www.andover.edu/intouch
Jonathan Hoffman ’97 married Megan Drahos in August 2013 on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River overlooking Manhattan.
her annual discretionary day off. “I remember so clearly the elation I felt at being given this undeserved reprieve!” Libby writes. “Of course, I immediately packed up and left the library, off for an evening and day of shenanigans. The paper could wait another 24 hours!” Some memories, like Melissa Dana’s, were more impressionistic, less a recollection of a specific event than of a feeling. Melissa conjured a lovely image of “night walks in deep Abbot when the fog made backlit bare trees appear like great spider webs. Something about that stillness and the curious sense of wonder that came alive in the darkness.” Mike Gagliano, too, described an ineffable Andover spirit, and one that has stuck with him. “I was a PG my senior year at Andover, so my memory of the school is not as layered as some—but I remember the tradition and pomp and circumstance of the school with fondness—the respect for the past that you could feel while standing on campus; the place had a certain air of great things happening. Perhaps that respect for tradition and history led me to choose my job as a medical sergeant with the U.S. Army 18th Airborne Corps in Fort Bragg, N.C.” Mike hopes to be commissioned as an Army medical officer in the next two years. Chris Czarnecki also went on to serve in the Army. He fondly recalled sneaking his girlfriend, Mary, into Carter House lower year. When an unsanctioned parietal was not an option, Chris and Mary would exchange letters—a quaint reminder that our years at Andover were among the last before the advent of e-mail. Chris is now the chef/ owner of The Joel Palmer House, a restaurant in Dayton, Ore.—and he’s married to Mary. Serving in the military is a consummately selfless act, but it’s not the only way to take Andover’s
Natalie Harvey ’97 married Patrick Williams in New York City on July 6, 2013.
noble ethos to heart. Consider this memory, from Peter Saji: “After having failed yet another Dr. Watt physics test, I was stomping down the GW steps, which were covered in ice. I slipped, fell, slid on my back across the landing and plopped down the next flight of stairs. Daveen Chopra was kind enough to come outside and inform me that it was conference period and the entire school bore witness to my clumsiness. In true non sibi spirit, I cut the rest of my classes to watch other people eat it.” For a slightly more magnanimous interpretation of the school motto, let’s press Play on Josh Mann’s cinematic memory, set on a Western Massachusetts soccer pitch: “JV soccer game away in Deerfield. Deerfield brats were coming in for extra credit shots against the (exceptional) goalkeeper all game. Took a few to the groin. Eventually, the referee blew the whistle on the game because it was too rough. Immediately after that, Eli Dubin turned and slugged the nearest kid in green, a shot across the bow that catalyzed a melee on half the field. I had never felt so protected or loved by anyone outside of my immediate family until that moment. The act may have been violent, but the sentiment was as gentle and generous as could be.” On my morning commute, I often walk against a tide of students streaming out of the Lafayette Avenue subway stop and toward Brooklyn’s venerable Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. I’m always struck by how young these kids are, and reminded, in turn, of how young we were during our time at PA. It’s the great comic irony of your high school years—the yawning gap between how mature you believe yourself to be at 17 and how immature you are in fact. Mark Rickmeier’s memory captured this disparity wonderfully, a portrait of boys playing at being men. He remembered “Carmelo Larose stealing my backpack and refusing to give it back
until I (finally) got up the guts to ask Colleen Reid to prom.” Mark asked. Carmelo returned the knapsack. Colleen said yes, I will, yes.
1997 Jack Quinlan 514 S. Clementine St. Oceanside CA 92054 760-415-9054 illegalparietal@gmail.com Kelly Quinn 2538 NW Thurman St. #205 Portland OR 97210 919-949-0736 illegalparietal@gmail.com
Come, faithful classmates of old ’97, and let us first celebrate the weddings: Lt. Cmdr. Luis Gonzalez married Lauren Patterson of Manitowish Waters, Wis., in October, traveling from his port of call in Lisbon, Portugal, to NYC to celebrate. He was honored to have Michael Napolitano and John Hyon stand beside him at the altar. Natalie Harvey got married this summer, and her old roommate Michelle Kalas was in attendance. Natalie’s husband, Patrick Williams, is the curate (assistant priest) at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in the Harlem neighborhood of NYC. Jonathan Hoffman married Megan Drahos this past August in New Jersey, on the Hudson River overlooking Manhattan. Justin Felt served as a groomsman, and Addisu Demissie was also there to celebrate the nuptials. Jonathan and Megan had a whirlwind honeymoon exploring the West Coast, from hiking up in British Columbia (Whistler Andover | Winter 2014
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