ALUMNI/AE
ALUMNI BUILDERS
BOB SANFORD ’77
BUILDING ON RELATIONSHIPS Traditions run deep in the Sanford family. Bob Sanford ’77 is the fourth generation at Sanford and Hawley, a building supply company founded in 1884 in Farmington, Connecticut. Dedication to value and a customer-centric approach has kept Sanford and Hawley in business at their original location for 138 years, which makes them the oldest business in Farmington. Their success is due to their “down home” attitude, hard work, and dedication, and today they have nearly fifty employees across four sites in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Following their father’s path to Millbrook many years later, children Abby ’16 and Bobby ’14 are involved in the family business and maintain their connections to Millbrook School. Boarding schools were familiar to the Sanford family, and it was natural that Bob would attend one as he was completing his final year, 9th grade, at Renbrook School. When the time came, he had many options. Seeking a little space from his twin brother, Ted, who attended Avon Old Farms, Bob chose Millbrook, which had a zoo and was not terribly far from home. Millbrook had a significantly different look in the mid-1970s than today. 215 students were enrolled at Millbrook in the fall of 1974, including 137 boarders and 78 day students (some forty of those being females since the school had recently become co-ed). It was a picturesque drive past the
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run bank located in the Barn. Bob fondly recalls his advisor, Mr. Gadd, thirds football, track and field, and Saturday night movies in the Barn, which was then, as now, the social hub on campus.
marshes and down a dirt School Road, and after a visit to campus,
Faculty care and attention have always made Millbrook special,
Bob was certain that Millbrook was the place for him. During his
and Bob’s connection to the school was strengthened both
three years, he served on the Fire Department Community Service,
through extracurricular and weekend activities and in the
as a dorm prefect, and as president of the ‘Strongbox,’ the student-
classroom. Mr. Gadd was a memorable math teacher. Finding
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