CLASS NOTES cian. On the topic of music, Robert Sambor ’90 rekindled the idea of assembling a bunch of live music recordings from NMH concerts and coffee houses—in particular, that of one Gian Carlo Feleppa. This came up at our 25th reunion, and I hope someone will pick it up and run—any takers (Joel Schonbrunn ’90)? • Rebecca Soulette welcomed her twins, Nicolette (girl) and Crispin (boy), into the world on 11/17/14, and would like to thank all of the amazing NMHers who supported her during the three-year process to get them here! • Until next time, please stay in touch via Facebook, email, snail mail, or even the phone!
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Northfield and Mount Hermon Robbianne Mackin robbianne.mackin@gmail.com • Travis Lea travislea@gmail.com • Kristin Steele kaste@conncoll.edu • Toryn Kimberley Stark torynk@yahoo.com
The class of 1990’s 25-year reunion was an incredible weekend. The highlights include a great showing at the Hymn Sing, cheering on Kristin Steele as she received an Alumni Citation Award at Convocation, and the Saturday-night class dinner with cocktails featuring products from Derek Grout’s Harvest Spirits distillery. We also had a memorial to the classmates whom we have lost too soon, presented by Danapel de Veer, Dane Fletcher, and David Arend. If you were unable to attend, you were missed, but we plan to do it all again in five years, so we hope you will join us then. Here are updates from some of the classmates who attended reunion: • David Arend recorded two original compositions with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic, performing as double bass soloist. Navona Records will release the album in the fall. David is also producing a jazz recording with his group, The Alchemy Project Ensemble. • Cecelia Bain is a flight attendant based in Boston. When asked why she returns for reunion, Cecelia said, “There’s no school or college that comes even close… that’s why I will always come back to my first ‘home’—NMH.” • Marshall Bass lives in Annandale, Va., with his wife, Christina, and their two children. Marshall works at Housing and Healthcare Finance, a small finance firm located in Chevy Chase, Md. • Dawn Fitzgerald lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, Jeffrey Becker, and their two kids, all of whom had a blast at reunion! The move north after 15 years in Los Angeles was a dramatic change from city life. They’re remodeling and landscaping a 1960s house in the mountains, which takes up most of their free time, but Dawn also still works in nonfiction television. She has a series on HGTV and is executive producer for the History Channel. • Haegan Forrest writes, “To all my classmates and friends, I say thank you! Our 25th reunion was an incredible experience of love, friendship,
and celebration of the great class of ’90. Head of School Peter Fayroian spoke at our class dinner, joining so many wonderful faculty friends! If you missed it, check out the NMH Class of 1990 Facebook page.” • Leanna Houle, who may be the first grandmother in our class, happily calls New England home, and said about reunion, “NMH class of 1990 was my class as a 14-year-old freshman in 1986 and is my class today. It also felt like we had never left each other.” • Denise Jenkins-Ulbraaten lives in Oslo, Norway, with husband Tom, and their two sons. She works as controlling operations manager for National Oilwell Varco. • Tamasin Ballou Kekic has begun a new career as an occupational therapist in acute care at Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Vermont. She loves her new profession and all that she continues to learn every day. Nick Kekic explores new possibilities in glass and business after 20 years as a blown-glass artist. • Kim King and Chuck Maysonet have been living in Orlando, Fla., since 2003. Their son Andres (5) was born during 20th reunion weekend. Kim works in economic development for the City of Orlando, and Chuck works in hospitality management, currently with Keke’s—a local chain. • Jan Kuznik attended reunion with his wife, Leah. Jan and Leah were married at Memorial Chapel in 2002. After reunion, Jan said, “I am truly amazed with our class. I am among some of the most intriguing, exciting, and empathetic people this world has ever seen, and it’s due to NMH.” • Dawn Crosby-Maqueda traveled from Lima, Peru, with her son, Roque. She also has a daughter, Josie. Dawn says that being at reunion completely re-energized her. • Michelle Matteo and her family live near New Haven, Conn., and welcomed a baby girl in October 2013. Michelle is in touch with Sue Shin and Becca Gee Nowak—both are doing well. • Thuan Nguyen and his wife, Sarah, moved from Chandler, Ariz., to Fountain Hills, Ariz. “We are still getting settled into our house,” says Thuan. “I am continuing to work at a few small community hospitals and am the EMS medical director for Tempe and Guadalupe.” Over this past year, Thuan was able to re-connect with Osman Qamar ’89 and Matt Walker in California. After meeting them there, Matt has since moved to Chandler, and Osman is living in the Boston area. Thuan made a television appearance on the documentary show Sex Sent Me to the ER, and was recently interviewed by the local CBS news affiliate about the spice epidemic in Arizona. • Jessica Davison Riozzi had a wonderful time seeing so many of the class of ’90 and would like to see more of us at the 30-year mark. She and her family are in Saugerties, Hudson Valley, N.Y. She is raising kids, and growing, cooking, and canning things. • Corinne Selinger Selva moved to the Boston area with her husband and two children, and is looking forward to re-connecting with NMHers in the area. • Rachel Press Tedeschi is keeping busy with her kids and her business—Rachel’s Cookies
and Treats. “Anyone driving through Connecticut, feel free to visit—cookies will be on the house!” • Chessie Shaw lives in Somerville, Mass., with her husband, Robert, their two children, and is a school social worker. She had a great time at reunion, and “it was especially great to spend time with Dianne DeCoste, Sharon Price, Corrine Selinger Selva, and Chris DePrez.” • Unfortunately, many of our classmates were unable to attend reunion, but would like to share what they are up to: • Ramsay Adams ’89 is the founder of Catskill Mountainkeeper, and has spent the last seven years fighting fracking in New York. Recently, he has joined Mark Ruffalo’s Water Defense as executive director, working on extreme energy extraction issues affecting water across the world. • Tom Boldt and his wife, Alanna, had a baby girl, Caia Bromwyn, in December 2014. Tom practices acupuncture on the west side of Los Angeles, and has left group practice to open a clinic with his wife, also an acupuncturist (tabacupunture.com). • After a few years of back and forth between Florida and the Boston area, Eric Gauster decided to move full time to Naples, Fla., in December 2013. He joined the Ft. Myers office of his firm and is busier than ever with financial-planning clients. His wife, Renata, joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, and is busy rebuilding her real estate business in the Naples area. • Jim Mignona is living a blessed life behind a camera, in his darkroom, and in and out of his home with his beautiful wife, Liesa, and 2-year-old son. Jim, of course, misses his larger NMH family and wishes the very best to the very finest. • Alex Mine and Tina Anson Mine are doing well in Toronto, and keeping busy with work—Alex in audio engineering and Tina as a freelance writer/editor. They were sorry to miss reunion due to attending a friend’s wedding, but they hope to make it to the 30th. • Reba Porter lives in Burlington, Vt., with her husband and 5-year-old son. She works for the State of Vermont’s Department of Health, and is a licensed mental health and drug and alcohol counselor. • Miriam Rutz loved seeing all the pics of everyone at reunion! She and her husband, Nate, have a son, Axel (4), and a daughter, Zoë (2), and in May moved from Chicago to Glencoe, Ill. Miriam still works in infectious disease for a subsidiary of J&J. If anyone is in their area, please reach out via email or Facebook. • Joel Schonbrunn and his wife, Kasey, live in California. They bought their first house and are living the dream of turning it into a Moroccan castle. Joel was recently awarded the Order of the Pelican—a lifetime service award within the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).
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Northfield and Mount Hermon Dairo Moreno demoreno@post.harvard.edu
Greetings, everyone, from Miami! I write this as I sit at the airport waiting for my next flight. I hope as you read this, you start thinking about your own travel plans to campus for our
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