C L AS S NOTES

the NMH campus for a lovely visit in early December. It was Vera’s first time to campus since graduation! She is now living in San Diego and has a thriving mobile vet practice. Bill is a social worker in Hinesburg, Vt., and Claire is a technical writer in Riverdale, N.Y. Claire’s son, Mac, is heading to St. Lawrence in the fall. Vera, Bill, and Claire have remained great pals since graduation and enjoyed their visit to the NMH Farm, where Vera made some new bovine friends! • Megan Gray, her husband, and her 11-yearold son traveled to Spain last year. “We live in Geneva, Switzerland, and fight off middle age with biking, swimming, hiking, and sometimes skiing, when snow is good and our legs or backs aren’t broken.”

84 

Northfield Mount Hermon Heidi Kronenberg heidi@esme.com • Kara Driscoll-Hazlett kara.hazlett@gmail.com Hello, everyone! We are so excited to be your new class secretaries! This summer is our 35th reunion, and we are really looking forward to seeing everyone! We have heard from some of you and look forward to learning more about everyone in the months to come. See you in June! • Phoebe Cameron wrote, “I’m looking forward to making new NMH memories with classmates during our 35th reunion! Some of my past memories include: cooking s’mores over a campfire at Shadow Lake; visiting the farm and hearing a lecture on student workjobs and lavender, maple, and apple cider product development; seeing the new buildings on campus, including the Rhodes Arts Center; making new friends during reunion planning (Chris, Marggie, Gigi, Annie, Melissa, Eliza, Eleanor, to name a few); hearing wonderful music emanating from the chapel; and feeling connected to a community I love. I hope to see more classmates in June!” • Kerry Doyle stayed at work until 11 p.m. for three consecutive nights so she could file a motion to get a hearing for one of her clients arrested by ICE and keep him from getting deported and separated from his wife, two kids, and small business. She reports that she hates ICE. • Heidi Lawson Sheldon has been living in Anchorage, Alaska, since 2000 and can’t imagine living in the “lower 48” anymore. “I do miss the fall foliage of Northfield,” wrote Heidi, “but the winter northern lights and endless summer sun make up for it. Anchorage has the perfect weather: lows of 10 degrees in the winter and highs of 75. I lived in the colder region of Glennallen, Alaska (2000–2010) … where it got to [minus] 30

during the winter … In 2010, I moved into Anchorage after a divorce that made Glennallen too small. I am [now] happily married to Doug Sheldon and have four great kids — Madi and Alli are his (oldest and youngest) and Takodak and Akilena are mine. Madi and Takodak have graduated high school while Akilena graduates in 2020 and Alli in 2022. My mom, Stephanie Koonz, moved here four years ago also and it is great fun having her close by again. Love that Facebook has kept me connected with Thena Berry. And also neighborhood friends and NMH alumni.” • Marggie Slichter Blake shared, “I left NMH after working there for 14 happy years and moved to Connecticut, where I have been development director of a small marine science and ocean adventure education organization. I married my sweetheart of seven years, Ben Blake ’66, in May [2018]. Ben and I met at an NMH reunion! I was honored to be walked down the aisle (actually down the dock — we got married on our boat) by my new father-in-law, Pres Blake ’34! We were serenaded with the Northfield Benediction by my daughter, Olivia VanCott Stanton ’11, son Mike VanCott ’10, Rennie Washburn, and Laurel Edson ’05, plus granddaughter Filippa, who learned the song for the occasion! Ben and his son, Adam, sailed our boat from Maine to England! I met them in Falmouth after the 13-day passage, and Ben and I sailed the boat to Denmark. Next summer, we will be living abroad in Scandinavia.” • We heard from Thekla Smith Alcocer, who was “doing the big downsize thing” in preparation for a move. She, her husband, and her kids, Christopher (27) and Rebecca (25), worked for months on moving out of the Alcocer home of over 27 years to Lowell, Mass. “I look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming reunion,” said Thekla. “Hard to believe it has been 35 years!” • Tom McKean enjoys Montecito’s (California) trails and beaches with his husband, Marq, as well as local triathlons, and a folk-rock duo called Good Mood. Their son, Jon, will handle your suit needs at Men’s Wearhouse in Santa Barbara. • Kara

Kara Driscoll-Hazlett ’84 (center) and her sons, Nathan (left) and Christopher, were in San Luis Obispo, Calif., for Parents’ Weekend.

Driscoll-Hazlett reported, “I lived in South-

ern California for 16 years and moved back to Massachusetts in 2007. I reside in Newburyport and have two sons: Nathan is a freshman at California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo, and Christopher is a junior in high school. I am a website optimization manager for a company in Burlington and I love it. I am looking forward to reunion and catching up with old friends.”

85 

Northfield Mount Hermon Jennifer Buell Horschman jenhorschman@yahoo.com Evans Smith Scala lives outside of New York City in Ridgewood, N.J., with her husband, Lorenzo, and their son, Luca Emilio (14). Evans has had a long career in learning and development and works for KPMG LLP. She and her husband will eventually retire to the north of Italy, where Lorenzo was raised. Evans has been enjoying catching up with NMH alumni on two Facebook groups, including “NMH Class of 1985.”

86 

Northfield Mount Hermon Geoffrey Locke gwlocke@gmail.com Alex “Sandy” Beech has been traveling between Los Angeles and New York. Her comedy series is in development at a “neat” L.A. production company. She’s also developing and shopping several docuseries along with a one-woman show, The One Chicken Show, with Nolan Doran, who co-directed Michael Moore on Broadway. During her travels, Sandy has visited Li Lin Hilliard Hally in Portland, Ore., and had a mini reunion in L.A. with Buffa French, Traci Kelly, and Debra Koffler. Sandy’s next stop is San Francisco, and she’ll be looking up her NMH peeps there. Traci wrote about the impromptu gathering at her house in Lake Balboa, Calif.: “It was so validating to spend time with my soul sisters; our NMH experience forever connects us. And we missed Dee Dee French Boone.” Last December, Traci had lunch in L.A. with Adam Bernholz. • Julia Callahan Streit “had a great weekend of fun with Merrill-Keep gals Bay Brown ’85, Molly Greaney ’84, Ellen McCurtin ’85, and Kim Stevens ’84 at my house in Connecticut. Just like the good old days in Merrill-Keep, minus blue books and fire drills. Saw Bay and Ellen again in December. Did some volunteer work at HORSE of Connecticut, and enjoyed being inspired by Kim’s new book, Savor. In November, I had a fun dinner with Nilda Lopez in New York City. Hadn’t seen Nilda in forever, so we definitely had some catching up to do!” • Chrissi Haas Deprez trekked up to Boston for a December holiday

S PR I NG 2 0 1 9

83