Winter Term Report Card 2010-2011

To the Great Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

School is now out for Spring Break after a nasty winter.  Probably no one was more relieved to see the term end than members of the Admissions Office which mailed decisions to 2,200 applicants, another record number, on Thursday. 

The addition of ten international squash courts overlooking the Lower Level in 2008 succeeded in attracting a better crop of squash players than would have been possible and is paying big dividends on the distaff side.  The Girls Varsity team won the New England Championships this year as might be expected after finishing second in the country earlier this term.  Boys Swimming, another standout, suffered its only loss to Andover before winning the Western New England Championships.  Boys and Girls Alpine Skiing finished first in every event this winter.  The more traditional sports (Basketball, Hockey and Wrestling) had disappointing results which may say more about the perceived recruiting needs of college admissions offices than anything. 

Class News

The news this term is that I took the plunge and became the 500 millionth member of Facebook, long after the Academy set up its own page.  Since I registered, another 100 million have joined, and six Facebook shareholders have been added to the Forbes 400.  If you've seen the Social Network, you have a sense for the history of the Facebook phenomenon.  To date, we have 36 members of the Class on our Facebook site and, if you would like to join us, please let me know.  Judging solely by the quantum of friends, Hank Louis is far and away Mr. Popularity in the Class with 550 friends at last count.  Rounding out the top three are Brogan Thomsen and Peter Bernstein.  For those disinclined to join Facebook, I set up an alternate site on Google called, of all things, Albany Road Redux.  All you need to do in order to access the site is to e-mail me and set up a Gmail address.  The purpose of the Google site is to address privacy concerns that some have with Facebook and to serve as a repository of information about the Class. 

As any reader knows, Christian Liipfert retired from BP a year ago.  What you don't know is that he has been back at BP doing some consulting in the "information governance space" which comprises records management, document management, enterprise content management, knowledge management, e-discovery management/preparedness and similar M words, all tracking back to how/why corporations need to manage their proprietary information as an asset.  On a personal note, he and his wife Pam went to Hong Kong over Thanksgiving week to visit their daughter.

Marty Kaiser, the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as well as a converted cheesehead from Winnetka, heralded the Packers' return to the Super Bowl last month with a "Packers Blitz" which included special sections, columns, merchandising, and special offers to capitalize on the Green Bay Packers NFC win and Super Bowl appearance.  Marty was quoted as saying, “The Journal Sentinel is renowned and beloved for our Packers coverage. Packer fans worldwide will find everything they need to know about all aspects of the game.”

In late January, the Count Basie Theatre celebrated the completion of a $2 million restoration to its historic façade at a reception attended by 75 supporters of the theatre. Rusty Young, CEO of the Count Basie Theatre Foundation, spoke at the event and acknowledged major donors to the theatre’s restoration fund.

King Carter continues to oppose the construction of a wind farm in Maine, although it seems at times he is tilting at windmills.  The company behind the project recently made an aesthetic concession to reduce the visual impact of the windmills on the Appalachian Trail and the Bigelow Preserve but, from what I've read, not enough to appease King.

Jack Spitznagel has surfaced after a period away and is now in medical affairs at a regenerative medicine biotech company.  When last spotted, Jack was on the faculty at York College of Pennsylvania in the Biology Department.

Best wishes to all.

DWS 

Fall Term Report Card - 2010

To the Great Class of 1969:

News of the Academy

The marking period for the Fall Term concluded on Friday, and the School let out for Thanksgiving vacation. 

Based on what I could tell at a breakfast which Margarita Curtis and Phil Greer, the Head of the Board of Trustees, hosted last week in New York, the Academy seems to have found its groove after the dark days of 2008 and early 2009.  The School attracted slightly over 2,000 applications last year for the first time and is extending its reach in mainland China and the Far East. On the financial side, the endowment has made headway in recovering some of its losses, and costs are under control.  A new capital campaign, the first since 1997, is planned for official unveiling next fall and will focus on three themes - "People, Program and Place".  The campaign, after extensive input from Deerfield's various constituencies, is designed to align with and preserve the core values of the Academy.  


The Menu at the New Greer

You would be pleased to see the changes to the physical plant just since our Reunion which include a substantial expansion of the seating in the Dining Hall following the fire and a renovation of space in the Gymnasium once occupied by the squash courts.  Last month I visited Deerfield for the dedication of the Greer Store and the Fitness Center which jointly occupy that space and what we once knew as the school store.  The project, which was planned during headier economic times and funded in part by the '08 and '09 parents, would have languished on the drawing boards were it not for the generosity of the Trustees who personally picked up the majority of the tab.  The Greer, as it's popularly known, has been a central meeting spot on campus for years and now can accommodate 300 students.  The fitness center, which can be entered from the Greer or via the locker room one flight down, is a first class facility that is no comparison with the windowless weight room it replaced.

Whether or not you are able to discern the familiar words of encouragement at the top of the menu, they were to no avail as Varsity Football lost to Choate in the season finale for the second year in a row. Although the season ended on a sour note, the team finished 6-2 which was a vast improvement over last year's 3-5 record.  There is hope for next year, as the JV team won nine games in a row after a season opening loss.

While reading the most recent issue of The Scroll, two articles caught my eye which I thought might be of interest.  The first, "Bring Morsman Back!" had me concerned that we had lost our last link to the faculty (other than Frank, of course).  Instead, the article was an appeal to allow Mr. Morsman to decide on table assignments in the Dining Hall once again which are now being done on the basis of some computer algorithm which doesn't have the same sense of panache.  The second was entitled "The New York Scandal" which was a reminder that, as much as things change, the exuberance of Deerfield students while on leave hasn't changed that much over 40 years.

Class News

As has been our habit the past six years, a group of us in the New York area gathered for dinner and a few hours of discussion last week.  Pictured from the left are Rusty Young, Todd Stone, myself, John Kjorlien P'13, AC Starkey and John Lacey.  Peter Bernstein, just back from two weeks in China, joined us at the restaurant. 

Earlier this month Tom Merrigan was re-elected as representative of the 8th District (which includes Franklin County) to the Governors Council by a 63-37 margin.  The Governor’s Council – whose main job is considering judicial candidates – also votes on pardons and commutations, warrants from the treasurer for state spending, appointments of constitutional officers when the Legislature is out of session and appointments of notaries public and justices of the peace.

DesignBuildBLUFF, founded by Hank Louis, was honored as the Agency of the Year by the Utah Housing Coalition in October for its innovative approaches to creating not only housing for an underserved population but also in creating a community of collaboration and understanding.

Todd Stone, who lives blocks from Ground Zero and has made 9/11 a recurring theme of his art the past nine years, was interviewed by Shepard Smith on Fox News in September.  Here's a link to the story which includes the embedded Fox video and a link to Todd's e-gallery.

In somewhat more dated news, Police Chief Drew Marchiano retired and was honored for his service as the Town of Lewisboro, New York's first full-time police chief in October 2009.

Marty Kaiser, about whom I've written a number of times, was known for many things but not as far as I can recall for his prowess on the baseball diamond. In a story that only recently came to my attention, Marty was asked to throw out the first pitch at a Milwaukee Brewers' game on April 13, 2009.  I thought you would enjoy seeing Marty's one hop to the plate which was captured on this YouTube clip before 25,000 fans.

Tim Truby has been after me the past few years to identify Classmates in my Online Yearbook and, although it will take the mystery out of my occasional "Mystery Classmate" quiz, I concluded there was no point in disguising the identities any longer. As a result, now you can see not only names but also some information from Pocumtuck on the 52 Classmates pictured if you scroll your mouse over the upper right corner of the Flickr page when it opens and select "Show info".

For those of you who haven't contributed a photo - and there were 157 graduates on June 8, 1969 - or who would like to post a better photo, please send me an image shot with a camera having a 5 MP or better resolution and a height of 640 pixels or more.

Last month I received an e-mail from Google that some of the current functionality of its Google Groups sites will no longer be supported as of February 2011.  Since the networking site I set up never realized its potential, I am considering whether a group site on Facebook would be a better alternative.  Since this is a bit out of my depth, I'm hoping that some of our more tech savvy Classmates will volunteer some suggestions.

Happy Thanksgiving and best wishes to all.

DWS 

Back to School - 2010

To the Great Class of 1969:

All the students have arrived at Deerfield by now, and the Academy will begin its 212th year - and fifth year under Margarita Curtis - when classes begin on Monday.  Although the Academy has reduced enrollment to a level more in keeping with the "high touch" philosophy of the school, the Admissions Office continues to underestimate the school's appeal.  Ironically, the newly expanded dining hall - a product last December's adversity - can now accommodate everyone, even if conditions in the dormitories remain tight.

As you will see from the summary below, some members of the Great Class of 1969 continued to make hay while the sun was out over the summer recess.  If there is news I have overlooked, I hope you will let me know or will e-mail it directly to Class Notes.

Class News

Wind power continues to be a big issue in Maine, and Jonathan Carter remains in the middle of the debate. Here's a link to an op-ed piece he wrote in July for the Bangor Daily News. While the man who would be King to us was opining, Ed Grosvenor was busy preparing for the 60th anniversary of American Heritage Magazine, which Ed bought a controlling interest in three years ago.  You can watch Ed, Editor-in-Chief and CEO, delivering the opening remarks at the celebration in this clip.

Howie Carr ventured north from his native Massachussets in August to speak at a Republican rally in New Hampshire. Howie was introduced by John H. Sununo, the former chief of staff to President George W.H. Bush and erstwhile Republican Governor of the Live Free or Die State, who began his remarks by saying, "It’s very rare for me to introduce someone more obnoxious and irascible than I am."

Hank Louis was interviewed in a documentary that was aired nationally on PBS in August. You can listen to Hank and see examples of his work by skipping forward to 41:27 of this clip and watching the next three minutes.

Beginning this month you can buy an updated copy of the definitive, five volume work on patent law fundamentals by John G. Mills for a cool $2,800, the price of which should provide John with a comfortable retirement and make college textbooks seem like a positive bargain. The United States Navy awarded John two Edison Awards for drafting and prosecuting patents having the greatest commercial benefit to the nation.  John is also, by his own account, a mean swing dancer on the DC circuit.

Five years ago last week I sent "Beam me up, Scotty!" into cyberspace and, with that, launched Albany Road Redux.  Over 70 postings later, you can find all the news fit to print during that time in the "Lost and Found" search box on the right side of the page. A less successful experiment has been the social networking site I set up using Google Groups in the hope that it might provide an easy way for classmates to interact.  If you have any thoughts about how the site could be improved or whether you think a Facebook page would a better alternative, let me know.

As the the summer days shorten and the shadows begin to lengthen, I am reminded of the brief time we crossed paths on Albany Road and the good fortune I had to be there.  Best wishes to all.

DWS