CLASS NOTES Gail Ward-Gould writes: “I have lived in so many places since NMH, including 12 years in Sun Valley, Idaho. I came to Scottsdale, Ariz., in ’91. Since ’99, I’ve owned and operated a full-service staffing agency. It’s been fun and exciting to grow a successful business. If you come through the Scottsdale/ Phoenix area, please look me up.” Living on a wonderful old farm in her Maine hometown, Janet Lidstone Theriault and her husband, Ed, have hosted exchange students over the past few years. She’s a school secretary and sees Scot MacDonald ’75 with his high-school students in tow. Janet started her sideline business, Funky Trunk Wardrobe, fashion styling for photo shoots around New England, when daughter Zoe began modeling a few years ago. Virginia “Ginger” Hinman McEachern’s daughter Molly (20) attends the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, and Sarah (18) is a college freshman. Lucia Mele and her Gould roommate Moira Morrison (who was one of my co-art editors on Mandala Magazine) are reunited via Facebook. Lucia is retired, lives in San Francisco, and continues on a novel she started as a Stanford freshman. Her mother returned to her western New York reservation near Lucia’s brother, Robert Mele ’75. Her other brother, Christopher Mele ’79, is a doctor in Gilroy, Calif. Lucia would love to hear from friends, especially Chyla Dibble Evans. You can contact Lucia at lucia.mee@alum.mit.edu. “I’m excited about the recently released book I edited: Extract: The Pipeline Wars,” writes Linda Solomon, who is founder and editor-in-chief of the Vancouver Observer, which won the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s ’12 Award for Excellence in Journalism. Virginia “Ginny “ Risk attended her brother Andy’s October ’12 wedding with cousin Gail Perkins Johnsen ’62 and sister Alice Risk Timmons ’78. The day before, Alice and Ginny visited the Northfield campus. They realized they both had spent time in Marquand, now marked off with yellow tape. While taking pictures of their former dorm-room windows, they met a maintenance manager, who talked about the Auditorium and chapel restorations. Ginny lives in Freemont, Calif., and would like to hear from classmates. Nancy Doonan Coppelman attended Christmas Vespers in Boston last December with Pamela
Watson-Hogan ’77. Nancy is a participant coordinator for the neurology group at the Framingham, Mass., heart study. Husband Jon reinvented his work life. Daughter Julia is a Northwestern senior and Anna a Kenyon sophomore. John Burnham, his wife, Rachel Balaban, and daughter, Olivia (a recent Tulane grad), also attended Christmas Vespers in Boston, a special evening of music that included a baritone solo by John’s nephew, Daniel Packard ’14. Joining them were John’s sister, Louise Burnham Packard ’78; his parents, former NMH faculty Dave and Anne Webb Burnham ’44; and Ed Pitoniak and his wife, Kate Barber, with whom John had recently reconnected, and their two daughters. Ed and Kate recently moved to Exeter, R.I., from Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Steve Meyer moved from The Hague to Leiden, Netherlands, during the summer of ’12, but still works for Shell, teaching exploration geology to Shell staff. He takes inspiration in teaching from memories of Mrs. Burnham (John’s mother.) in sophomore geometry classes. Jonathan Towne and his wife, Becky, spent a week last December in Chicago at the largest band and orchestra conference in the country. They snowshoed in Wells, Maine, and skied in North Conway, N.H., over the holidays. In January, Jon marched in his seventh presidential inaugural parade in Washington, D.C., the last four as band drum major. “Always an honor to participate, even though it is usually a long and cold day. If you see a Coast Guard Band concert in your community, come hear us and say hi. The concerts are always free.” After four years in elected public service (as commissioner, vice mayor, and mayor), Anne Lawrence Salle stepped off the platform July ’13, to become executive director of the Girl Choir of South Florida, for girls 6 to 18. Her new administrative leadership focuses on attaining funding and recognition for these talented singers. Anne welcomes anyone passing through Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to be in touch at aesallee@gmail.com. From Palmer, Mass., Charles “Chuck” Adams writes: “Enjoyed ’12 holidays at home with family. Retired from former job. Hoping to find something to keep me busy—not that I’m not busy enough with our daughter (8). Looking forward to reunion ’14, so I can reconnect with old friends.” George and Wilma Bachinski Kiefer ’75,
married since 1980, spent Thanksgiving week ’12 traveling from coast to coast to visit their kids. Their youngest daughter is in Washington, D.C.; their son is in Los Angeles, where Wilma writes: “We tested our wits with a tandem sky dive, then checked it off our bucket list.” They returned to Michigan for another feast with another daughter and her family there. The whole family gathered in Michigan for Christmas. George and Wilma would love to see classmates who are traveling in western Michigan. Bonita Hyman was on the road during summer ’13 to Aix-en-Provence for a role in Richard Strauss’s Elektra, and then on to Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Bonita’s debut in that famous theater. She writes: “The driving lessons will have to wait a bit longer. Son Cameron (15) celebrated his confirmation on my April birthday.” Bonnie performed a UNICEF gala benefit concert in November ’12, and took a teacher-mentoring seminar in New York City in January ’13. See Bonita’s Facebook page for performance photos. Adam Thomson graduated from professional crafts in woodworking from Haywood Community College in North Carolina in June. His naturaledged bench and folding breakfast trays were in the juried graduate exhibition and later in the summer at the Blue Ridge Parkway Folk Art Center show. He sells at the November Ramble at Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami, Fla. With sadness, I report that two of our classmates passed away earlier this year. Andy Chason died 3/17/13 from a heart attack. Laura Nelson writes: “Friends will remember Andy as whip smart, outgoing, confident, adventurous, and fun-loving. He lived in the moment, ever ready to make you laugh or to help someone, a friend or a total stranger. Andy’s boundless energy and ability relating to kids in perpetual motion suited him as an NMH Big Brother/Big Sister mentor, which he continued later with his wife, along with the Fresh Air Fund. They brought several boys with them on their Maine vacations and fishing trips. He was an avid waterman, camper, and skier. We shared a big adventure in a two-month wilderness canoe trip in northern Quebec when we were 20. Andy was a Boston-based entrepreneur. His recent venture was a houseboat-rental vacation business. A spirited life celebration was held for Andy in Gloucester, Mass., featuring a New Orleans–style jazz funeral sendoff. Donations may be made to Fresh Air Fund and
Steve Laubach ’74 with daughters Eva ’15 and Isabel ’17 on South Georgia Island geological expedition in January ’13
Wilma Bachinski Kiefer ’75 and her husband, George Kiefer ’74, preparing to skydive in California in November ’12.
Peter Allenby ’74 with his sons, Cole (9) and Theodore (5), and his wife, Saramaria
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