We start this column with a general “Happy 40th Birthday” to most members of the Class of 1997. (How is this even possible?!) In any case, several members wrote in and asked that I pass along birthday greetings to all of you. * One such member was Jenna Klein Jonsson, who said that 11 members of our class had a mini-reunion in Colorado in September to celebrate the “big 4-0.” They went “on some spectacular hikes, drank great wine, and laughed lots.” J.J. Eklund McGawn hosted, and Jenna and J.J. were joined by Katie Nevin Naylor, Amanda Sprang, Zoe Kaplan Presley, Sue Hesselbach Pierce, Sara DiMare Atwood, Jen Mason Drolet, Margot Higgins, Meghan Jeans, and Amy Stengel. Jenna added that she recently left her job at L.L.Bean to start a marketing/brand-consulting practice. * Jen Mason Drolet recently saw Josh and Kate Charbonnier Oeltjen. Kate works as an attorney, and Josh works for Coca-Cola. They have four children and live near Philadelphia. * Last summer Zoe Kaplan Presley opened a private psychotherapy practice, Enlightened Nature, a nature-based ecotherapy center housed in a yurt. * Andy Kruppa married Maxie Marie Villanueva in San Juan in November 2013. In November 2014 they welcomed their first child, Maximiliano Andres Kruppa. * Mark Adelman got married at Sunday River in May 2014 and is expecting his first child in April. C.J. Polcari and Dana Cease served as groomsmen, and Steve Kidd (also recently married) performed the ceremony. Prior to the wedding, they had a bachelor party in Las Vegas attended by C.J., Dana, and Steve, as well as Carter Davis and Don Quinby. * Pete and Tay Evans Rhoads live in Reading, Mass., and were expecting a baby girl in early March. * Matt Toms and Kathy Kohatsu live in Bethlehem, N.H., where Kathy owns and runs a dance studio. Matt works at the White Mountain School, where he runs the counseling, whitewater kayaking, and backcountry ski programs. Matt also founded and directs a small nonprofit, the Batey Foundation, that works in impoverished communities in the Dominican Republic. Matt and Kathy have two sons, Kobe, 8, and Asa, 6. * Yawa Duse-Anthony started a small toy company, Sister Afi, in 2014. It features knitted dolls, felt monsters, and baby layettes—all washable and kid-friendly. She is working to get a catalog together and online presence mid-year 2015. Yawa adds, “The kids are great and play often with their cousins courtesy of Vanessa Newell Coutu. Talked recently to Anne Miller Crumlish ’98, who is down in Atlanta, thriving with hubby Tom and daughter Emily.” * Amalie Gosine Howard now lives in Colorado with her husband and three children, Connor, 10, Noah, 8, and Olivia, 5. She had her fifth novel published in 2015. In spring 2014 she was included on the Kids’ Indie Next List for her novel Alpha Goddess. * Karen Blaisdell Faiman is a grant writer for Womanspace, a nonprofit in Lawrenceville, N.J., dedicated to serving victims/survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. * Rebecca Durham has been creating botanical art pieces, and her work was featured in January at the Montana Natural History Center in Missoula. * Tony Hernandez, now living in Colorado, responded to the call for memories of Jan Plans past. He wrote, “I can’t remember what I did for freshman-year Jan Plan. I know I did a funky yoga class junior year and a scriptwriting class senior year, but I can’t remember the first!” Can anyone help him out? * Until next time, Colby friends.
Spring 2015