26, 2012

Pinterest

Cynthia Cooperman James ’89, food production specialist at Rodale Institute, heads up a program that helps make available fresh farm produce to school children in Reading.

Twitter

Visit news.lancastercountryday.org/in-the-news to see these and other recent news articles about LCDS.

Lancaster Country Day School Fans

Nextdoor

LancasterCountryDay @LCDSchool

Vimeo

Lancaster Country Day School

COUGAR NEWS WEBSITE LAUNCHES In August, Country Day launched Cougar News, a news website with original news features, slideshows, video, teacher and student blogs, and a searchable archive of published articles about Country Day. Michael Schwartz ’98, news editor for the site, said, “We want Cougar News pieces to inform, engage and entertain readers. The stories in this school are substantive, and more people should know about them.”

Each week’s new content is emailed to readers every Thursday and a monthly recap is sent to alumni, past parents, former faculty and friends once a month. Faculty, staff, parents and US students receive the weekly e-blast automatically unless they opt-out, however anyone can subscribe on the home page: news.lancastercountryday.org

Middle School students participated in National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month by wearing orange on Oct. 10.

Several activities in the Middle School highlight the negative consequences of aggression.

Teacher Sue Ziemer is trained in the Bullies2Buddies program and plays a game in her classes to teach students constructive responses to bullying. The effort is part of a broader program to provide character education to Middle Schoolers. Head of Middle School Rudy Sharpe said,

“

We want Cougar News pieces to inform, engage and entertain readers.

The stories in this school are substantive, and more people should know

”

about them.

“There’s general agreement as to how civil people behave, but if you expect Middle School students, or anyone for that matter, to have no conflict at all in their lives, you’re living in some sort of dream world.” He continued, “LCDS is fortunate as a small school in that we have an approach, not a program. It’s a philosophy that extends from children to adults that says, ‘Here’s how we talk to each other; here’s how we treat one another.’”

TEACHING BEYOND THE TEST

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iLCDS

In just the first trimester of the program that put iPads into the hands of every ninth-grader, the plan has already begun to reshape both teaching and learning in the first year of Upper School. “We’re giving students a tool to develop understanding in ways that simply didn’t exist for them before,” said Head of Upper School Eric Bondy. French teacher Olha Drobot said, “The audio-visual component of teaching with an iPad is simply mind-blowing.” Rachel Johnson’s biology students are working from an e-textbook, whose features include the ability to rotate molecules to help students better understand

their structure. Humanities teacher Elissa Quinn said, “I really like that it makes the class more collaborative. It was always collaborative, but there is now a stronger sense of shared effort because everyone is contributing in-class work on a shared online folder.” Director of Information Services and computer science teacher Mike Schmelder said, “If we want our students to become good digital citizens, they should learn how to use technology effectively, and we can teach them to do that.”

Laura Trout, Upper School science chair and chemistry teacher, now also oversees the science curriculum for Lower School. In this role, she teaches a science lesson to each grade level every week and helps teachers develop new science classes. Trout said, “I want our science lessons to be fun and spark curiosity. We are giving the curriculum an upgrade.”

Preschool teacher Sheryl Krafft said, “Laura knows how to build on a young child’s sense of wonder and the need to explore. It is delightful to see the children engaged in observation and discovery.” Fifthgrade teacher Sue LeFevre said,

“Laura understands the big picture and offers our students a progression of specific skills from grade to grade.” Trout’s ultimate goals are to address all of the National Science Standards, integrate science with literacy and mathematics and motivate students to ask deep questions about their world. She noted that the nation has a severe shortage of students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. “I want LCDS students to have a solid science foundation so they can take advantage of those opportunities if they want.”

LEARNING FUSION

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BOOSTER CLUBS: COUGAR CLUB AND PROJECT ARTS While annual giving will always be the lifeblood of LCDS, the school launched the Cougar Club and Project Arts booster clubs to support athletics and arts programs. The mission of The Cougar Club is to enhance the athletic experience for coaches, fans and players. Athletic Director Leigh Block said, “Already the Cougar Club has provided coaches with professional development opportunities and resources for our athletic trainer, sponsored athlete awards and supported the Race for Home and Cougars for a Cure.”

SUPPORTING THE VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS AT LCDS HE VISUAL ANDSUPPORTING PERFORMING THE ARTSVISUAL AT LCDSAND PERFORMING ARTS AT LCDS

The mission of Project Arts is to pursue excellence in all areas of visual and performing arts by expanding educational opportunities beyond the classroom and building community through arts-oriented events. When asked about the potential for Project Arts to make an impact at LCDS, art department Chair Diane Wilikofsky said, “I can imagine student field trips, visits to artists’ studios, adult learning workshops, performances and artists-in-residence at the school. There are many good things to come.”

The Advancement office recently welcomed two new staff members. Director of Annual Giving Maggie Forester Miller came to LCDS from Ursinus College, where she was director of alumni relations and annual giving. She began her advancement career at Bucknell University and spent six years at Florida Atlantic University establishing its first annual giving program. More recently, she spent four years as fund raising counsel for Berks Women in Crisis. Her daughter, Natalie, is a junior at LCDS. Alumni Director Libby Roman ’05 has been active as a volunteer for the school since her graduation. She has deep family ties to LCDS through sister Mary Roman ’08, mother Cathy Roman ’73 and aunt Barbara Cross ’72. After receiving her B.A. from Lafayette College, Roman taught English in France through a Fulbright grant and, most recently, taught French at West Nottingham Academy. Turn to Page 34 to see what Libby has been up to since joining the team.

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MAGGIE FORESTER MILLER

LIBBY ROMAN ’05

MEET THE NEW BOARD MEMBERS

TODD BARTOS ’92

BARBARA GILLIS ’58

Todd Bartos ’92 and his wife Becky live in Lancaster and are the parents of Ava ’23 and Max ’21. Bartos is a shareholder in the law firm of Stevens & Lee in Lancaster.

He was the alumni chair of the 2011–2012 Excellence Fund, and he currently sits on the Finance Committee and Executive Committee.

JAMES LEMONICK

SHAKA MONROE

James Lemonick and his wife Leslie are former LCDS parents. He is first vice president and financial advisor at Morgan Stanley in Lancaster. Lemonick is a longtime development volunteer and two-time senior parent gift chair. He is currently the chair of the Enrollment Committee.

HARLA VERMAN

ANNE WARFEL

Harla Verman and husband Eric live in York and are the parents of Jayme ’13.

Verman joins the board as president of the Parents Association.

Anne Warfel and her husband, Ben, live in Lancaster and are the parents of B. George ’22, Elizabeth ’15 and Katie ’13. She joins Shaka Monroe, DVM, and wife Jennifer the board as former Parents Association Barbara Gillis ’58 is a longtime Alumni are the parents of Nya ’25 and twins Bella president.

Council member and former council and Chase ’27. Their son, Kai, attends AIM president. She and her husband, Dan, live Academy in Conshohocken, Pa. Dr. Monroe in Lancaster. and his wife own and operate Animal Emergency & Referral CTR of York, where he is medical director and emergency veterinarian.

ERIC REITZ ’05

Anyone who was a student in the Upper School between 2001 and 2005 certainly remembers Eric Reitz ’05 getting on stage during morning meetings, coffeehouses and other events with his guitar to serenade students and faculty. Today, seven years and two albums later, Reitz is still playing his guitar and singing for groups up and down the East Coast. Currently based in Virginia, Reitz came back to LCDS in September. He performed a mix of original songs from his most recent album, “Sinister Love,” and covers of pop favorites, like Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” for Upper School students during afternoon assembly. He also spoke to them about the path he has taken to break into the music industry.

To hear songs and see upcoming shows dates, visit www.ericreitz.com.

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A world

in the MAKING

by Caroline Henderson

Norman Sartorius, Head of Dreiser Spoon | Tulip Poplar | Photo: Jim Osborn

Norman Sartorius, Mount Vernon Spoon | White Mulberry Burl | Photo: Jim Osborn

Craft has been around for some 15,000 years, give or take a millennium or two, and is the oldest of mankind’s creative efforts. It includes the red and black pottery of ancient Greece, Asante textiles, most of Alexander’s gold, Cycladic canonical figures, Iznik tile, Japanese calligraphy, just about everything from China’s Bronze Age, Gees Bend quilts, your great-aunt’s lace doilies and all manner of other decorative and functional objects from anywhere in the world. Yet, with all that evidence and all that history, we still cannot point to what craft is or why it matters.

“

Art is what you

put on the wall, craft is what you put in the dishwasher.

The word itself is virtually impossible to define; it’s a noun, it’s a verb, it’s vague, messy and loaded down with all manner of luggage. Its most universally recognized definition is “things that are made by hand.” Accordingly, the soup I made for dinner and the stick I rigged as a stake to keep my tomato plants off the ground would qualify as craft. What might not qualify is the bowl I made to put my soup in. While it’s true my hands were involved in the making of the bowl, it’s also true that a number of machines (pottery wheel, slab roller, glaze sprayer,

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Norman Sartorius, Crossing | Australian Snakewood | Photo: Jim Osborn Collection of Steve Keeble & Karen Depew

and kiln) played important parts in how the bowl turned out. But in spite of the lack of a concise, universally accepted definition of craft, it is universally accepted that craft somehow still matters. A lot.

It matters because it’s rooted in tradition and connects us to things past. While many view craft as a rather backward-looking field, in reality craft tradition is to the craftsperson what a diving board is to a diver — a point of departure. Once you kick off, you’re on your own.

Norm Sartorius’s wooden spoons, for example, are emphatically rooted in centuries of woodcarving tradition. Head of Dreiser Spoon references a sculpture by Wharton Esherick and is carved from the limb of a tulip popular tree that stood outside Esherick’s studio door. Mount Vernon Spoon is carved from a white mulberry burl cut from a tree planted

by George Washington. Yet with all these echoes of things past, each spoon is thoroughly contemporary and carries the unrestrained energy and vision of its maker.

“

Craft matters

because it connects us to one another locally and globally.

Nagakura Kenichi, Expansion | Mixed Media | Photo: Tai Gallery

Christine Jay, Tornado Willow and encaustic finish Photo: Snyderman-Works Gallery

Richard Hirsch, Alter Bowl #22 Bowl – Wood-fired stoneware, salt fumed | Weapon – Hot glass, sandblasted Base – Raku Patination Photo: Richard Hirsch

”

Albert Paley, Calyx Candle Holders | Mild steel and bronze Photo: Albert Paley

In the same vein, the three distinct elements — base, bowl and sacral tool — of Rick Hirsch’s Alter Bowl #22 form an ensemble of voices from the past, speaking of an extraordinary range of references and cultural interconnections.

Planet-forming tectonic shifts. The universal Neolithic. Jade ceremonial blades. African chieftain stools. The textures and masses of Petra. Minimalism. Brancusi. And Noguchi (lots of Noguchi). Hirsch has gleaned pure essence from these ancient and modern texts, irrevocably altered them, then reconnected the dots to form something wholly of the 21st century and uniquely Hirschean.

Craft matters because it connects us to one another locally and globally. Even before the advent of the World Wide Web, multi-culturalism was a steel thread weaving its way through the crafts field. Beginning in the 1960s, American pottery and basketry enthusiastically adopted — and adapted — Japanese techniques and aesthetic principles. And it hasn’t been a one-way trade. The work of American artist Christine Joy has all the materiality, the organic form and the intensity characteristic of the best of contemporary Japanese basketry, while the work of Japanese basket maker Nagakura Kenichi combines the energetic rhythm of American jazz

with the impressionism of Rodin’s figurative sculptures (in particular, his Walking Man). As revolutionary as glass artist Dale Chihuly is, his work routinely references Venetian glass.

Albert Paley’s work is a modernized, industrialized and paradoxical reiteration of French art nouveau, glorious in its complexity and amazing in its implied plasticity.Adrian Saxe’s tongue-in-cheek vessels knit together such incongr uousl y dispar ate elements as Louis XV rococo ornamentation and Chinese scholar rocks, yet somehow it all looks perfectly right. And you don’t have to look too closely at the embroidery of Renee Harris to see all the way to the Australian Outback. | ISSUE TWO FALL 2012 |

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Renee Harris, Ancestral Guidance | Rice paper, inclusion paper, embroidery Photo: Snyderman-Works Gallery

Sowon Joo, Blooming Necklace | Sterling silver Photo: Snyderman-Works Gallery

Adrian Saxe, Untitled Ewer (Inka-Dinka-Doo) | Porcelain, lusters, mixed media Photo: Adrian Saxe

Lastly, craft matters because it is haptic.

I happen to own a pre-Columbian Costa Ours has become a world where seeing Rican cup. It’s neither pretty nor is it What seems is everything. The computer screen, telethe least bit functional. It’s just a brown vision, advertising, the world streaming mud pot that tilts ever so slightly to the along outside our car windows — it’s all right and wobbles on its base. But when a cacophony of visual input without hope of meaningful I pick it up, my hand searches for and physical connection. Touch a computer connects with a small indent left by the opposites becomes screen, a magazine page, a painting, a thumb of the cup’s maker, someone who photograph, the pages of a book, and you lived and worked and made pottery some learn nothing. But touch a pot, a piece of 700 years ago. I also happen to have a a dialogue. glasswork, jewelry, weaving, a basket, and Japanese-style teabowl made by me. It you become privy to the realm of the real. too bears a residual indent, and as I drink Hard/soft. Rugged/smooth. Warm/cold. Ancient/modern. my morning coffee, my thumb unselfconsciously searches for In the craft world, these seeming opposites are not either/ its matching divot. or propositions, but dichotomies. Each half is a necessary The almost spooky arc of kinship between the two cups, condition for the other. Hard and soft, ancient and modern, and through them, between the unknown Costa Rican warm and cold. What seems a cacophony of opposites potter and me, is both connection and dialogue. It is also, becomes a dialogue. in the words of Edmund de Waal “a starting place, a set of It is a dialogue we are invited to join. We are asked to possibilities.” De Waal, a renowned British potter, goes on to engage, we are asked to be present and awake, to make our define craft as something that “avoids absolutes, certainties, own connections and find our own meanings. We are asked over-robust definitions, solace. It offers places, interstices, where to recognize that our familiarity with these forms — and all objects and people meet. It is unstable, contingent. It is about the forms that craft takes — extends far beyond our experience experience. It is about desire. It can be beautiful.” of them.

“

”

Caroline Henderson teaches ceramics at LCDS. With more that 40 years of experience as a potter, Caroline owns Lancaster Clay Studios, which offers classes for adults and children. Her work is inspired by Japanese pottery and can be found in the permanent collection of the Lancaster Museum of Art.

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Jen P hil Betsy A Rigorous Freedom: Country Day Craft in the ’90s

By Michael Schwartz ’98

All three artists described the same phenomenon, all

“Country Day had the openness and encouragement

three found it equally counterintuitive, if not downright

that allowed you to make things happen. You didn’t

paradoxical, and all three agreed it played an invaluable

have to just follow this track or that track,” he said. “The

role in helping them become what they are today. The

teachers showed us that there’s the potential not only

rigor of Country Day somehow made for a uniquely

to find, but to create your own path.”

liberating school experience that encouraged and rewarded experimentation. School was hard, which also made it fun and brought the students and teachers closer together. Liberal arts ruled the curriculum, and

Jeweler and metalsmith Jen Townsend ’93 echoed the others’ sentiments, though with a slightly less poetic example of the freedom afforded by the school. “I

therefore studio art and craft flourished.

remember making 16 Egyptian costumes in eighth

“It is weird, isn’t it?” said fiber artist and class of ’98 grad

whose work has been displayed both nationally and

Betsy Motter Olmsted. Because the teachers treated

abroad. “It was for history class and we were told

students like adults and the students acted like adults, she

we could either write a paper or make a project.

surmised, “I guess there was nothing to rebel against, so we all just worked on what we liked to work on.”

“That was pretty amazing,” Olmsted said.

Phil Haralam graduated with Olmsted and has gone on to become a potter, exhibiting his work in shows

grade,” said Townsend, who also earned an M.F.A. and

I always chose the ‘make a project’ option.”

Though all three ultimately choose the “make a project” option, they took different professional paths and use different media to give form to their creative

across the country and earning a Master of Fine Arts

spark. What they share, however, is

degree in ceramics. He described his Upper School art

an alma mater that nurtured that

experience as “the best kind of validation,” saying that,

spark, and a gratitude that it did.

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P hil HARALAM ’98

Phil Haralam recalls very clearly the moment it occurred to him that pursuing craft could be a viable life choice.

“It was in Miss Maddaloni’s class and I remember not only doing printmaking, but silk-screening and T-shirt design,” he said. “Then I started selling the T-shirts; I had my first commission. That’s how I made the connection that you could make a living making work, and that flipped the switch for me,” Haralam said.

A potter, Haralam has spent more than 15 years at the wheel, covered in varying layers of dust and caked-on clay, making everything from stoneware bowls to porcelain sculptures. His journey with clay has taken him through undergrad at Guilford College and graduate school at Indiana University, but it began in Country Day’s basement, the ceramics room’s muggy, dingy home in the late ’90s.

“Taking those ceramics classes obviously did something for me, because I’ve dedicated my life to clay. There’s something intuitively seductive about it that’s always worked on me on a subconscious level. It just makes sense,” Haralam said.

He spent years making functional work, but recently Haralam has become more interested in sculptural pieces, and increasingly influenced by the ceramics of Asian antiquity. “I was struck by the elegance and the mastery of the material,” he said. “It was really seductive, this distilled elegance of luscious surfaces and strong form. There’s a beautiful perfection in something having no needless elements.”

In addition to discussions of form and theory, Haralam and his friends sometimes kicked around another topic at grad school: high school.

“We would have these conversations about school and the path that people took to get there, and a lot of people didn’t feel like they’d gotten a strong enough liberal arts background in college, whereas I arrived at college with one,” Haralam said.

“In my group of friends at Country Day, the peer pressure was to be smart and to learn stuff and it was cool to be smart. We all got into different things, but it collectively enriched us all too,” Haralam said.

“We learned how to be a professional at Country Day,” he continued.

“Whether it was music or English or art or anything, you didn’t just do it lightly, you immersed yourself in it, and the teachers loved it because that’s what they immersed themselves in too.”

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WWW.PHILHARALAM.COM

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Betsy OLMSTED ’98 “I just enjoy creating designs that I hope people would love to have in their homes. I’m not trying to put my soul on a canvas or anything,” said Olmsted, who went from Country Day to Skidmore College and got her master’s in textile design from Philadelphia University.

Olmsted’s prints often begin with a sketch or a painting inspired by what some cynical souls might call the mundane, but what she has cheerfully dubbed the “anti-exotic,” such as battling the squirrel who plundered her tomato plant (true story), or snipping the pachysandra in her garden.

“I like looking at the world around me; I’m moved by my backyard,” she said with a smile.

“But there are a lot of things around us that get overlooked because we see them so often,” Olmsted continued. “But if you can put on new eyes, you start seeing beauty everywhere.”

Olmsted uses a combination of the no-tech and high-tech to turn her ideas into charming and deceptively simple articles, from baby blankets to hand towels to table runners. After finishing her source material, Olmsted scans the results,

translating watercolors and ink into billions of precise — and infinitely malleable — ones and zeroes for her computer to read. Then the real fun begins.

A square inch of detail from a painting becomes a complex interwoven pattern, like some sort of pastoral fractal. Colors swing across the spectrum and highlights and shadows appear and disappear as Olmsted glides her pen across the graphics tablet. But the art is hers; the computer is just a tool.

“Photoshop is great, but it’s not like it creates anything for you,” Olmsted said.

All of Olmsted’s work is sewn and printed in Lancaster, where she lives with her husband, Pete, and their two young children. Once she’s happy with what’s on the screen, Olmsted chooses a fabric and a form, and the result becomes one of the myriad items in her online store.

Olmsted credits Country Day with nothing short of teaching her that being an artist was, in fact, an attainable and worthy goal.

“When I went from public school to Country Day in 10th grade, the first thing I remember being so different was there was just a lot more support for art,” Olmsted said. “The school I went to, we barely got to art class. Then I get to Country Day and they’ve just built this amazing addition — I mean, they had a ceramics class!”

She continued, “There was always a lot of support and respect for art, and all kinds of creative expression. If you wanted to paint on the walls, you could do that,” Olmsted said, then paused in thought for a moment. “I didn’t paint on the walls,” she continued, apparently eager not to land in alumni detention for vandalizing the school.

“It was a big deal for me that Country Day never made you feel like you were wasting your time in art class,” Olmsted said. “Art was equal with academics: One kid might be great at chemistry and another might be great at art, but both got support and encouragement from all the teachers.”

“I don’t think I’d be doing what I’m doing today without Country Day,” she said.

WWW.BETSYOLMSTED.COM

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Jen TOWNSEND ’93

Jen Townsend’s work has consecrated marriages and celebrated Mozart. She has crafted triptychs to satisfy her own creativity, and made basic wedding bands to satisfy her customers. Her work reveals a breadth of interests and depth of knowledge nurtured in no small part, she says, by her time at Country Day. “The biggest thing LCDS has given me is critical thinking, and showing me the interconnectedness of music, art, the humanities, culture, and history,” said Townsend, who attended Rochester Institute of Technology before earning her M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University. “The school instilled a love of history, and I’ve always been influenced by historic jewelry, painting and sculpture.”

Townsend’s workaday materials range from platinum and gold to sapphires and diamonds. But the most indispensible element she employs, especially for sculpted pieces, is also the least precious: wax. Like a painter beginning with a sketch, Townsend spends upward of 60 hours carving figures in meticulous detail before any smithing can start.

She photographs every step of the intricate process to show each phase to her undergraduate students when she lectures as a visiting artist. But she also uses the images to create her own stop-motion films, which Townsend posts on her YouTube channel, JenTownsend77.

From an early age, Townsend’s talent and creativity flourished at Country Day. “One thing that was big for me was making dioramas,” she said. “We got to make a lot of things in Lower School and Middle School. It was very hands-on; I loved it.”

When she has the time to make work just for herself, Townsend crafts art jewelry, which frees her to “really be creative and not worry about practicality, wearability or salability, but just satisfy my own creative impulses,” she said. Townsend’s (decidedly good) problem though, is that the commercial demand for her work means she doesn’t have very much time for her own projects.

Townsend designs her own jewelry, which she sells both privately via her website and at galleries, but most of her time is taken up with custom jobs, such as wedding bands and engagement rings. “I like working with customers,” Townsend said. “They see their ring and they do their happy dance and I’ve made something that will go with them throughout their lives and dignify their marriage.”

WWW.JENTOWNSEND.COM

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P

eggy Haller Hannum ’51 is an artist, a creative mind inspired by color and texture. She’s flattered when galleries ask to display her work, and gratified when those pieces win awards. But Peggy’s never gotten hung up on art for art’s sake: She’s a rug hooker and a practical woman. If you ever have occasion to visit her home, be sure to look down because it’s her art you’ll be treading on.

“A rug is a rug and it belongs on the floor,” said Hannum, a Shippen School graduate who has been honing her craft for more than 30 years and teaching it for more than a decade. A juried member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, Hannum currently instructs 40 students in four separate classes on the intricacies of rug hooking.

Whereas weaving involves the interlacing of two different strands of wool, rug hooking consists of taking a long, single strand of wool and pulling it through a stiff, typically burlap base as a loop.

“From a distance, [the results] might look similar,” Hannum said.

“But up close there’s no mistaking one for the other.”

While weaving textiles through denser material dates to antiquity, rug hooking in its modern form began humbly, when people began pulling loops of fabric through burlap seed bags.

“It started as a purely practical thing and has really evolved into an art form,” Hannum said. She specializes in traditional rug hooking, which creates more of a fine, tapestry result than the other principal method, wide-cut.

Hannum said that hooking a large rug takes her the better part of a year, starting with a background form stencil. “Then it’s mostly about color improv,” she said. “I can’t see how the colors are going to come together in the end when I start, but I do start with an idea of what I want, and that idea grows as I’m working.”

Hannum dyes all her own wool in a basement workshop that’s equal parts art studio and laboratory, and the result is hundreds of yards of cloth, hung in meticulous rows in a magnificent spectrum of colors. “I enjoy painting with wool,” Hannum said. “We’re meant to torture it,” she said with a laugh.

For Hannum, the dyeing process is just as important as the actual hooking.

“When I first started, I thought, ‘Wow. This is it.’ The colors inspire me,” she said. “There’s always something new and it’s always exciting.”

www.peggyhannum.com

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Students across divisions have plenty of opportunities to learn about craft. Pictured here from Fall 2012: Lower School art class learning about weaving; Anna Winner '14 throwing a pot; Daniel Walton '14 modeling his own steampunk-inspired wearable art; Erick Otto '23 presenting his woodworking skills to Lower School classmates; and a guest speaker teaching the Middle School Craft Club about handmade books. Later in the year, the Craft Club will sell their creations to raise money for charity.

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On the first weekend of October, Homecoming 2012 got off to an historic start as the Faculty beat the Students, 21–14, for the in first time in the history of the Cougar Bowl. Also on Friday, Lower School logged laps in the Run for Fitness, students decked the halls with the vivid pageantry of Color Wars and the day concluded with faculty and students gathering around the amber glow of a bonfire. On Saturday, more than 50 students, parents and faculty laced up their sneaks for the 12th Annual Race for Home, with all proceeds benefitting Habitat For Humanity. Varsity field hockey and soccer ran the fields for victory in the afternoon, with some extra support from the new Cougar Club athletics booster. Meanwhile, Paul Bostock and his psychedelic shoes —“They’re cosmic,” he intoned — added a nice dollop of cool to the John Jarvis Croquet Tournament. Finally, of course, alumni came home for Homecoming, and those who did had a chance to catch up with one another during a Friday night party at the Cork Factory Hotel and throughout the weekend.

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29

CLASS NOTES Submit a class note to the school, attention Alumni Director Libby Roman ’05,

or email romanl@lancastercountryday.org

1949

Dorothy Loose Boardman Class Correspondent: 803-642-6897 dotboardman@bellsouth.net

1951

Margaret “Peggy” Haller Hannum Class Correspondent: 717-299-3798 phannum3@verizon.net Turn to Page 20 of this issue for an article about her mastery of the rug hooking craft.

Joann Kerst attended the wedding of her granddaughter Jacquelynn Chambers ’04 in Charlotte, N.C., in July.

1954

’62

Members of the class of 1962 returned to Lancaster in September to celebrate their 50th reunion. The weekend

started with a reception at the family home of Susie Schweizer hatch that was also attended by some local

members of the classes of 1961 and 1963. On Saturday, alumni toured LCDS and attended a lunch with Head of School Steve Lisk. The festivities concluded with a dinner at Suzanne Shaub Feldman’s home. Here,

some of the class members are pictured with a banner signed by current LCDS students across all three divisions.

1960

Sally Rich Rohrer Class Correspondent: 717-394-0847

Anne Campbell Slater Class Correspondent: 610-896-6468 Slater.Anne@gmail.com

1955

1964

1958

1966

Eunice Fulton Blocker Class Correspondent: 502-895-2691 Barbara Jaeger Gillis Class Correspondent: 717-299-3374 wicklawn1770@comcast.net

Phyllis Morgan-Rupert Class Correspondent: 717-768-3322 Joseph A. Myers Jr. Class Correspondent: 717-394-9854 joemyers1@comcast.net

1968

Deborah Murray Martin Class Correspondent: 717-290-2082 debbie.martin@fandm.edu

1971

Melissa Byers Class Correspondent: 818-719-6550 melissabyers@earthlink.net

1975 Eric Reitz ’05 performed at the Renaissance Lounge in Times Square in September. LCDS alumnae pictured: Kaitlin Zintak ’04,

Jacquelynn Chambers married

1976

where Jackie is currently working as the controller

Meredith Russo ’04, Alumni Director

Margaret Hall Norton Class Correspondent: 503-638-6127 Margie.Norton@cenveo.com

Ann Darmstaetter ’62 also attended his

1977

Libby Roman ’05 and Liz Grimm ’05.

Friday evening performance.

30 | CONNECTIONS |

’04

Diane Eshleman Djordjevic Class Correspondent: 410-919-7219 ddjordjevic@nahb.com

Eileen Eckenrode Vroom Class Correspondent: 540-338-3630

Tee Overman on June 23 in Charlotte, N.C.,

at Cabarrus Country Club. Members of the bridal

party included Kerstyn Chambers ’06, Melisa Baez ’04 and Jessica Feakins ’04. Classmate Sam Gibson ’04 also attended the wedding.

1979

1991

Sarah Miller Dorgan Class Correspondent: 717-687-6466

Susan Hull Ballantyne Class Correspondent: 717-464-3537 shballantyne@yahoo.com

1981

1992

Will Stoycos argued and won his case before the Supreme Court in May. He “persuaded the Supreme Court to reverse the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in a criminal case and reinstate a firstdegree murder conviction and a life sentence.”

1983

John F. Hinkle III Class Correspondent: 717-898-5728 jfh3rph@comcast.net

1984

Kathleen Murphy Jasitis Class Correspondent: 781-631-7899 kmjasaitis@comcast.net

1985

Deborah Dodds Class Correspondent: 310-415-7796 Debby@DebbyDodds.com Mark Bernhard, Ph.D., is currently the associate provost for Outreach and Engagement at the University of Southern Indiana. In September, he organized an event called “Glory Days: A Bruce Springsteen Symposium” at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J.

1986

Joanna Underhill Class Correspondent: 717-468-3788 Victoria Gardner Coates is co-curator of an exhibit titled “The Last Days of Pompeii: Decadence, Apocalypse, Resurrection” at the Getty Villa in California. Her book, “The Last Days of Pompeii” was released Oct. 2.

1987

Kristen K. Gedeon Class Correspondent: 703-283-6187 kristengedeon@hotmail.com

1988

John F. Fulton Class Correspondent: 717-394-2255 jfulton@teleflexmedical.com

Marcie Wademan Kunkelman Class Correspondent: 610-396-9873 marciewademan@yahoo.com

’97

Members of the class of 1997 gathered in Lancaster

Scott Strode was named one of CNN’s Top 10 Heroes of 2012. His nonprofit, Phoenix Multisport, provides free athletic activities and a sober support community to thousands in Colorado. If he is voted Top Hero of 2012 Dec. 2, his organization will receive $250,000.

15-year reunion. After attending the All-Alumni

1993

during Homecoming weekend to celebrate their

cocktail party on Friday evening, they had a private

class dinner at Carr’s Restaurant on Saturday night.

1994

Stacey Gregg Class Correspondent: 919-622-4284 sgregg13@yahoo.com

This summer, Rory Connaughton started his law firm, Brubaker Connaughton Goss & Lucarelli, LLC, in conjunction with Ted Brubaker ’89 and Andy Lucarelli, former President of the LCDS Board. Their offices are at Urban Place in Lancaster.

1995

Elizabeth Wademan Ahlstrand Class Correspondent: 415-845-7654 betsyahlstrand@gmail.com

1989

Heather Mikes Miller Class Correspondent: 610-273-0151 heather@secondwindonline.com This summer, Ted Brubaker started his law firm Brubaker Connaughton Goss & Lucarelli, LLC, in conjunction with Rory Connaughton ’88 and Andy Lucarelli, former President of the LCDS Board. Their offices are at Urban Place in Lancaster.

1990

Mary Fulton Gingrich Class Correspondent: 717-560-4908 maryfgingrich@comcast.net Andrew Porter released his first novel, “In Between Days,” Sept. 4. He has also written an award-winning collection of short stories titled, “The Theory of Light and Matter.”

Jennifer Gschwend Mcgough Class Correspondent: 610-430-7671 drgschwend@yahoo.com

Jennifer Mikes Mullen Class Correspondent: 781-558-5293 jcmikes@gmail.com

1996

Dennis M. Baldwin Class Correspondent: 484-269-4309 fcsp3@yahoo.com Kerry Diamond Rinato Class Correspondent: krinato@gmail.com

1997

Mark Ewing Class Correspondent: 303-859-4994 stuff@foresightphoto.com Alison Woolworth Class Correspondent: 646-239-9090

Ellen Simpson ’73 has been traveling frequently and catching up with fellow LCDS alumni in the process. In June,

she was in Tinton Falls, N.J., to attend

her niece’s graduation from the Ranney School and saw Paul Zanowski ’78, the current Ranney head of school. In

late September, her travels took her to

’73/’78

Apalachicola, Fla., where she happened to cross paths with Genevieve Edwards Hayes ’66.

’73/’66

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’87

The Class of 1987 gathered in Lancaster in June to celebrate their 25th reunion. Events for the weekend included an evening at Annie Bailey’s Pub and a Saturday tour of LCDS, followed by a croquet tournament on the Hamilton Road fields. Alumni and their families participated in the tournament alongside current faculty members Dale Mylin and Phil Lisi ’91.

1998

2004

Lauren Bergen Pryor Class Correspondent: 703-254-7632 lauren.pryor@klgates.com

Elizabeth Reidenbach Class Correspondent: 717-560-9470 Elizabeth.reidenbach@gmail.com

1999

Meagan W. Dodge Class Correspondent: 415-846-8715 meagan_dodge@yahoo.com

Elizabeth Reidenbach is currently living in Los Angeles and pursuing a Master of Arts degree in strategic public relations at the University of Southern California. She expects to graduate in May 2013.

2000

Meredith Russo is living in New York and pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at The New School.

Alexandra Minehart Goodman Class Correspondent: am@stevenslee.com

Nicole Richie Class Correspondent: 404-216-2053 nrichie617@yahoo.com Piera Snyder Moyer Class Correspondent: 610-376-7546 pieraesmesnyder@gmail.com Piera married Justin Moyer June 22 at Riverdale Manor in Lancaster, Pa. Christina Minehart and Nick Accomando welcomed their daughter, Georgina, Aug. 20.

2001

Bianca M. Heslop Class Correspondent: BiancaMHeslop@gmail.com Elizabeth Sudhakar Class Correspondent: elizabethsudhakar@gmail.com

2002

Corie Patterson Burton Class Correspondent: Corie.Burton@gmail.com

2003

Lauren Allwein-Andrews Class Correspondent: laurens99@hotmail.com

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Andrew England Class Correspondent: aengland1@gmail.com

2005

Libby Roman Class Correspondent: 717-669-8307 romanl@lancastercountryday.org

’72

Members of the class of 1972 returned to Lancaster over Homecoming weekend to celebrate their

40th Reunion. They enjoyed a dinner at John J. Jeffries restaurant in the Lancaster Arts Hotel.

Liz Grimm and Sarah Clements are both in their third year of law school. Liz is attending Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn., and Sarah is at Widener University in Harrisburg, Pa. Eric Reitz released his second album, “Sinister Love” over the summer. He has been performing shows in North Carolina, Virginia and New York.

2006

Brendan Drewniany Class Correspondent: brendan.drewniany@gmail.com Lauren bisonic completed pharmacy school at the University of Pittsburgh and is now working in Lancaster as a pharmacist for Weis Markets.

Andrew Maier is living in New York and studying for a Master of Architecture at Columbia University.

’11

Haley Velletri ’11 is showing off the sweatshirt she won for participating in the class notes contest.

Justine Riegel is living in Vermont where she works as the marking and media manager for NatureShare, a company that creates mobile apps for nature and the outdoors. Since the company’s founding in 2009, more than 30 of their apps have won awards.

2007

Stephen Lockey graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Master of Science degree in epidemiology.

Claire Schlissel’s DJ duo The Jane Doze has been making mashups and performing at venues in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities across the country. Check out their website for more information: thejanedoze.com.

2008

Erika Vernet Class Correspondent: 484-269-7483 Erika.vernet@gmail.com John Casale graduated from Harvard University in May and is now living in New York working for Deutsche Bank.

Adam Manacher graduated from Cornell University and is now working in New York City as a manager for Eataly.

Katie Mersky graduated from Dickinson College and is now living in Vero Beach, Fla., and working for Vero Beach Magazine.

Mary Roman graduated from Washington College in May 2012 and is now a student at Lancaster General College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Upper School art teacher Susan Gottlieb has released her first book, “The Skin of the Milk: A Roman Sketchbook,” which features 17 LCDS

alumni who travelled with her to Rome in 2000, 2009, 2011 and 2012.

2010

Vasiliki Barakos is a junior at Rollins College in Florida where she is a member of the lacrosse team and competed in the Division II women’s lacrosse finals in Louisville, Ky., earlier this year.

2011

Deanna Ross graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in May and is now living in Philadelphia and participating in the Teach for America program.

Haley Velletri was named to the Dean’s List at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University where she is pursuing a dual major in art history and anthropology. Haley was also the winner of last issue’s Class Notes Contest!

2009

2012

Annie and Laura Habecker spent the summer in New York City, where they completed summer internships. Annie, a senior at Hobart William Smith College, worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Laura, a senior at Gettysburg College, worked with Angel Investing Company doing video production for their website.

IN MEMORIAM

Austin Cook was named Teen of the Week by Lancaster Newspapers July 14. Austin is a freshman at Wake Forest University.

1934

Sara Leaman Evenwel passed away Aug. 1 in Lancaster at the age of 96. She was a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where she studied voice. After moving back to Lancaster, she continued to sing and worked as a choir director and also a private voice and piano teacher. During World War II, she traveled and performed with the U.S.O. and met her husband, Gerard Johan Evenwel. …

1942

Sarah Schell Wright passed away Dec. 16, 2011 at Bethany Village Nursing Home in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Sarah lived in Pine Grove, Pa. …

1945

Sylvia Woolworth Talmage passed away Jan. 6 in Far Hills, N.J. “Sibby,” as she was known to friends and family, graduated from the Dana Hall School and Bennett College. She was an active volunteer, working with the Red Cross, the Community Chest and Far Hills Country Day School.

Emily Killough ’04 married Aaron Sparks at St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster on July

7. Elizabeth Martin ’04, Leslie Boles ’04 and Elizabeth Reidenbach ’04 all served as

bridesmaids, while Andrew Killough ’08 was a groomsman. Emily and Aaron recently relocated

to Santa Barbara, Calif., where Aaron is pursuing

’04

graduate studies.

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33

Keeping Past Present

By Libby R oman ’05, Alumni Dir ector

“

“But what exactly does an alumni director do?” and mental health needs of children, and he That’s a question I’ve heard frequently over But what exactly wanted to get ideas for implementing iPads in the past few months. It’s simple: My role is the classroom at his school. That same day, I to help LCDS alumni feel connected to the visited Missy Baez ’04 at the Children Deserve does an alumni school and to each other. “But how?” I go a Chance Foundation, as well as my mother, out and meet alumni. Lots of alumni. On a Cathy Cross Roman ’73, alumni director at typical day, I’ll visit the home of a Shippen Franklin & Marshall College. With 11 years director do?

School alumna, who will share homemade of experience in alumni relations, my mom is iced tea and her stories about the school one of my greatest resources as I learn about when it was on Lime Street, and a few hours later I’ll chat with an the field. I also enjoy spending time with colleagues who are also Alumni Council member at one of the school’s Harkness Tables.

LCDS alumni, like Mike Simpson ’91. The school’s continual Visiting alumni in their element at home or at work, I hear what growth and development would not be possible without these they do and what is important to them so that we can discover ongoing conversations. common interests with the school. Through the years, alumni To bring alumni together, I also plan fun and sometimes poignant voices keep the school mission in focus, and alumni give back in events both on and off campus. The 100 people who attended our a number of ways. I also give alumni tours of the school. Often I Homecoming cocktail party had a great time mixing and mingling, hear that the building looks very different, yet the hallways still feel regardless of class year or whom they already knew. Everyone walked the same. Alumni fondly remember their classes, favorite teachers into the party with one important bond — Lancaster Country Day and of course their classmates.

School. As I look to the next few months, I’m excited about what Most recently, I had the opportunity to meet Jeff Laubach ’88 and a is to come in the Alumni Office. I will have the chance to spend group of his colleagues who spent a day visiting the school to learn time with alumni ranging from the class of 1938 up to our most about the ninth-grade iPad program. Jeff is the assistant program recent graduates, and I look forward to meeting each of you and manager for KidsPeace, a charity dedicated to serving the behavioral hearing your LCDS story.

34 | CONNECTIONS |

”

The Excellence Fund

every donor matters

“

The Committee commends the School for achieving 100 percent faculty and staff participation

”

in The Excellence Fund.

— Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools Reaccreditation Committee

…

Last year parents, alumni, grandparents, staff and friends gave a record $505,000 to the Excellence Fund.

“

…

People didn’t feel like their individual contribution had

the power to change much before, and I wanted to make everyone understand that it doesn’t matter how much you give; it’s the giving that’s important.

”

— Colleen Jacobsen, 2011-2012 Excellence Fund Co-chair

The Excellence Fund helps

make the LCDS education possible. www

. L a n c a s t e r C o u n t ry D ay . o r g / d o n at e

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID

725 hamilton road lancaster | pa 17603-2491

Lancaster, PA Permit No. 1556

2013

SAVE THE DATES Tuesday, Jan. 8

Recent alumni coffee with Steve Lisk for the classes of 2011 and 2012.

Saturday, April 13 FundFest

Wednesday, April 25 Alumni Council spring meeting

Thursday, April 25 Shippen Society Luncheon

For more information on any of these events please contact Alumni Director Libby Roman ’05 at romanl@lancastercountryday.org or 717-392-2916, ext. 328.