By the time you read this, our 25th is history and my public nudity is common knowledge. Let me apologize to my fellow alumni and that poor paramedic who had to wrestle me to the ground. Seeing so many familiar, genuine people made the years wash away. Given your stories, it’s obvious this class doesn’t just make wise choices when it comes to alma maters. * Jen Rubin Britton is “living on campus at the McDonogh School in Maryland, where my husband is headmaster. Son Trevor will graduate from McDonogh and attend Franklin & Marshall in the fall. Daughter Annie, a ninth grader at McDonogh, plans to attend Coastal Studies for Girls, a marine science program in Freeport, Maine. Charlie and I will be empty nesters! [Jen, may I store some stuff in the spare bedrooms?] My best to all.” * Tanya Thomas Pinder is married and has two young men. “Reggie, 21, will be a senior at Virginia Tech and plans to attend medical school; Reid, 19, will be a sophomore at Old Dominion. Guess this makes me old. Nevertheless, my husband and I still look spry—we just don’t move as fast. Reg is a criminal investigator and I’m still at the TSA headquarters with the explosives operations division in Arlington, Va. [In other words, don’t screw with these two.] In our ‘spare’ time, we enjoy cruising up and down the Potomac and hope to make it to the Chesapeake. I talk often with Heather Anderson Silvestro, whose three kids are adorable, and keep in touch with Willa Cobb via Facebook. [What’s Facebook?] I recently spoke with Kwasi Abankwah and discovered he lives only hours from me!” * Jennifer Shackett Berry writes, “I so enjoyed the 25th yearbook and feel negligent for not submitting, so here is my recompense. During the first 19 years of my career, I taught English at New Hampton School in N.H., chaired the English department, coached soccer, basketball, and tennis, and raised a family of three with my husband, Tom. [Gee, is that all?] For the past six years, I’ve served as director of studies. My children are growing up! Kelsey is 23 and will be married this summer, Emma is 20, and Hayden is 15. We live on a hillside in New Hampton that overlooks Franconia Notch, and I enjoy the 250 contiguous acres of trails where I hike and snowshoe with our labs, Burleigh and Bella!” [Can someone look up contiguous? Is that a swear word?] * Rich Bachus writes, “I’m still living in the ancestral shack in beautiful Northern Michigan. For those of you East Coasters, hold your right palm in front of your face, follow those lines up to the tip of your ring finger, and that’s where we live. [You live on my ring finger?] After five years of stay-at-home dad-dom with my daughter, Laney, and four years of freelance copywriting, I’m teaching English at Concord Academy Boyne. My wife, Carol Johnston, teaches seventh grade social studies just down the road, and we get to carpool together for the first time in 20 years. We’re looking forward to summer fun and trying to gather our Colby gang for a COOTish outing.” * Singer Hannah Howland Judson is “staying in and around Paris this summer.” I’ll also be seeing Gina Werfel and Hearne Pardee, painting and design instructors. Here’s part of a press release for our burgeoning star: Hannah Judson is a folk/rock singer/songwriter from Chicago. She performs all original material, reminiscent of Cat Power, Suzanne Vega, and Jill Sobule. Her songwriting style appears confessional at first, but offers a range of invented characters telling stories of falling in and out of love, traveling on the Paris metro, texting, and baking cakes. She writes about the funny things people do and the ways we keep ourselves moving forward. * Remember, keep helping each other. Colby binds, kind of like a good cheese. Peace.
Summer 2012