work on his website at www.donsawyerart.com. David Mensel has been doing a bit of genealogical study and discovered that Dwight L Moody is his 7th cousin, 2 times removed. Distant, but still fun. “My background is primarily English and since some of the family arrived in MA as early as 1621 (2nd ship after the Mayflower), I guess being related to many people in western MA is to be expected.” Phil Sargent is retired after 40 years in the insurance industry. Last spring he stopped teaching certificate-level courses at USM after 25 years but still teaches a 6-week course in coastal piloting and navigation for Yarmouth ME community services. Wife Cindy retired from 20 years of teaching 7th grade in ’09, so they have been traveling to VA to see daughter Jesse and grandson (16 months). Daughter Becca had her first child in Jan. During the winter, Phil and Cindy try to ski 2 or 3 days a week. “I can’t believe my Medicare card arrived a couple of weeks ago. Seems like yesterday that I was going to Thurs vespers or cracking eggs in the kitchen for Skib.” Jim Vincent forwarded news from David “Skip” Smith, who is in Abuja, Nigeria, where he has been director of business development for a small consulting and investment company since 7/10. Skip has been a marketing professor for more than 25 years. In ’85, he started doing short-term teaching and research assignments in Nigeria. In ’89–90, he was a Fulbright scholar there. Then he became a visiting professor of marketing at Lagos business school. In ’08, he retired from his position as professor of marketing at Southeast Missouri State and became dean of the school of business and entrepreneurship at American U of Nigeria in northern rural Nigeria. For unedited notes, please check out our class website at www.northfieldandmounthermon1964.com.
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WENDY SWANSON AVIRGAN 106 Blueberry Dr Stamford CT 06902-1828 wsavirgan@aol.com
I begin with the sad news that Nicholas Afentakis died 5/8/11 after a long illness. We extend our deepest condolences on behalf of the class to Nick’s wife of 35 years, Mary Ellen Lavenberg. Following graduation from Mt Hermon, Nick graduated from the Tufts School of Engineering and worked for many years at Digital Equipment Corp. In retirement he worked as a fishmonger in Brewster on Cape Cod. Nick was a devoted supporter of the school and requested that donations in his memory be made to NMH or Tufts. Steve and Abby Ayres Bruce welcomed granddaughter Ellie in 12/10. Abby and Steve enjoy traveling from CT to Seattle to visit Ellie, her brother Jaden, and their mom and dad. Marcia Franzen-Hintze and Ulli had another busy travel year in ’10 with trips from Hamburg to the US; Sylt, an island in the North Sea; Rügen, an
all of us to “start looking down the road at ’15, our 50th reunion.” Remember to send your contributions to the Annual Fund and your news to your class correspondent. If anyone would like to volunteer to be a secretary for our class, please contact our classmate Sally Atwood Hamilton, class notes editor for NMH Magazine.
Candace Reed Stern ’65, Jean Moon ’65, and Candace Lindsay ’65 got together last summer in ME. island in the Baltic Sea; and Istanbul. Cynthia Gilbert-Marlow and James enjoyed trips in ’10 to Hawaii, Disney World, San Diego, ME, Williamsburg, and a cruise from Barcelona to FL. Cynthia still flies for United, most often traveling to Dubai and Buenos Aires from her home base of Washington DC. She hoped that the merger with Continental this year would enable her to once again be based in Newark, much closer to home in NJ. Her hobbies include singing with the Larks, taking courses through Interweave, and practicing yoga. Bruce Johnson has begun planning a rousing 65th birthday party for our class in 7/12. The venue will be Moore Cottage. Tentative plans are for participants to prepare meals in our dorm headquarters, perhaps using Alumni Hall as a backup location. Watch for details in the coming months. Please contact Bruce if you would like to help with the planning. Judy Mintie Scollay stays active with water aerobics, gardening, genealogy research, teaching outdoor education for the Girl Scouts, and her newest hobby of heirloom sewing, which evolved from a part-time job at a fabric/sewing center teaching machine-mastery classes. She and husband Rich Scollay enjoy frequent camping trips. Rich volunteers with Habitat for Humanity doing electrical work on new houses. Betty Naughton and Cathy Heckel had a busy year in ’10 with travels to the East Coast from Boulder to visit family and friends and an RV camping trip to Glacier and Banff. Betty traveled to Guatemala with her sister to study Spanish for 3 weeks, and they ended up helping with rescue and cleanup efforts following a major mudslide in the area. Betty works as a seasonal naturalist, leading groups on nature hikes into the foothills of Boulder CO and giving indoor presentations on bears, mountain lions, and tracking. She also volunteers for peregrine and prairie falcon nest monitoring and does a breeding bird survey each year. Betty writes, “I’m still singing in the Resonance women’s chorus with 135 other women. We put on a fundraiser for Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center this fall, performing our long piece about war and the struggle for peace, and it was amazing, uplifting, and felt like it brought community together as well.” David Stone’s new email address is dstonester@gmail.com. Dave will be retiring from his church job at the end of 1/12. He encourages
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JEAN PENNEY WHEELER 77 Old Ferry Rd Deer Isle ME 04627-3330 theinn@ferrylanding.com FRANK SAPIENZA 425 Washington St, Apt 6 Brookline MA 02446-6128 sapienzafc@cdm.com
From Frank: Guys, reunion was a blast, really. We sang, danced, reminisced, did yoga, learned about NMH today, toured, were amazed by the new buildings on campus, and just hung out and shared our lives and experiences with each other. High points of the weekend were a rousing hymn sing, our class meeting led by Jim Weiss and Jean Penney Wheeler, jitterbugging to the tunes of the Prescriptions, a rockin’ band, an entrancing poetry reading by Peter Fulton, and daily yoga by Jim Weiss and Day Merrill. On with the news. Peter Fulton is winding down his law practice but has kept busy writing poetry. He wrote and presented to us on Sat evening his poem How to Carve an Angel. By chance, he got in touch with Charles Curl, and they put together a captivating presentation of Peter’s poem put to music and video by Charles. It was quite a treat. Following reunion, Peter and family flew off to Swansea, England, where he presented his poem at a performer’s festival with violins and dancing maidens in the background. Hugh Bache, a native of London, has retired from his career as a tax professional for expatriates. Hugh made it to the reunion and also to the festival. He gave Peter our support and says the presentation was well received. Charles Curl, after serving on several corporate boards of directors, has retired and now lives with wife Yvonne in Hilton Head SC. Charles keeps busy with his musical and recording interests and biking (100-mile trips ev-
Class of ’66 at the poetry reading during reunion.
Fall | 2011 CLASS NOTES 69