new canaan country capitalist magazine issue50

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features

58 Firenze in the Footsteps oF Dante...anD Dan Brown

by Dan Burstein / photos by Julie O’Connor

70 oJ in the Morning, g&t at night

94 thirD eye Central Park bench scenes. by Tod Papageorge

104 Fiction:

can i have a Million Dollars?

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by Alan Zweibel

82 MoDern Day Darwin

114 Fiction: weDDing party

Richard Wiese is Born to Explore™

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The nuptials of the season.

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contents. issue 50

oscAr heYmAn temple st clAir KWiAt

pAUl morelli sYlVA & cie KimBerlY mcDonAlD

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departments 24 train oF thought

The innocent joys of girls and horses..

by Priscilla Whitley

33 the local scene

School plays, summer festivals, area fairs and frolics.

124 rural palates

New marketplaces, bistros and bars.

134 i’ll take Manhattan Hot yoga and hot tix..

144 Da Mo Da Merrier

by Simone

154 like a rolling stone

Tropical pleasures and mountain getaways.

168 vacation hoMe

Destination: Telluride and Costa Rica.

180 acts oF kinDness

The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

192 in the Driver’s seat The Maserati convertible!

by Charles Moseley

204 appraiseD anD approveD Tips and tools for living right.

215 inDepenDent school guiDe Three Keys to a Compelling College Essay.

By Hillary Frank

272 coMMunity rooM

A homeless man lived in my backyard.

by Robert Steven Williams

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TRAIN OF THOUGHT

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Rye ALPiNE

Barn Life Lessons

by Priscilla Whitley

ANY TIME THE PHONE RINGS

at 6:30 am the news can’t be good.

When the phone wakes me I pretend I’ve been up for hours with that “of course I’m awake” tone. I doubt I’m fooling anyone. That was my intention as I fumbled with the receiver, but this time was different. This time I couldn’t grasp who was calling or understand as the voice, agitated, alarmed, kept saying over and over, “There’s been a fire.”

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Westchester

greenwich Westport New Canaan hamptons Long island

COUNTRY CAPITALIST

Editor and Publisher Eric S. Meadow Editor Celia R. Meadow Art Director Tim Hussey Executive Editor Debbie Silver Travel Editor Susan Engel Editors at Large Paula Koffsky, Simone Meadow, Rich Silver General Counsel Bruce Koffsky, Esq. Contributors Dan Burstein, Hillary Frank, A.E. Hotchner, Geoff Kalish M.D., Erin Levi, Jarret Liotta, Bob Marrow, Rich Monetti, Charles Moseley, Daniel Rothberg, Samantha Rothenberg, Debra Scott, Aurelie Sheehan, Carly Silver, Elizabeth Spaulding, Elizabeth Titus, Vanessa Voltolina, Priscilla Whitley, Robert Steven Williams, Alan Zweibel Contributing Photographers Mary Bar, Joel And Anne Darelius, Kerry Long, Julie O’Connor, Tod Papageorge, Nicole Salamons, Debra Somerville, Christine Sweeney Cover Photograph Stephen Wilkes Social Media Camillo Ferrari Distribution Manager Man in Motion LLC Advertising Sales Manager Libby Rosen Advertising Sales Representatives Barbara Greenhouse Advertising Inquiries (203) 227-5377 Editorial Inquiries (203) 451-1967 Weston Magazine, Rye Magazine, Westport Country Capitalist, Greenwich Country Capitalist, New Canaan Country Capitalist, Hamptons Country Capitalist, Westchester Country Capitalist, Long Island Country Capitalist, TriBeCa Magazine, The Upper East Side Magazine, Central Park West Magazine, and Alpine NJ, Issue #50, are published 4 times per year by Weston Magazine, INC. P.O. Box 1006, Weston, CT 06883.

Tel: 203/227-5377. Email: eric@thewestonmag.com; www.westonmagazinegroup.com.

Copyright 2013 by Weston Magazine, INC. All rights reserved. Weston Magazine/ Country Capitalist/Rye Magazine/The Upper East Side Magazine/Central Park West Magazine/TriBeCa/Alpine ™ are trademarks of Weston Magazine, INC. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. Weston assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials.

Print subscription rate: four issues, $100. Back Issues, $10. Attention Postmaster: send address corrections to Weston, P.O. Box 1006, Weston, CT 06883. Printed in Canada.

Down the hall my fourteen-year-old daughter still slept soundly in her little girl room, snug within a mountain of stuffed animals.

For her, this July was to be full of summer laziness and horses. Her father and I had separated a year earlier. He immediately bought her a horse, thinking Donner would make everything all right. Now, after a difficult year, she seemed to be accepting the new life I was attempting to put together. But it was Donner, with his soft white blaze nestled within chestnut hair, who became the one she trusted, his deep brown eyes following her every move. He was the one who nuzzled her with unconditional love as she rested her head against his strong neck and the one who wouldn’t suddenly go away one day. He was her love.

I panicked. Dumping an entire drawer on the kitchen counter I scrambled to find a box of stale cigarettes, lit one, then lurched out onto the deck and dry heaved over the side onto the dew of the lawn. It wasn’t even 6:40 yet.

I admit I pushed horses on my daughter, though I didn’t have to push very hard. I was that horse-crazy girl when I was young, so why shouldn’t she be? Even on her first pony ride she held her back straight as if she knew she’d eventually become one with her horse. Lessons started when she was seven, first on little Brando, a buzz-cut heart on his grey rump, her skinny legs working to post to a trot.

Then on to the canter, loping around and around the ring, mostly staying on, occasionally falling over his head when he decided he’d

The barn was full of little girls. They rode together, spent hours braiding manes with multicolored ribbons, and learned how to carefully pick up their horses’ hooves to clean the dirt from their shoes. On Saturdays, with their brown bag lunches, they’d sit on the tack boxes swinging their legs and talk only of horses.

“I’m going to marry Brando,” one announced.

“I’m going to marry Blue,” another shot back.

“Maybe Blue and Brando should get married.” They agreed.

Happy, innocent, little-girl talk. Isn’t that what we all want for our children? And we want that to last forever.

Growing up my friends didn’t ride, they knew nothing of this life I had of mucking stalls, brushing tails, or the sweet smell of oiled leather as I polished the saddles, the scent that became part of me. They didn’t know the bliss of taking a horse out into a field on a cool fall day, a special time between the animal and me. I wanted this innocent joy for my little girl.

The previous year had been difficult for both of us, though I assumed a merry face.

Her first year in high school brought on an unexpressed anxiety as she confronted the confusions of a still-distant maturity. She became quiet. She didn’t seem to want to hug and cuddle anymore. Her father came around for the fun events, but even she knew that was barely good enough. She didn’t trust

All it took was for her trainer to yell, “Good job, he loves you when he knows you’re working with him.” Then she became a barn girl. had enough. The falls didn’t bother her, only me. I’d grip the fence, she’d glance over with that, “I’m fine, Mommy” look and up she’d climb again. Then came a trot over a pole on the ground, then two poles, then three, and a first jump over a two-foot crossbar. Unlike her stints on the soccer field, where she’d pick at the grass or follow the flight of a bird into the sun, afraid the ball might come to her, she worked hard on her riding. All it took was for her trainer to yell, “Good job, he loves you when he knows you’re working with him.”

Then she became a barn girl.

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him and she didn’t trust me. I was told more than once you can’t protect your child from their realities. But I couldn’t accept that; I’d be different and protect her. “I can hide my hurt,” I thought. “I’m a terrific actress. Here’s my greatest role.”

Barn life for her, though, was different.

There’s nothing sad when a horse’s ears prick up at the sound of your voice. And the girls were close. They spoke a language most of the parents knew nothing about and they were thrilled to keep it that way. Oxers, inand-outs, on the bit, hunters, jumpers; their

world, their words. But it was also at the barn where I caught glimpses of a budding young woman. It showed in the responsibility she took for Donner as well as her commitment to the repetitive training they both needed; her tack box was always neat, his stall soft with fresh hay, his blankets folded and clean.

If you were able to look very far into the future, you’d see the same kind of care a mother has for her infant. Though I only see that now; I didn’t then.

I let her sleep until 10 am. Such a little girl when she woke, none of the teenage attitude

which always came as the day went on. I sat her down within the deep sofa in our cozy den, my arm tightly around her as if I could somehow hold together the heart which I was now about to break.

“Something bad has happened.” I didn’t know how to say it, though like a plunge into icy water it needed to be done swiftly. “The barn, honey… the barn is gone. There was a fire last night and it’s gone.”

“Donner?” She couldn’t understand.

“No, sweetie.” I held her as if my body could protect every piece of her. Of course it couldn’t.

“Blue? Brando?”

“No one, honey.” A whisper, for all thirtyone were gone.

Oh, dear God, you’re tearing your child into

We didn’t know how to begin either.

Our first steps were a caravan of cars with headlights on in that tradition of solidarity, parking at the foot of the drive which once took us to the top of the hill where that red barn used to hold the sweet smell of hay and horses and laughter. Up there nothing now but blackened, charred wood. But it was the fence along the road which offered our first glimpse of promise. It overflowed, the entire length, with a vast bountiful garden of flowers left by unknown others. Bouquets of summer colors, chipper yellow daisies and fragrant roses, some still wrapped, others casually strewn about among bunches of horse-loving carrots, so many carrots, wrapped carefully with colorful ribbons… and handwritten signs of love

Saddle Club books, but instead began choosing themes which challenged her perspective.

She began questioning the high school pettiness and girly competitions, which seemed so important before. Her journal, which once held the scribbles of horses getting married, now took a more serious line as she began to understand the ramifications which come from experience. All this swirled around her for a year, as she tried to make sense of what will never be understood. Eventually, she learned it was all right to cry, to feel sad, be confused, for the months were going to go on in all their sparkling glory. And then she began to talk to me again.

“I want to leave here, Mommy. I want to leave and go away to school. I think it’ll be good for

Holding her, it seemed her childhood floated down her back to disappear before it even reached the floor. little pieces, hold it together. Curled up within each other, with more tears than I ever thought possible, we eventually settled into that gentle sway of her baby years I remember so well as hours went by.

Holding her, it seemed her childhood floated down her back to disappear before it even reached the floor. Now neither little girl nor adult, she didn’t know how to react. To see my child’s innocence swept away as quickly as sand at the water’s edge took me to the brink of helplessness. I couldn’t fix this. Couldn’t change what the storm’s lightning of the night before had done. All I could do was watch her cry, her sweet little face in so much pain.

There was nothing else to do, except cry together. She for her own losses, me for the pain, but also for her youth, which I knew would never return.

When the world is dark and frightening, where do you look for hope? We began by coming together, the barn girls and their parents. The girls clung to one another, all twenty or so of them staying at one girl’s home for the next week. Mothers on their watch we sat quietly downstairs, sometimes wandering out into the summer light or sneaking a peek into the room upstairs, littered with sleeping bags and stuffed animals, which they kept dark. We waited. Then waited some more.

for these beautiful animals and the girls who had been so young a few days ago.

They walked slowly along the fence, hand in hand, touching and taking in the hope others offered them. Cars began to stop, strangers got out, and without a word began directing traffic behind us, keeping the many television crews at bay across the street. Grief shared in so many small, grateful ways.

Summer passed as if we were in one of those movies where the clock hands swiftly sweep the hours and days away. Confusion accompanies sudden tragedies. All those unanswerable questions of “why?” would arrive without warning.

Now the crying didn’t help and the sorrow and anger wouldn’t go away. She became sullen and unresponsive, like a little shroud of sadness, going through the motions.

We all deal with grief differently. But oh, my daughter; I couldn’t bear for her to travel that dark road, though it didn’t matter what I wanted. She needed to go step by step like everybody else and there were no detours either one of us could take. And that’s what she did, as slowly I began to see the shift.

She read of others’ grief, which at first I thought only reinforced her own. I was wrong. She learned she wasn’t alone. Not only did this come as a relief to her, but her reading choices changed. No longer did she crave the

me to be able to start out with something new to look forward to.”

She’d looked into herself and decided what would be best for her, one of the many revelations to come out of this tragedy. As difficult as that was for me, that’s what we did. She went away to finish high school, college, then graduate school, discovering her focus was to help those less fortunate than she.

Fourteen isn’t the age to learn the cruel lessons that will surely come our way, though a friend did remark, “Your daughter is a lucky girl. My children haven’t had to overcome hardship, then learn that life goes on. When a tragedy happens, will being older make it more difficult?” Loss and all that it entails allowed her to understand you can’t stop changes from occurring, but it didn’t mean happiness, joy, love… and horses… would never again be a part of her life. Wonderful things would come again. Wonderful things have come again. Again and again and again.

Now, years later, she’s saving to buy a horse. I can’t wait to meet him.

*

Priscilla Whitley was the first place winner of the Westport Arts Center 2012 Memoir contest. She is the facilitator of the Candlewood Writer’s Group workshops in Fairfield County CT. WESTONMAGAZINEGROUP.COM

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the local scene

34

Room with a View

by Elizabeth Titus A Salon for the Arts blossoms by a Beechwood tree.

36

Green Living

by Jarret Liotta Westport rallies for electric cars.

38

School Road High School Theater in the Spotlight!

Weston High School: Kiss Me Kate Greenwich High School: Rent Staples High School: A Chorus Line New Canaan High School: Beauty and the Beast

46

Speaker’s Corner HooplaHa locals bring good news to the Internet.

47

The Arts Area fairs, festivals and summer stock.

48

Gallery The Levitt Pavilion, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, Weston/Westport’s Relay for Life

room with a view the copper beech

BEEChwood ARTs

i

InTImATe, InnoVATIVe, ImmeRSIVe

By Elizabeth Titus

ntimate, innovative, immersive.”

These three “i” words define the mission not just of Beechwood Arts, but the spirit of its founders, Jeanine Esposito and Frederic Chiu.

Standing beside a massive 250-year-old copper beech tree, Jeanine described how she and her husband Frederic were shown the historic 19th-century property in Westport at a realtor’s urging two years ago.

“The house had everything we said we did not want. First, it’s on a major road. Second, it’s old. Third, it’s huge, and we didn’t want to spend all our time taking care of a house,” she explained. “Frederic is a concert pianist who gives concerts all over the world, so we’re away a lot.”

But then they saw The Tree.

And they knew the house was meant for them.

Jeanine described the feeling as one of illumination. “Suddenly, I felt that I’d crossed a threshold to a world of new ideas. The copper beech tree has enormous symbolism. The ancient Romans carried the wood around as a good luck charm. And the Celts saw it as the tree of learning, wisdom, and the written word, as well as prosperity.”

When they moved into the farmhouse in late 2011, they had very little furniture, having moved from a tiny house in Greens Farms the size of the carriage house behind the farmhouse (where that furniture now is).

So Jeanine scoured tag sales, flea markets, and consignment shops, where she found treasures like the stunning refinished table in her kitchen that her family was at first skeptical about.

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Soon after their move a good friend from Buenos Aires, internationally acclaimed pianist Valentin Surif, called to say he’d be in New York City in December to perform at the Argentinian Consulate. He’s known for his virtuosity as well as for promoting works of Argentine and other Latin American composers.

“We figured we’d put together a private concert in our new home,” Frederic said. “You know, for maybe 20 people.”

Then Jeanine, an artist as well as corporate strategist and consultant to Fortune 500 companies seeking to innovate, got to thinking about that tree out front, and soon, the idea of Beechwood Arts and the Art Immersion Salon was born.

Rooted in the learning & wisdom of the ancients Nourished by the ideas of the present Forging new paths and ideas for the future Frederic, while on the surface quieter and more introspective than his warm and outgoing wife, thought this was a brilliant idea for an arts immersion event. Why not combine their friend’s music with Argentinian food and Latin American art?

For those who know Frederic and his acclaimed work, this was not surprising. Born and raised in America to Chinese immigrant parents, he studied at Indiana University and the Juilliard School and then lived in Paris for 12 years. Critics have used words like “intriguing,” “innovative,” and “inge-

nious” to describe his work. (What is it with the “i” words?) He’s performed on the world’s greatest stages, from New York to Berlin to Beijing, and collaborated with his close friend from Indiana University, the violinist Joshua Bell, among others. He’s also released 20 CDs, covering the complete opus of Prokofiev as well as works of Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn, and Rossini. Many have been singled out, included in the annual “Top 10 Recordings” by The New Yorker, and gotten raves from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

Jeanine and Frederic are forward thinking, searching for new ways of performing and producing art. Frederic, for example, presents his

who are from Argentina, and my sister, Maria, who’s a professional chef, gave us a day of her time prepping asado as a Christmas present.”

Frederic invented a hanging system and lighting for the art they’d hang on the red silkcovered walls the previous owner had installed.

But where to find the art and what to do about the “performance” element?

Jeanine called on her experience as a guild member at Silvermine Arts Center and her other contacts in the art world, bringing in work from young, up and coming artists such as Camilo Cadena and Mauricio Higuera, as well as from established ones like Marisol Escobar from the

clockwise from below: Delicious bites at beechwooD; Joshua bell (photo by katie settel); Jeanine anD freDeric

Deeper Piano Studies workshops at prestigious music schools like Juilliard and the New England Conservatory. And he’s created unusual collaborations with artists outside the world of classical music, such as the Shakespearean actor Brian Bedford. Jeanine, for her part, developed a unique approach to strategic planning and innovation in her consulting work with Fortune 500 companies, melding the two in a way that is simultaneously visionary and pragmatic.

So the challenge of producing the first Beechwood Arts Immersion Salon event in just four weeks was something they took in stride. The fact that their vision for these salons was to combine music, art, performance, film, and culinary arts into one event or the fact that they had no dining table, chairs, art, or the skill to prepare Argentinian food did not stand in their way.

“I knew about asado,” Jeanine said, referring to the barbecued meat that is the national dish of Argentina. “But I had no idea how to do it.

So I called on some good friends in Westport

tango culture and criminal underbelly.

They sent out 50 emails to friends from their intersecting worlds of music, business, and art. Jeanine believes that you have to curate an audience in the same way that you curate art.

Central to her vision is combining the old and the new, the young and the old, the known and the unknown. Her son, a junior at Staples High School in Westport and an aspiring video and graphic artist, has worked with Beechwood Arts from the start, as have Frederic’s two children when they visit from Paris.

The launch of Beechwood Arts with that one event in December 2011 was a smash, even more successful than its founders ever imagined.

Several more salons followed, each with a special theme and each drawing in enthusiastic participants in the arts. The challenge today is to expand the ideas of Beechwood Arts outside of their home and into the global sphere while retaining the sense of community that is so much a part of the draw of these events.

Jeanine and Frederic envision “Salons Around the World,” with satellite salons participating live from multiple locations. “By streaming our Arts Immersion Salons held in Connecticut to other places,” she explained, “we’ll use cutting edge technology to be expansive and far reaching, while retaining the intimacy and community that is missing from so many cultural experiences today. Imagine 2,000 people sharing a single simultaneous experience but in the context of an 18th- century Parisian Salon. Now that’s exciting!” http://www.beechwoodarts.org

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1970s and the 19th-century painter Pedro Figari.

For the performance piece, they unearthed some Lunfardo poems from the early 1900s, and another friend found a Spanish-speaking actor to recite them between music pieces. For the uninitiated, Lunfardo grew out of a kind of pidgin language used by immigrants during the first wave of immigration to Argentina, with roots in the

After 20 years in corporate communications at American Express, Elizabeth Titus left in 2002 to consult and then began a career as a freelance writer in 2011. She’s published in the Weston Magazine Group, Ms., MORE, Narrative, Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, Skidmore Scope, Outside In Literary and Travel Magazine, Talking Writing, and The Humanist. Passionate about the plight of Afghan women, she serves as a mentor for the Afghan Women’s Writing Project (awwproject.org) and hosts Afghan students in the U.S. for the School of Leadership Afghanistan (SOLA.org).

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green living

ABOUT SEVEN YEARS

ago, Robin Tauck of Weston—on one of her frequent business trips to San Francisco—finally decided to give in to her curiosity and head down the highway to Menlo Park, where she and her husband, Peter Romano, paid a visit to the Tesla dealership.

“It was unlike any other car-buying experience,” she says, having purchased about nine cars before that. Unlike those times, she wasn’t brought into a stuffy showroom and given a hard sell. Instead, just moments after arriving, she and Romano found themselves in a sleek Tesla Roadster cruising around the university campus at Palo Alto, getting their first taste of a unique electric vehicle that may just be starting a revolution.

“I was the third one in the state of Connecticut to own one,” she says of the Roadster, which has been discontinued by Tesla for its newer Model S sedan. And it wasn’t long before Tauck found a community of like-minded car owners in Weston and Westport who are experiencing one of the pioneers of the new electric movement.

In April, a number of these electric car enthusiasts came together in Westport and Fairfield for the first Electric Car Rally, sponsored by Westport’s Electric Car Club. About 35 owners took part in a bi-town journey that afforded participants a chance not only to share looks at their vehicles, but also their appreciation and enthusiasm for what they hope is the future of automobiles.

The history of electric cars is fascinating—in no small part because most people don’t realize how prevalent they were before the gas-powered automobile entered the scene. The first practical electric vehicle, a train, was created by Thomas Davenport in 1835. Then, in 1891, William Morrison was credited with building the first successful electric car in the United States.

By 1900, more than a quarter of the cars produced in America were electric. The only problem at that time was the high cost for these vehicles, which were reserved for the very wealthy and not yet practical for mass production. Fortunately or unfortunately—depending upon who you ask—Henry Ford pioneered the mass production of the famous Model T—a gaspowered car for the so-called common man. Over the next two decades the electric car, for all intents and purposes, died a slow death—or at least went dormant.

But the environmental consciousness that first took root in the 1960s, and has continued to blossom throughout the past decades, has forced a new generation of products into American lives. Generally speaking, people can no longer argue with the logic of reducing gas consumption and carbon emissions.

However, the perceived leap required to make a move to an electric car is something that car buyers are still reticent about.

“Range anxiety,” Tauck calls it. “What happens when you run out of electricity, or you’re not able to do the distances?”

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eLeCTRIC CAR RALLy

By Jarret Liotta

top: westport first selectman GorDon Joseloff anD wecc presiDent leo cirino wavinG the flaGs to beGin the rally. car is bmw activee. bottom: 1913 broc ev, courtesy of DraGone classic motors, at the post rally exhibition. photos by miGGs burrouGhs

Absolutely it’s a valid concern, especially given the current state of affairs in much of Middle America, where, according to some electric car owners, the idea of a plug-in car still seems very much the stuff of science fiction.

Car owners are quick to counter the complaint however. Kathy Koslow of Weston can recharge her Tesla at the rate of about 60 miles per plugged-in hour—four hours for a full charge that gives the driver a range of about 240 miles. “My other car was a hybrid, but this I just plug in,” she says. She’s even able to plug the car into a solar panel they have at their home in Weston.

“I don’t know if I ever envisioned Weston to be that kind of town,” says Tauck, who was thrilled to find she had two nearby neighbors who also had

The history of electric cars is fascinating— in no small part because most people don’t realize how prevalent they were before the gaspowered automobile entered the scene. electric cars. In fact, there are seven Tesla owners in town, all of whom participated in the rally.

“Why Westport and Weston?” Tauck asks. “It’s led me to believe … that we live in an area of really innovative thinkers and people who really care for the environment, and who are very interested in trying new technology and creating change.”

Barry Kresch of Westport, another electric car enthusiast, found the purchase a simple extension of his care for the environment. “I’m interested in green in general,” he explains. “Buying an electric car was a pretty logical thing for me to do.” Kresch, who commutes frequently into New York City, takes advantage of the new charging stations that, thanks in part to the car club, were recently installed at the Westport train station.

“The broad attraction is not having to buy gas,” he says. “I know it sounds obvious, but that’s the attraction.” Like many local residents, Kresch finds his Chevy Volt a perfect vehicle for around town—an amount of use he’s routinely able to make up overnight with a charge. “I try to charge up wherever I can,” he says.

But for most electric car owners it’s not a pressing concern, especially in the tri-state area, where charging stations and opportunities are more abundant. Kresch says there is even a smartphone application that pinpoints public charging stations. The one problem he says he encounters, however, is

top to bottom: rally marketinG committee leo cirino, robin tauck, remy chevalier, barry kresch; first place trophy beinG presenteD to rally winner bruce becker by club presiDent leo cirino anD first selectman GorDon Joseloff; Dr. richarD epstein photos by miGGs burrouGhs

that people will park gas vehicles in front of them at times and block their use.

Still, like others, he’s very happy with the car. “It handles very nicely. It’s not a Ferrari, but it has good acceleration.

Electric engines have plenty of torque.

It’s not like you’re riding a golf cart.”

“It’s great,” Demetri Spantidos of Weston says of his Tesla. “The acceleration is unbelievable. You can be going up a hill and still pin yourself to the seat if you want.”

“I think it’s going to change the auto industry,” Spantidos says of Tesla, and his Model S. “We’re going to remember this like we remember the Model T.” “Tesla has a completely different philosophy,” Tauck states, “they really know you as an owner, it seems for life.”

“The technology has been out there,” Tauck says of the more costeffective line that Tesla plans to put out soon. “They’ve been inventing for years (and) they’re just starting to roll off the assembly line.” Tesla’s Model X crossover SUV is due out next, and should be available in 2014.

In May, Tesla Motors, Inc. actually earned a quarterly profit for the first time in its 10-year history, higher than analysts had predicted. The company showed $561.8 million in revenues for the first quarter of 2013, putting 4,900 of its Model S sedans on the road. The hope is that, by the end of the year, Tesla will sell around 21,000 cars, having sold only 2,650 in 2012.

Further, in the first quarter of this year, Tesla outsold both General Motors Company and Nissan, which offer the Volt plug-in hybrid and the Leaf, respectively.

One look at the timeline of the electric car must lead anyone to believe that things are rapidly changing in the United States, and the world. While it’s clearly been hit-or-miss for some of the vehicles throughout this journey, the road to the future appears to be plugged into the current consciousness.

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Jarret Liotta is a Connecticut-based freelance writer and author whose work appears all over the globe.

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school road whs CoMpAny pREsEnTs

Kiss ME KATE

Directed by Damian Long Photos by Debra Somerville

school road Ghs GhsThEATER ThEATERARTs ARTs pREsEnTs pREsEnTs

REnT

Directed Patricia Cirigliano Photos by Christine Sweeney and Nicole Salamons

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school road sTApLEs pLAyERs pREsEnT

A ChoRus LinE

Directed by David Roth and Kerry Long Photos by Kerry Long

school road nChs ThEATRE pREsEnTs

Beauty and the Beast

Directed by Deirdre Alexander Photos by Mary Bar

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speaker’s corner

hooplaha LifE wiTh A sMiLE If YOU could wake up every day smil-

ing, wouldn’t you? HooplaHa– Life with a Smile is a new website and social brand dedicated to helping you do just that. As the Internet’s first GOOD NEWS happiness hub, it provides viewers with an inspirational, uplifting and positive online destination. HooplaHa is the antidote to the never-ending bad news and negativity presented in the media each day. Recognized by The Huffington Post as one of the happiest places on the web, HooplaHa creates and curates inspirational and feel-good content on a daily basis. Whether through original videos and blog posts, crowd-sourced content or the best of the webs uplifting stories, you can find it all.

From a deaf comedian spreading smiles through sign language, to a little girl who reads over 300 books a year; from the joy and inspiration of a triple amputee marine’s wedding, to a woman that hugs strangers every day just to share hope and cheer, and a wheelchair handicapped Chihuahua named Beebee, HooplaHa videos offer a range of topics and emotions. Organizations and non-profits doing good with their own important initiatives are also featured on the site.

“Our goal is to be a one-stop-shop for all things happy, good, positive and inspirational. One smile a day is not enough, we want viewers sharing smiles on the site all day long and with their friends,” states Rick Fernandes, Founder of HooplaHa. The executive team of HooplaHa all hail from this area – it’s a locally grown organization from the ground up. Rick Fernandes, Founder of HooplaHa CEO Marty Isaac, Managing Director Rob Hess and General Manager Laurence Sheinman are all long time Fairfield County residents.

The rest of HooplaHa‘s content and technology team are also Fairfield County-based, with HooplaHa headquartered in Norwalk. It’s a local team doing good for their community and beyond, spreading positivity to the masses.

In addition to the daily content, one of HooplaHa’s more recent campaigns is the #GivingVine, an ambitious social engagement initiative crafted to promote acts of kindness. Capturing these acts utilizing Vine, Twitter’s new iPhone service that allows you to record and share six second looping videos, the #GivingVine was designed to create a social

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rick anD rob

movement around helping others. Revamped for Earth Day with green acts of kindness, the #GivingVine grew exponentially with Vine users worldwide joining the movement and submitting their own. With no end date in sight for the campaign, HooplaHa is still encouraging anyone and everyone to capture and share some kindness.

As the site continues to grow, so does the talent involved. The infrastructure and production capabilities now include over 150 talented filmmakers, videographers and content contributors from across the country.

HooplaHa also collaborates with a unique group of on-camera video bloggers and contributors with a positive outlook. Regulars include Shari Alyse, the go-to for inspirational advice, Leigh Koechner — mother of 5, host of No Mundane Moments, and firm believer in finding new possibilities in every day routines, and Cook with Peter, the 11-yearold Chef who puts a new spin on cooking for kids.

HooplaHa also brought in a celebrity ambassador, pop star and entertainer Debbie Gibson, who is a strong advocate for volunteerism.

With an international following, HooplaHa stories and videos have been featured on The TODAY show, Huffington Post, Mashable, Yahoo!, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, BuzzFeed and many more. Sharing content via their website, their social media assets, a newsletter called the Daily Smile and through their content partners, HooplaHa is spreading positivity and happiness as a movement.

“It’s not likely our site will change the inexplicably distressing acts that still occur every day, but in nearly every misfortunate event there is good. We tell about the heroes and individuals overcoming obstacles everywhere. We’re the ones scouring the web to find people with amazing stories and showcase them. We are surrounded by these incredible stories day in and out, but we just need to bring them to light to remind others of the same,” says Managing Director/Executive Producer Hess.

CEO Marty Isaac adds, “We see HooplaHa as an opportunity to do good and do well. People are craving good news — in fact it is shared more than almost all other content on the web. This is exciting from a business perspective because brands want to align themselves with good news — things that make people happy. We plan to partner with both content producers and brand marketers that see the value in making people smile, which presents a large opportunity for us!”

HooplaHa wants to fill the Good News void for consumers and at the same time help marketers reach their audience through sponsorships, content syndication and co-branded original video content. To date, HooplaHa has been angel funded by founder Rick Fernandes. The management team is currently meeting with investors to secure next round financing. Their hope? To work with the investment community right here in Fairfield County and the NY metro area so they can maintain the region as the Happiness Hub of the world.

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the

arts

A Taste of Connecticut Summer

Westport Country playhouse

2013 Season At A Glance Loot

By Joe Orton Directed by David Kennedy July 16 – August 3 An outrageously wicked British farce.

Oblivion

By Carly Mensch Directed by Mark Brokaw August 20 – September 7 A World Premiere about family and belonging.

Room Service

By John Murray and Allen Boretz Directed by Mark Lamos October 8 – 26 A classic of American comedy.

Box Office: 203/227-4177 www.westportplayhouse.org.

the levitt pavilion for performing arts Over 50 nights of free music and entertainment for the community.

Select Season Highlights: · RiverSwing, now in its 10th year – features five evenings sprinkled throughout the season on which a free pre-concert dance lesson is offered in the style of the music about to be enjoyed. Includes Tango, Bhangra, Salsa, Swing and Two-Step! · Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks – Grammy award winners – August 18 · Children’s Series – Wednesdays at the Pavilion – free except for Cirkus below – features Hall Family, on Bari Koral and much more! · Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, July 31. 5pm camp, 7pm show. Proceeds from this ticketed event help underwrite the free summer season.

Takes place on Jesup Green with a special preshow circus training camp. Tickets: $15-$35.

Lawn Seating: Chairs not provided, please bring a blanket and/or lawn chairs.

This summer’s season is produced on Jesup Green in downtown Westport, as construction is underway on the new Levitt Pavilion. The capital campaign for the new Levitt Pavilion is also currently underway.

40 Jesup Rd Westport, CT. 203/226-7600; www.levittpavilion.com. www.bluesviewsbbq.com. Adults: $45.

summer theatre of neW Canaan 10th Anniversary Season at Waveny Park Summer Theatre Festival at Waveny Park in New Canaan, CT is presented each summer in a stateof the-art, open-air tent theatre easily accessible with convenient parking. Enjoy high quality musical productions of Broadway’s great shows, children theatre and special events. Reserved seating, stage-side and orchestra box dining as well as open field seating and picnicking for friends and families. Bring a picnic lunch or dinner to the shows or arrange to have one waiting.

Grease July 19 – August 11. Thu/Fri/Sat, 8pm.

Saturday Matinees: 3pm.

Sunday Matinees: 4pm.

The Little Mermaid June 15-August 11. Selected Weekends (Mornings or Early Afternoon).

Selected Friday Mornings.

Check Box office listing for dates and times.

Pinkalicious The Musical July 13 - August 11. Selected Weekends.

Check Box office listing for dates and times.

Dr. Seuss’s the Cat in the Hat June 29-August 11. Selected Weekends.

For tickets and information: www.stonc.org.

this summer at goodspeed’s norma terris theatre LMNOP Chaos… one letter at a time July 25 - August 18 What would you do if one day you could no longer use the letter Z? Then Q? Then E? Goodspeed Musicals, the first twotime Tony Award-winning theatre in the country, rounds out their three-show season at the Norma Terris Theatre with the compelling new musical L M N O P–a tale about a town thrown into chaos after that very scenario becomes a reality.

Based on Mark Dunn’s award-winning novel Ella Minnow Pea, this musical about a quiet town

changed by power, greed and fear and the heroine who restores her community is destined to be a summertime smash.

Dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theatre, Goodspeed Musicals produces three musicals each season at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn., and additional works at The Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn., which was opened in 1984 for the development of new musicals.

The Norma Terris Theatre is located at 33 North Main Street in Chester. Goodspeed Box Office: 860/873-8668 or www.goodspeed.org. mystic bazaar

mystiC County, Ct upComing events Mystic Musts: The nation’s premier maritime museum. Two of the most popular casinos in America. Can’t miss attractions, dining, waterways and B&Bs. August 3-4: Northeast Connecticut Arts Festival, Thompson August 8-10: The Cultural Survival Bazaar, Mashantucket Pequot Museum August 7,14,21: Rock the Docks, Howard T. Brown Park, Norwich August 10-11: Mystic Outdoor Art Festival September 11-15: Connecticut Schooner Festival, New London & Mystic Seaport September 14-15: Civil War Living History Weekend, Roseland Cottage, Woodstock For further information on these and other events, where to dine, stay and play in Mystic County, visit www.mystic.org.

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mystic whaler photo by Denton hoyer

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GALLERy relAy For liFe 6th AnnuAl Blues, Views & BBQ FestiVAl Westport, CT Saturday, August 31st: 11am - 10pm Sunday, September 1st: 11am - 8pm Join the Westport Downtown Merchants Association and The Levitt Pavilion for a foot stomping, mouth watering, fun-filled weekend on the beautiful banks of the Saugatuck River in downtown Westport. Charity cook-off in four categories: Chicken, Ribs, Chef ’s Choice, and Dessert. Wood-fired BBQ, grilled and roasted food for sale. Hand-crafted beer, premium liquor, wine and refreshments for sale.

Live performances by a multitude of local and national bands. Mechanical Bull. Free inflatable fun and family-friendly activities.

Admission fee includes live music all day, Kids Corral, Food Demos, Strolling Entertainment, Access to Eating & BBQ Competitions. Plenty of free parking located throughout Downtown Westport & Imperial Ave. Net Proceeds fund various programs throughout Downtown Westport.

Tickets available in advance and at the event. www.bluesviewsbbq.com. Adults: $45.

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norwAlk symphony orchestrA’s “so you think you’Ve Got tAlent 2013!”

Saturday September 28, 8:00pm Norwalk Concert Hall - 125 East Avenue This amazing talent show is a fundraiser for the beloved Norwalk Concert Hall, home of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra. Net proceeds will be donated to make improvements and repairs to Norwalk

norwalk symphony orchestra talent show 2012

Concert Hall. Performance by Last Year’s Winner — Tangela Smith. V.I.P. Reception before the show.

Open to all ages, levels and types of talent. Auditions: September 11th & 12th. To enter to compete in the show, please visit www.gottalent2013.com. Grand prize: $5,000.

For ticket purchase and further information, visit: www.norwalksymphony.org.

May 18th marked Weston/Westport’s third annual Relay for Life event as well as a celebration of 100 years of American Cancer Society’s efforts to combat this disease.

This year’s Relay successfully raised approximately $130,000. With 66 teams and almost 800 participants, the evening was a fun time for all. Many local bands played while teams set up booths in which they sold anything from baked goods, to henna, to fake weddings, with the top team—Weston Racquet Cares—raising over $10,000.

Despite the ominous looking weather early on, the rain held off and the Luminaria ceremony was memorable for all the participants. The keynote speaker before the silent Luminaria lap was current Weston High School senior Mallory Chila. She spoke eloquently about her personal struggle as she battled cancer this last year. She is an incredible inspiration for facing such adversity and still managing to graduate on time. As the night wore on, participants were entertained by color wars, water pong and zumba. Of course the bulk of the evening was spent taking laps around the track.

Donations are still being accepted on the website relayforlife.org; please visit the Westport/Weston event page.

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Sassy Slow-Cooked Lamb Shanks INGREDIENTS: 4-6 Lamb shanks 1 Cup Aunt Sassy's Cracked Black Pepper Sauce 1 Yellow onion, chopped 2 Celery stalks, chopped 2 Carrots, peeled and chopped 3 Garlic cloves, chopped 1 Cup chicken stock Salt and pepper 2 Tablespoons of olive oil INSTRUCTIONS: - Put onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and stock in your slow cooker.

- Stir and let ingredients cook on medium heat.

- Season the lamb shanks with salt and pepper.

- Warm olive oil in large pan over medium heat.

- Add the lamb shanks to the pan. Brown all sides for about 5 minutes total.

- Transfer lamb to the slow cooker and cook for at least 5 hours.

- Drain excess liquid from crock pot.

- Add Aunt Sassy's Cracked Black Pepper Sauce to slow cooker and cook for another hour.

Use Promo Code: SASSYWEST1 to Save 10% upon checkout.

www.auntsassysauces.com

Summer Fun Included!

With so many amenities included the only decision is how long to stay.

Play on our private sandy beach with rowboats, paddle boats, canoes, and kayaks. Enjoy our heated outdoor pool overlooking Mirror Lake, heated indoor pool with a whirlpool and sauna, and tennis court.

We also offer live music every Friday night, our MLI scavenger hunt for the kids, s’mores on the beach every Saturday, and afternoon tea everyday.

Mention promotional code “CREDIT” to receive a $50 resort credit per stay.

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Marriott Vacation Club International and the programs and products provided under the Marriott Vacation Club brand are not owned, developed, or sold by Marriott International, Inc. Marriott Vacation Club International uses the Marriott marks under license from Marriott International, Inc. and its affiliates.

Features, furnishings and amenities are proposed and subject to change at any time.

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opposite: Dante is DepicteD in this Last JuDgement fresco. it wasn’t untiL 1840 that a restorer finaLLy DiscovereD the Long searcheD for portrait of Dante known to have been painteD by giotto anD his workshop 15 years after Dante’s Death. giotto anD Dante were frienDs in Life anD stanD siDe by siDe in heaven for eternity. now partiaLLy restoreD, it aDorns the st. mary magDaLene chapeL on the seconD fLoor in the bargeLLo museum.

W

Firenze in the Footsteps of Dante... and Dan Brown

hen I was 12 years old (in 1965), my parents made their first trip to Europe.

Among the souvenirs they brought home was a poster from Florence. They had been there during celebrations commemorating 700 years since the birth of Dante Alighieri and the poster they gave me depicted an image of the great poet reputed to have been painted by Dante’s friend, the artist Giotto. That poster has been with me all my life, and today it has a prominent place in our Weston home.

I have been to Florence a number of times in the intervening 48 years. But together with my wife Julie, and our son David, we made a special trip there this spring specifically to look at what remains of the city that Dante knew and loved, and to learn about some of the mysteries and intrigues in Florentine history in order to get prepared for the publication of Dan Brown’s much-awaited new novel, Inferno (now on the bestseller list).

Among the high points of our spring in Florence was a visit to the Bargello museum, where we found ourselves entranced by the huge fresco that, in one corner, shows Dante as a character among the virtuous people arriving in Heaven. My childhood poster is based on that image. Experts today are divided on whether it was actually painted by Giotto or by other artists in his workshop. But the power of Dante’s visage—contemplating all he has learned about the human condition on his imagined voyage to the afterlife that inspired the Divine Comedy—remains gripping and profound. It was a deeply emotional experience, communing not only with my own youth, but with all of the philosophy, history, politics, and art I have learned about since.

Over the last decade, together with my partner Arne de Keijzer, I have written a series of guidebooks to Dan Brown’s novels, beginning with our Secrets of the Code, which itself became a New York Times bestseller by exploring the themes of Dan Brown’s mega-selling The Da Vinci Code.

Now we are embarked on a new book (Secrets of Inferno) to carry on the conversation about the ideas sparked by Dan Brown’s latest.

The action of Dan Brown’s Inferno (which appropriates its name from Dante’s Inferno, the first book of the Divine Comedy—or, as the Italians call it, the Commedia), takes place in Florence, Venice, and Istanbul, as well as New York and a few other locales. But the first two-thirds of the book are rooted in Florence, especially in venues that were known to Dante before he went into exile in 1302, never to return again to his native Florence.

Florence is, of course, one of Europe’s most beloved tourist destinations. There is so much history and art to see and learn it can be truly overwhelming. Indeed, the French writer Stendhal was so overcome with the city’s dazzling beauty that he started having heart palpitations.

“Stendhal Syndrome” is a known medical problem, based on tourists becoming over stimulated by the artistic bounty of this fabled city.

For us, it was a new approach to Florence to zero in on Dante and

aLL photos photos © © 2013 2013 JuLie JuLie o’connor o’connor photo. photo. aLL aLL rights rights reserveD. reserveD. aLL

by Dan Burstein Photos by Julie O’Connor

city map of fLorence. “the pianta DeLLa catena” is the first known exampLe in the history of cartography of a compLete representation of a city—in this case of fLorence c.1490 by the fLorentine miniature painter anD engraver francesco rosseLLi. francesco’s haLf-brother cosimo was aLso an artist who took part in the first Decoration of the sistine chapeL in the 1480s.

to contemplate what aspects Dan Brown would find most interesting for his new novel. Here is a small sampling of the highlights from our explorations earlier this year.

Dante’s “Neighborhood” We are standing in front of the Badia, a 10th century abbey that was one of the city’s most prominent landmarks in Dante’s time. Dante himself grew up and lived just a few blocks from here. The tall spire of the Badia appears in the Prologue to Dan Brown’s Inferno. A shadowy character who has phrases from Dante running through his mind ascends the spire and prepares to jump to his death to keep those chasing him from finding out his secret. Back in reality, it was in the Badia that the great 14th century writer, Boccaccio (author of the Decameron), read Dante’s Commedia out loud, as

Left to right: the grotto in the boboLi garDens figures in the pLot of “inferno” as the main characters are being chaseD; in the piazza outsiDe the “casa De Dante,” the actor aLessio cinotti (stage name farfareLLo), comes frequentLy to perform aLL 14,233 Lines of the “the Divine comeDy” from memory.

part of his efforts to rehabilitate Dante 50 years after his death, and to claim him as the great poet-philosopher-citizen of Florence that he was. It was Boccaccio who dubbed Dante’s Commedia “Divine,” a sobriquet that has stayed in the book’s title for the last seven centuries. Dante, once exiled by Florence, accused of trumped up crimes, and threatened with being burnt at the stake if he ever returned, is now the most cherished figure in its history.

It is believed that Dante lived a few blocks away from the Badia. We are walking these millennium-old streets in the company of Alexandra Lawrence, an American living in Florence. She is the editor-at-large of The Florentine, the go-to source for local English language information. (The Florentine is referenced specifically in Dan Brown’s Inferno). Alexandra gives walking tours relevant to the city’s art, history, and culture. She loves to do Dante tours and has been doing them for years. Undoubtedly, she will be doing many more of them as the “Dan Brown tourists” begin to flock to Florence to see the locales of Inferno, just as they did to Rome for Angels & Demons and to Paris in the wake of The Da Vinci Code.

Alexandra leads us to what is called the Casa di Dante (“Dante’s House”), which is a museum about Dante and medieval Florence. As we approach, a Dante impersonator in 13th century regalia is reciting passages from The Divine Comedy.

“Bear in mind that almost everything we think we know about Dante’s life is basically speculation,” Alexandra warns. This spot may not be the location of Dante’s actual house. Researchers in the early 20th century took their best guess at where Dante’s house would have been located, and this tall tower-style house was established here as a center to teach about Dante.

Inside, the exhibits and artifacts remind me that, deeply humanistic as Dante’s literary work is, he lived a century before the Renaissance. His life experience is in the Middle Ages—a generally dark time of Crusades, as well as bloody wars among the Italian city states, and frequent violent power struggles between those pledged to the Pope and those to the Holy Roman Emperor. The brilliance of Dante’s work was a factor that helped spark the Renaissance, but he himself had to endure the pain and disappointments that went with being a Renaissance humanist in a medieval world.

One of the best displays in the museum is a detailed presentation of the Battle of Campaldino in which Dante fought on the side of the faction known as the Guelphs against the Ghibellines. These civil wars were the dominant battles wreaking havoc throughout northern Italy in the 13th century. But they are very hard to understand from the distance of the 21st century. The museum displays help give me meaningful context to this internecine fightwhen it was DeDicateD in 1412, the basiLica of our LaDy of the fLower or santa maria DeL fiore—better known as the Duomo—became, anD stiLL remains toDay, the main church of fLorence. much of the ornate work on the façaDe is from the 19th century anD is compLeteLy covereD with white, green anD pink tuscan marbLe. the banDs of poLychrome stanD in for the coLor coDeD themes in Dante’s “Divine comeDy” from carrara (white) for faith, from prato (green) representing hope, anD from siena (reD) for Love.

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ing that Dante would ultimately denounce throughout the Commedia.

Whether or not the location of Dante’s house is accurate, it is clearly in his neighborhood. Close by is the palace of the Portinari family. Beatrice Portinari, the daughter of the prominent and politically powerful Folco Portinari, becomes the great—and unconsummated—love of Dante’s life. According to Dante’s notes, poems, and other historical sources, Dante and Beatrice actually met just two and possibly three times in life (the first time as eight- and nine-year-old children).

Although Dante was obsessed with Beatrice, she married a prominent banker in 1287, and then died at only 24 in 1290. Beatrice (properly pronounced by Italians as “Bay-A-Tree-Chay,” usually while letting her name roll off their tongues slowly with a loving and lofty look in their eyes) was immortalized by Dante as his spiritual guide in the Divine Comedy. It is the great Roman poet Virgil who is Dante’s guide to the Inferno, but it is Beatrice, the paragon of beauty and grace, who takes him through Paradiso.

We stop in for a brief visit at the Chiesa di Santa Margherita dei Cerchi, more popularly known as the “Church of Dante,” where it is presumed that Dante and Beatrice saw each other, first as children, and later as young adults. Some say Beatrice is buried here, and the Church is treated as a kind of shrine to her. Historians dispute the myth that Beatrice is buried in this church. But that does not stop dozens of people from leaving letters every day to Beatrice in a basket near her “tomb.” Dan Brown visited the church while writing Inferno and left a letter beseeching Beatrice for inspiration in writing his book. He also sets a scene here.

Palazzo Vecchio “I pass behind the palazzo with its crenellated tower and one-handed clock… snaking through the early morning vendors in Piazza di San Firenze with their hoarse voices smelling of lampredotto and roasted olives...”

Dan Brown, Inferno The “palazzo with its crenellated tower and one-handed clock” in the above quote is the Palazzo Vecchio, which is Florence’s town hall. The building’s construction began during Dante’s youth. He would not have recognized the current edifice, most of which was constructed long after his death. But when Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici moved his operations here in 1540, it became the seat of power from which the Medici family—bankers to Europe, political wizards of Florence, patrons of Renaissance artists including Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci—would invent modern capitalism and control Florence for the next century. Today, in addition to housing the Town Hall, the Palazzo Vecchio is open to the public as a museum.

Michelangelo’s famous 17-foot tall statue of David stood outside the Palazzo for almost 400 years, from the time he sculpted it to 1873, when it was moved indoors to the Accademia Gallery in another part of town. But there is a replica of David today, standing guard at the front of the Palazzo, along with several other giant marble statues of Renaissance origins.

A good portion of the action in Brown’s Inferno is set in the labyrinthine spaces of the Palazzo Vecchio. For example, Dante’s death mask is on display here, and it becomes one of two McGuffins central to Dan Brown’s plot. For 65 pages, Brown’s characters, Robert Langdon and Sienna Brooks, are hunting for clues or being pursued by their adversaries in various rooms, secret passageways, and attics of the Palazzo.

There is a daily “Secret Passageways” tour of the Palazzo. Dan Brown took it and he milks it for all it is worth in Inferno. The Studiolo is one of the rooms you can see on the Secret Passageways tour. It is referenced briefly

by Brown, although personally, I could have spent all day there and in its even smaller sister chamber, the Tesoretto room. Here, the Medici family kept valuable, mysterious and magical objects they had collected from the four corners of the world (and secret document files as well). These rooms were designed by the great Renaissance painter and architect, Giorgio Vasari, at the direction of Francesco I, the alchemist in the Medici family.

Almost every inch of the walls and ceilings of the Studiolo is covered by paintings, many of which contain alchemical symbols, codes, and clues in its imagery. Most of the paintings, in turn, are actually cabinet doors, which once concealed secret objects of magical and alchemical significance.

The Studiolo is just off Palazzo Vecchio’s main hall, the Salone dei Cinquecento or “Salon of the 500.” Vasari presided over the creation of this rehabbed version of one of the most magnificent—and theatrical—spaces in Italy. Since this room was used by the Medicis to convene important meetings and hold major celebrations, Vasari decorated it with massive paintings depicting victorious moments in Florentine and Medici military history. Fifty-foot high tableaus of battles rise up to meet a ceiling completely covered in additional scenes of the glories of Florence.

Hidden in the vast scale of these paintings are tiny white letters one inch high on a green flag carried by a soldier. You can barely discern it with the naked eye. But if you know what to look for, you can probably make out the words CERCA TROVA (“seek and you shall find”). This turns out to be the oft-repeated watchword of Inferno. And the paintings in the Salon of the 500 play a key role in the plot.

Great hijinks in Inferno take place in and above the Salone dei Cinquecento, and in the other secret rooms and passageways of the Palazzo Vecchio, like

ponte santa trinita (itaLian for hoLy trinity briDge) is nameD for the nearby church. the Design for this, the oLDest eLLiptic arch briDge in the worLD, is saiD to be by micheLangeLo. the first mention of the briDge (then buiLt in wooD) Dates from 1218. beyonD this you can see the ponte aLLa carraia.

the Duke of Athens stairway. The central ceiling panel by Vasari depicting the “Apotheosis of Cosimo I” comes into play. So too does the spectacular map room on the upper floor of the palazzo. I was expecting Brown to do more with the giant globe in the center of the map room. In the 16th century, this was the world’s largest globe, and Vasari had designed it to have motion and be used dramatically to show the earth’s movements and the “cosmological” interests of Cosimo. But Brown needs to keep his characters constantly moving. The secret passageway concealed by a map of Armenia is used as an exit strategy and Robert Langdon and Sienna Brooks are off to the next part of their adventure.

The Duomo, the Baptistery, and the Ponte Vecchio Many of Florence’s top tourist attractions figure in Inferno. The Duomo, which was under construction in Dante’s time, gets a cameo appearance. Immediately adjacent to the Duomo, the Baptistery, where Dante himself was baptized, is the venue for several important plot developments. Brown reminds us that Ghiberti’s famous carved bronze doors for the Baptistery have been traded out for replicas, but never mind. They are still worth a good long look at Ghiberti’s masterful design.

The Ponte Vecchio, a 10th century bridge over the Arno, which is today dotted with gold and jewelry stores and crammed full of tourists at all hours, comes in for some of the action in Inferno and a few history lessons from Brown. it is our last dawn in florence. we are gazing out at the arno from our hotel, soaking in our last looks at the Ponte Vecchio and the Florentine “skyline”—the Duomo, the Campanile, and the clock tower of the Palazzo Vecchio. A dragon boat from a local rowing club skims the water and speeds by. After almost a week in Florence, Julie and I are experiencing a mild case of Stendhal Syndrome. So much beauty, so much art, so much we have seen... and yet so much still to be seen.

*

Dan Burstein and Julie O’Connor live in Weston, CT. Dan is a venture capitalist and the author of 14 books. With his Weston-based partner, Arne de Keijzer, he wrote Secrets of the Code, the world’s bestselling guidebook to The Da Vinci Code, a decade ago. The “Secrets Team” is currently at work on Secrets of Inferno, a guidebook to Dan Brown’s latest novel.

Julie is an award-winning photographer. She created the first non-Western door poster with “Doors of Tibet” in 2003, which became the basis for her interest in doing her book, Doors of Weston: 300 Years of Passageways in a Connecticut Town, published in partnership with the Weston Historical Society.

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o.j. in The morning, g&T aT nighT by a.e. hoTchner

when

I turned seventy-five I was under the illusion that given all the challenges I had faced in my life, I could handle any rough stuff that came my way, like being blind-sided or sucker punched. I believed I was a battle-savvy veteran, equipped to fend off the pesky slings and arrows, duck the custard pies and sharp elbows, anticipate the deceptions and connivances that might come zinging my way.

But as I was about to find out on the day after my seventy-fifth birthday, there is no defense against being thrown a curve when you’re least expecting it. The nibbling encroachment of your passing years—the fading biceps, reflexes, knees, rotator cuffs, conspire against you. You freeze, your back leg buckles, you pull away as the curve dives over the plate, and you hear those fatal words: “You’re out!”

On the morning of the first day of my seventy-sixth year, my second wife, to whom I had been married for twenty years, came to the breakfast table and, pushing my newspaper aside, said: “I am leaving you.”

“Oh,” I said naively, “you have an appointment?”

“Yes. With a broker. I’m moving into a sublet.”

There had been no preamble to this pronouncement, no dirge of dissatisfaction, no soul-searching confessional, no litany of neglect and abuse, selfishness and niggardliness. Nope, I had my back to the plate when she threw this curve—which landed like a beanball.

Matter of fact, it wasn’t much of a marriage. Our interests, our personalities, our friends, our sense of humor (or lack of it), our beliefs, our temperaments, nothing meshed, except for our fondness for our son who was born a year into our marriage. When my two daughters from my previous marriage were young (my first wife died of cancer), I was often away serving the demands of freelance writing. But now, with the security

of accomplishment, I intended to stay the course and enjoy the growing years of this splendid little son; unfortunately that meant tolerating my flat marital existence. It may well have also been my wife’s motivation.

But now she was cramming the station wagon with all her belongings and, with a wave of her hand, she was disappearing down the driveway.

I was conflicted: pleased to see this sham relationship come to an end, but unsure of my footing.

Our son was now in his third year at Brown University, presently on an exchange program in Nepal. I decided to go visit him and break the news about this unexpected fissure on the home front. My wife declared she would go at the same time so as not to give me a leg up on who did what to whom.

It was, without doubt, the most bizarre trip I ever took, anywhere. It was Christmastime and the highlight of my three days there was when the Nepalese waiters in the hotel dressed in their version of Santa Claus costumes (looking more like the seven dwarfs), and sang “Jingle Bells” with an incomprehensible Nepalese accent to a tune that sounded like a Gregorian chant.

Our talk with our son was anticlimatic.

“What took you so long?” he said.

Suddenly a bachelor, I now had to invent a reordered existence. I felt it was important to stick to the base of my usual routine: out of bed and start the day on the floor stretching, a variety of leg and groin exercises, shoulder sit-ups, bicycle pumps, back bends, followed by getting on my feet for neck looseners and arm swivels, claps and flaps, finishing with twenty repetitions of arm lifts with eight-pound weights. A bracing shower and then my inner bugler sounds reveille and the day officially begins with a big glass of fresh orange juice, just as every evening begins with a big gin and tonic. When youngsters in their seventies and eighties, nervously

From O.J. in the Morning, G&T at Night by A. E. Hotchner.

Copyright © 2013 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Press, LLC.

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lurching toward the horizon of ninety, ask me, “What’s the secret?” That’s what I tell them: “O.J. in the morning, gin and tonic at night.”

But where and how would I live as a newly minted bachelor? I went through a bleak period of living full-time in New York, trying to establish some kind of social life, but I eventually decided I’d be better off jettisoning New York and, in the mode of Henry Thoreau, isolating myself in my big Connecticut house, which is surrounded by several verdant acres. I didn’t have Walden Pond but I did have a small reflecting pool that I filled with exotic gold fish and koi. I planted things and cooked things and tried to write things but either you’re a Thoreauvian or you’re not, and, alas, I was far from it. Sitting beside my 12 x 25 reflecting pool with its spitting bird fountain, watching the fish wiggle and glide did not inspire poetic rhapsodies but only made me wish I were gamboling with them.

But I did try valiantly to immerse myself with marigolds, mini-nuggets, mulch, and Miracle-Gro. I ordered twenty-five pedigreed bantam chicks, which came in the ordinary post from Murray McMurray’s Hatchery in Iowa, and installed them in a henhouse I had made with an outdoor run.

Once they left chickhood, however, and became grownups, I lost interest.

I even bought a rather elaborate acrylic paint set from the local art store, but my attempts to capture even a whiff of the flora I was trying to paint was pathetic.

One evening, watching a polar bear documentary while eating a Stouffer’s unfrozen dinner on a tray, for no discernible reason I began to cry. Yep, tears ran down my cheeks, my nose began to run as a polar bear slid off an ice floe and began to swim. I do not cry easily. In fact, I never cry, but here I was, slobbering all over myself when there was absolutely nothing to slobber about. I mean, I care about the polar bear’s fate as much as the next guy, but to cry over?

The following morning, after my inner bugler had reveilled the day, I thought about my tear burst while I was watering the marigolds, and I relegated my polar bear lachrymosity to the realm of bad dreams. Even Henry Thoreau must have had a bad dream once in a while. After all, I was going through a difficult transition, wasn’t I? This was not like a fling at retirement, voluntary, nonbinding, this was a whack across my shins, rope around my ankles, quicksand.

Two days later, the tear ducts spilled over as before, again without warning. I had gone to Sue’s Tailoring—Sue was a South Korean lady who wields a magic needle—to give me an extra inch in the waist of my trousers and ease the button on my jacket (another depressing development), when, as I stood before the full-length mirror watching her fiddle with my jacket, tears welled up and spilled over.

“Oh, sorry, sorry,” Sue said. “I stick you?”

“No . . . no . . .”

“Sorry. So sorry . . .”

“No, Sue,” I stuttered, “I stuck myself.”

“You have pin?”

“Figure of speech.”

“I have Band-Aid . . .”

The previous tearfall was private, but now there was this embarrassing witness. Why in God’s name was I crying in that mirror? Sure, letting out one’s pants is depressing, but to cry over? Look, Hotch, I said to myself in that full-length mirror, you were a bust as a New Yorker and now you’re a bust in Connecticut, so where’s the next bust going to be? Coast to coast you can chalk up one bust after another, crying from Mamaroneck to Spokane. And then what?

Even I who likes to pretend he doesn’t have a problem when he has a

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problem had to face the fact that now he had a problem.

I don’t exactly recall how I happened upon the name of Dr. Carl B. Brust, practice limited to psychiatric consultation with the elderly. He may have been recommended by someone at the writers’ table at Elaine’s, or maybe it was one of my kids, tired of looking at my hang-dog face.

I imagined that Dr. Brust would be an elderly gentleman who would exude empathy for my tearletting. His office was in Manhattan between

The day officially begins wiTh a big glass of fresh orange juice, jusT as every evening begins wiTh a big gin and Tonic.

Madison and Fifth in the Sixties. I had trouble finding it because it was five steps below street level, in the basement of a renovated brownstone.

The door, located beneath the street stairs, listed five doctors who occupied individual warrens that had been scalloped out of the basement.

Probably psychiatrist row.

The Dr. Brust door read, ENTER WITHOUT KNOCKING. I waited in a cramped anteroom whose only ornament was a framed picture of the Colosseum, symbolic for the elderlies, I would guess, broken but still standing.

Dr. Brust was not a mature gentleman, exuding empathy. He was very tall, very fit, immaculately groomed, exuding nothing. He sported a three-pointed white jacket handkerchief, a black and white bow tie and brown and white wing-tip shoes. The consultation room was not much bigger than the waiting cubicle. We sat facing each other; when he crossed his long legs his wingtips invaded my space.

I told him my story and he listened impassively, without question or comment, his wingtips switching places once or twice. He did not have a pen and pad in his lap, just kept his gaze steady on my face. Unnerving. Only when I wound up with an account of my tearful finale did he comment.

“Most of my patients shed those unexplainable tears,” he said.

I was glad to hear I had company.

“You cry because you are disconnected with your inner self, which has abandoned you. It is the guardian of your psyche, your moods, your tears and so much else. We must find it and reconnect you. Do you meditate?”

“You mean on purpose? Like the Hindus? No, not really.”

“What about yoga?”

“I play tennis instead.”

“Yoga has restorative positions that would be good for you.”

He picked up a folder from a table beside his chair. “Here are some drawings of yoga positions that are conducive to meditation. Especially the lotus position. Wander your thoughts. Gently. Everything gently.

I’ll see you Tuesdays and Thursdays, three o’clock.”

That afternoon, I put a cushion on the floor of my bedroom and followed the directions on my lotus card. Legs straight out, bend your

right knee and put it over your left thigh, then bend your left knee and put it above your right thigh. Put your hands on top of your knees.

Folding my knees made a crackling sound and my stretched thighs hurt. I closed my eyes, as instructed, took deep breaths and hoped that my wandering mind would start me on my way to my inner self. No such luck. All it led me to was a replay of the previous night’s Yankee game when A-Rod came to bat with the bases loaded, one out, one run behind, and weakly grounded into a double play.

I tried to push A-Rod and the dismal game out of my meditation but after fifteen minutes I gave up, opened my eyes, and tried to stand up but my legs were locked together. I tried to extricate my right foot but it stayed firmly nestled under my left thigh as if someone had glued it in that position. By rolling over and attacking my incarcerated legs from the underside, I finally unwound myself but my legs were numb and when I eventually regained my feet I discovered I had a charley horse.

I spent three weeks with Dr. Wingtips, Tuesdays and Thursdays, searching for my inner self but I really didn’t know for what I was looking. I tried several of those yoga positions that Wingtips thought might induce the kind of meditation that would lead me inwardly, but nothing worked. The Thursday he suggested I read Shirley MacLaine’s reincarnation book, Out on a Limb, and try meditating about the possibility of my own reincarnation as a way to lead me to my inner being—that was the farewell session in the subterranean cubicle on Sixty-third Street.

For several weeks I was nicely distracted by a musical comedy I wrote with my longtime friend, Cy Coleman, that was in rehearsal at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Florida, but after the musical opened and I returned to New York I settled back into living on the dark side of the moon.

Until . . .

I was in Bloomingdale’s buying Jockey underwear when, at an adjoining counter, I recognized an old friend I had not seen for many years. We embraced, happily thumping each other’s back. Dr. Norman Kelman was his name, as endearing a man as I had ever known.

We went across the street to have a coffee. Norm was a distinguished analyst whose roots were embedded with the early Freudians. He had written many important academic works. Now in his upper eighties, I had heard he was still practicing because a tempestuous divorce had left him cruelly strapped.

Norm had a round, receptive face that radiated good fellowship, and his easy laughter was infectious. We reminisced, inquired about each other’s progeny, and in telling about ourselves we realized we were in similar limbo, although because of his age (I was a young seventy-seven at the time), I considered his limbo more serious than mine. I began to tell him about my current state when the thought struck me: “Norm, it’s probably not possible . . . I mean, I don’t know if you might consider . . . What I’m trying to say is, would it be feasible, despite our personal relationship, that you could see me professionally?”

He laughed his marvelous deep-throated laugh. “You mean, could I be objective, dispassionate? Don’t know. Never came up before.”

“I would like to give it a try.”

“All right, let’s do.” He took a small, leather appointment book from his pocket. “How about next Monday, eleven thirty?” He scribbled down his address.

“I’ll be there.”

“It may be only that one session.”

It turned out to be three months of sessions, Norm’s alchemy pulling me up and away from the depressing slope I was on, made slippery by my

real and figurative tears. Without seeming to lead me, he led me through the dark maze of my doubts, helping me to arrive at an open clearing.

Norm’s consultation room was large and airy. He wore the same vintage corduroy jacket every day with a paisley vest and one of three alternating knit neckties. He wore brown leather shoes, not wingtips. In Freudian fashion, he would light up a cigar at the start of our sessions and puff on it while I had my say. On good days he would be sharp and insightful, but on days when his patient load was heavy, starting at six A.M., he would sometimes nod off, his chin descending on his chest with his burning cigar dangling from his lips, ash tumbling down his chest. I thought if I stopped talking he might awake, but it had no effect. Precisely at the forty-five minute mark, Norm would straighten up, brush the ashes off his vest and resume puffing as if he had not had his little catnap. He would then devote our last minutes to observations and questions in preparation for the next session when he would make up for lost time.

Looking back on it, I’d say what I cherish the most from those sessions with Norm was what I finally understood about loving, stemming from reliving the arid years of my loveless marriage. “You see, Hotch,” Norm had said, “the love you give is the love you get.”

It had been a while since our last session, when I decided to tell

look, hoTch, i said To myself in ThaT fulllengTh mirror, you were a busT as a new yorker and now you’re a busT in connecTicuT, so where’s The nexT busT going To be?

Norman about the good turns my life had taken and how much he had contributed. I phoned him, intending to invite him for lunch or a drink, but the operator came on and said the number I was calling was out of service. I knew what that meant.

After I hung up, I sat beside the phone for a long time and grieved for him. He was a splendid man who had touched something in me that had elevated my life; that something was the importance of loving, full out and unconditional.

Every time I smell the aroma of a good cigar, I think of Norman.

*

A.E. HOTCHNER is an effervescent and charismatic nonagenarian.

A life-long writer, he has written eighteen books, including his 1966 internationally bestselling biography of his close friend Ernest Hemingway, Papa Hemingway. His memoir, King of the Hill, was adapted into a film in 1993 by Steven Soderbergh. In addition to his successful, decades-long writing career, Hotchner is co-founder, along with Paul Newman, of Newman’s Own foods. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and pet parrot, Ernie.

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MoDern Day Darwin Conversation with riCharD wiese, host of Born to explore™ By erin levi upstairs from bobby q restaurant beside shoe-inn

– one of the many shops to make up the high-end retail heaven that is Westport, CT’s Main Street – is probably not where you’d expect to find the offices of a travel show. But that’s exactly where Richard Wiese, arguably the world’s most interesting, accomplished and handsome explorer, works with his team on Born to Explore™, the thrice Emmy nominated travel show on ABC whose success has landed it a third season, starting Saturday October 5, 2013. In June, Born to Explore™took home a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Single Camera Photography.

Long-Island native Wiese certainly didn’t use his good looks (heck, he was a Ford model in college) as a crutch: this Brown University Geology and Biology grad, who has been everywhere from Antarctica to the North Pole, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro 18 times, co-discovered 202 new forms of life in New York’s Central Park, lived with Batwa pygmies in Uganda, and trekked down the deepest canyon in the world in Peru. The list goes on. It’s no wonder he was the youngest President of the Explorer’s Club, and is currently Eddie Bauer’s New Adventure Travel Guide. Who doesn’t want to be him?

And now, two seasons and counting since September 2011, he’s been the host of his own show, Born to Explore™, titled after a guidebook he wrote. The show’s premise, instead of focusing purely on adventure and scientific exploration, highlights culture and tells

the stories of the heartwarming people Wiese encounters, as he bonds with them over food, music and art.

The first two seasons took Wiese to a number of countries and US States, including Iceland, where he ate rotten shark with a Viking and spoke about vulnerability of volcanic island life with local farmers; Morocco, where he was the first Westerner to visit a certain Berber village; Chile, where he went fishing in the rough waters of the Pacific Ocean with Chile’s only female fisherwoman; and North Carolina, where he explored the bear and red wolf populations of the Outer Banks.

Next season, he’ll be kicking things off with episodes of his travels to India, Scotland (can we say dressed to kilt?), and South Africa, to start.

Apart from his accomplishments, Wiese is a truly blessed individual who cares about the world, its people, his family, and is conscious about giving back.

All thanks to an Internet coincidence on Twitter, I was virtually connected to Wiese only a week after I had first seen his show, which had left me dreaming of a trip to Iceland. Magically, I discovered that the man I’d watched traversing the world on TV actually lived just a few minutes away from my parents in Weston, the town where I grew up. Although there is much left to see and explore, the world can be a very, very small place.

And so one Friday afternoon, I met up with Wiese over a cup of South African Rooibos at his downtown Westport office to talk about the show, his love for travel and exploration and the places he still wants to see.

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EL: Tell me a bit about your show, Born to Explore™.

RW: The show started out as an adventure show, almost a pure adventure show. We then started realizing that the people that we met along the way became more interesting than the summit of a mountain.

this was an impressive woman.

I also met a Chilean fishing woman who is the only professional fishing woman in all of Chile. She’s never taken a vacation day in her life — and she has a sense of humor.

EL: Not many people are able to bridge both science and humanity as well as you do.

RW: But I’m interested in different things. And I think after becoming a father and a married man, I’ve probably become a more interesting person myself because my focus on what’s important to me is generally outside of just myself. If you go to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, you think, okay, when I get to the summit that will be the thing I will remember

EL: Which cultures have impressed you most?

RW: Morocco is a very mysterious, Arabic looking culture, so it’s different from ours by a long shot. That’s where we visited with the Berbers in the mountains. I was amazed by their hospitality. I think in America we have the notion that they are going to be very standoffish or that we’d offend them easily. For these people, hospitality is rule number one. I think that kind of culture, just their whole ideal of not needing a lot of money, the

There’s a difference between someone who is an adrenaline junky, who’s just like “Wahooo!” versus someone who is seeing something spectacular unfolding. most. But now I’m starting to realize that the people carrying my bags up the mountain, the guides, the wildlife experts that I’ve taken the time to get to know, I think, wow, these guys have really great or interesting stories. And so the show has definitely gone softer on the adventure aspect. It’s less about me doing that and more about finding out about the interesting people in these areas. If I said I was trying to do this show in the beginning, no one would have said that’s a great idea. Now that people see it, they appreciate that we take a really authentic view.

EL: Who are the most remarkable people you’ve met while filming?

RW: There was a Zulu teacher we met (in South Africa) who in 7th grade ran away from home because she was promised to a much older man.

From the village she went to you had to walk 7 miles to get to school and cross a river with crocodiles. So when she became old enough, she started her own school in her own village so other kids wouldn’t have to experience such hardship. Only a high school education and she said, “Look at that shade tree. That was my office. Look at that shade tree, it was the 1st Grade.” She now has 30 classes and an orphanage. She was like a bulldozer. The level of dedication was tremendous. I sat in on an English class. It would rival a 7th grade English class here, for sure.

Absolutely, I would put those kids against these kids. So I said to myself,

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ideal of being free to roam the desert, was pretty impactful.

There was a group in Uganda, the Batwa pygmies — the little people.

What a sense of humor these people had! These guys were like little walking comedians. They were really funny, fun, upbeat, and warm. And they are tiny! They can walk through the jungle almost silently. They could disappear into the bush, and you’d be like, where did they go? I was impressed. They have a lot of adversity. They’re sort of getting kicked out of their lands.

There was military activity going on in that area; yet, they had a sense of humor and lightness about them that I thought was quite remarkable.

EL: That is indeed.

RW: Whether it be Morocco, Chile or Africa, I’m always astonished by how much so many people in this world accomplish with so little. To me it’s so gratifying. We were just filming in South Africa, and oh my god, the challenges the teachers and students face on a daily basis make any problem you have seem inconsequential. Orphaned, AIDS, they’re still upbeat, and they all have a sense of community.

EL: I understand your crew was the first group of Westerners to visit a particular Berber village in Morocco. What was that like?

RW: We were going to this remote Moroccan village that I knew had just

built a road the year before. Everyone kept saying that they’ve never had any Westerners here before. I kept questioning, are you sure? I asked the Ministry of Tourism and they said, “No, you’re the first Westerners to visit.” I was so blown away by this fact because people have been running up and down there since the time of the Romans. So we went to see this Berber village that once was a mix of Berbers and Jews hiding up in the mountains. When you go and meet people whose lives are pretty much untouched by media, there’s something so sincere and so real about it…. They wanted to make their best impression on us and we wanted to make our best impression on them. I remember I gave them a donation, shoes for every single person, and they sent us back a photo of them wearing the shoes. It was very cute.

EL: How has the Internet and social media changed the way you travel and explore today?

RW: Most people think that when you bring up the subject of the Internet you’re going to be negative. I’m actually very positive on what I’ve learned as a result. Every time I see something and I don’t know what it is I look it up. I’m like a Google monster. I could see a bird I don’t know and I look it up on iBird. I could find a rock and look it up. I have astronomy apps. If we’re having a political discussion or I’m researching trips I look it up. So I’m constantly seeing the world.

That being said, the impetus to write Born to Explore first, was that I was escorting a group of high school students to Antarctica. We ran across a pod of 50 or so whales. It was such a spectacular display of whales in the Drake Passage along the way to Antarctica that the whale biologist was crying. There were certain kids who didn’t get off their little Gameboys to literally walk 15 feet to take a look. And I thought, wow, there’s something really amiss. So from that standpoint, there are kids who will find their game in front of them more interesting than what is outside. Do I think that’s good? No. My father, for example, was the first man to solo the Pacific Ocean on an airplane. He just did it. He didn’t have a publicist. He just did it. He didn’t talk about it much afterwards. Now when someone does an event, they are so conscious about tweeting it, posting it, that part of the event becomes about them telling people about the event instead of them just sitting back and enjoying it. So there’s bit of a balance there.

EL: At least you still have an appreciation of the world and how lucky you are to be doing what you do, after all of these years of exploration.

RW: I can become a little jaded about travel, but let me tell you about this past December on a star-filled night when the moon was coming up over the ocean. We were in South Africa on the Indian Ocean looking for leatherback turtles, which lay their eggs there – it’s one of the great migrations. These turtles are about seven feet long. They’re huge! I thought to myself, my gosh, you’re on the Indian Ocean in South Africa looking for leatherback turtles on a starry night. How cool is this? It was really cool, even for someone who travels a lot. It was just so awesome. So yeah, I do get the awesome moments.

lane I think, Oh my god, I’m going to get killed! I think you can lead an adventurous life. But there’s a difference between someone who is an adrenaline junky, who’s just like “Wahooo!” versus someone who is seeing something spectacular unfolding. I have little kids. I don’t want to get killed.

EL: Of course not. But you climbed Mount Kilimanjaro when you were 11. That’s adventurous. How young were you when you started traveling?

RW: You know what you grow up with. Yes, Kilimanjaro was an epic trip, but it was not unusual for my father to say, “Feel like coming to Africa with me tomorrow?’ or “I’m going to Germany, wanna come?” It just was not an unusual thing.

EL: What’s on your bucket list?

RW: I look at world maps all the time. I’ve never been to Greece or China.

I’d like to go to Greenland. I sort of have this romantic notion of sailing in the South Pacific. There are a few animal events I’d like to see, like a place in Argentina where orcas (killer whales) beach themselves… I’d like to go back to Antarctica. I’d like to go to Bhutan. There are a couple of places in Africa I haven’t been. I’d always like to climb the Matterhorn.

I might do an episode climbing it this summer. I’d definitely like to take my wife and kids to Kilimanjaro some day. That’d be kind of cool since there’s history. I’ve done it 18 times.

EL: Do you ever get the scary moments?

RW: I’m very conservative when it comes to risk and always have been.

EL: How do you feel about the state of the world?

RW: I feel in the world there’s still a lot of magic. Not in the sense of pulling rabbits out of hats, but there are things that occur on a regular basis, whether it be great animal migrations, or certain cultural practices that are outside of what you see on TV. We’re constantly discovering things, like nuggets of original authentic life you don’t see on broadcast. When people are talking about reality shows, some of the most real moments, the best reality shows, are happening for real.

EL: Is wrestling an alligator not risky? (I’ve seen your video!)

RW: If I’m holding an alligator, I would have spoken to an alligator expert. I would have gone to YouTube to look at alligator accidents. Again, my father was a pilot, so we always went through scenarios of what might happen and what we should do, so I’m very conscious of risk. The scariest things I do, honestly, are on I-95 here. When I see someone texting in the next

Born to Explore™ airs Saturday mornings on ABC. Season 3 begins October 5, 2013. Check your local TV guide for time.

To keep up with Richard Wiese, follow him on twitter @RichardWiese, or like the show’s facebook page: www.facebook.com/borntoexploretv Erin Levi is a Weston native and NYC resident who loves traveling and exploring the globe.

*

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fiction

Can I Have a Million Dollars by —Can I have a million dollars?

—Excuse me?

—Can I have a million dollars? Why are you making that face?

—That’s quite a request.

—Not really.

—How do you figure?

—Look, we’ve been friends a long time, right?

—Right.

—And you have around four hundred million dollars, right?

—About that, yes.

—So all I’m asking you for is a measly million.

—Is that all?

—I know it sounds like a lot…

—That it does.

—That’s because you’re not looking at it properly.

—Then how should I be looking at it?

—Well, let’s say you had four hundred dollars.

Would you give me one?

—Sure.

—Okay, and if you had four thousand dollars.

Would you give me ten?

—Probably.

—So? Do the math. It’s the same thing.

—Not really.

—Why? —Because this is a million dollars.

—But it’s the same percentage.

—But this is a million dollars. And that’s a lot

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AlAn Zweibel

of money to loan someone.

—Oh, I agree.

—You do?

—Yes. —So? —So that’s why I’m not asking for a loan.

—You’re not?

—No. I just want you to give it to me.

—But I don’t feel comfortable doing that.

—Fine. Then can you loan me a million dollars?

—Okay.

—Really?

—I can do that.

—Great.

—Any idea when you could pay me back?

—I’m not going to pay you back.

—You’re not?

—No. That’s a lot of pressure to put on our friendship.

—But… —“Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”

—I’ve heard that saying.

—And it’s true…

—I bet.

—That’s why it’s a saying.

—I guess so…

—Because think about it, if you lend me a million dollars, it’s going to be hanging in the air between us.

—Maybe.

—Not maybe, definitely. Whenever we’re to-

gether you’re going to be thinking, “He owes me a million dollars,” and I’m going to be thinking, “Shit, I owe him a million dollars.”

—Perhaps…

—And I wouldn’t want something like that to come between us.

—Neither would I. —Your friendship means too much to me.

—Sure…

—So that’s why you should just give me the million dollars. Clean. With no strings attached. Because God knows it’s a lot better than the alternative.

—Which is?

—Me suing you for a million dollars.

—Excuse me?

—And I really don’t want that to happen because that would be bad for our friendship.

—I’ll say…

—Because whenever we’re together you’re going to be thinking, “He’s suing me for a million dollars,” and that could lead to hard feelings, and I don’t want that.

—Why would you sue me?

—Mental anguish.

—Mental anguish?

—Yeah…

—What kind of mental anguish?

—Because it would really bother me if you didn’t give me a million dollars.

—Jesus…

From the book Clothing Optional: and Other Ways to Read These Stories, by Alan Zweibel.

Copyright © 2008 by Alan Zweibel. Published by arrangement with Villard Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

—I won’t be able to sleep, which will affect my moods, and my relationship with family and co-workers.

—And that will be my fault?

—To my mind, yes.

—All because I didn’t give you a million dollars.

—To my mind, yes.

—That would be hard to prove, you know.

—I know. A case like that could tie us both up for years. And I would really like to avoid that if at all possible.

—So would I. —Hey, we both have too much else going on without adding this nonsense to the mix.

—So what are you suggesting?

—That we settle.

—Settle?

—Look, we’ve been friends a long time.

And we’re reasonable adults. I’m sure we can come up with a figure that’s comfort-

able for both of us.

—Do you have a number in mind?

—Yep. —What is it?

—Fifty thousand dollars.

—You want me to give you fifty thousand dollars?

—Look, if you had eight thousand dollars, would you give me one?

—Of course.

—This is the same thing.

—Okay.

—Really?

—I said okay.

—So you’ll give me fifty thousand dollars?

—Sure. That all right with you?

—Well, I’m taking a bit of a hit here, but it’s worth it.

—For our friendship?

—For our friendship.

*

An original “Saturday Night Live” writer, Alan Zweibel has won numerous Emmy, Writers Guild of America and TV Critics awards for his work in television, which also includes “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” “Monk” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” In the theater, he collaborated with Billy Crystal on the Tony Award-winning play “700 Sundays” and the off-Broadway hit “Bunny Bunny – Gilda Radner: A Sort of Romantic Comedy” which he adapted from his best selling book. Alan wrote the popular children’s book, Our Tree Named Steve, and his novel, The Other Shulman, won the 2006 James Thurber Prize for American humor. Currently, he is writing the screenplay version of his latest novel, Lunatics, (coauthored with Dave Barry) for Universal Pictures, with Steve Carrell attached to play one of the leads.

Alan and his wife Robin live in Short Hills, New Jersey because they enjoy paying exceedingly high property taxes.

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Wedding Party A S by

T

he wedding party of the season kicked off the weekend, with neighbors and old acquaintances flying in from all over. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” said Uncle Rem, who only two minutes before had hopped off a twin-prop from Mexico City. The ever-popular twins from Baltimore, Nick and Ned, arrived sporting boating slacks and new business cards: they’ve set up a fab antiquary in posh Southampton, which will open this summer, just in time for the starstudded Fourth of July crowds in for beach glass and original 1908 Monopoly boards!

K. and L., who met at last year’s gala Daisy Parade, have been truly, madly in love since that fateful moment when their eyes first locked over spilled punch and a racing forum. More than once the word “grace” came to the lips of the 150+ guests in the daisy-strewn reception hall (the daisies a reminder, of course, of how it all began twelve months before).

Taking the daisy theme and running with it, L.’s family commissioned a lovely piece of original art: a silk-screened banner reading “She Loves Me!” which hung over the Head Table during the evening. Charmingly, a duo of sparrows took it upon themselves to perch on top of the banner and preen and chirp during the appetizer course.

The families of the lovebirds themselves were beating down the door to fete the charming couple. This reporter counted forty-six Villamontes and fifty-three Stromms in attendance. Patriarch Villamonte, Nestor, renowned for his dealings in antiquaries along the coast of Spain and recently Quebec City, had this to say over a champagne toast (Chandon Brut, well iced and perfectly matched with the eel on Saltine hor d’ouevres!): “Never have I seen my beloved child so happy as

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urelie

heehAn

she is this day.” K’s mother chimed in moments later with her own maternal nugget of wisdom: “We’re all family now, isn’t it a gas? I feel like I’ve known L. all my life long.”

The Villamontes weren’t the only loquacious wordsmiths in town. Roused to a toast himself by 150+ singing teaspoons battering down better-grade restaurant crystal flutes, Stromm Senior rose miraculously from his wheelchair to say: “Long live the Albatross!” before once more sitting down. (Rumors of a hospital visit after the reception were largely found to be false.)

Natives to our humble village will remember Stromm Senior’s illustrious career as a sea captain, in addition to the personal sacrifices he made in the War. The food was to die for. Where did K. and L. find this fabulous new caterer? Turns out that REBELLION FOOD CORP. is the hottest new name in culinary hoo-hah. From the previously mentioned eel-and-cracker appetizers — which no one, I mean no one, had thought of before — to the actual meal itself (strongly flavored kale quiche, pork chops with raspberry jam, freshly baked breadsticks, and a truly extraordinary mango-kiwi compote slathered over it all) to the piece de resistance for any lover de chocolat, a Mud Pie with melon balls, REBELLION FOOD CORP. has truly outdone itself — Choi and Choi Caterers, Wildflower Kitchen, Generous Bowls Inc., watch out for this gutsy newcomer!

But no account of the Nuptials of the Season would be complete without mention of the knock-em-dead musical band! A little bird told me that these feisty Beatles throwbacks are actually cousins of L. and had recently been released from prison. Don’t say that came from me, boys and girls, because maybe the

penitentiary is a fine place to practice music without distraction, and who are we to use the past against one of our own? The proof was in the “voting” footsteps of all the giddy dancers.

Rumba, ballroom, tango, hip-hop — you name it, these lucky guests broke the mold dreamily interpreting the old standards. Ah, melody!

The music of the heart! Ah, to be young again!

Sources close to the beloved couple told us they were off to Aruba for seven days after the Event. Picture this, if you would, the chance to savor and relive such a gala festival of sweet memories in your own newlywed suite, with a heart-shaped tub and a bottle of vodka...

I myself was not sure whether to take seriously the rumors of despair and discord, including two pairs of velvet slippers thrown from the window of a VW Beetle. How can one intrude so on the private lives of others by reporting such detail, such ghastly detail, best left private, and utterly alone? You won’t hear such grousing and pussyfooting from this reporter, who believes in love, believes in this town, and believes in the intergenerational goodwill generated by Nuptial events!

The reception hall itself, the Chamber of Commerce has announced, will be closed for renovations at the end of the season. Further inquiries regarding reservations can be made by e-mail or phone to Gladys.

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Aurelie Sheehan’s new collection of fiction, Jewelry Box: A Collection of Histories, will be published by BOA Editions in October 2013.

The author of two novels and a previous story collection, Sheehan teaches fiction at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She grew up in Weston.

Wedding Party is reprinted from Smyles & Fish (November 2006).

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Rural Palates : reviews Rive BistRo Westport, CT This wonderful new “French Kitchen” on the banks of the Saugatuck River in Westport features French country cuisine at its

menu. For dessert, select from classics such as crème brulée, warm madeleines with dipping chocolate, or a cheese board of local and imported favorites.

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most flavorful, freshest and best. Chef/Owner Eric Sierra (Bistro des Amis; Palio) returns to Westport more confident and jovial than ever, to present spot on, Gallic fare in a beautiful waterside locale. This, he believes, will be his enduring stop.

To start, mousse de foie gras with brioche toast points and fig marmalade is divine. Classic escargot in garlic butter and herbs, and white bean stew with grilled shrimp are other crowd pleasers.

What’s a French menu without the duck?

Duck and foie gras sausage over lentils; and chef Sierra’s piece de resistance, crispy duck confit with fingerling potatoes, wild mushrooms and frisée salad will have you yearning to return.

Also excellent are the roasted lamb loin with a mustard rub, ratatouille and potato gratin; Moules Provençale basted in garlic, tomatoes, and fresh herbs served with French fries; and seafood Parmentier, a rich layering of shellfish, cheese and potatoes in a French shepherd’s pie.

An accomplished wine list accompanies the

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surrounds a welcoming central bar, and is staffed by knowledgeable and attentive servers.

Riverside, patio seating is available in season, and an upstairs, glass-walled private room is ideal for parties.

Open daily for lunch and dinner. Valet parking for lunch Monday-Friday. 299 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT. 203/557-8049; www.rivebistro.com. tinto BaR & tapas Norwalk, CT Enjoy tasty, well-priced small plates in a casual setting at Tinto’s, the latest incarnation of the former Meigas restaurant in the Wall Street neighborhood of Norwalk. Able to seat 155 people, Tinto has space for you and all your friends to relax in the bar, dining room or lounge. The restaurant is housed in what was once a trolley station, and takes advantage of the space’s lofty ceilings, tall glass windows, and exposed brick walls. Eat or drink in a setting of your choice: at high topped tables in the open bar area; in the colorful, tiled, main dining room; or in the curtained off lounge/ private function space.

Menu items are separated into Cold Tapas and Salads, Local Vegetarian Tapas, Fried Tapas, Hot Tapas, and Main Courses, which greatly aids in a balanced meal selection. Try

tinto BaR & tapas

everything from the aged Serrano ham; grilled artichokes with garlic; housemade empanadas of organic chicken or beef; and P.E.I mussel casserole; to boneless oxtail stew; slow cooked pork belly; baby rack of lamb; or classic paella Valenciano. “Daily Deals” are fresh, seasonal specials.

Tinto offers a large selection of wines from various countries and at various price points, as well as popular drinks such as mojitos, margaritas and more.

Open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.

Generous happy hour drink and tapas discounts on weekdays. 10 Wall Street, Norwalk, CT. 203/866-8800; www.tintobartapas.com. pastapResta @ sono MaRketplace

Avenue any more. Stock up on a sophisticated selection of imported and local cheeses from Plum Plums; Southern chocolate and pecan treats from Pecan Patti’s; and crostate (Italian tarts) and biscotti by Maura & Nuccia. Long hardwood tables allow visitors to enjoy oysters on the half shell from Broom Brothers on site, organic sandwiches and salads from Festivities, cocktails and Connecticut-brewed beers from Up the Creek Bar. Spend an afternoon with the family or an evening with friends; over 50 vendors in all.

Currently open Thursdays through Sundays.

314 Wilson Ave, S. Norwalk, CT www.sonomarketplace.com.

MediteRRaneo Norwalk, CT Mediterraneo is the newest of five restaurants from Z Hospitality Group, run by

Focusing mainly on seafood, but also including traditional meats like lamb, chicken, and Angus beef, as well as pasta and pizza, Chef DeAngelis applies a creative twist to bring Italian favorites to a new level. Highlights of the menu include chilled cucumber-avocado puree with colossal crab meat, and black sea bass crudo with seaweed salad and a citrus, EVOO dressing for appetizers.

For entrees, specialties include parmesancrusted west coast halibut and zatar-spiced lamb chop with braised artichoke and tomato confit.

Mediterraneo is definitely vegetarian and gluten-free friendly, with an array of delicious salads, pastas, and pizzas which offer unique options that are both exciting and satisfying.

The combination of modern luxury design and passionately prepared foods makes Mediterraneo a great choice for your next dining MediteRRaneo

pastapResta @ sono MaRketplace Norwalk, CT Check out the new SoNo MarketPlace, a European-style food hall in a soaring industrial building in South Norwalk for artisanal foods, kitschy products, a seasonal Farmer’s Market and more. Fresh pasta, made daily with locally sourced, farm fresh ingredients is available from Pastapresta, the pet project of Bill and Meri Erickson. (www.PastaPresta.com.) Take home varieties such as delicate squid ink linguini, or three cheese egg ravioli to serve with fresh marinara sauce from the nearby stall of Wise Guys Pizza Pies. No need to travel to Arthur

restaurateur, Ramze Zakka. The Mediterranean-style bistro located inside the new Hotel Zero Degrees in Norwalk, CT has a beautiful, modern design to go along with unique and innovative dishes. Diners can enjoy inspired cuisine by head chef Albert DeAngelis, whose experience has brought him from Manhattan to France to Norwalk, CT. He has been the executive chef for Z Hospitality Group since 1989.

experience. The scenery is surprisingly beautiful, as diners with the best tables overlook a lovely waterfall revealed by floor-to-ceiling glass windows/doors in the main dining room.

When the weather is right, the partitions can be opened for a nice breeze and the soothing sound of the splashing water.

Inside Hotel Zero Degrees at 353 Main Avenue, Norwalk, CT. 203/750-9800; www.zhospitalitygroup.com.

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LUXYOGA According to LUXYOGA Founder Benjamin Sears, New York is the best place in the world to practice yoga. No other city presents as many paths to balance or offers so many thrilling challenges to that balance. Sears splits time between his SOHO loft and the South of France villa where he runs LUXYOGA retreats. Sears’ bi-continental life, with spiritual practice as the through-line, is a real-life model of the modern yogi’s fantasy. Sears sees his passion for yoga, reflected by his ongoing healing work with students as well as his own practice, as symbiotic with an appreciation for life’s material luxuries; get the guy talking about food, art or travel and you’ll find he’s not your typical ponytailed guru-in-training.

Inspired by the exhilaration and challenge of cosmopolitan living, in 2007 Sears launched LUXYOGA, a boutique luxury yoga immersion experience in the South of France that merges New York’s ambitious energy to have the best of all things with low-key Provençal style. New York is about bringing wellness and decadence together: yoga with a renowned teacher and dinner at one the world’s finest restaurants all in one evening. This is also the LUXYOGA mission. The retreats feature refined farm-to-table cuisine and top-notch but unpretentious service. The villa, a 10,000 square foot flow of stone terraces and private spaces, presents all the conveniences of a classic Riviera hotel with more comfort and better vibes. These luxe elements support the yoga program — a true immersion with premier teachers who lead new students and advanced yogis alike to improve quickly and continue to grow long after they leave. The idea, says Sears, is for LUXYOGA to “lead you to create your own ‘LUX Life’ — to take the balance home with you, renewed by the realization that awareness is the greatest luxury of all.” Sears’ clients seem to agree; this summer many guests are returning for their 4th and 5th retreats. www.luxyoga.com.

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Matilda, the Musical, the brand new play based on the beloved children’s story by Roald Dahl that just hit Broadway, is sending monumental vibes to children and adults alike. Starring four different young actresses as Matilda, each performance has a slightly different twist. The choreography is a blast: Funny walking, great dancing, and kooky movements make this musical a laugh. Enjoy a show with an uplifting but not maudlin theme, trials, travails and comeuppances, true to Dahl’s acerbic vision of a child’s role in the world and the possibility of change.

Playing at the Shubert Theater (225 West 44th Street).

Tickets: www.telecharge.com; 212/239-6200, or in person at the Shubert Theatre Box Office.

intercOntinentAL new YOrk BArcLAY hOteL The InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel is welcoming and warming, efficient yet grand. Perfect for businessmen, diplomats, or visitors looking for a comfortable night with access to the action, the Barclay Hotel is situated in the heart of Manhattan. This is a great hotel at which to host events such as a wedding, party or conference, due to its large, elegant function rooms and comprehensive services. Modern amenities are offered throughout this historic setting, nicely combining 21st century essentials with old world charm. Visit the Barclay bar, serving over 100 Martinis and other well made drinks by an experienced bartender. The Grill is right next to the bar and offers an up to date Continental menu in an informal, masculine setting. Step out the door and into midtown Manhattan for business, shopping and sightseeing.

111 East 48th Street, New York, NY. www.intercontinentalnybarclay.com

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In Sandy’S wake lIeS another dISaSter waItIng to happen.

don’t let Shoddy reconStructIon cauSe you eVen more damage.

We understand the task of rebuilding a home after a natural disaster like hurricane Sandy can be daunting. Regrettably, we also understand there are unlicensed and/or disreputable contractors who prey when people are most vulnerable.

Interstate+Lakeland Lumber has been in business since 1922 and has built strong relationships in Fairfield and Westchester Counties with honorable and quality contractors during the past 90 years serving our community.

Depending on the scope and location of your project, we can assist you as a referral service to give you the peace of mind and assurance of working with people you can trust to repair your

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project the right way. Call our hot line at 203-531-8050 for assistance, or email at help@interstatelumber.com.

Additionally, in our continued commitment to give back to our community, we pledge to donate a percentage of our November 2012 profits to the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross has provided more than 23,000 overnight shelter stays to those communities in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast who suffered from widespread power outages, wind damage and significant flooding from Superstorm Sandy.

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Building and restoring the finest homes in Westchester and Fairfield counties since 1985.

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Biber Architects designs private residences for modern living. Modernity is not just a style, it’s a lifestyle, one that our firm has created for our clients for over 25 years.

Waterfront homes, reimagined mid-century homes, new homes and renovated ones, restored modern masterpieces and bespoke private residences are our passion, and our expertise. We are architects who value modernity, quality, sustainability and intelligence. From our office in New York we have designed homes in the Hamptons, Westchester, Upstate and New York City, as well as the mid-west, Aspen and Los Angeles. Our homes range from simple and quiet to expansive and iconic, to wild and colorful. But most importantly, they are always a reflection of the owner, their family and their personality. We are invested in our clients’ lives and their aspirations, and we are sensitive to their time and budgets. That is why we have designed multiple homes for many of our cilents over multiple decades.

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da mo da merrier

“THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS”

by Simone

There has been a renewed focus the past few years on our actions and consequences, economically and politically, and a certain notion of caution and holding back has seeped into our social sphere…

But it’s Summer 2013, should we embrace our world (regardless of how we feel about it) and just learn how to shut up and live?

MadaMe Rose

by Goose Island

A Classic Summer Look courtesy of our friends Dolce & Gabbana: A swipe of ruby red for the lips (Classic Cream Lipstick in Ruby) and a flared yet delicate line along upper eye lids (Intense Liquid Eyeliner in Black Intense). Pair this bold look with a touch of highlighter along the cheek and brow bones (Benefit Watts Up!) and set with a translucent powder (Make Up Forever HD High Definition Powder).

Available at Sephora.

For the Brooklyn Folk and some dedicated Manhattanites… you’ll catch some great beats with a relaxed vibe here any night of the week.

Wicked bar, music venue, and gallery/ performance space.

The Grasslands: 289 Kent Ave, Brooklyn, NY. The Flat: 308 Hooper St, Brooklyn, NY. Bizarre: 12 Jefferson St (between Bushwick Ave & Broadway), Brooklyn, NY. The FlaT

Madame Rose by Goose Island: A Belgian beer aged in red wine barrels with a hint of tart cherry. Sampled, and sampled again at Choice Eats, one of The Village Voice’s many stellar tasting events in NYC. Available at Whole Foods.

Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt: A few years ago it was cupcakes, now self-serve and toppings galore Froyo joints are suddenly on every corner, but if you thought all the big names were created equal…. you are mistaken. The perfect sundae parfait —Tart Yogurt with strawberries, blueberries, and crunchy granola. www.orangeleafyogurt.com.

Summer Playlist: Bob Moses, Duke Dumont, Justin Martin, Gold Panda, Foxygen.

Find them on Spotify and Soundcloud.

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Black Market: Fresh, well thought out food and cocktails served until late on trendy Avenue A. Both liquor- and playlist-inclined bartenders mix great drinks and spin seductive tunes. Crudités are presented artfully on a bed of ice with our new favorite homemade buttermilk dip.

110 Avenue A @ 7th Street.

Luna Sur: Eclectic Latin Bistro offerings spanning the continent. Our favorites were the Pulpo Al Olivo, a warm octopus appetizer with an impressive Kalamata Olive cream that makes this dish. Traditional dishes are elevated by fine execution. Branzino is presented whole with the bones discreetly filleted, served with what we now refer to as the magic roasted and marinated vegetables. El Gaucho luna suR

Churasco in the Argentine tradition, seared skirt steak with a fresh Chimi-Churri with the tang of vinegar. Sangrita: Classic red wine sangria fortified with brandy and rum and then blended to its utmost smooth frozen cocktail potential. Big pleaser.

If/when you opt for dessert, the torta is a must try. Quintessential for the lava cake lover, this version is light, moist, served piping hot, and does not disappoint concerning the ooooozing* center.

The food is good, the cocktails are better, and the live music and extensive small plates make Luna Sur a festive choice for group dining.

802 Ninth Avenue between 53rd and 54th Streets, Manhattan. 212/262-1299 www.lunasurnyc.com cRosby sTReeT hoTel

Cocktail Pit Stop at Galli: A busy day shopping in Soho, summer heat and great finds can be overwhelming; rejuvenate on quiet Mercer Street with a refreshing cocktail at the handsome bar at Galli.

You won’t find a crowd, but you will be well taken care of by the cute and friendly wait staff, and talented young bartender. Ample cocktail selections adjusted seasonally, house crafted infusions, creative flavor combinations, and my favorite variety of bartender: brave/confident enough to concoct you something fantastic to your personal taste profile if you’re not afraid to ask. I’ve had a recent heat-wave-inspired iced white sangria with a hint of St. Germain and refreshing citrus notes. The menu is described as Italian comfort food, but don’t expect anything too rich and heavy, rather

approach to a smooth scorpion fish flan with a side of cauliflower foam to balance out the saltiness of the fish, topped with a delicate eggplant caviar. Where spherification is denoted often by a lack of flavor pizazz, the light yet vaguely creamy foam and caviar were a nice balance to the rich flan. The boiled potatoes “under earth” were also quite pleasing in their presentation: Heirloom potatoes thoughtfully presented under dehydrated olive dust and served with flavorful dipping sauces. Another classic tapa, octopus and potato salad, is reimagined as boiled slices of supremely tender octopus smothered in a light and creamy potato purée, free of any starchy consistency and almost foamy light. The chef attributes the technique of the tender octopus to an exact cooking time and temperature.

Besides the adventurous and pleasing tapas, the manager’s family’s propriety Tobelos, red Rioja wine made from Tempranillo grapes, was the highlight of the meal with a smooth and deep taste with spice undernotes.

This summer will mark a paella festival at Andanada, when the chef imports his saffron, like most of his ingredients, directly from Spain, GallI and features a rich dark flavor and color traditional in Spain. delicate pastas with heartier sauces, and fairly 141 W. 69th St. NYC. 646/692-8762 priced entrees in a relaxed yet Soho-chic setting. www.andanada141.com.

45 Mercer ST, NYC. 212/966-9288 gallirestaurant.com.

Tierra: Earthy jewelry for the urban garden princess. Offering unique creations arriving Mo Gelato: Cool off and get your sugar fix. Ital- straight from Spain, Tierra’s quaint location in ian style gelato whipped up daily in the heart the heart of Soho is brimming with bright and of Little Italy. While the food in the area may cheerful bracelets, necklaces, leather handbags, be less than authentic… Mo Gelato dishes out key chains, and more. The waxy string gives rich and creamy classics like Stracciatella (va- designs a particular flexibility, which allows for nilla with dark chocolate chips), Caffe, and versatile wear (a long necklace easily becomes Cocco (with coconut pulp). Also features cre- a gorgeous wrap bracelet), and gives a natural ative combinations like Monella (with cherries, appeal matched with colorful stones, and hangs toasted almonds, hazelnuts, and dark choco- quiet beautifully on the neck.

65 Spring St. (between Lafayette St late), dairy-free fruit sorbets made from fresh & Cleveland Pl) www.amigosdetierra.com. fruit purées, and granite (an authentic Italian version of shaved ice), which is my favorite kind of frozen treat! twitter: @damodamerrier 178 Mulberry Street (between Kenmare & Broome Streets). 212/226-6758 andanada 141 www.mogelato.com.

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Crosby Street Hotel: My new favorite spot for afternoon tea. This young and elegant hotel is owned by the Brits who know how to make their scones best. These are golden brown, flaky, and served warm :).

212/226-6400; www.firmdalehotels.com/ new-york/crosby-street-hotel. 79 Crosby St, SoHo.

Andanada 141: Opting for tapas has never been so exciting. Spanish food for the NYC gourmand. Don’t expect your average tortillas or croquettas. Andanada’s talented young chef utilizes pleasing presentations to give diners the courage to try new things. The tapas menu is an unexpected ride. We loved his molecular

“We started this job with a small remodeling project.

We ended up renovating the entire Greenwich estate, including landscaping the property.”

One of the things that sets Stephen Gidley apart is his willingness to tackle any size job with the professional expertise he has become known for. Large or small, he takes great care to ensure that each and every project receives his utmost attention – as well as his personal guarantee of complete customer satisfaction.

Stephen C. Gidley Inc. & Associated Building Contractors 693 Post Road Darien CT 06820 p. 203.655.7018 f. 203.655.3445

Email: scgidley@yahoo.com www.scgabc.com CT Home Improvement Reg. #500556

Design/Build Residential Remodeling Contractor since 1968. Specializing in Painting, Roofing and Remodeling.

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Winner – 2000 Better Business Bureaus’ National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics ~~~~~ 2003 Connecticut BBB Business Integrity Award ~~~~~ 2004 Chrysalis Award, Connecticut Remodeler of the Year

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Stephen C. Gidley, Inc. 2 Sound View Dr., suite 100 Greenwich, CT 06830

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* Our expert roofing crew installed this magnificent 150+ square lifetime warrantied Western Red Cedar Shake roof over Cedar breather® complete with 700 feet of 20 ounce soldered copper valley flashings, which received a lifetime warranty from the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau for our satisfied client.

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We approach our projects with a commitment to the values of superior service, excellence in workmanship, timely performance and execution … always with the highest level of integrity in the communities we serve.

When it comes time for you to select a building partner you can trust us to turn the dreams for your home into something beautiful you can be proud of for years to come. Our seasoned craftsmen love what they do and it shows through in their work. That’s what keeps our customers coming back to us.

Dedication. Accountability. Stephen C Gidley, Inc. Serving Fairfield County for more than 45 years.

www.scgabc.com Design/Build Residential Remodeling. Contractor since 1968. Specializing in Painting, Roofing, and Remodeling.

Wood | Slate | Tile | Flat | Asphalt Shingle Roofing Repairs | New Installations

appraised & approved

Stephen Gidley receiveS national recoGnition for hiS Gold award-winninG “outdoor livinG” project entry from Qualified remodeler maGazine.

Stephen C. Gidley Inc. Forty-Five years ago, FairField County home remodeler, Stephen Gidley, beGan with a paSSion to aChieve exCellenCe, to SurpaSS the reSt, to build better, more enerGy eFFiCient and CoSt eFFeCtive projeCtS. Exceeding his customers’ expectations has been his core commitment, which is why, forty-five years later, Stephen C. Gidley, Inc,’s business is stronger than ever. QR Magazine has ranked his company in the Top 500 Remodelers Nationwide for over 30 consecutive years and last year ranked Gidley in the Top 200 Exterior contractors nationwide.

As president of Stephen C. Gidley Inc., Stephen has successfully completed over 18,000 home improvement projects, from Greenwich to Fairfield, from full green construction homes to minor repairs. The company offers residential “design and remodel” services by a top-quality staff of trade professionals who can expertly complete all types of home improvements. Projects range from smaller repairs under $1,000 to very large remodeling and new home construction projects over $2 million. The company offers free consultations and cost estimates on all projects and no job is considered complete until the customer is satisfied. His commitment to his customers was recognized in 2000 with the National Council of Better Business Bureau’s Marketplace Ethics Award.

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As builders go, Stephen C. Gidley Inc. is ahead of the curve and is constantly implementing better ways to build with less impact on our planet. The company is a licensed lead abatement contractor and is NAHB Green Certified. Stephen Gidley’s jobs are designed to universal sustainable standards and have garnered national recognition in green competition.

If you’re looking for a home remodeler,

call 800-286-3300 for a “One on One” free consultation with Stephen Gidley.

Stephen C. Gidley, President & CEO: GMB, CAPS, CGP, CGB, CGR, CPRC, CR. 693 Post Road, Darien, CT. Toll Free: 800-286-3300 Greenwich: 203-622-9000 Darien: 203-655-7018 Wilton/Westport: 203-761-8878 www.scgabc.com

Gold award-winninG project entry from Stephen c. Gidley, inc. “outdoor oaSiS,” wilton, ct. the home BuilderS aSSociation of connecticut (hBa) alSo awarded Stephen Gidley’S company a hoBi award for itS 2011 entry in the ‘whole houSe remodelinG’ cateGory.

“Restoring vintage homes often calls for services above and beyond what was originally anticipated. That’s why we called Stephen Gidley when we wanted to put on a new wood roof and repaint our turn of the century Victorian home. Now we’ve contracted him to put on a new addition to our house!”

Darien homeowner, 2002

When it comes to good old fashioned service and meticulous craftsmanship, Stephen C. Gidley goes over the top. Specialists in residential painting, roofing and remodeling services for over 39 years, we take the time to listen to what our customers want. We take great care to work within their budget and complete their projects on time, every time, with as little disruption as possible.

Then we go all out to exceed their expectations. Our customers call it remarkable. We call it customer service.

Stephen C. Gidley Inc. & Associated Building Contractors 693 Post Road Darien CT 06820 p. 203.655.7018 f. 203.655.3445

Email: scgidley@yahoo.com www.scgabc.com CT Home Improvement Reg. #500556

Design/Build Residential Remodeling Contractor since 1968. Specializing in Painting, Roofing and Remodeling.

Wood • Slate • Tile • Flat Asphalt Shingle Roofing Repairs and New Installations.

Winner – 2000 Better Business Bureaus’ National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics ~~~~~ 2003 Connecticut BBB Business Integrity Award ~~~~~ 2004 Chrysalis Award, Connecticut Remodeler of the Year

Stephen Gidley, master wood roofing contractor, recently installed this beautiful pressure treated Certilast 速 wood roof on this magnificent back country Greenwich estate. The owners were so pleased with the results they hired him to paint the entire exterior as well, and now recommend his company to all their friends. In business over 4o years, Stephen C. Gidley, Inc., offers free estimates on all kinds of residential painting, roofing and remodeling, and he delivers professional advice and superior service for all your home improvement needs.

One Call Does It All!

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like a rolling stone

Tropical Pleasures thermae bath spa

rock house pool

Rock House

Harbour Island, Bahamas The Rock House on tiny Harbour Island, Bahamas is an intimate, elegant, self-contained retreat from Northern climes and man-made problems. Leave your cares behind as you enter the enclosed walls of this beautiful and tranquil hideaway.

A luxury boutique hotel with 10 individually themed and named guestrooms, access to Harbour Island’s famed pink sand beaches, a swimming pool, gourmet restaurant, small workout room and smaller “business center” the Rock House is also a “house” in the sense that photographs and knick knacks, books and bibelots abound. Outdoor patios are swathed in vivid yellows and blues, and strewn with couches, lounges, candles, lanterns and exotic mahogany furniture. Private, palapa-style cabanas are available for each room. Guestrooms are spacious and airy, with walk in closets and luxurious bathrooms. In room amenities include refrigerator/snack bars, iPod dock radios and flat screen TVs, but expect ceiling fans, not air conditioning, to regulate the balmy tropical heat. Complimentary continental breakfast is served each morning on the terrace by the pool,

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where bar service is also available in the afternoon through late hours.

The restaurant, overlooking the harbor and offering both indoor and open air seating, serves wonderful, nouvelle island/continental cuisine.

An extensive wine list, signature cocktails such as the Goombay Smash and a martini menu keep the offerings fresh and snappy. Seafood such as stone crab claws and roasted Bahamian lobster tail are sourced locally, but prepared with pleasingly innovative sides such as green basil butter on potato purée or Japanese seaweed salad and mustard mayonnaise dipping sauce. Junkanoo rock house restaurant

capellini incorporates sautéed baby shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce, with preserved lemon and gremolata; cider brined pork tenderloin comes with goat cheese mashed potatoes, crispy onions and apple and prune relish. For dessert, rich offerings such as Wallace’s Red Velvet Cake are balanced by an imported cheese platter accompanied by fruit paste, toasted walnuts and pepper jelly.

Owner Don Purdy, almost always on premise, oversees an attentive staff and knows his guests by name, many of who return year after year. He can arrange for popular local activities such as deep-sea fishing fishing or scuba diving, or for a rental golf cart – the preferred mode of transportation on this low-keyed island.

Accessible only by boat, Harbour Island is one of the oldest settlements in the Bahamas, and is located one mile off the coast of Eleuthera, which has the nearest airport. The island is sleepy, laid back, and “The Home of Friendly People,” perfect for a stress-free beach vacation.

Trinket shops and clam shanties line the main road along the harbor, offering a picturesque selection of woven straw merchandise and serving surprisingly good fresh local fare. Try the made to order conch salad at Queen Conch, or the lobster quesadillas at Sip Sip near the beach. Designer India Hicks’ Sugar Mill Trading Company, offering jewelry and imported clothing, is one of the few upscale boutiques on the Island. www.rockhousebahamas.com.

Image © PerryJoseph.com

Acqualina Resort and Spa

Sunny Isles Beach, FL Private and pristine, the red and cream beach umbrellas and chaises strike a chic Mediterranean chord. Acqualina Resort and Spa, a member of the Leading Hotels of the World is like a sophisticated villa in Tuscany. Located in Sunny Isles, between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, this 5-star experience is more exclusive residence than Miami glam hotel.

Acqualina’s 54 guest rooms and 44 suites with oceanfront or intra-coastal views are condo-size. The suite’s glass enclosed shower seems as large as a studio apartment in Manhattan!

Crystal Steam Rooms, Finnish Saunas, Ice Fountains, Experience Showers, Relaxation Lounges, private spa pool and heated jet pool with a Roman waterfall. Outfitted in the latest in strength and cardiovascular equipment, the oceanfront fitness center, located on the mezzanine level, is equipped with an array of Life Fitness brand weight training units.

Now, the fact that Il Mulino New York is Acqualina’s signature restaurant is enough to send this guest into a swoon. Could there be a more glorious notion than having Il Mulino’s over-the-top service, hunks of fresh Reggiano, spicy fried zucchini, signature double cut veal

acQualIna resort and spa

Accommodations are elegant and comfortable with goose down duvet and pillows, Frette sheets, private terraces, flat-screen TVs and imported marble bathrooms. Full gourmet kitchens are featured in many suites with sub-zero built-in refrigerator/freezer, designer granite countertops, Italian limited edition cabinets, microwave, and dishwasher.

Three oceanfront swimming pools offer a selection of experiences from family-friendly to an adults-only Tranquility pool. Kids ages 5– 12 have the opportunity to explore with an innovative marine biology-based AcquaMarine children’s program. There’s also a 500-square-foot children’s room, complete with a computer center, video games, toys, microscopes and movies.

Unwind in Acqualina’s 20,000-squarefoot ESPA overlooking the ocean. Acqualina Spa by ESPA guests may experience the

chop with sage, and lobster in garlic sauce a mere elevator ride away? And how wonderful to have the elevator very close by following the traditional Il Mulino finale—a cart of homemade grappas.

Il Mulino serves breakfast in Piazzetta, and you have the option to enjoy it at the Piazzetta Veranda. Piazzetta, open daily for lunch and dinner, is a Tuscan-inspired marketplace and restaurant with an alluring gelato case, a new wine corner, and Hiro’s Yakko Sushi Bar. Dine al fresco at Costa Grill, Acqualina’s stunning beachfront dining spot.

It’s the personal touch that you’ll remember at Acqualina Resort & Spa and Il Mulino: the doormen, concierge, the maître D’, the waiters and elevator staff, are outgoing and delighted to greet guests by name. What a perfect pair.

17875 Collins Avenue, Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. 305-918-8000; www.acqualina.com.

Juvia

Miami Beach Take me to the Penthouse! Juvia is a Miami Beach must—a 10,000-square-foot indoor/ outdoor restaurant/lounge with views of the Atlantic Ocean and South Beach’s famed Art Deco District. Private elevators take you nine stories up to an amazing outdoor dining terrace with a lush vertical garden, designed by renowned French botanist Patrick Blanc. Indoor or outdoor, day or night, the setting is magical.

The menu—Japanese/French/Peruvian? Yes, indeed! The culinary mashup is in gifted hands: Executive Chef Laurent Cantineaux, a protégé of celebrated Chef Daniel Boulud; Executive Chef Sunny Oh, who helmed the kitchen at Nobu South Beach for over a decade; and Pastry Chef Gregory Gourreau, who worked alongside Alain Ducasse and Francois Payard.

On the cocktail menu, try the Ginger Ale cocktail: Ketel Citron, Ginger, Mint and fresh Lemon sour—a fresh zesty beginning to the dining adventure. Starters to remember: the ceviche—a combo of fluke, octopus, red onion and crispy sweet potato; and Salmon Nashi with truffle oil, truffle salt, dry miso, and micro arugula.

Loved the prawns on a sugarcane skewer in a yuzu vinaigrette. The Chilean sea bass served with maple glazed eggplants, Hawaiian hearts of palm and micro Thai basil is the hands down winner. Don’t miss the Deconstructed Key Lime Pie and the Chocolate Candy Bar desserts!

Juvia is located at 1111 Lincoln Road. The restaurant offers dinner service nightly from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m., Lunch daily from noon to 3 p.m., as well as brunch on Sunday. (305) 763-8272. www.juviamiami.com.

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sUMMer For FAMilies AT The bocA rAToN resorT & clUb

the boca raton resort & club

The Boca Raton Resort & Club Teams Up With Billabong and Costa del Este Water Sports to Open New Surf School The Boca Raton Resort & Club, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, has introduced two fun new programs for families and kids for the summer.

Teaming up with Billabong, the renowned Australian surfwear company and Costa del Este Water Sports, The Resort & Club introduces a new Surf School at the Boca Beach Club. The Surf School hosts special family surf events as well as Boca Beach Club Surf Offs throughout the year. The half-day Surf School is available Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 am to 12 noon. The Surf School also offers private lessons, clinics and events.

(Instruction fees starting at $60.) The Surf School includes a Billabong rash guard, customized video to view online, emailed photo and 1-hour rental use of a surfboard.

Another new summer program for families, Mizner’s Quest, is a uniquely designed, scavenger-like program, complete with special Mizner’s Quest map. The map guides families

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and their kids on an exploration of 15 different Points of Discovery, located around the 356-acre Resort. Families enjoy fun-filled learning experiences on the selfguided tour and collect color-coded wristbands at each Point of Discovery until they have a complete set. From the “Land of the Orphan Trees” to “Audubon-certified bird houses,” Points of Discovery are identified by distinctive signposts with fun information and history at each location. Families are encouraged to share their experiences and photos on Facebook to become eligible for the Resort’s “Top Explorer of the Week.”

One of the country’s premier resort destinations and private club facilities, the historic Boca Raton Resort & Club’s amenities include a half-mile stretch of private beach at the Boca Beach Club with kite concierge and private cabanas. The award-winning Spa Palazzo featuring NATURA BISSE is ideal for relaxation and features its own spa pool with underwater music. There are two 18-hole championship golf courses, and golfers looking to improve their short game can learn new techniques at the Dave Pelz Scoring Game School. The Resort’s tennis program is top ranked. A full-service marina offers boating, jet skiing, a variety of water sports and a daily 2-hour catamaran cruise. Seven swimming pools, three state-of-the-art fitness centers, and Camp Boca children’s camp offer families a variety of activities.

An outstanding selection of dining options includes Morimoto Sushi Bar by the internationally-renowned Iron Chef, Cielo Restaurant at the top of the Tower and Serendipity, New York City’s famed dessert and ice cream shop. Lucca, the Resort’s Italian trattoria, offers families great value with pasta and grilled pizza dishes kids will love, just for the summer.

Reservations: 888/543-1286 www.BocaResort.com or www.waldorfastoriacollection.com

B.O.G. Hotel

Bogota, Colombia

By Daniel Rothberg The Spanish came to Colombia in search of El Dorado, and although the Conquistador days may be over, you can still get your fi fillll of gold at the B.O.G. Hotel in Bogotá. Located in the city’s most luxurious shopping and night-life district, Zona Rosa, the B.O.G. was inspired

by Colombia’s precious resources, gold and emeralds, with shades of gold, green, and grey pervading the atmosphere.

As Colombia’s only member of Design Hotels, a stay at the B.O.G. Hotel offers a sensory experience; award-winning designer Nini Andrade Silva’s concept was that all fi ve senses be five lightly stimulated at all times. In the lobby, the smells and chaos of the streets are forgotten as lush fragrances prevail and low, dynamic light imparts the sense of being part of an art exhibit.

You can dine under the dancing light of fi vefivepointed, golden candelabras as chef Leonor Espinosa provides an unforgettable gastronomic experience where traditional Colombian and indigenous cuisines are combined with Asian and

b.o.G. hotel

European foods. Or, head to the rooftop terraza for a premium cocktail and a swim in the heated pool, while glass towers harnessing fi ve-foot five-foot fl ames warm the cool night and a live DJ sets the flames mood. Highly attentive yet not overbearing staff, comfortable and decidedly chic rooms, along with a full-service spa completes the package.

If you haven’t gotten your fi fillll of gold, and are bored with Zona Rosa, head to the Candelaria and check out the Museo del Oro or Museo del Botero, or go to the lively Sunday market in Barrio Usaquén. www.boghotel.com.

slopeside:

Aspen

the hotel Jerome

by rich silver

The Hotel Jerome, an Auberge Resort

How do you reinvent a “great American landmark” without losing its history?

The answer: very carefully! When The Jerome, Aspen’s iconic hotel re-opened last December as the Hotel Jerome, an Auberge Resort, the Aspen the hotel Jerome

community breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Designer Todd-Avery Lenahan has enhanced the existing 19th century structure with a layer of comfortable chic that’s transformed this cherished local hotel into a true luxury destination.

The Living Room is often the one room in a house where no one actually sits and spends time.

You won’t want to leave the Living Room at the Hotel Jerome. Serving small plates, signature cocktails, a toasty fireplace, and cozy seating areas, it’s a fabulous après-destination. Memorabilia keeps the history vibe alive in the Living Room. Check out Colorado’s American flag of 38 stars commemorating when Colorado became a state!

The renovated guest rooms have a distinctly masculine feel with custom upholstered furniture made of pieces of menswear fabrics: cashmere, hound’s tooth linen, rugged leather, pinstripe wools and plaids. Sophisticated modern amenities, luxury bathrooms, plasma televisions and complimentary Wi-Fi are standard in every

room. The rooms are exceptionally large, (the smallest is 575 square feet), and there are welcome surprises, like a complimentary snack and drink cabinet, complimentary Wi-Fi and iPad. Contemporary artworks commissioned from Aspen artists as well as pieces reproduced by the Aspen Historical Society give the décor a local feel.

Prospect is the new signature restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s a stunning modern American bistro with the most handsome club chairs and leather seats. Executive Chef Rob Zack has crafted a menu of hearty and diverse American dishes. The J-Bar at The Jerome is the favorite bar scene for locals. Love the new, big leather chairs and happy to see that the J-Bar’s menu hasn’t changed: you still can order the knockout chicken wings, cheeseburgers, fries, and venison chili.

Throughout the hotel, an eager staff promises an effortless stay, from your personal airport service to complimentary transportation around town. The hotel’s Ski Concierge is located inside the Gorsuch rental store in the lobby and the Auberge Spa offers guests the chance to experience relaxation and rejuvenation.

Next visit to Aspen, be sure to check out the Hotel Jerome, an Auberge Resort. www.hoteljerome.aubergeresorts.com

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photo by Jason dewey

AuTumn in ASPen Aspen, as a world-class year-round destination, elevates fall far beyond mere leaf peeping with a whole host of festivals, cultural events, outdoor activities, lodging specials and dining deals. Prices in the fall are considerably more reasonable than in summer, with lodging options ranging from $89 in one of Aspen’s more affordable lodges; twobedroom suites (that sleep up to six) starting at $329; to more luxurious rooms in Aspen’s premier hotels.

To reserve a room, visit : www.stayaspensnowmass.com.

Sneak Peek. A feast of film and fall color for movie lovers of all ages, Aspen Film’s centerpiece event takes place Sept. 26 - Oct. 1.

Filmfest presents filmmaking at its finest with an emphasis on independent productions from around the world in a uniquely intimate scale. Screenings include new releases, acclaimed documentaries, and favorites from the festival circuit. www.aspenfilm.org; 970/925-6882 Cycle City. Aspen is a biking town. From meandering riverside trails and serene road riding up to the Maroon Bells (one of the world’s most photographed peaks) to some of the region’s most extreme mountain biking,

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Aspen has a bit for every level or rider. Aspen’s bike shops can provide local knowledge, equipment and guided tours. www.blazingadventures.com; 970/923-4544 www.utecitycycles.com; 970/920-3325 Aspen by Air. Fall colors will never look the same after paragliding over the town of Aspen. Aspen Expeditions’ tandem guides take you to the top of Aspen Mountain to take flight and enjoy the adrenaline rush. (www.aspenparagliding.com); Or experience the peace and serenity of a sunrise hot air balloon ride, followed by a celebratory champagne toast upon your descent with Above it All Balloon Company. www.aboveitallballoon.com Dining. Named for silver on the periodic table, The Little Nell’s element 47 toasts the glory of Aspen’s flavorful mining history. Near the spot of an abandoned mining claim once dedicated to the famed little Nell, today’s epicurean prospectors will find Chef Robert McCormick creating culinary magic in his signature style. www.thelittlenell.com; 970/920-4600 Elk Camp Restaurant is Snowmass Mountain’s new on-mountain restaurant located at the top of Elk Camp gondola. It’s an awe-inspiring destination for relaxation and celebration, day and night. Diners can select from a menu of organic and locally harvested items, such as

roasted chicken or pork loin served on a French baguette, or wild mushroom pizza with fontina cheese and white truffle oil. 970/925-1220 Ajax Tavern, at the base of Aspen Mountain, is the happening spot for lunch, après-ski and dinner. New Chef Matt O’Neill has built upon the established Ajax Tavern classics and continues to support local farmers and highlight their ingredients with creative French Bistro dishes that guests and locals have loved over the years. www.ajaxtavernaspen.com; 970/920-6334 Mac and Cheese Festival. The third annual returns to Aspen’s famed “Restaurant Row” (East Hopkins Avenue between Mill and Monarch Streets) on Saturday, Sept. 7. The local competition serves up melt-in-your-mouth samples from top Aspen and Roaring Fork Valley restaurants.

Last year’s competition served up variations of duck confit, lobster, pork belly, truffle and more. www.aspenrecreation.com; 970/429-2078 Farmer’s Market. Running through October 12, the Aspen Saturday Market offers a bounty of Colorado’s produce, meats, artisanal items and wares, as well as live entertainment and fun for the family. www.aspenchamber.org; 970/429-2687 For more information, a complete calendar of events, or to book an Aspen vacation, visit:

*

Distinctive Custom Homes, Additions, Renovations For Over 30 Years

Clarke Builders, Inc. 203-637-4135

Please call Jes J. Dall, President or David J. Dall, V.P. www.clarkebuilders.com • CT Reg. # 00041

WOODBRIDGE, CONNECTICUT w w w . 1 6 c l e f t r o c k l a n e . c o m

Situated on almost 8 acres of meticulously manicured grounds, this elegant, architect-designed contemporary has been built to exacting standards. Tastefully sited atop a knoll in Woodbridge, with views of Long Island Sound in the distance, this state-of-the-art home was built in 2004 for the current owners.

Nearly ten thousand square feet, it is designed with an open floor plan for gracious comfortable living and entertaining. This estate’s location allows for easy commuting to almost anywhere, from New Haven to Fairfield counties, as well as to Hartford or NYC. Amentities include: four bedrooms, six bathrooms, home theater, spa, pool, exercise room, heated garage, and wine cellar. Helicopter landing is permitted on the multi-acre field.

CONTACT: Mary Jane Burt • mjburt@hpearce.com • 203.776.1899

My role is to provide the expertise and understanding of every aspect of the home buying and selling process my clients require, including property search, pricing, marketing, negotiatinon, inspection and closing.

My Myrole roleisistoto My provide provide roleMy the isthe My role to expertise provide expertise role is toisprovide and to the and provide understanding expertise understanding the the expertise and expertise understanding andand understanding understanding My role is to p ofofevery everyaspect aspect of every ofof the of the aspect home every ofhome every buying aspect of buying the aspect and of home and selling the ofselling the buying home process home process buying and buying selling andand selling process selling of process process every aspec my myclients clientsrequire, my require, clients including my including my clients require, clients property property require, including require, search, search, including property including pricing, pricing, property search, property search, pricing, search, pricing, my pricing, clients req marketing, marketing,negotiatinon, marketing, negotiatinon, marketing, marketing, inspection negotiatinon, inspection negotiatinon, and negotiatinon, and closing. inspection closing. inspection inspection and closing. andand closing. closing. marketing, neg

hamptons real estate

sagaponack This six-bedroom, 6.5-bath home is light-filled, spacious and centrally located between East Hampton, Sag Harbor and Bridgehampton. The main house has five bedrooms, living room with vaulted ceilings, an open floorplan with sliding doors from both living room and master bedroom leading out to the jacuzzi, deck and pool. Indoor and outdoor living blend seamlessly. A full partially finished basement with 8’ ceiling has room for a game room, media room, wine cellar or whatever your needs may be! There is a bonus sixth bedroom in the attached studio efficiency with private entrance that is perfect for guests, home office or art studio.

Exclusive $2,499,999 | www.111MerchantsPath.com

sunhe sherwood-dudley Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker

With nearly 20 years in real estate and having raised four children, SunHe provides a wealth of insight and experience that helps her customers and clients get the most out of their Hamptons real estate investments.

(917) 881-8063 SunHe@Saunders.com

www.SunHeRealEstate.com 2287

montauk highway, bridgehampton

“ Sa un de rs , A H i ghe r Fo rm o f Re a l t y,” i s regi s t ered in th e U.S . Pa tent a nd Tr a dem a r k Offic e. E qua l Housing Oppor tunity.

vacation home

Telluride

everyone

has a good time when they come to Telluride – the people smiling the most are the ones who never left.

Upon first glance, visitors are immediately enchanted with the breathtaking setting of the historic Town of Telluride. The grand snowcapped peaks of the 14,000 ft San Juan Mountains and imposing Box Canyon waterfalls ensnare the senses, while the warm embrace of the Telluride community welcomes you to paradise.

The over-a-century-old Town of Telluride is filled with colorful legends and Rocky Mountain spirit. Just six blocks wide and twelve blocks long, the National Historic District is a window into the town’s illustrious past, with its colorful Victorian homes, clapboard storefronts and boutiques.

Each summer the town plays host to such world-renowned events as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Telluride Film Festival, and Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, just to name a few. And there’s plenty for the kids too – the Telluride community is extremely family focused. Telluride’s education system is nationally recognized as exemplary, with camps and extra-curriculars from rock climbing and river rafting to theater and dance.

Telluride’s World-Class Ski Resort is a grandiose backdrop to the historic town, offering a genuine mountain experience for all levels of skiers thanks to a mix of quality terrain on 2,000+ skiable acres. Even beginners and intermediate skiers can ride to the highest peaks and enjoy terrain and views typically reserved for the experts. And forget crowds: the trails are never packed, and there is rarely a lift line. Telluride was recently

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named the #1 ski resort in North America by Condé Nast readers, as well as the #1 most scenic and #2 most charming resort in Ski Magazine.

Perched at 9,500 ft on the Telluride Ski Resort, Mountain Village exudes modern alpine elegance. Telluride and its sister town are linked via the only free gondola in North America, possibly the most picturesque 13-minute ride you will ever experience. Luxury hotels and condos, grand mountain residences, stylish boutiques, innovative dining, the world-class Spa at the Peaks Hotel and a championship golf course complement the historic charm of Telluride to create “the best of both worlds.”

Telluride, Mountain Village and their surrounding areas boast a desirable array of high-end luxury and value-oriented properties – truly something for every budget. And unlike other high profile resorts, Telluride and Mountain Village both offer true ski-in/out condos and homes with grand views and sumptuous amenities. These sought after properties ensure time is spent on the slopes and trails, not getting there. Venturing further out of town, one can experience the ultimate in privacy and mountain living on 50 to 2,000 acre parcels with some of the most profound views in the west, and arguably the world.

All the big mountain views and luxuries aside – in Telluride, lifestyle is king. And in the end that is what has turned visitor after visitor into locals.

See what Telluride has to offer at www.searchtelluriderealestate.com with Telluride’s premier real estate boutique – Telluride Properties; 970/728-0808.

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By Helen Dunn Frame

Costa Rica Next Stop: Why Relocate Full or Part-time?

Are you hAving

second thoughts about retiring in the United States after all the hurricanes, tornados, fires, explosions, and other natural disasters, not to mention the terrorism events that recently occurred across the nation? Would you rather wake up with sun streaming through a canopy of leaves, and the songs of tropical birds piercing the morning air?

Imagine after a breakfast of tree ripened-fruits and great coffee grown in Costa Rica taking a leisurely stroll down to a beach and plunging into the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. Would you like to do this and much more for the rest of your life? Alternatively, are you considering part time residency that would enable a reprieve from the fast lane? As expats say, “Go from freeways to flip flops!”

The new advertising campaign slogan of the Costa Rican Tourist Board (ICT) touts “No Artificial Ingredients”. In an effort to strengthen its brand and to continue to increase the number of tourists visiting the country, ICT once again is promoting the nation’s flora and fauna in the U.S. and Canada. From the new slogan to Pura Vida, to health-care tourism, to the world’s happiest country in 2009, Costa Rica’s brand name has power.

Joining several five-star resorts in Guanacaste in 2014 will be Paradisus Papagayo Bay Resort & Luxury Villas. With nine restaurants, eight bars and a beach club ICT expects it to help with its goal to continue to increase tourism. For expats investing in properties in the area, it means more prospects for short-term leases if that is the goal of the investor.

The size of the expatriate community is difficult to access because expats live throughout the country. It could total 20,000 as the author of an article in an “International Living” publication recently guestimated.

Only some foreigners living in Costa Rica participated in the 2011 census. In the end, all nationalities were lumped together for a total population of 4,301,712. People from Europe, Asia, and other countries plus Ticos (non-pejorative name for Costa Ricans) create a diverse and large enough group, many with similar interests, from which to make friends.

Costa Ricans have long welcomed Americans into their communities.

According to a 2009 poll by Latinobaró Melio, a Chilean government organization that handles opinion studies around Latin America, 84% of

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the Costa Rican respondents had a high opinion of the U.S. Some 92% felt relations between the two countries rated highly.

In Costa Rica retirees may find a relatively low cost of living and housing, low property taxes, a lower crime rate, ample amenities and services, good medical facilities, and a range of activities that can keep them fit and healthy. They may live on a lower budget or maintain a higher lifestyle than in Florida, Arizona, Colorado, and other states boasting large retirement communities. For those desiring a more luxurious lifestyle, there is a wide variety of upper end properties and concierge services to meet those needs.

Most opt to live in a mixed community to enjoy the diversity of residents.

A short flight makes visiting family and friends back home easy.

With the ability to live a more luxurious life on a retirement income, and to feel certain the nest egg will last all the years it needs to, expats leave a lot stress behind in the homeland. In Costa Rica, they may experience and learn to live a life philosophy of “be here now”. Not only can a retiree enjoy the natural beauty of the country but also art, theatre, symphony, restaurants, cultural events, and more. Amenities continue to increase nearly daily.

Coldwell Banker Coast to Coast Properties, located in Playas del Coco, includes properties among its wide assortment offered at a range of price points those listed from about $90,000 for a condominium to $4,000,000 for a luxury villa offering the Four Seasons Resort Amenities (including an ocean front Arnold Palmer golf course). To check out retirement and investment opportunities and more details contact Linda Gray, owner/broker and an expat for 16 years. From Laguna Beach, California, she delights in sharing her relocation/transition experiences as well as offering her professional services.

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Helen Dunn Frame, author of Greek Ghosts and Doctors, Dogs, and Pura Vida in Costa Rica, editor, writer and world traveler from New York City, lives in Costa Rica.

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The hole in The Wall GanG Camp 25 Years of Laughter, fun and Mischief

paul newman would be proud of how far The Hole in

the Wall Gang Camp has come over the last 25 years. What started as a summer camp in Ashford, Conn. that served 288 seriously ill children its first summer, is now a year-round center that serves more than 20,000 seriously ill children and family members annually throughout the Northeast. But that first year and summer remain the stuff of legend.

Camp was built in just nine months during a brutal Conn. winter, through the sheer force of Paul Newman’s determination. Well, that and the hard work of a lot of people. Thirty-five buildings, which were being designed simultaneously with the construction process, went up amid snow, ice, rain and mud.

“A lot of people thought, there’s just no way, but Paul had other plans; mainly, that Camp would open the following summer, said Ryan Thompson, senior development officer. “He was there every step of the way, serving as the top cheerleader to the crew and spreading his irrepressible optimism.”

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When opening day arrived on June 18, 1988, Paul left his staff with the following words, which have become immortal in Camp circles: “I’ve taken it this far, you take it from here. Raise a little hell.”

That first opening day, and every day since, has been magic, not just for the campers, but for everyone who comes in contact with Camp, whether family members, staff, donors or volunteers. But for the campers especially, the impact has been life changing.

“What I don’t think Paul or any of us really anticipated was the incredible healing that would come from being surrounded by a hundred other children who have walked in the same pain and fear-filled shoes,” said Camp CEO Jimmy Canton. “To be privileged to be a part of that, to make a positive healing difference in so many lives, is the greatest gift.”

Finding that “Healing Feeling” Zak Stengel is a little camper with a big personality. He also happens to have severe hemophilia, which means his blood doesn’t clot properly, potentially

resulting in painful, life-threatening internal bleeds. Because of the severity of his disease, he requires an infusion of a blood clotting factor every day, leaving him ineligible for things like daycare and regular summer camp. But The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, with its fully-equipped infirmary and medical staff, can handle Zak’s medical needs and let Zak just be Zak. Zak first attended Camp when he was 8 years old and has returned every summer since. It was there that he became friends with a counselor, Collin Lynch, who not only shared his diagnosis, but also helped Zak face his fears and become more medically independent. It was this shared experience that allowed Zak to learn to inject himself with the clotting factor that needs to be infused daily to prevent internal bleeding. According to Zak’s mom Melissa, the journey toward self-infusion was a difficult one.

“[Zak] wouldn’t do it,” said his mom, Melissa.

“He was really afraid of sticking that needle in his vein. It wasn’t until he was in a different environment with a person who had hemophilia – Collin, his counselor – that he first got the confidence.”

For Zak, his friendship with Collin made all the difference, as did his counselor’s willingness to do whatever was necessary to help Zak take that scary first step toward becoming more medically independent – even allowing Zak to practice on him in the infirmary before trying self-infusions.

Zak’s parents credit an incredibly supportive Camp staff for making their son’s accomplishment possible.

“Instead of stifling Zak and telling him to be careful, Camp is a place where his enthusiasm is embraced and encouraged,” said Melissa. “Zak feels safe and cared for so he can take on new challenges. He is so happy and so himself here.

That joy lasts. It lasts for the whole family.”

To learn more about Zak’s story, or hear other stories of Camp’s “Healing Feeling,” visit www.holeinthewallgang.org.

“A Different Kind of Healing” Comes to Hospitals But not every sick child is able to come to Camp. There are many who are unable to attend because they are too sick, or maybe haven’t

heard about Camp. And for many children who do attend Camp, time in the hospital is a big part of their reality outside of that week of magic each summer.

Seeing the extraordinary healing that comes from Camp, the organization knew there must be a way to bring that same experience to these children. So, one charismatic counselor, armed with his paints and art projects, ventured into a Connecticut hospital and proved that the fun, friendship and joy experienced at Camp were indeed portable. With that, Camp’s Hospital Outreach Program (HOP) was born.

That was eleven years ago. Today, HOP has 20 specialists working fulltime to bring the spirit of Camp to hospitalized children in 26 locations throughout the Northeast. Working handin-hand with hospital staff, HOP brings campstyle activities, crafts, games and a friendly ear to help restore joy, laughter and self-esteem to children who may be facing fear, stress and uncertainty. For these children, most of the adults they interact with are focused on their illness.

HOP specialists focus instead on them, and having fun, with no ulterior motive, which in and of itself offers these kids a “different kind of healing.” And the program continues to grow, expanding into Philadelphia later this year.

“I have met kids at their worst, physically and emotionally drained by the effects of chemotherapy and stripped of their childhood by living months-on-end in the hospital, completely turned around by the Hospital Outreach Program,” recalls a Hospital Outreach specialist. “They instantly perk up when we walk in the room because we help remind them of what it’s like to be a kid again.”

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Nate, with hOP sPecialists Max aNd JiMMy, aNd child life iNterN JaNe, POse iN MONOPOly dal shirts desigNed by Nate.

It’s All a Game Nate is a very fun and spunky 12-year-old who loves to lay on the sarcasm and joke around.

He’s very into playing games such as Uno, chess, checkers and more recently, Monopoly Deal. Nate is an incredible kid, but perhaps what makes him the most incredible is his ability as a tremendous game player even though he has gone blind due to his brain tumor. Using special Uno cards with braille on them, Nate challenged his HOP specialist, Max, to a game, and then to a game of checkers, also using pieces with braille on them.

“Nate continued to amaze me week after week until I thought I had seen it all,” said Max. “But I most certainly hadn’t seen anything yet.”

One Friday morning, Nate came upon Max playing Monopoly Deal with two other clinic patients, and wanted to know what they were playing. Nervous because the game wasn’t available in braille, and was extremely complicated

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even for people who have 20/20 vision, Max told Nate what they were playing. As expected, Nate was all in, and Max took on the challenge of teaching the game to Nate.

“We played a practice round where I explained all the cards to Nate and what they did, who you could charge and how many moves you could make per turn,” explained Max. “The next round, Nate and I remained on a team together and he held the cards, which is how we’ve played for weeks. I whisper each card we receive to him and tell Nate what card the other players put down, and he organizes the cards in a certain order in his hand. Whenever I ask him if he knows what we have, even if we have eight or nine cards in our hand, he will go through each one correctly.”

Remarkably, Nate also remembers what the other players have put down. Watching him play is fascinating and astonishing. Though he has never seen a Deal card, he fully compre-

hends the game and is able to participate flawlessly. He can even tell how his opponents are doing by the tones of their voices.

But Nate has plans of no longer playing on Max’s team. He hopes to create a Deal deck that has braille on it, which may be one of his future HOP projects, so he can be on his own team.

“As much as I enjoy seeing Nate thrive as my teammate now, I know I’m going to enjoy seeing him shine as an individual once he can play on his own even more,” said Max. Wrap-Around Care Not long after Camp was founded, it became obvious that these children are not sick in a vacuum. Behind each and every one of them is a family in crisis, a family that could also benefit from the healing power of Camp. That is how the Camp’s family and Change of Pace Experience or COPE weekends came to be.

For many families, it can be incredibly isolating to have a child with a serious illness.

They often feel like they have no one to talk to, or that no one truly understands what they are going through. And being unable to help their child can leave parents feeling helpless. These programs are intended to provide families with the same kind of healing that is experienced throughout Camp’s programs.

Family weekends, which typically focus on a specific illness, such as sickle cell disease, metabolic disorder or cancer, bring together the entire family and provide them an opportunity to regroup and recharge, enjoying activities together, while letting illness take a backseat. For many families – nearly eighty percent of them – it is

their first introduction to Camp. It is an opportunity for them to experience Camp’s healing power, while meeting staff, seeing the sophistication of the infirmary, and learning about Camp’s full competencies before their children leave their watchful eyes to spend a full week in Camp’s expert care.

COPE weekends bring together new Camp parents and parents who have already experienced a COPE weekend and have children that have gone through the summer program. These parents can share their experiences and insights in coping with their children’s illnesses and can offer a level of understanding that most others in their lives cannot.

COPE reflects the camaraderie and community that their children experience at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp.

“Having a child with a serious medical condition is very difficult,” said camper parent and COPE participant MaryEllen. “But through Camp, I learned to take better care of myself, to ask for help in a way that doesn’t make me feel like I’m a burden. I know my family and friends are there, but Camp lives it.”

the years to serve an ever-increasing number of campers. And that sense of belonging and healing is still at the core of every experience.

Campers can still expect their days to be filled with swimming, boating, fishing, arts and crafts, horseback riding, mini-golf and more.

There are still sightings of “Wee-Pee,” the enormous fish who roams Camp’s Pearson Pond, but he remains uncatchable.

And entering or exiting through the wrong door in the dining hall still means having to shake your bushy tail on the dance floor in recompense.

Perhaps most important of all, campers can still come to Camp and forget for one week that they are sick. They can strut their stuff and build confidence performing in Stage Night, and overcome perceived limitations when they reach the top of the climbing tower. They can just be themselves; mischievous kids out to “raise a little hell.”

But today, instead of just offering two sessions, as in the first summer, Camp now offers nine week-long sessions, in-

not long after camp was founded, it became obvious that these children are not sick in a vacuum. Behind each one of them is a family in crisis, a family that could also benefit from the healing power of camp.

Camp Today Despite the growth of Hole in the Wall and expansion into additional services for children and their families, much remains the same about Camp today as when it opened 25 years ago. The original buildings, which maintain the summery smell of exposed wood, are still in place, though a few more have cropped up over

cluding one specifically for the healthy siblings of campers.

The OK Corral, which is Camp’s infirmary and offers campers the unobtrusive medical support they need, has grown to provide more rooms for overnight care when needed, though it still feels completely unlike any other infirmary on the planet, with

whimsical murals and a summer cabin feel.

And among the new buildings is Steve’s Station, which opened this summer, a new 5,000-square-foot residential facility that will provide 12 additional bedrooms to house medical staff, all to accommodate more seriously ill children.

What began with Paul Newman’s desire to offer, free of charge, a hideout where children could find acceptance and joy, has become a global movement. Taking the lead from The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, 14 sister camps have opened worldwide. Part of the SeriousFun Children’s Network, these camps seek to replicate the Camp experience for seriously ill children, bringing joy, laughter and fun to the most seriously ill children and their families.

In reflecting on The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Paul Newman said that “In the final analysis, we’ll be about as good as people make us. We’ll need a lot of help to get this realized and the only thing we can do is to find the people in the community who feel the way we do.”

Over the years, Camp has been blessed to have the support of an incredible family of staff, volunteers and more than 25,000 donors annually who have supported Camp’s mission and growth. In 2012, it had an operating budget of $12 million.

As the Camp celebrates its 25th anniversary, it has much to celebrate. However, this milestone has prompted the organization not only to look back with a sense of accomplishment, but also to look forward with a sense of excitement. The Camp recently initiated a five-year strategic plan with ambitious goals that include increasing the annual number of Hospital Outreach visits to more than 30,000.

And later this year, Camp will roll out the next evolution of its programming, Camp in the Community, which will bring Camp activities right to campers homes, schools, and other community venues through a tricked out Camp van.

The 25th anniversary kicked off with Natalie Merchant joining campers to tape a special sing-along music video of her hit song, “Wonder”, which you can watch at www.holeinthewallgang.org. And it will wrap up in grand style with the 25th Anniversary Gala, Bandits in the Big Apple, taking place in New York City on September 30th. More information on the Gala can be found at www.holeinthewallgang.org/bandits13.

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Maserati beauty

By Charles Moseley

is a funny thing. Apart from being “in the eye of the beholder,” it is very difficult to quantify or qualify. And while certainly a matter of personal taste, there does occasionally arise a moment of consensus. The Maserati GranCabrio Sport is such an example, having earned accolades from across the automotive world for its graceful lines and purity of purpose. In fact, it has accomplished an amazing feat within its rarified strata of competitors (which include Ferrari and Lamborghini): the Maserati is attracting female buyers.

Which makes a lot of sense, as appreciating aesthetics is a serious consideration in purchasing an automobile.

Or at least it should be. But driving through Fairfield and Westchester counties does not bear this out.

Everywhere one looks one sees silver-gray blobs of vehicular mediocrity. Why? The best way to explore this puzzle, I decided, was to borrow a Maserati GranCabrio Sport – arguably the most beautiful car available today – and ask a few of my female friends to tell me what they think. This Maserati is not just beautiful in an exotic, unapproachable way, but rather stunning in both looks and utility. It can comfortably seat four, even four adults. And the Maserati is incredibly safe, with multiple airbags, anti-lock brakes and stability control. Certainly safer than a car with its looks is expected to be.

While it can be driven very, very quickly, it is just as happy scooting along at suburban speeds. The 4.7 litre engine is strong yet pliant, and is mated to a truly wonderful transmission that allows you to select the best match for the type of driving you may be doing – there is even a sport mode for when one wants to progress with exceptional alacrity. The amazing level of comfort provided is by the Skyhook suspension system. This little piece of technological wizardry provides both a supple ride and a feeling of control and stability that is hard to match in any other car. But enough of boorish car-guy-centric statistics, let’s get to the opinions that matter...

Two Ladies in Greenwich – Jackie and karen

Admittedly I hedged my bets with my first group of women. They are both smart “car gals” who know and appreciate things automotive as well as being busy, professional women. In theory, the Maserati GranCabrio would be a perfect car for them, and, as it turns out, it was.

Far be it from me to say a brilliant red convertible with a spotless white leather interior and deep metallic black wheels is everyone’s cup of tea.

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However, on this day, with these ladies, on Greenwich Avenue, it was stunning. And as we all know, it is difficult to stand out on Greenwich Ave. “I would always look good in this car,” commented Jackie, “except when I didn’t.” Which brings up an interesting question – is it better to look like hell getting out of a gorgeous car, or look fantastic stepping out of a rusting heap? From the looks I got with that question, I guess the answer is obvious.

So I’ve learned that it is always better to look more attractive than your car (not a thing I can personally be accused of, by the way). And when your car is a Maserati this is not always possible – let’s face it, we all have moments when we’d rather just throw on sweat pants and ferry the kids to school. But all is not lost for our Italian sculpture. As Karen pointed out, “This car is me, when I’m at my best.” It magnifies the glamour, the style, the presence, better than any accessory. I noticed something interesting about this car with these women; they were having a lot of fun. It was fun to drive. It was fun to sit in. It was even fun when I pestered them to pose for pictures. And the ladies really, well, beamed.

It was a joy to watch them together with the car. When we weren’t taking pictures or driving to locations, they sat on the back laughing and talking. I’m sure they would do this anyway as they are good friends,

but there was something extra with the Mase- pable of being lived with, women tend to be rati. Something... Elegance? Panache? Joie de more particular in their choices. More, shall we say, “practical.” Whereas a guy will look Vivre? A tougher test was called for. at the GranCabrio and say, “It’s beautiful, I’ll buy it,” a woman might pause and ask, “Yes, Two Ladies in wesTporT – it is pretty, but can I live with it?”

Yvonne and dawn, wiTh We’ve already discovered that brilliant, sucTwo YounG Ladies It occurs to me – and this may be painfully cessful and beautiful women find the Granobvious to all of womankind, but believe me Cabrio works well for them. But will it also when I tell you that most men don’t under- pass muster with brilliant, successful, beautiful stand this – that perhaps looks aren’t every- women... with CHILDREN? This is a tougher thing. While men routinely chase after exotic, proposition as children come with accessories stunning women only to find out later that – telecommunications equipment, industrial they are mad as hatters and completely inca- solvents, contraptions for mixing complicated

formulas in precise atmospheric conditions, creams, ointments, balms, salves... Ah. I have just been informed that children actually don’t need most of those things, and that I am simply making stuff up at this point. While that may be true, I do know that transporting children is more complex than simply tossing them in the back and zooming off.

Nowadays children’s accoutrements require a certain amount of trunk space be dedicated to their needs, and there is precious little of that in the GranCabrio. This is not the car of choice to undertake a children’s expedition to discover the source of the Zambezi, for example. But for a day trip or any other usual use the car is perfect.

I suppose the closing argument is that these cars don’t have to be glamorous – just that they can be. And with a new dealership planned for Westport – staffed and trained by the Miller Motorcars folks who have done such a spectacular job in Greenwich – service and support should be first class. And this touches on one of the more practical concerns of my test subjects: aren’t exotic cars notoriously unreliable? Well, not any more. Maserati is expanding their lineup and building some amazing cars, with quality that is a far cry from our youth. I didn’t exactly put it that way to the ladies as they are still well within their youth.

That being said, my group of intrepid test subjects did greatly adore this car. The moms were the most skeptical, but just as with seeing a child spot the Christmas present she’s always wanted under the tree, the moms could not deny the sheer elation on the young girls’ faces while in the car. And really, isn’t that what at least some of life is supposed to be about? Granted, cars like this Maserati are expensive. Granted, they are not perfectly practical. But that is the point. If you already have the soul crushing, hackneyed, terminally boring minivan/SUV, don’t you want to (at least occasionally) throw your hands up in the air and capture that moment when you are ten years old and life is wonderful?

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Charles Moseley is President of FasterQuickly, a Television Production company, and has lived in Weston, CT for 15 years.

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Integrated Pain and Stress Relief Janet Schroeder, a licensed exercise physiologist, massage therapist and neurosomatic therapist has opened a new office in Bethel, CT to bring pain relief to chronic sufferers. Through a multidisciplinary approach, Schroeder tackles the source of clients’ pain, not just the symptoms. Her six aspects of treatment include: a postural assessment and evaluation of strength, balance and range of motion; deep tissue massage to release muscle spasms and restore sym-

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new york military academy

Independent School GuIde

Feature: three Keys to a Compelling College essay

by Hillary Frank Day sChools Day anD BoarDing sChools higher eDuCation

Inquire Today

NEW YORK MILITARY ACADEMY CO-ED • COLLEGE PREP • 7TH - 12TH GRADE BOARDING & DAY SCHOOL Established in 1889, the 120 acre campus is conveniently located just 60 miles north of New York City. We are dedicated to developing young leaders who have that competitive hunger and desire for success and fulfillment in college and in life, and who desire to be successful leaders in the future. Utilizing the military model for leadership and development, and a rigorous curriculum grounded by a demand for competence in the classical disciplines, our graduates are thoughtfully prepared to seek out extraordinary lives of accountability and service.

NYMA’s competitive academics and athletic programs are enhanced by a structured boarding environment that includes daily tutorials, a nightly, mentored study hall, a robust ESL program and a 12:1 student/teacher ratio in the classroom. Cadets enjoy opportunities to not only learn accountability but to practice peer leadership and to accept important responsibility. One of the things that set NYMA apart from other college prep schools is what we call our “real-life leadership lab”. Putting our

cadets in positions of increased accountability and responsibility in the Cadet Corps, while at the same time requiring them to maintain a high level of academic and athletic participation, requires them to constantly improve their organization, planning, time management and multi-tasking skills. We believe development in these critical areas gives our graduates a distinct advantage over others as they transition into some of the more prestigious colleges and universities in America.

Please take the time to browse the website and become familiar with what sets New York Military Academy apart from the other college prep schools. Then schedule a visit with our admissions office and come see for yourself why our cadets are SET APArT fOr ExCELLENCE by being inspired, engaged and ready for the future.

CALL TODAY at 845-534-3710 x4272 Or Visit us Online at www.nyma.org NEW YORK MILITARY ACADEMY 78 Academy Ave, Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY

ACADEMICS • ATHLETICS • CHARACTER • LEADERSHIP

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Westover School, a leading preparatory school for young women, is known for its graduates – confident young women prepared both academically and personally to get the most out of their college experience.

At Westover your daughter will have opportunities to explore and discover her strengths through signature academic programs that allow for in-depth study in areas including Women in Science and Engineering, Global Exchanges, Interdisciplinary Studies, and the Online School for Girls.

Here your daughter will grow both academically and personally within a collaborative community of students in grades 9 - 12 from 16 states and 17 countries.

For more information or to arrange for a visit to the School, please call the Office of Admission at 203.577.4521 or visit westoverschool.org.

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Canterbury School New Milford, CT

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100% college acceptance rate • AP classes • Small class sizes • Beautiful campus adjacent to the Black Rock Forest • Learning difference support • Competitive athletic program including outdoor adventure • Renowned visual and performing arts program with state-of-the-art technology

Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York

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At Dwight-Englewood School we believe in educating the whole person, focusing on hands-on learning, critical thinking, ethical and moral decision making, and teamwork. Here, each student can reach new heights. Here, our students are our mission. Here, they are all Dwight-Englewood.

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE

three KeyS to a compelling college essay by hIllary franK

yellow monSterS

dream

I Grew up

when talKInG

bacKwardS

Invent

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Back when I graduated from college I lIved wIth my frIend JamIe, who went JoggIng every day—not for the exercIse, really, But Just In case the world ended and he needed to run from wIld dogs. JamIe knew aBout thIngs lIke solar energy and what part of a cattaIl you could eat If you needed to. and JamIe, It turned out, would Be my tIcket to gettIng on my favorIte radIo show, thIs amerIcan lIfe. I had tried to get on the show a lot—submitting new essays every couple of months. After about my fifth rejection letter I decided to approach things differently. I had caught wind that the show was looking for apocalypse stories, and I knew Jamie would make a great interview subject for that theme. I wanted to create an audio segment that would sound like it belonged on TAL, but I had no experience whatsoever with audio, so I worked with tools at my disposal: I interviewed Jamie on my parents’ answering machine, read my script into a shiny red boombox, and fed clips of the interview into the boombox in between my lines. I overnighted the tape to the show and the next day got a call from the host, Ira Glass, asking me who I was and how I’d figured out how to make a story that sounded like what they did at TAL. He said that the staff was constantly inundated with pitches from professional writers and radio producers who couldn’t figure it out. I told him that I’d studied the show—taken notes on stories, read his radio manifesto online, and that I’d tried to give him what he seemed to want: fun details (wild dogs, cattails), an element of surprise (apocalypse obsession that is secular, not religious), and reflection (in the end Jamie wonders if he’s obsessed with the end of the world because he can’t imagine getting old and that the world ending would mean that he never will). My piece about Jamie never wound up on the radio but my next story—also made in answering machine/boombox style— aired two months later. That same year I got my first book deal.

People always say it’s so hard to get published but I would argue it’s actually not. The truth is, most of the submissions editors get are just not right for their particular publication or show and leave them thinking, Why should I care? If you can leave your reader with a satisfying answer to that question you will be way ahead of the pack.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE It’s the same thing with college essays.

Your big Life-Defining Story should, of course, make admissions officers feel some sort of emotion—the key to making your reader care.

The way I see it, there are three ways to achieve this in your writing: vivid details, a surprising big idea, and an authentic voice. I follow these rules in all of my work, whether I’m writing a personal essay, creative nonfiction, or straight-up fiction. Let’s break down these concepts: vIvId detaIls When I say vivid details, I mean visual details. Memorable details. Like wild dogs and cattails. When you’re describing a person, think fictionwriting and the kind of attributes you’d give to a character to make us fall for her right away. When writing a simile or metaphor, try to write one that you think has never been written in the history of writing. That way you avoid cliché. If you can, try to work some of those attentiongrabbing details into your first line, forcing your reader to picture something interesting right off the bat. This technique is most effective if you juxtapose a couple of seemingly unrelated details, as in this sample first line from one of my college essay students: “I’ve had tea with yellow monsters and extinguished raging fires using a watering can.”

Don’t you desperately want to know what she means by that?

Here’s another: “This lemon is the size of my head and smells of grapefruit.”

These writers are creating what I call a good huh? As in, you’re making your reader think, Huh? in a way that means, Wow, I’ve never heard that before!—not Huh? I don’t get it, and I’m bored. The bad, or bored, kind of huh? usually comes from vagueness and excessive telling rather than showing. Show, don’t tell. You’ve heard it a million times before. But seriously. Paint a picture. the BIg Idea One of my favorite radio projects I’ve ever produced was a series of essays by Chicago teens telling their stories of growing up. To find stories, I asked students to, “Write in one page what growing up has meant to you. Tell me something I’ve never heard before.” The submissions that stood out to me—the ones I knew I needed on the air—were the ones that I could sum up in one attention-grabbing sentence. Some examples: I grew up by learning to stop compulsively talking backwards.

I grew up when I found out my best girlfriends were actually… girlfriends.

I grew up when I had to find a realtor and look for a home for my family.

The stories behind these lines are actually pretty common. They could’ve also been summarized this way: I grew up when I started to overcome my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

I grew up when my two best friends started dating.

I grew up when my family immigrated to the United States.

Yawn, right? The talking backwards, the girlfriends, the realtor-hunting teen—those are the things that hook you, that give you that good huh?

When I work with college applicants, I call the juicy line that summarizes their topic the elevator pitch. I tell them to imagine they need to pitch their essay to a movie executive in a single sentence. And I encour-

age them to not even begin writing until they’ve nailed that line. Here are a couple more examples of boring vs. compelling ideas from some of my students’ college essays last year: When I moved to the South I didn’t fit in. Versus: Horror movies saved my social life.

And: I love to invent things. Versus: Dreaming can be dangerous. (This example comes from an engineering applicant—someone who got into MIT among other technical schools. See how his elevator pitch version makes him so much more intriguing than the first version?)

Now, to be clear, when I say “big idea,” I don’t literally mean your topic needs to be about something big. Big just means that your elevator pitch is the guiding force holding all of your thoughts together. And having a guiding force is really helpful because once you draft your essay, you can go back and check yourself to see if your writing is living up to your big idea. If not, you have two choices: either revise your essay to fit your idea or revise your idea to fit your essay, being sure to still keep it compelling. Achieving consistency between the two will ensure that you are communicating your ideas clearly. authentIc voIce When I talk about an authentic voice, I mean your authentic speaking voice. When we write essays in high school, we tend to write them in a detached voice. But the creative nonfiction writers we usually admire write in a voice that is closer to the way that writer talks. When I come across a line (or many lines) in a student’s work that is muddled and difficult to understand, I ask the student to tell me what she meant to convey. Without fail, the way she says it is much more effective than the way she wrote it. Here are two ways to coax your authentic voice onto the page: 1) After writing your draft, read your essay aloud. If you stumble over any words or feel bored while you are reading it, think about how you would say that line to a friend. Or how you would write it in a letter rather than in an essay.

2) Instead of beginning by writing, begin by recording yourself telling your story to a real person or imaginary audience. You’ll likely tell the story in the wrong order and include more details than you need, but you can always cut back. The important thing is you’ll be telling the story in a conversational tone. Take the best parts of your recording and transcribe them.

Keep in mind, voice and details are not mutually exclusive. They can be combined to great effect, as one of my students did when he described his life as a “giant hamster wheel of doom.” This is what I mean when I talk about coming up with a metaphor nobody else has ever written.

Be playful, be deep. Above all, be you. Tell a story your reader can imagine—one that no other applicant will tell. Do these things and I guarantee you, you will make admissions officers care. Which is a big step—perhaps the biggest step—toward getting your application into the yes pile.

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Westport native Hillary Frank is the author of three young adult novels and a contributor to a variety of public radio programs, including This American Life. She offers college essay consulting through her business, Dog Star Tutoring, based in Montclair, New Jersey. (www.dogstartutoring.com).

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Who starts college after the 10th or 11th grade?

We do.

We offer a rigorous program in the liberal arts and sciences to younger students.

Most start here after 10th or 11th grade, and earn their BA by age 20. Early college and accelerated learning give our graduates a head start on lifelong achievement.

LEARN MORE:

simons-rock.edu/whyearlycollege excel@simons-rock.edu 800.235.7186

Just another face in the classroom?

Be seen.

Oldfields School Each Girl’s Success Oldfields School is a private, all girls, 8-12 boarding and day school. Located on a 130-acre campus in Maryland horse country, the School is also in close proximity to city life in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. At Oldfields, a traditional college-preparatory curriculum is enhanced by small class sizes and a supportive faculty. The faculty-to-student ratio is five

to one, allowing each student individual attention.

For over 150 years, Oldfields has been focused on each girl’s success. The School is committed to maximizing the potential of each girl, not only in the classroom, but also in all areas of school life. In a nurturing, family-like atmosphere, students are recognized as individuals and are valued as members of the community.

1500 Glencoe Road | Sparks Glencoe, MD 21152 | 410-472-4800

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. • Programs begin at 9:00 a.m.

Avon Old Farms believes strongly in the benefits of a single-sex education and understands the unique learning styles of young men. A structured academic day includes regular all-school meetings, family-style meals, athletic practices, and quiet evening study hours. Core values such as brotherhood, integrity, scholarship, and sportsmanship are emphasized and modeled by a caring and committed faculty who also serve as coaches, dormitory masters, counselors, valued mentors, and friends.

Avon’s diverse academic program is both challenging and supportive. Avon Old Farms is a fully-accredited college preparatory school and its graduates represent their school proudly at some of

the finest colleges and universities in the nation and abroad.

Avon Old Farms is located 15 minutes northwest of Hartford, offering a magnificent campus with outstanding facilities.

QUICK FACTS: Established: 1927 Enrollment: 405 boys States/Countries Represented: 22/22 Average Class Size: 12 Student-Teacher Ratio: 6:1 Campus Size: 990 wooded acres Interscholastic Sports: 15

To RSVP or schedule an interview, please call us at 800-464-2866, or email us at admissions@avonoldfarms.com 500 Old Farms Road, Avon, Connecticut 06001

www.AvonOldFarms.com

Avon Old Farms School welcomes students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin.

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Rethinking Learning, Reigniting Lives

A school where dyslexic students rethink the learning process and reinvent themselves, forging futures they hadn’t thought possible.

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Empowered

to Explore Small classes. Inspiring teachers.

Innovative programming. See how Ridgefield Academy students are learning in meaningful ways.

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Empowering Every Student Preschool through Grade 8

203-894-1800 | www.ridgefieldacademy.org

T h e y d i d n ’t g o f o r s t a t u s q u o !

For over 105 years Riverside Military Academy has produced young men of purpose, integrity, and character who “seek something greater” than their current educational experience. We empower our cadets to unlock their potential through a program of academic excellence, character development, social skills, and leadership training within a structured environment. The 2012 graduating class consisted of 84 cadets who received over $2,000,000 in scholarship and were accepted to over 90 universities include the U.S. Military Academy-West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy. 

Educating young men in grades 7-12

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Over 460 cadets from 25 states and 22 countries

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AP and honors courses

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12 athletic sports with many championship titles

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Aviation and driver’s education programs

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Located one hour north of Atlanta’s international airport Follow us:

www.riversidemilitary.com ■ 800.462.2338 2001 Riverside Drive • Gainesville, GA • 30501

Deutsch mit Spaß!

German School of Connecticut bridging cultures

Nothing connects us to a country more than its language. Speaking German can help you strengthen that connection while enhancing travel, education and buziness horizons. Established in 1978, the German School of Connecticut (GSC) – the only professional German Saturday School in the state – provides a high-quality German educational program for over 350 children and adults. At GSC, students at all levels learn German language and culture Saturdy mornings during the academic year.

• Two convenient campuses: Stamford and West Hartford.

• All grades: pre K-12, and adult classes too!

“Fluency in German gave my daughter that extra edge to get into her first choice in college… and later helped her find a job as well!” - Mother of Former Student

• Dedicated, professional teachers.

• Two different proficiency levels: beginners/non-native, and near fluent/native.

“My children learned so much at GSC that when we go to Germany, they feel at home with the language and culture.”

- German Parent

• Best CT results in the National German AATG Examinations.

• Prepare for SAT Subject Test and AP German Exam.

• Deutsches Sprachdiplom A2, B1, C1, satisfying German university entrance language requirements.

“My Business Studies got me the interview, but I am convinced my fluency in German landed the job.”

- Former Student/Business Major

Attend a Free Trial Class! – Call Ahead (203) 548-0438 More details at

www.germanschoolct.org

imagine yourself here.

Cheshire Academy Cheshire Academy’s individualized approach to education places the student at the center of the learning process.

Photos © Robert Falcetti

The curriculum for boarding and day students, grade eight through postgraduate, features an average class size of 12.

The Academy offers AP and Honors classes in addition to the International Baccalaureate® Diploma Programme.

The Roxbury Academic Support Program helps students build study skills that serve them well in college. The academic program is complemented by offerings in athletics, the arts, and community service.

The college counseling process focuses on matching students with the colleges and universities that are best suited to what they hope to achieve in life.

Call today to arrange a visit. We look forward to helping you imagine yourself here.

Established 1794 • 10 Main Street • Cheshire, Connecticut A d m i s s i o n : 2 0 3 . 4 3 9 . 7 2 5 0 • a d m i s s i o n s @ c h e s h i r e a c a d e m y. o r g w w w. c h e s h i r e a c a d e m y. o r g

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE day schools French-american school of new york

Since its founding in 1980, the French-American School of New York (www.fasny.org) has evolved from a three teacher, 17-student nursery into a thriving school on three campuses accredited by the New York State Department of Education, New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) and the French Ministry of National Education.

Eighty-five percent of the faculty members at FASNY hold advanced degrees. Eight hundred fifty students representing 50 nationalities belonging to four school divisions from Nursery through 12th Grade are prepared to receive both a FASNY high school diploma and the French

French-american School oF new york

terscholastic athletics program, arts programs, and a robust community service program, international exchange programs (Bolivia, Spain, Germany), as well as a palette of interest-driven student clubs. Leadership and character development among students is a carefully crafted component of FASNY’s curricular and extra curricular offerings. Students are encouraged to grow into reflective individuals who act responsibly, effectively, and ethically.

To these wide-ranging educational offerings and impressive academic results, FASNY is now preparing to add an enhanced dimension. Its projected new campus will reclaim the land of a former golf club, and use the facility and grounds as an opportunity for a hands-on, daily education in environmental sustainability.

FASNY’s Pre-, Lower and Upper Schools, are located respectively in the villages of Scarsdale, Larchmont, and Mamaroneck, and are approximately 20 miles north of New York City in Westchester County. FASNY accepts non-French speaking students in Nursery and Pre-Kindergarten.

For more information visit www.fasny.org or contact Director of Admissions, Antoine Agopian, at 914/250-0400 or at admissions@fasny.org.

ridgefield academy – empowering every student

Ridgefield Academy, an independent day school located in Ridgefield, CT, empowers every child to realize his or her unique potential by bringing together academic excellence, innovative programming and a diverse, supportive community.

Small Classes Make the Difference Teachers and administrators believe the key to future success is empowering each and every student. The program, which educates children from preschool (two-year-olds) to eighth grade, provides students

Baccalaureate. Hailing from around the world, FASNY students are educated to appreciate cultural diversity and embrace the value of multiple perspectives. As they engage with the curriculum and the community, our students develop into global citizens.

FASNY’s mission to educate internationally minded students occurs within the context of a track record of academic excellence. FASNY’s students thrive in their studies after high school in the United States, Canada, France the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. Since granting its first French baccalaureate degree in 2009, FASNY has each year achieved 100% success on the Baccalaureate, with more than 90% of the students passing with honors. FASNY ranked number one in mentions for the last three years among établissements homologués in the United States. Colleges and universities on both sides of the Atlantic recognize and seek out graduates with a FASNY education, and our list of college acceptances is disproportionately skewed to the finest institutions in the world.

FASNY’s pedagogical approach is to combine the best of the American and French educational systems. Students, most of whom are multilingual, are taught that there is more than one way to approach questions and issues, regardless of the discipline. FASNY students are adaptable, flexible and demonstrate empathy. They know from their direct experience in FASNY’s classrooms and hallways that the world is multi-dimensional. FASNY’s extra curricular offerings include an in-

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with daily opportunities to build confidence, use their creativity, work collaboratively and learn how to problem solve. Through small classes and individualized teaching instruction, children develop the skills to be critical thinkers, public speakers and self-advocates.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE A Comprehensive and Innovative Curriculum RA’s curriculum combines the traditional core subject areas of language arts, mathematics, science, history, world language and social studies with a rich program of music, art, and drama designed to inspire students and spark their creativity. Thanks to talented teachers and small class sizes, Ridgefield Academy can take teaching out of the textbooks and bring lessons to life with memorable experiences. When children learn by doing, they care more, remember more and are empowered to achieve more.

Public Speaking An important part of becoming a confident learner is learning the tools to effectively communicate your ideas. Seven years ago Ridgefield Academy implemented a public speaking program. The school recognized that if children are taught the tools for effective communication and given ample opportunity to practice, they could effectively learn written and verbal communication at a young age.

RA students learn the strategies for successful written and oral communication and through practice, develop into confident writers and public speakers.

Service Learning and Character Development The RA school community is a caring community built on a foundation of shared values. In all areas of school life, students model and reinforce the principles of respect, responsibility, fairness, and service to others. Service learning is incorporated into the curriculum to engage children in meaningful activities that reinforce the importance of service to others.

Innovative Media Arts Curriculum RA’s 5,800 square foot state-of-the-art media arts center and sound room allows students to use the latest technology to develop their writing skills, learn the current methods of research and explore the digital arts through classes such as animation, digital storytelling, film and sound editing.

New Preschool Wing In September the Academy opened a renovated preschool wing designed specifically for students aged 2 – 5 years of age. The facility will feature areas for cooking, technology and a small amphitheater for performances. The Academy’s preschool program offers children purposeful learning experiences to support social, emotional, cognitive and physiological development through science, art, math, foreign language, prereading exercises and movement activities.

The Right Secondary Placement Ridgefield Academy dedicates itself to helping each student find the right secondary school for the next step of his or her educational journey.

As students enter grade 6, the Head of School and the Head of Upper School lead each student through a sequence of steps designed to help prepare, plan, investigate and consider a wide range of high school options. Throughout the process, students and families are guided and supported.

The RA Difference Many families have discovered what a difference the Ridgefield Academy experience can make for their child.

For more information about Ridgefield Academy: Visit www.ridgefieldacademy.org, or call Julie Crane at (203) 894-1800 x112.

Dwight-englewood school

“As a community of learners, Dwight-Englewood School strives to foster in each student a passion for life-long learning. We seek excellence, honor integrity, and embrace diversity in order to meet the challenges of a changing world and make it better.” dwight-englewood School Dwight-Englewood (D-E) is a coeducational, independent school of approximately 900 students, serving a seamless education experience for students in preschool (age 3) through Grade 12. Comprised of three divisions – the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools – each with their own distinctive personality, D-E is the most ethnically-diverse school in Bergen County, with students who represent more than 80 communities in New Jersey and New York. The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools, and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools.

D-E is located on a beautiful 40+ acre campus, just minutes from George Washington Bridge. As the area’s longest-established independent PreK through Grade 12 co-educational day school, our students take advantage of an unparalleled rich academic experience that is both traditional and innovative. We provide a rigorous college preparatory program rooted in the classical liberal arts while at the same time preparing students with 21st century skills they will need for their futures.

At Dwight-Englewood we all come to grow. We seek growth in respect, honesty, judgment, commitment, courage and community and expect each of us to work towards living these, our shared values. We believe that the opportunity to grow is a precious gift, one that brings out our best selves. Dwight-Englewood gives the highest quality preparation for college and university work while fostering independent thinking; the ability to solve problems; and the skills, tolerance, and integrity it takes to thrive in our multifaceted world.

Students thrive here in a variety of ways including the arts, athletics, leadership and service. In the tradition of the nation’s finest independent schools, we offer small classes and stimulating coursework that encourages students to take risks and to learn to pursue their passions.

Beyond the words of our Mission Statement, which charge us to “meet the challenges of a changing world and make it better,” our Profile of a D-E Graduate speaks to how “our graduates will explore ideas critically, communicate effectively, and lead active intellectual lives.” In turn our Profile of a D-E Teacher speaks to how our faculty and staff together “engage in the full life of our school, educating, supporting, and knowing our students beyond their academic experience.”

We pride ourselves in having a friendly admissions team, eager to introduce you to our dynamic ‘community of learners’. Contact D-E Admissions today to arrange a visit to campus or to discuss your future at Dwight-Englewood.

Dwight-Englewood does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation in its admissions or employment, or in the administration of any of its programs.

Dwight-Englewood School: 315 E. Palisade Avenue, Englewood, NJ 07631.

201-569-9500, ext. 3500; www.d-e.org.

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE the german school of Connecticut Stamford and West Hartford, CT Who studies German in Fairfield County? And Why? In 2012, the Boston Globe reported that citizens from many European countries were “flocking to learn German in hopes of getting jobs in Europe’s biggest and strongest economy.” The German American Chambers of Commerce reports that “US will remain a first class investment location for German enterprise,” that German companies in the US are bullish for 2013, with 76% planning to hire.

No wonder the German School of Connecticut (GSC), celebrating its 36th year at its Stamford and West Hartford campuses, saw a record enrollment last year of over 350 students… and is preparing for another record 201314 school year. Founded in 1978, GSC is a Saturday school offering a twotrack curriculum for non-native beginners, and native or near-fluent speakers.

Classes range from Pre-School through High School and Adult, with students learning German as a new, non-native language, others expanding their Muttersprache, while all celebrate German, Austrian and Swiss cultures.

Come visit us at one of our Open Houses!

You’re invited! Our West Hartford campus (First Baptist Church at 90 North Main St.) invites you to an Open House on Saturday, August 17 from 9:00am - noon. Our Stamford campus (Rippowam Middle School at 381 High Ridge Rd.) will have an Open House on opening day: Saturday, September 7th from 8:30am - 10:00am.

Due to increased demand, new students for Stamford should pre-register online before September: www.GermanSchoolCT.org.

Many GSC students realize the advantage of studying one of Europe’s leading languages: Some plan to split their future studies between universities in the US and a German-speaking country, others study to gain a professional advantage. Certain high school students have the opportunity to take a special German language exam, which can fulfill the language requirement for direct entry at a German university. GSC introduced these “Sprachdiplom” examinations in the US in 1982, authorized by the German education authorities in Bonn. Students may also get credits from local high schools, and can prepare to take the AP German Exam to gain US college credit.

Studying German at GSC is fun! Adults enjoy the camaraderie and friendship among like-motivated class participants. Toddlers and elementary school children enjoy hands-on modern teaching, along with singing, playing and being with their friends. Middle school and high school students enjoy special projects and cultural events… and all students participate in the many traditional holiday celebrations.

Jacob Ritter von Wagner of the Consulate General of New York, a guest at a recent Christmas celebration, happily commented on the festive atmosphere and stated “the outstanding engagement of the students and parents” will be remembered well. All appreciate the services of the school, and the transnational atmosphere.

Classes are held from September to May. For further information regarding enrollment or teaching, please visit www.GermanSchoolCT.org, or call Stamford at 203/548-0438 West Hartford at 860/404-8838.

WinTEr sPorTs acadEMic PrograM okemo mountain school Ludlow, VT Nestled in the picturesque Vermont ski town of Ludlow, Okemo Mountain School (OMS) offers a unique life experience and unparalleled educational opportunity for motivated student-athletes. Okemo Mountain School is a

winter term academy for alpine ski racing, snowboarding, and freestyle skiing athletes who wish to train full time in their sport without compromising rigorous academic study. OMS is an independent school approved by the Vermont State Board of Education for grades 5 -12 and welcomes applicants with a desire to achieve their personal best both academically and athletically.

Each year from early November through the end of March, the charming nineteenth century building which houses OMS bustles with excitement and a passion for learning and snow sports competition. Forty-eight students call OMS and Okemo Mountain Resort home for the winter months, which fly by at a feverish pace of hard work and fun times. The community is closeknit and the bonds between the staff, the families, and the student-athletes are strong. Student-athletes forge lifelong friendships at OMS and create connections with the OMS staff and other families that provide opportunities for them later in life. Furthermore, student-athletes leave OMS with incredible independence and a heightened sense of personal responsibility.

Unlike many other snow sports academies, OMS remains entirely focused on meeting the needs of winter term participants. OMS’ studentathletes hail from a multitude of other public and private schools in New England and beyond. They leave their local schools – known as “sending schools” – in early November to begin their time at OMS. While at OMS they spend mornings training on the slopes of Okemo Mountain and afternoons in academic classes and physical training sessions. The athletic coaches at OMS encourage and push each student-athlete to pursue his or her dreams of success. A low coach to athlete ratio allows for much individualized attention during on-hill and off-hill training sessions. Likewise, the academic teachers at OMS are dedicated to following the student-athletes’ individual sending school curricula with the goal of returning them in April right in step with their peers. Many student-athletes even return to their schools in the spring more successful academically than they left in the fall.

This unique dedication to individualized curricula is also a distinguishing factor for OMS amongst other ski academies. Countless academic and athletic success stories, coupled with the smiles on our student-athletes’ faces, speak to the significance of spending winters at Okemo Mountain School.

Head of School: Mariel Meringolo 802-228-1513, mmeringolo@okemomountainschool.org Director of Development and Admissions: Erica Kattalia 802-228-1514, ekattalia@okemomountainschool.org website: www.okemomountainschool.org

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE day and boarding schools Cheshire academy Cheshire, CT. For more than 200 years, Cheshire Academy has been dedicated to an individualized approach to education and character development that places the student always at the center of the learning process. The Academy stresses inclusiveness, meeting students “where they are,” and encouraging them to discover — and achieve — their true potential.

Teachers strive to bring creativity and the best practices in education into their classrooms. Coaches, dorm parents, and advisors make the most of teachable mocheShire academy ments throughout the day. All aspects of campus life are designed to reflect the school values known as the Eight Pillars of Bowden: respect, responsibility, caring, citizenship, civility, morality, fairness, and trustworthiness.

The coeducational curriculum features boarding and day options for domestic and international students from grade eight through a postgraduate year. The average class size is 12 and the student/ teacher ratio is seven to one. In addition to a wide range of AP and Honors classes, Cheshire Academy is proud to offer the International Baccalaureate® Diploma Programme. Colleges and universities are reporting the ever-increasing value of IB courses as part of the college application process.

The Roxbury Academic Support Program helps students gain experience and build confidence in study, organizational, and time management skills that will serve them well in college and beyond.

A strong academic program is complemented by offerings in athletics, visual and performing arts, and community service. Intentionally designed Community Weekends, which bring together day and boarding students for themed activities, help students create lifelong friendships, learn about the world beyond the classroom, and prepare to take their places as global learners.

The college counseling office begins working with students early in their high school years, so that their search process focuses on the colleges and universities that are best suited to what they hope to achieve in life. One graduate explained, “What really matters in high school is that students find their own spark. In an environment like Cheshire, where students can expand themselves in ways they wouldn’t expect, that’s where growing happens.”

For more information on admission to Cheshire Academy, please contact the Admission Office at 203-439-7250 or admissions@cheshireacademy.org.

You can also visit www.cheshireacademy.org or find us on Facebook and Twitter. Head of School: Dr. Jerry Larson. Cheshire Academy: 10 Main Street, Cheshire, Connecticut 06410.

Canterbury school New Milford, CT Canterbury School is a coeducational boarding and day school Canterbury School New Milford, CT enrolling 360 students in a college preparatory program for grades 9-12. In addition to its strong academic program, the school is known for the beauty of its location, a true dedication to spiritual growth, and an exciting sports program for both boys and girls.

The school is situated on a hillGrades 9-12 • Boarding & Day • (860) 210-3934 • www.cbury.org top adjacent to the historic section of New Milford, Connecticut, where Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, lived. The campus is about 80 miles from New York City in an area of natural beauty near the Housatonic River and the Appalachian Trail.

Canterbury was founded in 1915 by prominent lay Catholics. One of the founders, Dr. Nelson Hume, was honored by Pope Pius XI for his outstanding work in education. Today the Canterbury student body is a diverse mix of both Catholics and non-Catholics from 16 countries and 21 states.

Canterbury’s buildings, set on 150 acres, are a rich architectural mix of traditional and modern. The Chapel of Our Lady is both the physical center and the spiritual heart of the campus. The large newly renovated and expanded Robert Markey Steele Hall has a dining room, a student center, two computer labs, a library, a 100-seat lecture room, and the Steers Admission Center. Next door, Nelson Hume Hall has classrooms, science labs, a 400-seat auditorium, and the Theater Department’s “green room.”

The sports facilities include ten playing fields, three baseball diamonds, eight tennis courts, a track, a new state of the art aquatic center, and the Hockey Arena. The athletic facility houses three basketball courts, five international squash courts, locker rooms, a weight and fitness room, a wrestling room, as well as space for aerobics and dance.

There are eight student dormitories, which, like the classroom buildings, have wireless Internet access.

There are eighty faculty, most of whom also coach and serve as dorm advisors, and therefore may be working with a student in several roles each day. Many live on campus, 30 with their families.

Canterbury School takes pride in the breadth and depth of its course options. Canterbury is among the very few offering AP courses in World History, Drawing, and Music Theory. The school also offers four years of Latin.

Canterbury’s sports program is extensive. All students participate in athletics.

Three team levels – Varsity, Junior Varsity, and recreational—are fielded in most sports to accommodate players of varying skills, ages, and size. Boys teams are organized in basketball, baseball, crew, cross-country, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, squash, swimming, tennis, track, water polo, and wrestling.

Girls compete in basketball, crew, cross-country, field hockey, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, squash, swimming, track, tennis, and volleyball.

Students may earn academic credit for participating in the Canterbury Choir, Chorale and Octet as well as Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Band.

Other activities include student government, theater, the school newspaper, the yearbook, and the literary magazine. Interest clubs are formed for the environment and recycling, diversity issues, and school spirit.

101 Aspetuck Avenue, New Milford, CT. 860/210-3800. www.cbury.org; www.facebook.com/canterbuty.admission.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE avon old Farms school Avon, CT

the governor’s academy Byfield, MA

Since 1927, Avon Old Farms has been a leader in preparing young men for higher education, and the world. Avon is a dynamic community of learning with a rigorous curriculum anchored in the liberal arts. By understanding boys – and with appreciation for their sense of humor, their energy, and how they learn – we have created the kind of environment where our students are able to become their best selves.

Avon is conveniently located in the heart of the Farmington River Valley. Our founder, Theodate Pope Riddle, an accomplished American architect, created a campus with the feel of an English village on 1,000 acres of Connecticut countryside.

Avon’s teachers are experts in their fields who bring lessons to life and create compelling context for discussion. Creativity, innovation, and collaboration are taught by example through humor, inquiry, and debate.

Small classes mean that every voice is heard and every question answered.

At Avon we understand the importance of personal connection, especially during adolescence; this is why we have held strong to the model of a faculty member who advises, teaches, mentors, and coaches our boys.

Athletics is an honored tradition at Avon and, we believe, a valuable part of a complete education. Our athletic program is one of the best in the country and we attribute our success to experienced coaches, excellent facilities, strong competition, and an emphasis on things that matter most: teamwork, determination, and sportsmanship. As successful as we are at the varsity level, Avon sub-varsity teams play a full schedule in every sport, giving all our boys the opportunity to learn, stay fit, and enjoy the bonding experience of being part of a team.

Another way Avon boys come together is through the arts. Our rich and varied programs in music and the visual and performing arts provide many opportunities for boys to express themselves creatively and form meaningful connections with peers. Our students have been honored locally, regionally, and nationally for their creative accomplishments. Most impressive, however, Avon is a place where you can draw, paint, play an instrument, sing or act whether you have had years of experience or none.

As a college preparatory school, one of our goals is to identify and facilitate the right matches between Avon students and institutions of higher learning.

Our boys typically begin the college counseling process during sophomore year, setting expectations and goals early so that by the time they are seniors, they are prepared to take the lead on this leg of their journey to adulthood.

At Avon Old Farms, our goal is to be the best school for boys. From the start, we have successfully given young men the tools they need to excel both personally and professionally. Our core values of integrity, civility, selfdiscipline, altruism, tolerance, sportsmanship, and responsibility are fundamental to life at Avon, and stay with our graduates for a lifetime.

Avon Old Farms School: 500 Old Farms Road, Avon, CT 06001.

800-464-2866; www.AvonOldFarms.com.

The oldest continuously operating boarding school in the United States.

College preparatory, coed, grades 9-12, boarding and day.

From our first headmaster in 1763 who encouraged students to study aloud rather than insisting on the traditional silence in the classroom, we’ve embraced change to remain relevant. Because this isn’t just about the next four years. It’s about the promise of what can happen after that.

We’ve always wanted more for our students.

Citizen leaders the governor’S academy Accountability, responsibility, and cooperation form an unwritten curriculum at Governor’s that has produced generations of leaders. Our earliest graduates shaped a young nation.

Today graduates continue to lead as CEOs, policymakers, engineers, entrepreneurs, physicians, teachers, scientists, and more.

An environmental focus What does innovation mean at Governor’s? Fish radio frequency tags, for starters. Our Massachusetts location four miles from the Atlantic Ocean is a testing ground for environmental stewardship and research.

A 5:1 student-faculty ratio Our faculty members are interesting, passionate people, including editors of award-winning journals, National Science Foundation grant recipients, nationally recognized artists, an Olympic rower, and a bestselling author. All are dedicated to bringing out the best in teenagers.

Intellect We challenge each student to ponder, process, and shape the discourse in small, discussion-based classes. The academic program includes honors, advanced, and AP classes in all departments, as well as research partnerships with Harvard and MIT, demanding standards in writing and critical analysis, internships, and five languages to study.

Creativity Outstanding facilities and an excellent faculty support a wide range of arts opportunities, from innovative freshman courses to advanced study in art and architecture, film and photography, ceramics, music, drama, technical theater and dance.

Strength Governor’s athletic teams are known for their championship titles. Our facilities rival those at small colleges, and we’re home to some of the best athletes in Massachusetts, many of whom go on to nationally ranked college teams.

A global view Governor’s invaluable global outlook inspires exchange and study abroad programs, course offerings and class activities. Motivated students from 24 states and 16 countries—two thirds boarders and one third day—form a unique synthesis of cultures in a small town setting.

Helping young people discover who they are and who they could be is what we’re all about at Governor’s.

Always has been. Always will be. Always Governor’s.

Arrange a visit: 978/465-1763 or admissions@govsacademy.org.

1 Elm Street, Byfield, MA 01922. www.thegovernorsacademy.org.

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE oldfields school Glencoe, MD

the White mountain school Bethlehem, NH

At Oldfields, “living large” is about having a generous heart. Courage, Humility, and Largeness of Heart are the values that define the students and the culture of Oldfields School. The School’s nurturing yet rigorous curriculum ensures that our girls walk down Graduation Hill as wellrounded, compassionate, and confident young women.

Oldfields School is a private, all girls, 8-12 boarding and day school in Sparks Glencoe. Located on a 130-acre campus in Maryland horse country, Oldfields is also in close proximity to Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New York City. For over 150 years, Oldfields has been focused on each girl’s success. In a nurturing, family-like atmosphere, students are recognized as individuals and are valued as members of the community.

Academically, our girls are encouraged to think outside the box and reach to the next level. Says Kiefer ’14 from Sparks, “Oldfields’ teachers are passionate about the subjects they teach which makes learning enjoyable and interesting.” At Oldfields, a traditional college-preparatory curriculum is enhanced by small class sizes and a supportive faculty. The faculty to student ratio is five to one, allowing each student the individual attention necessary to flourish academically oldFieldS School and socially.

Oldfields students experience reallife learning during the School’s two-week May Program in the spring.

Girls get to choose from a wide variety of offerings, including travel abroad, local opportunities, and hands-on learning. Some examples of this year’s past May Programs are The Best of Peru, Kitchen Chemistry, The Joy of Teaching, and Outdoor Experience. Juniors and seniors are also given the option to design an individualized, independent May Program. Past programs have included working as a veterinary aide, being part of a Congressional campaign committee, and interning in surgical pathology at Johns Hopkins University.

Oldfields is a small school with big diversity. Diversity of talents, learning styles, cultures, faiths, and more encourages students to be comfortable with their peers from all over the world. Says Addie ’14 from Glyndon, “Oldfields truly does have a feeling of family. We all blend together to make a diverse, focused, and loving community.” Part of being a close-knit and loving community means celebrating students’ differences. Clubs such as the Asian Cultures Club and the Jewish Culture Club provide a vehicle for students to explore their culture and/or learn more about a culture with which they are not familiar.

Oldfields offers a number of competitive interscholastic sports and afterschool activities including field hockey, volleyball, lacrosse, dance, theatre, riding lessons, competitive team riding, and much more. Every girl participates in a sport or after-school activity which allows her to discover her passion, whether it be onstage or on the playing field. Says Barrett ’14, a resident of Sparks, “Oldfields gave me the opportunity to take dance, which I had never done before. Now I have found out that I love it!”

You’ve heard what our students love about Oldfields. What will YOU love about Oldfields? Come and visit our Admission Office to find out!

Check out www.OldfieldsSchool.org or call 410-472-4800 for more information.

The White Mountain School is an independent boarding and day school dedicated to preparing young people for college and life beyond formal academics. Since our founding in 1886, we have maintained a clear focus on educating each student as an individual. We believe all students bring unique talents, passions and dreams to our community. It is our job to nurture these individual interests and help students build meaningful lives.

The White Mountain School’s academic philosophy combines a collegepreparatory curriculum with an intentional focus on the development of curiosity, critical thinking and communication skills to prepare students for success in college and beyond. With an average class size of 10 and a student-faculty ratio of 5:1, teachers create discussion-based classes where every student is engaged. AP and Honors courses are offered in every discipline. Independent research is central to our students’ experience — both within traditional courses and through our focus on student-led independent projects. Through independent research students explore their own interests in collaboration with faculty members, developing intellectual curiosity and the tools for success at the next level.

Outside the classroom, students engage in unique academic opportunities through weeklong field courses (twice per year). Students explore their own interests and the world around them, and put theoretical understanding into action. They gain new perspective and appreciation for different cultures, the environment and their place within the world.

The White Mountain School believes that athletics and activities beyond the classroom are essential. Teams and activities are open to all. WMS fields teams for boys and girls in lacrosse, soccer, basketball, cross-country running, sport climbing, Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, road cycling and mountain biking. Instructional and recreational opportunities are offered in rock climbing, whitewater kayaking, hiking, skiing/snowboarding and yoga. Additionally, students can engage in a variety of arts experiences in the afternoons, from dance to theater to visual arts.

As an Episcopal school, The White Mountain School honors and celebrates the unique worth of each individual. Students of all faiths are welcome and students are encouraged to pursue their own understanding of spirituality. The School’s Episcopal heritage inspires a commitment to community service, a connection to the natural world and encouragement of students’ individual talents and passions. Faculty members and Administrators live on campus and engage students wherever they work with them... in the classroom, athletics, clubs/activities, at meals and in residential life.

The School’s location on 250 acres adjacent to the spectacular 600,000acre White Mountain National Forest provides a spectacular setting for learning. Our facilities include residential and academic buildings that have been built/renovated with green building practices in mind. Our fitness center includes a state of the art, 3000 sq. ft. climbing wall. We are thrilled to announce the construction of our new Arts Center, housing studios for the visual arts, music and dance. The Houghton Arts Center is scheduled to open in January 2014.

371 West Farm Road, Bethlehem, New Hampshire, 03574. For more information, please visit www.whitemountain.org or call 603/444-2928.

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE boarding schools Westover Middlebury, CT Westover, a selective boarding school of 200 girls, grades 9 - 12, in Middlebury, CT, has students from 16 countries and 19 states. Because the Westover community values the ideas and talents of weStover every student, its students have endless opportunities to distinguish and challenge themselves. In addition to its rich and varied curriculum, Westover offers three specialized programs for those students with more concentrated interests. These programs provide co-curricular experiences for Westover students with the Brass City Ballet, the Manhattan School of Music, and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE).

• Brass City Ballet. As participants in this program, a joint venture between Westover and the Brass City Ballet, select students have the opportunity to study dance at one of the region’s leading dance schools. Students audition in the fall of their entry year and take six dance classes a week in ballet, modern, and jazz.

• Manhattan School of Music. This joint program between the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division and Westover offers talented musicians and vocalists the opportunity to study music and play in an orchestra or ensemble at one of the country’s leading music schools. Students must complete a separate application and audition to be accepted into the program.

• WISE (Women in Science and Engineering). This advanced extracurricular program in conjunction with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) offers a variety of electives aimed at preparing students for careers in science or engineering. WISE graduates also receive special consideration for RPI’s engineering program.

A number of Westover graduates who have participated in these programs have later pursued studies in dance, music, science and engineering in college and have gone on to establish careers in these fields. wPi In addition, Westover offers three signature programs that further reflect the School’s commitment to giving students opportunities to gain experience and knowledge in special areas of interest: the Sonja Osborn Museum Studies Internship, the Online School for Girls, and Westover’s Summer Programs for girls entering grades 7, 8 and 9.

• The Sonja Osborn Museum Studies Internship. The Museum Studies Internship, designed for students with interests and aptitude in the study of art history, consists of a ten-week program. The first eight weeks are spent at Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT, the home designed and lived in by Theodate Pope Riddle, Westover’s architect.

The final two weeks are spent working on a project that investigates the historical ties between the museum and Westover.

• The Online School for Girls (OSG). Westover was one of four allgirls schools in 2009 to establish a consortium to offer online education for girls. Girls taking part in the program are offered courses taught by faculty members from the consortium over the Internet. Courses will range from multivariable calculus and differential equations to women in art and literature. All classes focus on collaborative projects for participating students.

• Westover’s Summer Programs. The School’s residential one- or two-week summer programs in the arts and academics are an extension of the Westover experience, allowing girls to benefit from courses taught

by Westover instructors while enjoying a range of summer activities. Recent course offerings have included ceramics, creative writing, dance, drama, Model United Nations, and photography.

These six programs reflect the diverse offerings that Westover provides

for all of its students. As Head of School Ann Pollina has noted, “Westover’s small, all-girls’ environment forces students out of boxes and into a bigger picture of themselves. Our girls are artists and athletes, musicians and mathematicians, poets and physicists – sometimes all at the same time.”

For more information, or to arrange for a visit, contact Westover’s Office of Admission at 203-577-4521 or e-mail admission@westoverschool.org. For more information about Westover, visit www.westoverschool.org.

the gow school Aurora, NY The Gow School is an internationally renowned boarding school located in rural South Wales, NY. Founded in 1926, Gow is the oldest college preparatory school in the country for students with dyslexia. The students come from 26 countries and 20 states.

An important goal of The Gow School is preparing students with dyslexia and language-based learning differences for college and a career. Therefore, all of the students take an Orton-based phonics program called Reconstructive Language. In addition to small classes of three to six students, the school offers a range of academic programs, including art, drama, music, and robotics. The school offers structured classes and tutorials during the day, athletics in the afternoon, and a daily supervised study hall in the evening. emory Pre-college Program In recent years, The Gow School has realized the need to broaden its reach to students who live in the local area. Gow now has over a dozen day students, including girls. Although these students only stay for academics and athletics, they, too, benefit from the highly effective remediation and structure that The Gow School has been offering to boarders since 1926. Due to the success of the co-ed day program, Gow will begin boarding girls in the fall of 2014.

Located just outside of East Aurora, NY, the picturesque campus consists of 110 acres of woodlands, encompassing over 25 buildings. The Reid Arts Center houses The Simms Family Theater, videography, art, and music labs.

The 50,000 square-foot Gow Center, complete with basketball court, tennis courts, large multipurpose room, squash courts, fitness center and student lounge, is the center of afternoon and weekend activthe gow School ity. The addition of a new outdoor basketball and volleyball court is also underway. The Donald Weston Dining Hall is a 10,000 square-foot addition to the campus that was completed in 2009. The Alice R. Gow Science, Technology and Robotics Building was dedicated in April of 2013. This 5,000 square-foot building houses classroom space for the Science Department with a focus on physics and applied technology. The centerpiece of the building is a workshop for the robotics program which boasts the new CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine. This high-tech machining tool is a welcome addition to the robotics team at the school. Gow is one of a few schools in the country to have a CNC machine which is used to fabricate parts for the robotics program with the assistance of CAD (Computer Assisted Design) software. This machine gives students excellent hands-on experience as they explore the world of robotics and engineering.

The Gow School has a five-week co-ed summer program in July. The Gow School Summer Program is five weeks of learning and fun for ages 8-16. The camp program includes four one-hour classes in the morning with traditional camp activities in the afternoon and evening. The Gow School Summer Program also offers instruction in the visual and performing arts and an extensive sports program. During the weekend, the students take trips to local cultural, historical, and entertainment venues.

Please visit our website (www.gow.org) or contact us at (716) 687-2001 forcanterbury further information.

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE the Storm king School

the storm King school Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY Steeped in History – Preparing Students for Tomorrow Founded in the wake of the Civil War in the shadow of the mountain which bestows its name, The Storm King School is steeped in the history of the place, the events and the time. 150 years ago, Hudson River School painters and Knickerbocker writers roamed the steep hillsides rising above the majestic Hudson, drawing inspiration from the mysterious and untamed landscape, and celebrating the sublime potential of the human spirit that was the hallmark of the burgeoning Romantic Movement.

This was the dawning of America’s self-awareness as a unique culture distinct from European civilization. Its hallmark was an appreciation for the powerful relationship between each individual and his world – a rugged individualism that celebrates the potential of each citizen.

Storm King was and remains a small college preparatory boarding school, a village, an interdependent learning community where every individual plays an important role. Of course much has changed since the school’s founding in 1867. Throughout, Storm King has remained true to its essence: a place that nurtures and celebrates the spirit and the power of individual potential and accomplishment, not just for its own sake, but for the betterment of mankind and society.

Benefiting from a dedicated, talented faculty, a diverse student body with a global perspective, a strong, consistent academic focus on fulfilling individual potential, and a stunning location only an hour’s travel from America’s most important city, Storm King remains focused on character development, placing it at the center of everything that it does.

The school’s motto is “Truth, Respect, Responsibility” – as relevant and powerful a statement of purpose now as it was in 1867.

Today, The Storm King School is a small college prep boarding school dedicated to the success of each student. Blending the best of traditional educational methods with new and emerging technologies, SKS tailors highly individualized programs to meet the varying needs of each student. At Storm King, students are helped to dream big, work hard and achieve success, each in his or her own way.

To learn more about The Storm King School, please visit the school’s web site at www.sks.org. For information about admission as a boarding or day student please contact the admission office at admissions@sks.org. Our phone number is 845-458-9860. Or come visit us at The Storm King School, 314 Mountain Road, Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY 12520.

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oakland Collegiate school Port Gibson, MS Boys are not designed to sit for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week in a straight plastic seat behind a Formica desk under the hum and flicker of fluorescent lights.

No wonder so many intelligent, inquisitive, and energetic boys hate “school”!

Oakland Collegiate School in Port Gibson, MS is not that kind of school.

OCS is rooted in the work Jeremiah Chamberlain began at Oakland College in 1830, and in its successor, Chamberlain-Hunt Academy. It provides education for boys by people who know boys, preparing them to be men.

Such education is active, engaging and guided exploration of God’s world.

Not all boys learn in the same way or at the same pace. For those who love the outdoors, rural Mississippi is an excellent spot to explore and develop. Small classes, computer-adaptive assessments, and appropriate use of technology allows students to work at a level precisely matched to their needs, giving students the opportunity to work at their own pace—to catch up or to dig deeper. Using the “Harkness Table” model in English and social studies encourages collaborative learning, and the development of research skills, analytical thinking, and oral communication.

Within the nurturing boarding school community, teachers get to know their students as individuals, each with his unique spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical make up. Therefore, teachers are better equipped to help them master a college preparatory curriculum that facilitates academic success in university. They provide safe boundaries and godly discipline for boys as their character is tested and shaped by real-life responsibilities.

“School” is not merely academic and theoretical at OCS, but includes service to others, life-skills, and outdoor recreation. Students may obtain certifications useful in community service such as First Aid/CPR, lifeguarding, rescue diving, and firefighting. Students may participate in clubs such as model building, computer building, knife throwing, skeet shooting, agriculture and farming, guitar, music theory, and chess.

OCS also offers a voluntary military program, which provides additional opportunity for accountability, challenge, achievement, leadership, and teamwork. The century-old Corps of Cadets is for boys who aspire to prestigious colleges and universities or a career in the military, enjoy the adventure and activities of military life, or simply want to challenge themselves to a greater degree of discipline and self-government through arduous contests of strength and will.

For boys who hate “schools,” Oakland Collegiate School is an alternative worth investigating. It is a place where boys thrive.

Stephen C. Allen, Director of Admissions. Phone: 601/437-8855; Fax: 601/437-3212; admissions@1830.org.

oakland collegiate School

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE riverside military academy Gainsville, GA Founded in 1907, Riverside Military Academy (RMA) offers a traditional, American-style education where personal values, honor, and love of country still matter. Riverside is not owned or operated by any particular religious denomination, but supports the spiritual and educational goals of all families. Riverside’s 2012-13 Corps of Cadets consists of over 460 cadets from 22 countries.

RMA is first and foremost a college preparatory school. We offer high quality academics in a structured environment designed to meet the needs of boys in grades 7-12. The military setting adds structure, responsibility, accountability and yes, consequences when necessary. All contribute to a well-rounded young man. This environment works for those who have historically underachieved, who simply have not been able to manage their time, and who tend to procrastinate in every endeavor. The rigorous days at RMA are filled with academics, military activities, social activities, and athletics. Thus, there is little time for non-productive activities.

Over 70% of our faculty hold advanced degrees and encourage our cadets to develop the daily habits essential for success at home and in the workplace. These habits include organizational skills, time management, and the ability to manage stress through preparation and exercise. Cadets of Riverside Military Academy benefit from a small class size and a 15:1 student teacher ratio. Our entire educariverSide riverSide military military academy academy tional program centers around the way young men learn best.

Because Riverside believes that there is a strong connection between physical and mental development, extracurricular activities, field trips, and outdoor activities play an important role in the daily lives of our cadets. The RMA program takes full advantage of its 206-acre campus, athletic facilities, and proximity to Lake Lanier which is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Riverside’s college center assists cadets in preparing for and placing their college applications each year. The graduating class of 2012 consisted of 84 cadets who were admitted to over 90 universities including the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Military Academy –West Point, and received over $2,000,000 in scholarships.

Upon graduation, a Riverside cadet has experienced the challenges of the military model of education and is completely prepared for the rigors of college. He is poised, polite, and confident in any social environment.

Riverside cadets stand tall, offer a firm handshake, respect authority, and display a level of confidence that parents may not have observed previously.

Riverside Military Academy holds dual accreditation in SACS and SAIS. Located in Gainesville, Georgia, just one hour north of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Riverside is easily accessible to cadets and their families from around the world. In addition, RMA offers shuttle service to and from the airport for our cadets.

Riverside Military Academy’s comprehensive program of rigorous academics, athletics and leadership development sets the stage for a lifetime of success.

We invite you to learn more about Riverside Military Academy by visiting our web site at www.riversidemilitary.com or calling our admissions office at 800/462-2338. 2001 Riverside Drive, Gainesville, Georgia.

new york military academy Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York ‘SET APART FOR EXCELLENCE’ A C A D E M I C S … AT H L E T I C S …

CHARACTER…LEADERSHIP new york military academy New York Military Academy is one of America’s oldest private boarding schools, located in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York roughly five miles from West Point. Established in 1889, it has an illustrious reputation as a college preparatory school with a military tradition. New York Military Academy is accredited by the Middle States Association. It is a 60 minute commute from New York City and has historically attracted students from the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut), and also from around the United States and abroad. Situated in the Hudson Valley, one of the most scenic areas of the state, it is in proximity to the educational and cultural resources of New York City and is surrounded by an array of world-class institutions of higher education including West Point, Bard College, Vassar College, Marist College, Sarah Lawrence College and Manhattanville College.

New York Military Academy is dedicated to developing young leaders who are “Set Apart for Excellence” by being inspired, engaged and ready for success in college and in life by being: • college preparatory • co-educational • non-denominational • grades 7-12 Our educational success, enhanced by military tradition and a strong athletic program, allows for 100% of graduating seniors to enter the college or university of their choice. The structured day and boarding environment includes daily tutorials, nightly mentored study hall, a robust ESL program and a 12:1 student/teacher ratio in the classroom. New York Military Academy’s “real-life leadership lab” sets us apart from other college prep schools. Cadets enjoy opportunities to not only learn accountability but to practice peer leadership and to accept responsibility.

Putting our cadets in positions of increased accountability and responsibility in the Cadet Corps, while at the same time requiring them to maintain a high level of academic and athletic participation, requires them to constantly improve their organization, planning, time management and multi-tasking skills. We believe development in these critical areas gives our graduates a distinct advantage over others as they transition into some of the more prestigious colleges and universities in America.

To ensure that every cadet is exposed to college-relevant material and rigor throughout their high school career, NYMA takes a different approach than most schools to the honors and advanced placement curricula across the board.

Each academic discipline in the high school models class content and skill development against the relevant Advanced Placement curriculum demanded by the College Board. Students who show interest or promise in any of these core disciplines in the humanities or technologies are supported and encouraged to pursue the appropriate College Board AP test in the spring.

The academy offers varsity, junior varsity, and modified athletic teams that compete in sports, such as soccer, football, fencing, basketball, swimming, softball, wrestling, baseball, paintball, tennis, golf, and lacrosse, just to name a few. Weekend outings, parades, field trips, rifle team, band, drill team, and horsemanship programs are a few of the additional activities that round out cadet life at the academy.

We invite you to browse the website and schedule a visit to New York Military Academy. www.nyma.org; 888-ASK-NYMA. 78 Academy Avenue, Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York 12520.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE hyde Boarding schools

Bath, ME / Woodstock, CT Hyde Boarding Schools are renowned as leaders in family-based character education for students in grades 9-12 and postgraduate studies.

Why Hyde?

In 1966 Joe Gauld, a seasoned educator in traditional private schools, founded Hyde School after realizing that the singular focus on achievement

in American education wouldn’t necessarily lead all students to reach their fullest potential. Gauld saw students with innate ability achieving high marks in classes and athletics but lacking integrity, genuine curiosity, and concern for their peers, and subsequently failing to thrive in life after college.

This led to Hyde’s unique approach to education: Our faculty focus on helping students develop their character and the confidence they need to succeed. We offer leadership opportunities to ALL students, and, unlike any other school, Hyde involves parents and the entire school community in the discovery process.

Courses Hyde offers a wide range of courses -- including AP, Honors, Academic Support and Summer Sessions. In addition, all students participate in performing arts and three seasons of athletics. Students get the tools they need to prosper and grow in a challenging world.

Maine Campus Hyde’s Bath, Maine campus sits on the former site of the 145-acre New England estate of shipbuilder John S. Hyde. It includes the historic Hyde Mansion and carriage house, which house classrooms and offices. Other prominent facilities nestled around the estate include the Wheeler Library & Academic Wing, and an all-inclusive athletic center overlooking the 1915 Sunken Garden.

Students also have access to a Health Center, bookstore, café, a Student Cultural Center, Spiritual Center, three playing fields, including a turf field, an all-weather track, indoor tennis and basketball courts, and several comfortable dormitories. There are miles of wooded running, bicycling, and cross-country skiing trails. The campus includes a ropes course with zip line, state-of-the-art music recording studio, climbing wall, and ice skating ponds, as well as a 600-acre wilderness facility located in the remote and pristine Bigelow Mountains in Eustis, Maine.

Connecticut Campus The 120-acre Woodstock, Connecticut campus includes spacious classroom buildings and a student union with dining hall, 200-room dormitory facilities, two playing fields, a track and turf field, ropes course and a practice field. The gymnasium includes basketball courts, weight and wrestling rooms.

One of the most unique features of the Woodstock campus is a state-ofthe-art, 1,017-seat theater, home to the Opera New England and Theatre of Northeastern Connecticut, as well as to Hyde’s outstanding performing arts program. Set in the rolling farmland of northeastern Connecticut just three hours from New York City, Woodstock is a haven of open fields and peaceful woodlands.

For more information, contact Jason Warnick, Director of Admission: comevisit@hyde.edu, 1 (860) 821-0160 www.hyde.edu

residential summer Weight loss program Wellspring, new york

Union College Campus, Schenectady, NY How many millions of youth and young-adults are over-weight or obese in our world today? The sad and scary truth is that we don’t have a true scope of what this epidemic is and what it is going to take to come up with real, wide scale solutions. The problem seems to be ever-changing and ever-growing and, even with all the media and political attention focused on the issue, it seems to continue to get worse and affect more and more families. So, how do we treat this issue and look towards a future with healthier children, families, and individuals? How about one person at a time?

At Wellspring Camp, New York, we take the approach that each camper is on her own individual journey towards a healthy lifestyle and that it will be a life-long journey as a long-term weight controller.

Wellspring is the leading provider of therapeutic weight-loss camps and boarding schools for overweight young people, college students, families and adults. Wellspring New York is an all-women’s summer program based out of Union College in Schenectady, NY, in its 7th year of operation.

The Wellspring approach focuses on a scientifically based model that is simple, sustainable, safe, and of course fun. While at camp the participants are taught to engage with the challenges that hold them back from being successful. Campers set goals, both large and small, and learn how to measure their success through more than just the number on the scale.

Campers spend time learning about nutrition and how to cut through all the confusing food marketing and make smart choices in grocery stores and in restaurants. All campers take culinary classes where they get to practice with low-fat preparation techniques and healthy substitutions and modifications. Each of our campers receives a self-monitoring journal or “SMJ” and a calorie king as part of their program tools. They learn how to calculate fat grams in the food they eat and record all their food intake and exercise in their SMJ. This allows them to be more accountable of their choices with food and activity. They also stay active every day through fitness classes, games, and sports.

Wellspring New York is first and foremost a summer camp. It’s important to have fun and enjoy your summer vacation! You should enjoy what you are learning and the community around you that becomes family by the time you leave.

Contact information: 877/277-0139 www.wellspringcamps.com/newyork wellSPring camP

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE highEr EdUcaTion Bard College at simon’s rock Great Barrington, MA

THE EARLY COLLEGE Bard College at Simon’s Rock is the nation’s only four-year residential college specifically designed for students ready to begin college early, usually after the 10th or 11th grade. Students typically enter Simon’s Rock at the age of 16, without a high school diploma, and earn the BA by age 20.

We offer a rigorous program in the liberal arts and sciences, characterized riSd by small classes and an emphasis on analytical work, excellence in expression, and exploring connections within and across different academic disciplines.

Founded in 1966, Simon’s Rock has been part of the Bard College system since 1979. Our students are able to take classes at the main Bard campus and our BA is jointly granted by Simon’s Rock and Bard College.

Why Start College Early For some students, high school is not enough. They seek greater challenge, a stronger peer group, and the opportunity to explore sophisticated interests in depth. For these students, spending junior and senior year in AP classes or prepping for standardized tests means marking time, not moving forward.

At Simon’s Rock, they find a community of ambitious students and engaged professors ready to support and encourage their unique passions.

Our program offers 41 different bard college at Simon’S rock concentrations across four academic divisions. A core curriculum guides students’ first two years, offering a strong foundation in major ideas and works of the Western world, as well as nonWestern perspectives. The core is complemented by electives and concentrations in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, natural and physical sciences, and fine and performing arts. Junior and senior years consist of advanced course work, opportunities to study or intern off-campus, and an independent thesis project. All classes are taught in seminars, offering lively discussion and debate.

Why Teens Thrive at Simon’s Rock At Simon’s Rock, each facet of our environment – teaching, advisory system, residential life – is tailored to the intellectual and emotional needs of younger students.

While students may have more freedom here than at home or boarding school, we’re a small campus with small classes: no one flies under the radar.

Adults, either faculty members or dedicated Residence Directors, live in every dorm. Students meet weekly with their faculty advisors, and rely on them for academic, social, and emotional counsel.

Life After Simon’s Rock Our graduates are well prepared for their next steps. We encourage professional internships and study abroad to help students clarify their goals.

Those who transfer from Simon’s Rock after two years enter highly selective colleges and universities as juniors. The 50% who remain for the BA have excellent records of graduate and professional school placement, and professional success. We rank 13th among all U.S. colleges and universities for the percentage of graduates who earn the PhD. Many of our graduates work for top law firms, financial institutions, or have created their own successful ventures. For the last two years, Simon’s Rock has had four graduates included in Forbes “30 Under 30” lists of high achieving young professionals.

Bard College at Simon’s Rock: 84 Alford Rd., Great Barrington, MA 012301978. 800/235-7186; Email: excel@simons-rock.edu; Website: simons-rock.edu.

marymount manhattan College New York, NY Entrepreneurs. Performers. Innovators. Big Dreamers.

It’s Time to Apply Yourself.

You come to New York City to find your place, to make your mark and achieve at the highest level. But where do you begin? You find yourself — and the best of all possible worlds — at Marymount Manhattan, a well-rounded education mixed with professional development in everything from communication, business and pre-med to speech pathology, dance, theatre and the arts.

Marymount Manhattan College offers the best of both worlds — the personal approach of a small private metropolitan college coupled with all the excitement and opportunity offered by one of the world’s greatest cities. New York City is the College’s campus, and the College reflects all the diversity and vibrancy of this exceptional city.

Marymount Manhattan College is a place to be creative, entrepreneurial, and one with New York City — with a personalized, cross-functional curriculum and internship opportunities only New York City can offer.

Living in our midtown residence hall, you’ll be at the center of it all.

The College’s goal is that every student who passes through its doors acquires the intellectual, social and moral qualities that lead to personal satisfaction and exemplary citizenship. The diverse voices of Marymount Manhattan College create an environment of civility and inclusiveness that supports and enhances each student’s talents. The leaders and innovators of tomorrow are finding their voices at MMC today.

You can choose among a wide variety of study options based in a liberal arts foundation and you also get to learn in small classrooms with teachers who know your name. These same teachers will guide you through your study options and help you customize your own academic program. You’ll be able to choose two majors or add a minor or two to complement your major.

Marymount Manhattan College Faculty have made extraordinary contributions in publications, performances, presentations, and service to the MMC Community. They have been the recipients of grants, awards and citations within and beyond the college.

Scholarships and financial aid are still available. It’s time to apply yourself in a city where time doesn’t stand still at a College where you stand out.

The energy of MMC is captured dynamically on our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/MarymountManhattan.

Register at www.mmm.edu/visit. Visit www.mmm.edu or contact us at 1-800-MARYMOUNT to learn more about the College. marymount manhattan college

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE saint michael’s College Burlington, VT Saint Michael’s College, a college with great faculty, rare sense of community, and the vibe of the best college town around—Burlington, Vermont Saint Michael’s College (www.smcvt.edu) students are challenged to do their best, find their niche, take on opportunities to grow, and immerse themselves in academic pursuits. Intellectual rigor, compassion, teamwork, caring—these characterize a Saint Michael’s experience. The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts and sciences college, Saint Michael’s is located in Burlington, Vermont, one of Americas top 10 college towns.

Saint Michaels provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that contribute to peace and justice in our world. Saint Michael’s 2,000 undergraduate students come from 35 states and 16 countries. The college’s superb, highly credentialed faculty are teacher-scholars who provide students individualized research opportunities in and out of the classroom and the lab.

Located near unparalleled recreational opportunities for hiking and skiing in the Green Mountains and kayaking on Lake Champlain, Saint Michael’s students enjoy the best of both a culturally rich small-city with a great music vibe, and major outdoor opportunities, heralded by a renowned Wilderness Program. A rare sense of community along with commitment to social justice pervades the spirit of Saint Michael’s College. And life-long friendships are formed in this welcomSaint michael’S college ing environment.

Because Saint Michael’s faculty compares favorably with the faculty at a research university, but because Saint Michael’s is a small community, students are more likely to engage in research projects, present their results at conferences, get into top-quality PhD programs, study abroad, do service learning activities and undertake internships.

High-impact experiential practices are embedded throughout the Saint Michael’s curriculum. Real-world experiences and deeper academic know-how are the result. This is a great advantage not only to student learning, but to readiness for both the job market and for graduate education. A great number of Saint Michael’s graduates attend top research universities because of their intensive science research as undergraduates.

Leadership opportunities abound, and inform the transformation of Saint Michael’s students. Saint Michael’s students grow into impressive leaders through their active classroom research and presentations, their engagement with the challenging Wilderness Leadership Program, the highly skilled Fire & Rescue Squads, the intensity of MOVE service work, varsity and club athletics, a uniquely dynamic student government, radio DJ gigs, editorial positions in student media, and other opportunities.

Saint Michael’s students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Goldwater, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other grants.

The Saint Michael’s community teaches students to live with others, negotiate conflict, honor differences, collaborate, cultivate life-long friendships, and care for each other. These connections are palpable on the SMC campus. And they last a lifetime, as evidenced in countless alumni friendships.

Community members repeatedly report that there is genuine joy on this college campus, a can-do attitude, and a drive to do the right thing.

sacred heart university launches new graduate Center in stamford, Ct Expands master’s degree programs – classes begin in September 2013 Sacred Heart University is significantly expanding its presence in Stamford, CT. The Sacred Heart University Graduate Center in Stamford will be located in Landmark Square and will offer students access to many of Sacred Heart’s existing programs traditionally available at its main campus in Fairfield, CT. These include SHU’s digital marketing and human resource management degrees offered through its John F. Welch College of Business; film and television offered through the College of Arts and Sciences and the Isabelle Farrington College of Education’s popular cohort certification program in educational leadership and administration.

“We are excited to increase our presence in Stamford. The new Graduate Center will offer greater options for our graduate students while giving us an opportunity to build on an already strong relationship with the Stamford community,” said University President John J. Petillo.

SHU currently offers continuing education initiatives, limited undergraduate classes and corporate training in Stamford. But the University’s expanded offerings, explains Provost Laura Niesen de Abruna, vice president for Academic Affairs, will include the new communication graduate programs and other classes. An additional goal is to provide easier access for working students and professionals living in Fairfield County, as well as commuting students from New York City, Westchester and western and southern Connecticut.

“Beyond these dynamic, appealing, and contemporary communication degrees, four out of five existing SHU programs will be accessible immediately or in the coming year at the new Graduate Center, making it a hub for students who may find it difficult to commute to our Fairfield campus or attend day classes,” de Abruna says. “This isn’t just an off-site campus – we will offer accelerated, modular and creative programs that maximize opportunities for convenience and value, interact extensively within the region and will be a beacon for working adult students.”

Sacred heart univerSity

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INDEPENDENT SCHOOL GUIDE Quinnipiac University Graduate Programs Hamden, CT Making a world of difference. Making a different world.

Roger Williams University Bristol, RI Roger Williams University—what will you do?

It is an exciting time for graduate study at Quinnipiac University – with new programs, facilities and opportunities for collaborative learning. Named the top “up-and-coming” school with master’s programs in the Northern Region

by U.S. News and World Report, Quinnipiac continues to grow as a great place for innovative graduate education, professional preparation and public service.

The Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences This fall, Quinnipiac opens the new Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, an ambitious, cutting-edge facility on the university’s North Haven Campus. The Center will be home to the new Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, the university’s School of Health Sciences and School of Nursing, and an array of highly-recognized programs: Medical Laboratory Sciences, Cardiovascular Perfusion, Nursing, Pathologists’ Assistant, Physician

Roger Williams is a medium-sized university with huge opportunities – and they are all open to you. With 42 majors to choose from, along with minors galore, your course of study can be almost anything you want it to be. And our small classes (19 student average) and low student to faculty ratio (12:1) allow for personalized attention and ultimately, a personalized educational experience.

Are you interested in a class that you don’t see offered? Create it! At RWU, almost anything is possible.

Maybe community service is more your speed? In the last year alone, RWU students performed more than 55,000 hours of community service. Community Connections is a freshman day of service that will bring you closer to your classmates and your new home in Rhode Island. Nearly 1,500 students, faculty and staff members take on tasks at 80 sites around the state in the single biggest day of service at the University.

Of course, service at RWU extends far beyond our local community. From alternative spring break to tax help for senior citizens and serving as eco-reps to help us become a carbon neutral campus, RWU students are improving the community and world around them.

Improving the world around RWU and beyond also means preparing for future careers. Faculty/student research projects give students the opportunity to learn from hands-on experience with faculty members. In addition, many students travel the country and beyond to present their research at major industry conferences. Our students are often published researchers long before they are graduates. Of course many of them also choose to pursue internships as career preparation, and find placements in locations around the world. And RWU students are studying abroad on every continent but Antarctica – with RWU providing the passport for those who qualify.

But let’s get real. You’re actually in the classroom for 15 hours roger WilliamS UniverSity a week. The college experience is everything that happens in the rest of those hours – living away from home, doing your own laundry, getting involved on campus and defining the person you want to be. RWU has more than 60 clubs and organizations and 20 NCAA varsity athletics teams, everything from Wiffleball to our national champion coed sailing squad.

Then there’s our location. You’d be amazed how many people have seen pictures, but still can’t believe how beautiful the campus is. Located in historic Bristol, Rhode Island, RWU is surrounded by water. We’ve got that old New England charm with all the modern amenities of a big city school. RWU is conveniently located just 30 minutes from both Providence (R.I.’s creative capital) and Newport (R.I.’s beach haven), one hour from Boston and just three hours from New York City.

Our students are training to become teachers, psychologists, lawyers, architects, engineers, business leaders and more. But most of all, they are learning to think on their feet and are becoming citizens of the world. They are making a difference every day.

So…what will you do? For additional information please contact: 1.800.458.7144 or email admit@rwu.edu

QUinnipiac UniverSity

Assistant, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy (online), Molecular and Cell Biology (Mount Carmel Campus) and the new Anesthesiologist Assistant. The three schools – Medicine, Health Sciences and Nursing – are united in the same state-of-the-art complex and by the same mission: to graduate medical and health care practitioners who will be the driving force for a more collaborative, economical and efficient health care system.

Professional study that leads the way: Law, Education and Business Quinnipiac’s outstanding School of Law will be moving to its own state-ofthe-art new home on the North Haven Campus next year, opening the door for even greater collaboration and interdisciplinary study. The School of Education, with stellar programs like the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), Sixth Year Diploma in Educational Leadership, and MS in Teacher Leadership (online) is also based in North Haven. Nearby on Quinnipiac’s beautiful Mount Carmel Campus, the AACSB-accredited School of Business and Engineering offers exceptional programs, including the MBA (with several specialized tracks and online options) and MS programs in Information Technology and Organizational Leadership (both online).

Exciting new programs and options: Social Work and Communications Quinnipiac has also launched new offerings that will provide top-notch training for professionals in several fields. The new Master of Social Work (MSW) features a unique interprofessional and collaborative focus and an advanced concentration in health/behavioral health, meeting the educational requirements for state licensure as a clinical social worker. For media professionals, the new social media tracks in the innovative MS in Public Relations and MS in Interactive Media (online) are designed to develop social media leaders in business, nonprofits, government and other organizations. And the outstanding MS in Journalism recently launched new tracks in sports journalism and news documentaries/magazine writing, allowing students to tailor their programs to individual goals.

Quinnipiac University Graduate Admissions: 275 Mount Carmel Avenue, Hamden, CT 06518-194. 203-582-8672 or 800-462-1944; graduate@quinnipiac.edu; www.quinnipiac.edu/gradprograms.

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Welcometo toTaSiS TaSiSThe Theamerican american School School in England, where we help Nursery range of of AP AP classes classes •• Rich Richsports sports&&activities activitiesprogram program Nursery––Grade Grade 12 12 •• American American curriculum • Wide range Welcoming featuring specially speciallydesigned designedsettling-in settling-inseminars seminars Welcomingcommunity community for for students and parents, featuring Excellent campus near near Central CentralLondon Londonand andairports airports Excellentuniversity university placement placement • Beautiful 46-acre campus Coldharbour ColdharbourLane, Lane,Thorpe, Thorpe,Surrey SurreyTW20 TW208TE 8TE Tel: Tel:+44 +441932 1932582 582316 316 ukadmissions@tasisengland.org ukadmissions@tasisengland.org

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Exciting summer summer courses courses for for students Exciting students ages ages 11 11 to to18 18 ColdharbourLane Lane Coldharbour Thorpe, Surrey TW208TE 8TE Thorpe, TW20 Tel:+44 +44Surrey 1932582 582346 346 Tel: 1932 uksummer@tasisengland.org uksummer@tasisengland.org

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112 South Street 112 SouthRoyal Royal Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Alexandria, VA 22314 Tel: 703 299 8150 Tel: 703 299 8150 usadmissions@tasis.com usadmissions@tasis.com

Always we have embraced change.

To prepare each new generation with the knowledge and character to be full citizens of the world.

The oldest continuously operating boarding school in the United States. An environmental testing ground just off the Atlantic coast, home to highpowered research partnerships, and innovative teaching. An entrepreneurial energy and a global view, with motivated students from the Boston area, throughout the U.S., and around the globe.

Always innovating.

v

Alw

yS Governor’S.

Educating young men and women in grades 9 through 12 to become the citizen leaders of tomorrow Contact us at 978.465.1763 or admissions@govsacademy.org to arrange a visit.

w w w. T h e G o v e r n o r s A c a d e m y. o r g • 1 E l m S t r e e t • B y f i e l d , M A 0 1 9 2 2

We

are what high school should be...

The White Mountain School is an intentionally small boarding and day school where students make a difference in the classroom, the community and the world.

Set among the beautiful mountains of northern New Hampshire, we are a college preparatory boarding and day school for students in grades 9-12 and post graduate.

Come see for yourself...

Visit www.whitemountain.org or call 603.444.2928 x26 for more information or to schedule a visit.

ENTREPRENEURS. PERFORMERS. INNOVATORS. BIG DREAMERS. It’s Time To Apply Yourself.

Y

ou come to New York City to find your place, to make your mark and achieve at the highest level.

But where do you begin? You find yourself — and the best of all possible worlds — at Marymount

Manhattan, a well-rounded education mixed with professional development in everything from communication, business and pre-med to speech pathology, dance, theatre and the arts.

It’s a place to be creative, entrepreneurial, and one with New York City — with a personalized, cross-functional curriculum and internship opportunities only New York City can offer. Living in our midtown residence hall, you’ll be at the the center of it all.

There’s still time to apply for the fall 2013 semester and scholarships and financial aid are still available. It’s time to apply yourself in a city where time doesn’t stand still and at a College where you stand out.

221 East 71 Street New York, NY Visit us at www.mmm.edu Call 1-800-MARYMOUNT

WHAT’S MORE

IMPRESSIVE GRADUATES. THAN OUR STATS? OUR

At Quinnipiac University, our students are our main focus. It’s why we offer graduate degrees in fields ranging from business to health sciences. It’s also why Quinnipiac was ranked among the top master’s-level universities in the North by U.S. News & World Report and first in the northern region in U.S. News’ Up-and-Coming Schools category.

Education

Health Sciences

Business

Elementary Secondary Educational Leadership Teacher Leadership*

Anesthesiologist Assistant Biomedical Sciences Cardiovascular Perfusion Occupational Therapy (post-professional)* Pathologists’ Assistant Physician Assistant Radiologist Assistant

Information Technology* MBA** MBA-CFA® Track (Chartered Financial Analyst) MBA/HCM (Health Care Management)** MBA-SCM (Supply Chain Management) MBA/JD (Joint degree in business and law) Organizational Leadership*

Communications Interactive Media** Journalism Public Relations

Law Medicine

Nursing Arts & Sciences

Molecular & Cell Biology

* Program offered only online **Program offered on campus or online

To find out how Quinnipiac can help you succeed in your career, call 1-800-462-1944, e-mail graduate@quinnipiac.edu or visit www.quinnipiac.edu/gradprograms.

1-800-462-1944 | Hamden & North Haven, Connecticut

WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO BUILD

CHARACTER? College preparatory 9-12 and postgraduate year boarding schools in BATH, MAINE and WOODSTOCK, CONNECTICUT Be The Best Possible You

www.hyde.edu | comevisit@hyde.edu | (860) 821-0160

Download Hyde President Malcolm Gauld’s FREE White Paper: “College Success Guaranteed: Five Rules To Make It Happen” based on his book of the same name.

hyde.edu/collegesuccess Malcolm Gauld

COURAGE INTEGRITY LEADERSHIP CURIOSITY CONCERN

Burlington, Vermont • www.smcvt.edu

Learn What Matters

From seminars to research with your professors to exploring the top of Mount Mansfield, Saint Michael’s provides a hands-on, personalized education that includes our Wilderness Program and Smuggs Ski Pass.

SAcREd hEART uNIvERSITy LAuNchES

NEW STAMFORd GRAduATE cENTER AT LANdMARK SQuARE

This campus offers students access to many of Sacred Heart’s existing programs traditionally available at its main campus in Fairfield, with easier access for working students and professionals living in Fairfield County, as well as commuting students from New York City, Westchester and western and southern Connecticut.

Graduate Programs in Stamford Include: + Master of Science in Digital Marketing

+ Master of Arts in Film and Television

+ Master of Science in Human Resource Management

+ Educational Leadership — Intermediate Administrative Certification (092)

STAMFORD GRADUATE CENTER at Landmark Square

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit www.sacredheart.edu/graduate or email us at gradstudies@sacredheart.edu

Ski . Ride . Learn

Okemo Mountain School is a five-month winter sports academy located in Ludlow, Vermont that challenges and supports motivated student-athletes. Our student-athletes learn to balance rigorous academic study and athletic training to achieve their personal best in all pursuits while thriving in a community that fosters a sense of belonging.

O K E M O M O U N TA I N S C H O O L . O R G

BROWN UNIVERSITY Pre-College Programs

On Campus. Online. Abroad. n

n

n

Prepare to succeed in a college environment Experience the freedom and responsibility of college life

n

n

Meet exceptional students from around the world Connect with world-class ideas, people, and facilities

Discover and develop new passions Environmental Leadership

Intensive English Language Program

Pre-College Courses

SPARK – Science for Middle School

Summer Session Credit Courses

Summer Study Abroad for High School Students

Brown Leadership Institute TheatreBridge

Online Courses – Spring, Summer and Fall Sessions

www.brown.edu/summer

Why would a student help another scale a 10-foot wall?

Why would a 17-year-old walk differently than his friends back home? Hold his head higher?

Consider himself a leader?

The answer is pride.

A private day and boarding academy for grades 7-12 and postgraduate, VFMA’s mission is preparing students for competitive four-year colleges. 99% of our cadets are accepted to their first- or second-choice schools. And more than 63% matriculate at the nation’s leading universities.

The primary reason for that is our Five Cornerstones —academic excellence, character development, personal motivation, physical development, and leadership. Our students thrive and grow thanks to an average class size of just 13, with a student-teacher ratio of 10:1.

Valley Forge Military Academy is not for everyone. It is not easy. In fact, it’s demanding. But students who are ready to push themselves to new heights, who are ready to learn, to follow, and ultimately to lead, will not only flourish here. They will proudly flourish in whatever paths they choose in life.

1001 EAGLE ROAD, WAYNE, PA 866-923-VFMA | ACADEMY.VFMAC.EDU

ORKSTRAVEL.COM LEARN MORE AT WWW.GLOBALW OR CALL US AT 1-800-784-6362

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FOR STUDENTS & GROUPS MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY SERVICE CULTURAL EXCHANGE LANGUAGE IMMERSION AWESOME ADVENTURE

ARGENTINA AUSTRALIA BOTSWANA BRAZIL CHINA COSTA RICA ECUADOR FIJI ISLANDS FRANCE GALAPAGOS MOROCCO NEPAL NEW ZEALAND NICARAGUA PANAMA PERU PUERTO RICO SOUTH AFRICA SPAIN ZAMBIA

academics

service

meet hackley school

h ac k l eY

arTs

What makes Hackley School different and special? Get a pure view of Hackley right from the people who know it best—Hackley students, faculty, parents and alumni. Scan this code to hear their unique perspectives, and visit Pure Hackley to hear more.

aThleTics

www.hackleyschool.org/pure · Tarrytown, NY · 914.366.2642

“An Intimate PlacePlace to Learn theHeart Heart of a Great “An Intimate to Learnin in the of a Great City” City”

“An Intimate Place to Learn in the Heart of a Great City” “An Intimate Place to Learn in the Heart of a Great City”

York Preparatory School School YorkYork Preparatory School Preparatory

40 West 68thth Street – New York, NY 10023 th 68 Street – New York, NY 10023 40 West 40 West 68college Street – New York, NY 10023 coeducational preparatory school serving students from coeducational college preparatory school serving students from grades 6-12. coeducational college preparatory school serving students grades 6-12.

grades 6-12.

Outstanding Academics Outstanding Academics Superb College Guidance Outstanding Superb CollegeAcademics Guidance Championship Sports Teams Championship Sports Teams

Superb College Guidance Endless Extracurricular Activities Endless Extracurricular Activities

Championship Sports Teams An Oasis of Learning and Compassion An Oasis of Learning and Compassion

There IS something for everyone at York Prep!

There IS something for everyoneActivities at York Prep!

Endless Extracurricular

For more information, contact our Admissions Office at For more information, contact our Admissions Office at admissions@yorkprep.org or 212-362-0400.www.yorkprep.org admissions@yorkprep.org or 212-362-0400.www.yorkprep.org

An Oasis of Learning and Compassion

from

C H A L L E N G E

C O N V E N T I O N.

C H A N G E

O U R

W O R L D.

D O YO U H AV E W H AT I T TA K E S ?

In celebration of LEEP, Clark’s pioneering model of higher education, up to ten scholars in 2013 will receive free tuition, room and board for their first four years.

Find out if you have what it takes to be a LEEP Scholar at clarku.edu/leepscholarship

A P P LY

DEADLINES

clarku.edu/apply commonapp.org

Early Action: November 1 Regular Decision: January 15

T H E C H A N G E S TA R T S H E R E .

To succeed in a changing world

Think beyond the ordinary What’s here is unique in the country.

It’s about a sense of self and where you fit in the world.

You get the school to work for you, not the other way around.

— Rob Cole, physics faculty

Uniquely interdisciplinary | Dynamic curriculum | Coordinated studies Customized pathways | Narrative evaluations | Applied learning

admissions.evergreen.edu/why

Class of 2013 Roslyn Heights, New York Legal Studies

Learn more at one of our upcoming open houses http://you.rwu.edu/openhouse Open House Dates: 9/29, 10/20 and 11/3

discover yourself

Tamara

what will you do?

Originally nervous about the transition to college, Tamara found a welcoming campus, great friends, individual attention from professors and even opportunities to collaborate on faculty research at RWU. Now a Student Advocate and an RWU First Year Experience co-instructor, Tamara helps new students with their transition to the University. Recently, Jeronima “Niimo” Tamara’s interest in human Class of 2015 rights advocacy and her desire Providence, RI Major: Psychology to explore the world meshed perfectly when she landed Minor: French an internship with Amnesty International in Australia. While in Australia, she researched the treatment of Aboriginal peoples, examined law enforcement procedures and helped with Amnesty International’s annual meeting. Of course, she also took full advantage of opportunities to explore, take weekend trips and snorkel the Great Barrier Reef!

Tamara is pursuing her interests on campus and around the globe.

What will you do?

http://you.rwu.edu/ready

One Old Ferry Road • Bristol, RI 02809 866-295-8254

admit@rwu.edu

The Classic College Experience 30 minutes from Manhattan 13:1 student–faculty ratio Experience-based learning NCAA Division ll Sports

Visit our beautiful campus in Westchester

800.937.2655 • www.concordia-ny.edu • admission@concordia-ny.edu

working on the water brings us closer together.

There’s one constant that each of us relies upon at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. It’s the bond that exists between all Cadets, entrusted with saving lives and protecting our nation’s coasts and waterways. We quickly become family, taking on challenges bigger than ourselves in a nationally ranked Bachelor of Science degree program. And our reward is not only a guaranteed paid career serving our country, but the knowledge that as Coasties we’ll always look out for each other. It’s why the Academy is like no other college in the nation.

Experience more at uscga.edu

Thinking of Visiting the Hamptons?

Think Ross School.

Boarding for grades 7–12 in beautiful boarding houses.

Two campuses in East Hampton and Bridgehampton, New York, just 2 hours east of New York City.

Easily accessible by bus, train, ferry and air.

Global, integrated curriculum to educate the whole child for the whole world.

Opportunities for independent study, advanced classes, competitive athletics, extracurricular activities and travel.

www.ross.org/boarding UPPER S C H OOL 18 GOOD FRIEND D RIV E EAST H AM PTON, NY

LOWER SCH OOL 739 B UTTER LANE BRID GEH A MPTON, NY

E V E RY S T U D E N T C A N

LEARN TO BE EXCEPTIONAL

At The Knox School, everything we do is geared to helping young people become exceptional in the sizes, and students that care as much about good values as they do about strong academic achievement. At Knox, all our students learn to be exceptional.

Contact us at 631-686-1600 or online at www.knoxschool.org.

THE KNOX SCHOOL LE A R N T O B E E X C E P T I O N A L

541 Long Beach Rd. St. James, NY 11780 • A Coeducational Independent Boarding and Day School for Grades Six-Post Graduate

Army Navy Academy

College Preparatory Boarding School for Boys, Grades 7-12

Honor. Integrity. Respect.

Responsibility. Compassion.

Since 1910, Army and Navy Academy has developed scholarship and honorable character in young men. The Academy is an internationally acclaimed college preparatory boarding and day school with a proud tradition of setting young men on a course for academic, personal and professional excellence.

The Academy’s approach is built on six pillars: academics, athletics, leadership, character development, residential life and the associated student body.

The Academy follows University of California standards for matriculation and incorporates leadership training and character development into the daily curriculum. Our highly structured program is rooted in individualized personal attention, with an emphasis on responsibility and accountability.

Call 888.762.2338 or visit armyandnavyacademy.org

Study with students from

60 Nations.

EF International Academy is a coeducational, private international high school that is located in historic Tarrytown, New York.

With a student body representing over 60 nations, EF International Academy offers traditional boarding school experiences on an international level.

EF International Academy is an IB World School, offering the prestigious and world-recognized International Baccalaureate Diploma to qualifying graduates, and is accepted by universities and colleges around the world.

EF International Academy 100 Marymount Avenue, Butler Hall, Tarrytown, NY Admissions Office: (914) 597-7241 Visit us online at ef.com/academy

Call for more information or to set up your campus visit (914) 597-7241

community room

Outdoor Living

By Robert Steven Williams A homeless mAn wAs living in my bAckyArd. The neighbor spoTTed him And cAlled The cops. The police cAme And moved him Along. The mAn, weAring khAkis And using A cAmouflAge TArp To keep ouT of sighT, mAde no fuss. he’d seT up cAmp in my yArd for severAl weeks.

The guy hadn’t bothered anyone, nor had he broken into nearby homes. He possessed impressive survival skills because this was a tough winter—that’s one reason why I hadn’t noticed him. The last time I’d gone out into the yard was to direct the Tree Doctor, who removed a fallen maple from the January storm that dumped two feet of snow.

That tree crushed the stone bird bath I’d bought last summer at Geiger’s, but somehow it had managed to miss the garden statue of Buddha, who continued to provide a sense of serenity despite the bitter cold.

When the cops arrived, it still took them awhile to find this man, he was that well concealed. They combed the wooded yard and brush as if searching for a body.

I’d just returned from a long weekend in Florida. My neighbor called detailing what had transpired while away. With two young children, it was understandable that she was upset and concerned. But at the same time, it was difficult not to feel for this faceless human being living outside during one of our worst winters on record.

That very week, the Dow Industrials reached a new record high. Inside, my thermostat was set to a balmy 72 degrees, the fireplace ablaze with well-seasoned oak. I sat in my den, sipping a Cabernet, wondering where that homeless man was at this very moment. Where had he come from? Where was he headed?

*

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WESTONMAGAZINEGROUP.COM

Robert Steven Williams’ novel, My Year as a Clown, won a silver medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. A resident of Westport, Robert is

making a film about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s time in Westport and its impact on The Great Gatsby for the Westport Historical Society.

ALL GIRLS. ALL EXTRAORDINARY.

THE ETHEL WALKER SCHOOL is a private, independent boarding and day school for girls in grades 6-12. We empower girls to lead with integrity, confidence, courage, and conviction. The results are, in a word, extraordinary.

JOIN US FOR AN OPEN HOUSE THIS FALL. Visit ethelwalker.org or contact admissions at 860.408.4200.

Simsbury, Connecticut