All the Roads Taken Class of 1971 50th Reunion Yearbook Supplement - Middlebury College June 2021

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All the
Roads Taken

   Class of 1971
   50th Reunion
       Yearbook
    Supplement

    Middlebury College
            June 2021
Class of

     ’71

2
SUPPLEMENT                                                                                               Class of

                                                                                                            ’71
   With the official canceling of our on-campus Reunion in June, the Reunion Committee felt it was
   important to try to get as many of our classmates as possible to submit bios to the Yearbook by
   way of a Supplement. After sending out the Yearbook earlier this year, it had already prompted
   some of our classmates to submit bios in the hope we would find a way to include them. As a
   result, we have some new bios, but unfortunately, we also have new “In Memoriam” to add.
   In addition to the bios and memoriams, we have added an article on the Woodstock experience
   and some MiddMoments.

   We hope this Supplement and the Yearbook will provide you with some connection to our class
   that we would have shared in person. The College is trying to find a time when the reunions
   canceled due to COVID-19 (1970 and 1971) will be able to have in-person gatherings. We are
   planning some virtual events in June during the Reunion at Home dates (June 7–13), that we
   hope you will participate in and enjoy. Until then, enjoy the stories and the memories of even
   more “roads taken”!

   Gay Mann Folland
   Peter Wood
   1971 Yearbook Co-chairs

   When Tom Rush was on campus, before his concert, he got a kick out of watching and playing with the dog catching a
   Frisbee. He even mentioned it at the concert—so it is tied back to our time at Middlebury.

                                                            3
Class of

                                                                                          ’71
MIDDMOMENTS
An addition
I remember a time when there was a bagpiper
playing as we walked to the SDU buildings
for dinner. He was in a kilt and silhouetted
against the sunset. A beautiful image in my
mind forever! —Lynn Turner Cluff

A correction
Laird Myers and I were studio art majors.              Pleiad by the Snow Bowl. I am not a big
I got to know him during art classes Soph-             consumer of fish, but as we were cooking
omore year. He was an incredibly talented              the brook trout we had caught over small
artist, sensitive, caring, funny and serious si-       campfires, another aroma struck me. It was
multaneously. The attached photo was taken             coming from Laird’s frying pan. He had
while we were recording his paintings onto             brought fresh mushrooms and butter with
slides in the Johnson Art Building.                    him. That evening, Laird introduced me to
     I learned a lot from Laird. But the one           mushrooms sautéed in butter, now a lifelong
piece that I have carried with me for over             favorite. Thank you, Laird!
fifty years, other than his friendship and             —memory from Craig Morris, not
warmth is different. During senior year, a             Mike Kintner as previously written on
group of us camped overnight next to Lake              page 289 of Yearbook.

                                                   4
JOHN S. BATTLE III                                                       Class of

                                                                                                    ’71
                        “John”
                        421 Ward Street, Seattle, WA 98109
                        c. 206-390-2314 | battle.john@outlook.com

                         After graduation, I worked                                              Union. In 1995, I
                         as a carpenter first in Maine                                           joined Microsoft
                         and then in Richmond,                                                   as a project
                         VA, my hometown. Soon I                                                 manager and for
got on as a gofer in an architect’s office and began                                             the next five years,
to explore that profession. This led me to apply to                                              I traveled to many
Columbia’s graduate school of architecture. Before                                               cities in the U.S.,
matriculating, another carpenter friend of mine                                                  Europe, and Asia
and I traveled and worked our way across the                                                     as the Director of
country to San Francisco. There were about a dozen                                               Worldwide Design
Middlebury classmates who migrated to SF at that                                                 and Construction.
time—enough for us to have many softball games                                                   Raising my son
together—and many of us have stayed on the West                                                  and remodeling my
Coast after that introduction.                                                                   houseboat kept me
    I returned to NYC and, following a year of                                                   sane in those days!
architecture school, I returned to SF and joined                 In 1999 I married my current wife, Candice, and
other friends                                                became a stepfather to her two wonderful children.
from Virginia                                                For the next ten years, our blended family enjoyed
renovating                                                   living on the lake and traveled several times to Eu-
the Victorian                                                rope. I became a partner in a development manage-
homes there.                                                 ment firm and managed the design and construction
After a few                                                  of several wonderful projects, including the Seattle
years in SF,                                                 Art Museum and the first phase of Amazon’s head-
my love for                                                  quarters.
the outdoors                                                      In 2008 with the sudden death of a friend,
and waterways                                                the youngest child in college and exhaustion from
took me to                                                   commercial development, I resigned from corpo-
Washington                                                   rate life. I trained for a complete knee replacement
State and I set-                                             and during the recovery, we plotted our next phase,
tled in Seattle.                                             which was to sell the houseboat, buy a townhouse
I worked as a                                                in downtown Seattle and a cabin in the Methow
union carpen-                                                Valley in north central Washington.
ter on                                                            I became a consultant and an owner’s represen-
commercial buildings, then started a business as a           tative for commercial construction projects, and I
general contractor and began attending classes in            had the opportunity to be involved in many enjoy-
construction management.                                     able projects, including a cable-stayed pedestrian
    I married in 1980 and began working in the field         bridge in the Methow Valley, a seismic retrofit of
of commercial construction management through-               my church in Seattle, and the renovation of the
out the Puget Sound region. Over the next ten years,         Space Needle in Seattle.
we had a son, built a solar home, and hiked and                   I am now finally retired and we split our time
sailed around the Northwest.                                 between Seattle and the Methow Valley. We are
    My marriage ended in 1990, and instead of a red          involved with several nonprofit boards and I serve as
sports car, I bought a houseboat on Seattle’s Lake           chairman of the local Planning Commission.

                                                         5
LOUISE GENTRY BRENNAN                                                     Class of

                                                                                                     ’71
                         “Louise”
                         303 S. Jefferson Street, Lexington, VA 24450
                         c. 202-904-5927 | louise.g.brennan@gmail.com

                           So, clearly, I missed the
                           deadline for the yearbook!
                           It’s been a particularly busy
                           year, with a slightly uninten-
tional relocation from DC to the Shenandoah Valley
during the pandemic, but I’ll try to catch you up on
what preceded that.
     After graduation from Middlebury, I did a
master’s in English at UVa, where I paid in-state
tuition as a Virginia resident, but that’s the best
thing I can say about that year. I finished as quickly
as I could, and then took a teaching job in Manches-
ter, NH, at a small independent high school where
I was generously taught by my colleagues how to be
a teacher (and generously supported by my students              which faced huge challenges. He often told stories of
who knew that I didn’t know what I was doing).                  coming to court with his notes on legal pads which
In short, I fell in love with teaching—especially               he had brought from home, and then facing a bank
with high school teaching where students are so full            of law-firm lawyers with paper, pens, and assistants
of life, courage, and openness to new ideas. They               aplenty. But he loved his colleagues and he fought
are also very funny about themselves while remain-              hard for causes that really matter.
ing serious about the world; I have felt lucky to be                We lived on Capitol Hill, just five blocks from
among them.                                                     the Capitol, and raised our three children there.
     In 1974 Bruce Brennan ’72 and I married, and               We sledded on the Capitol grounds, walked to the
then moved to Virginia where he attended law                    museums, rode our bikes around the Lincoln
school at Washington and Lee and where I taught                 Memorial, renovated an “unlivable” Victorian
in a community college. (Older students are also                rowhouse, and loved the feeling of living in a small
inspiring, I found out!) Then we moved to DC,                   town in the midst of a big city.
where I taught at Georgetown and at American                        Then Covid pushed us to give over our Capitol
before realizing that high school teaching was what             Hill house to our daughter and her family (who had
I loved best; I found my dream job at Georgetown                just sold their own house and needed a place to land
Day School where I taught for twenty years. GDS’s               for a few months while she applies to veterinary
commitment to great literature (I taught Shake-                 dentistry programs), and to move to Lexington,
speare, Milton, Morrison, Faulkner, Dubois, Ellison,            VA, where I grew up. We now live in my childhood
and others), combined with its furthering of social             home, with a big garden that is my joy. We still get
justice, makes it an inspiring place. I made lifelong           to DC regularly, and we hope to get back to NYC
friends among both faculty and students who                     to see our other set of grandchildren once everyone
continue to be a gift now that I have retired.                  is vaccinated. In the meantime, we take long walks,
     Bruce worked in DC for the Corporation                     read a lot, work to rid our garden of invasives and to
Counsel where he dedicated himself to working                   encourage native plants, and feel very fortunate to
for a strapped, understaffed municipal government               be where we are.

                                                            6
AGNES S. CHARLESWORTH                                                    Class of

                                                                                                    ’71
                         “Nancy”
                         12 High Pasture Road, Kittery Point, ME 03905
                         207-439-3354 c. 207-752-2788 | CharlesworthAgnes@gmail.com

                         How does one summarize                 After gradu-
                         what happens in a life over            ation, I drove
                         the course of 50 years? The            across the
                         outer activities unfold in, and        U.S. with
out of, order, while one’s inner life evolves simul-            Obie Benz
taneously, and we struggle to make sense of it all.             and landed
Gradually we become more fully wrought in color,                in San Fran-
detail and depth—who we are, what works we will                 cisco, con-
attend to. We entered Middlebury at a time of great             necting there
social change—a time charged with racism, politics,             with other
art, social evolution, gender equality, and extraor-            Middlebury
dinary music. We were there(!) as American youth                classmates. I
was questioning the country’s mores and principles,             pursued my
endeavoring to create the social changes that haunt             music educa-
us still today.                                                 tion vigorously
                                                                                   At a gig in NH with swing band.
                                                                and stayed
                                                                for 25 years.
                                                                Philosophy and music remain my life’s focus.
                                                                     I relocated to Maine in 1997. Last year I was
                                                                invited to write and read for a consortium of
                                                                poets. The prompt was to focus on a place and time
                                                                where a significant event took place whose import
                                                                we didn’t necessarily recognize at the moment. A
                                                                piece of music we associate with that time was to
                                                                frame the poem. I share this poem, entitled “1968,”
                                                                because all of us entered Middlebury College at this
                                                                charged time to begin the journeys that beckoned
                                                                us then and whose mysteries are still unfolding.
                                                                Hopefully some of you will see points of familiarity
In Dorset, VT with Nancy Crawford ’70 and Joanna Mintzer.
                                                                with the poem’s complex emotions, feelings you
                                                                may recognize about that particular place and
    In the midst of this turmoil, I switched                    time, and the drama of coming of age which we
majors from math to philosophy. Hegel, Marx,                    all experienced and are joining in this reunion to
the Existentialists all seemed vital and relevant.              reflect upon together.

                                                            7
1968                                                                                 Class of

                                                                                      ’71
                                                                by Agnes S. Charlesworth
A sub-zero January night Vermont.
Pitch black, two freshmen girls chat themselves to sleep.
I want to be a virgin ‘til I’m married. Yeah, so do I.
Four miles away forty firemen struggle against a raging fire.

By morning Theta Chi fraternity is leveled.
Blackened beams remain, thick icicles draping cinder and ash.
Four young radicals, having nearly lost everything,
settle into housing on Storrs Ave.

Now it’s a March Sunday morning at #55.
Single bed, dirty cords, wool tights,
blue work shirt strewn across the floor,
Karl Marx on the wall and Laura Nyro is singing her Wedding Bell Blues.
Bill, I love you so and I always will.

My boyfriend’s fire hasn’t cooled.
It’s 1968 and how long could one be expected to wait?
I look at you and I see the passion eyes of May
But am I ever going to see my wedding day?
Passion was the lingua franca of those years.

In a few weeks I’ll total my boyfriend’s blue TR4 on black ice.
He’ll replace it with an old tan VW bus.
He’ll reassure me the big scar across my chin is sexy.
We’ll spend the summer in a cockroach infested Atlanta ghetto,
Fighting for equality.

In a few weeks, we’ll all gather in mourning
on the quad just outside #55 Storrs Avenue
while Martin Luther King’s voice pumps from all the open windows,
I Have a Dream.

But it’s quiet this bright sun March morning
Laura is singing, her clear young voice my encouragement.
And When I Die and when I’m dead and gone
there’ll be one child born in this world to carry on

Today is the day to break my vows,
to release the precious separation of I and thou.
No fireworks exploding, no bells ringing out,
I’m diving in,
right off the edge of innocence.

Into what? Womanhood is a long way off. So is the ERA.
White sheets will not be hung from the balcony to exhibit their blessed red stain.
No one will ask. There’ll be no one to tell.
His flannel sleeping bag holds us.
It’s 1968. I’m signing on with my man.
                                             8
CHRISTOPHER H. IRION                                                      Class of

                                                                                                     ’71
                         “Christopher”
                         38 Old Route 5 South, PO Box 267, Putney, VT 05346
                         c. 415-643-8986 | info@irionphotography.com

                         This Road Taken—Long and Winding and Mostly
                         Full of Joy

I would characterize myself in my Middlebury years             social circle really
as shy and cynical, but friendly.                              is much greater and
    Like many of us just on the edge of a long voyage          more deeply inter-
of self discovery, not particularly in touch with my           connected than the
feelings or having any well-defined dreams. Longing            five to seven people
and bewilderment were often present emotions. That,            we like to hang out
and a nascent, hardly recognized, creative drive.              with and the person
    I left after sophomore year for RISD to study              we get our coffee
painting. After various jobs as carpenter, dishwasher,         from in the morn-
serious restaurant cook and kitchen manager,                   ing.
running a black and white darkroom and a few                       I’ve done over
others, I left for 30 years in San Francisco with a            27 projects around the country, including muse-
successful career as first an editorial and then               ums, schools, colleges, city neighborhoods and
advertising photographer. A daughter who is                    small towns. Since we often photographed hundreds
undoubtedly the best thing that ever happened to               of people in a day, it was a regrettable that many
me. Two wives. Now very content being single and               of those I met had no chance of turning into new
solitary with a boatload of friends. 50 years of med-          friendships. (Although there have been some very
itation have slowly allowed me to shed my cynicism             wonderful exceptions.) But having to be a barker
and self protection, or so I’m told, and definitely            and a wrangler in order to get people to participate
deepened my sense of connection to all things.                 blasted away whatever residual shyness I had, and
    But most rewarding work of my career has been              made me realize that everyone has a story. (See next
the last 15 years of traveling across the country              page and http://www.thePhotoboothProject.org)
creating large scale public installations comprised of             That led me to my current focus of making small
several hundred oversized photographic portraits of            films about my friends and neighbors as a way of
members of a particular community, using a portable            continuing to show us back to ourselves, in ways
studio somewhat resembling a PhotoBooth. The idea              that we have certainly lost touch with during Covid,
                                                behind         but I think we were already losing in our hyper-fast
                                                these          world. (You can see some examples on The “Putney
                                                projects       News Service” YouTube channel.)
                                                is to              My appetite for material novelty is relatively
                                                show           modest, So assuming I don’t have to pay anybody
                                                that           else, I can do pretty much anything I want.
                                                com-               The winter of Covid induced hibernation has
                                                munity         truly deepened my appreciation for solitude. And I
                                                back to        deeply love my friends. As we seem to head inexo-
                                                itself         rably toward any number of cliffs that don’t foretell
                                                and            a good outcome for us who think we are at the top
                                                hope-          of the food chain, I see our last duty is to gather our
                                                fully          friends and celebrate them, each and every one.
                                                suggest            I have a warm heart thinking of all of you. Thank
Local Harvest Lantern Supper, Putney, VT        that our       you for being part of such important years.
                                                           9
PHOTOBOOTH PROJECT                                                Class of

                                                                   ’71
by Christopher Irion

Detail of PhotoBooth Project installation, Putney, VT 2005

                                                             10
DIANA E. MARLER NELSON                                        Class of

                                                                                       ’71
                        “Lisa”
                        2148 Cote Hill Road, Morrisville, VT 05661
                        802-760-7278 | lisanvmd@gmail.com

                         We live in Morrisville VT,           thus reducing the
                         just north of Stowe, where           likelihood of dog
                         we had lived for about 20            bites. (Each year,
                         years. Morrisville is also           4.5 million people
known locally (maybe globally, it would not surprise          are bitten by dogs
me) as “Mo’Vegas.” Also, “if you can’t find it in             in the U.S. and the
Morrisville, you probably don’t really need it”…              majority of these
    When we moved in 2008, we moved ourselves,                people are children.
three donkeys and three goats plus house pets too.            The good news is
My donkeys are now 28 years old and I have had                that most dog bites
them since they were six months old. They must be             can be prevented
getting sick of me by now. We have layer chickens,            if kids and parents
a small team of rabbits which landed here through             understand how to
various bad turns in their lives and, in the house,           be safer and more
several dogs, one cat, and as always—for the past             appropriate around
30 years—several guinea pigs.                                 dogs.) I am very
    We: is moi-self and my husband Bill. We have              connected to and
a 22-year age difference—nope, he is not 48. We               interested in animal
have been married for 31 years. The past few years            welfare issues both
have been very difficult for him although he main-            in this country and
tains an upbeat attitude and a huge work ethic                globally and spend
regarding keeping himself as fit as possible. He has          time working on
three children in New England and there are eight             those.
grandchildren, age ranges 24 to 37. Most of them                   Having reread
live out west.                                                this, I sound like
    I retired in 2015—from veterinary practice.               I am very serious
I miss many things about it, but not all, and am              these days. Not
very glad I have more time now to spend at home.              really. It is hard to
Given the number of animals we have, I am still in            be serious around
practice, but the pay is very poor! I will always be a        donkeys anyway.
veterinarian in my heart and head, and for over 30            I find great joy in
years have been very involved with our state veteri-          my life and our life
nary medical association. Three years ago I was ap-           together, and rely
pointed to a Vermont government task force to draft           on humor, music,
new and desperately needed standards for animal               family, friends, and
housing; this bill passed, which was really rewarding.        being outside to
Last year a colleague and I developed a PowerPoint            navigate through
presentation for elementary school children which             this weird time in
teaches them how to interact safely with dogs,                particular.

                                                         11
EVERETT C. PERINE                                                         Class of

                                                                                                    ’71
                        “Perry”
                        50 Bay Road, North Falmouth, MA 02556
                        c. 860-634-3818 | fatherperry1986@hotmail.com

                          I’m sitting on the deck of
                          my home on Cape Cod
                          and drinking in the natural
                          beauty that surrounds me.
Another spring has arisen and life once again begins
afresh. It’s the kind of scene that beckons reflection
and so my thoughts drift back through the years as I
contemplate the path I have followed to be here.
    Fifty years ago, I moved on from Middlebury to
pursue my childhood dream of becoming a doctor.
Little did I anticipate that over the next decade I           talizations, job loss and graduations—and tragically
would give up that dream and become a biology                 9-11 and Sandy Hook) and helping them to grow in
teacher in a private boarding school. There I would           faith as they struggled with questions and uncertain-
experience a life-changing “spiritual reawakening”            ties that day-to-day life imposed on them.
and enter seminary to begin what would be a seven-                 It was in the year 2014 when everything in my
year journey culminating in my being ordained an              life seemed to come together with new freshness
Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Vermont in 1986.           and new meaning. I found myself drawn to Francis-
                                                              can spirituality and filled with a burning desire to
                                                              explore alternate expressions of Christian faith
                                                              in the twenty-first century. I met Lynn, who has
                                                              become the love of my life. And I ended the year
                                                              by suffering a heart attack on Christmas day from
                                                              which I emerged not only healed but with a renewed
                                                              love of life. It was time for me to plan my retirement.
                                                                   Lynn and I have since moved to Cape Cod.
                                                              where we take full advantage of our surroundings.
                                                              As often as we can, we visit my daughters Meg and
                                                              Vivian (a transgender woman) and Lynn’s children
                                                              and grandchildren. We routinely return to Middle-
                                                              bury to see my mom (now 95 and still amazing) and
    For the next three decades I found myself                 my brother and his family. For our part Lynn and I
immersed in parish ministry, serving churches in              have decided to give our time and love to enhance
Vermont, New Jersey (suburban Philadelphia),                  the lives of people around us: Lynn as an ESL tutor
and Connecticut. In those years I discovered (often           for immigration services and I as a volunteer at a
through the proverbial “baptism by fire”) the                 local Episcopal Church.
breadth and depth of commitment and responsibility                 That’s my story—a journey that has led us here,
demanded of clergy. While those burdens proved to             sitting on the deck of our home on Cape Cod, signs
be exacting and challenging, they became avenues              of spring and life all around us. As I look back over
for personal and professional growth, often hum-              70 years, it’s been a wonderfully unexpected and
bling, but always spiritually uplifting. Over those           remarkable ride, full of twists and turns, joys and
years the greatest blessings I received emerged from          sorrows, successes and losses, uplifting moments
the privilege of journeying with parishioners as              and painful ones—and I am at peace. It’s my jour-
they lived through life-changing events (births and           ney and it’s a ride that perhaps promises that the
deaths, weddings and divorces, illnesses and hospi-           best is yet to come.
                                                         12
Class of

                                                                        ’71
                 ~ In Memoriam ~
ALICE HORTON PERRY
October 28, 1949 to June 30, 2020

Alice Horton Perry was from Bethesda, MD. She graduated from Walter Johnson
High School there. She earned high honors in English at Middlebury and was elected
to Phi Beta Kappa. She went on to Columbia University, where she earned her M.A.
in English. She taught at Milton Academy, Albuquerque Academy, and finally at
Sandia Preparatory School in Albuquerque, NM, where she retired as department
chair.
     Judith Irving remarked that, “It did not surprise me one bit that her career
was centered on literature. She was a reader, a thinker, a writer. She was a solid,
consistent, fun-loving friend and had a sense of calm and maturity about her that
made her…unique.”
     Stevie Olson was a student of Alice’s at Sandia Prep School in Albuquerque
and a 2015 graduate of the Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English. He wrote of
Alice that, “…for many students, Ms. Perry was that rare teacher who energized a
lifelong love of writing, reading, and being. She dedicated her professional practice
to nurturing young people into caring, insightful community members. Alice chose
texts and led discussions that challenged norms, explored the interior self, and
deeply respected the teenage participants. From her corner classroom overlooking
the Sandia Mountains, Alice led the Sandia Prep English Department by bucking
educational trends in favor of beautiful literature and peer-to-peer interactions….
Alice will be remembered for teaching students to offer compliments to each other,
enjoying a baseball game or tennis match, and living with fierce independence.”
     Susan Walton, a colleague of Alice’s at Sandia Prep, said of her that “I know
Alice Perry as an engaged listener. She remembered conversations with students and
picked up where they left off, whether it was later that day or several years later. She
was the English teacher all the kids wanted to write their college reccommendation
letter. And she would write insightful letters for all who asked it of her. She offered
bridge as an activity during school hours and she would occasionally meet students
or alumni to play bridge on weekends at a coffee shop. She was not a pushover. Her
convictions were precious and she lived them no matter how difficult. I still have a
thank you note Alice wrote me, for no particular reason, maybe because she thought
I needed an “atta-Girl.” Hers is a gigantic loss for our school and for our society,
because she made us want to be better people and to emulate her good qualities.”
     Alice was predeceased by her husband, Philip Perry, and her son, Sam. Her
daughter Emma survives her.

                               13
Class of

                                                                     ’71
                ~ In Memoriam ~
MADELINE B. NEILSON ROCKWELL
March 25, 1949 to March 4, 2021

We learned of Madeline’s death after the publication
of our Reunion Yearbook. The entry from Madeline
and Charlie Rockwell notes Charlie’s early pursuit
of Madeline and includes a fair amount about their
lives after their June 1971 marriage. Almost fifty years
followed, full of motorcycle racing, teaching skiing,
and homeschooling their two daughters, Katherine and
Susan.
    Madeline was originally from Unionville, PA, and
graduated from St. Timothy’s School near Baltimore. At
                                Middlebury, she majored
                                in Geography. She was
                                an athlete and an avid horsewoman, a passion passed
                                onto her girls. She co-founded Vermont Reading
                                Partners to support adult literacy, took on annual
                                organizing work for the Vermont/New Hampshire
                                Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and served on
                                the board of Merck Forest and Farmland Center near
                                Dorset VT. Most recently, Madeline had joined the
                                board of the Bart Adaptive Sports Center, where she
                                taught students with different physical and emotional
                                needs to ski.
                                      Madeline is remembered for her quick wit
                                and dry humor. Her storytelling gift could turn an
                                amusing incident into a legendary saga, leaving her
                                audience guffawing and wondering how far the truth
                                had been stretched.

                             14
JAMES W. RUNCIE                                                          Class of

                                                                                                    ’71
                        “Jim”
                        500 Parsonage Road, Starksboro, VT 05487
                        802-453-4603 | jwruncie@gmail.com

                           The first time I set foot in
                           Vermont was for freshman
                           orientation in 1967. Except
                           for graduate school, I have
lived in Addison County ever since. After college I
worked at various jobs until 1977, when I started law
school at UNC. Within a couple of days of arriving
in Chapel Hill, I ran into Christina Dal Molin ’75,
who was there getting a Ph.D. in zoology. We’ve
been married 41 years.
     After graduate school we moved back here. I
started with a law firm in Burlington, and then in
1985 joined Jim Ouimette in his law practice in
Vergennes. I can’t imagine a law partnership that
could have worked out better. We have worked
together for more than 35 years without a serious
disagreement. We never felt the need to add another
lawyer to the firm until we had the chance to hire
Jim’s son, Jeremy, who joined us two years ago. At
this point, I am mostly retired while Jim and Jeremy
carry on.
     Chris and I bought an old house in Starksboro
in 1981. Our children, Dan, Tom, and Julia came                more traveling on our own, including hiking excur-
along soon after. As we outgrew that home we built             sions such as a 5-day trek in Colombia to the
another about a mile away, where we still live.                Ciudad Perdida, the Tour du Mont Blanc, and the
     One of the reasons we wanted to live in Vermont           Coast-to-Coast in England. Of course, we were
was that it is obviously the best state to live in, so         grounded in 2020, but did hike almost every day,
our kids would surely return after college. But no.            locally and in the Green Mountains and the Adiron-
We had taken ski trips out West, and our kids fell in          dack High Peaks. A favorite walk is out our door
love with big mountains. Dan is an assistant professor         and then over Hogback Ridge into the next town,
of genetics and biostatistics at UC Davis, married             Monkton, where we end up on Mary and Craig
to Alexandra, from Colombia, whom he met in                    Morris’s porch visiting old college friends.
graduate school. Tom is a house painter/skier in                   For us, and perhaps for most classmates, the
Crested Butte, CO, married to Laurel, whom he met              hardest part of the pandemic has been separation
at Dartmouth. Julia is a wildlife biologist in Bishop,         from our children and grandchildren. Skype saved
CA, active in Search and Rescue and local theater.             us. Our nine-year-old grandson in California was
She is engaged to Vic, another SAR volunteer, who              in school remotely until April, and we have Skyped
is a deputy sheriff.                                           with him for an hour or two most days, reading
     Where our kids have gone we have followed,                through many volumes of children’s literature
at least to visit. This has taken us to Colombia,              (Narnia, Little House, Redwall, etc.). Skype has also
Senegal, Italy, Denmark, skiing and hiking in                  allowed us frequent visits with our one-year-old
various states, as well as driving across the country          grandson in Colorado.
twice. We have generally gone to visit every two                   We are now fully vaccinated and finally get to
months or so. In recent years we have also done                visit again and plan other adventures.
                                                          15
JOSEPH M. SASSANO JR                                                        Class of

                                                                                                        ’71
                          “Joe”
                          16 South Lake Shore Drive, Brookfield, CT 06804
                          c. 203-241-7523 | joesassano@aol.com

                          I married my high school                 interesting paths.
                          sweetheart, Libby, who was               Our girls have
                          matriculating at Skidmore                brought us a total
                          while I was at Middlebury,               of five grandchil-
over Thanksgiving break during our junior year. This               dren ranging from
took me out of the usual college social life and prob-             ages 16 to one. We
ably accounts for my lack of friends and connections               have truly discov-
from those years. Libby and I finished my senior                   ered the joys of
year raising our daughter, Kristen. Upon graduation                grandparenting
I took a job in the employee relocation business—                  and do a lot with
who even heard of such a thing—and began a 20-                     our grandkids and
year career with Homequity and later Merrill Lynch                 are there when needed for them. It is one of the great
Relocation that paid our bills and brought us to                   joys of our lives.
Wilton, CT, the D.C. suburbs, Sterling, VA, and the                     My music has included a near miss at the big
Los Angeles area, both Thousand Oaks and Irvine.                   leagues in 1973 when I connected with Steve
		In the subsequent 19 years, I focused on the                     Weeks ’71, Lincoln Clapp ’72, and one of
mortgage business with stops at Centerbank and                     Lincoln’s childhood friends, Tom Snyder, to set up
First Union and then about seven years with Citi-                  a working band in Arlington, VT. We got within a
group. Along the way I made several attempts at                    hair’s breadth of signing with Columbia records and
self-employment with ventures into relocation and                  then everything fell apart, which led to the dissolu-
benefits consulting, the venture capital business, and             tion of our band, Grandfalloon.
finally purchasing a franchise, ShelfGenie. While                  After that I hung up my bass and took a hiatus for
I had pretty good success with most of my corpo-                   33 years, kicking back into it in 2006. Since then,
rate career endeavors, I never really had a passion                I have played in a number of different bands, all of
for what I was doing. Libby did have a passion for                 which focus on vocals and great danceable music
education and has spent her entire career working                  that everyone knows. Of course that means a lot of
with children from her start as a nursery school                   stuff from our college years. I have also discovered
director to today where she tutors high school stu-                that at my age in order to
dents forced to remain at home for health or anxiety               keep my “pipes” in shape, I
reasons. She is a gift to all her students, and is a little        have adopted the “use it or
freaked out to meet up with some of her nursery                    lose it” approach and can be
schoolers and find them married and parents!                       found signing karaoke two
    My real passions in life have been raising my                  or three nights a week. The
family and pursuing my interest in music. Libby and                pandemic has put a halt to
I have three                                                       all my musical pursuits, and I
daughters—                                                         am really looking forward to
Kristen, Cate,                                                     getting back into that when
and Ashley.                                                        things ease a little more.
All are hap-                                                            Libby and I celebrated
pily making                                                        our 50th anniversary in 2019
their way                                                          and are still very much in
through life                                                       love. We have lived through some very interesting
following very                                                     times and like all of us, we hope our country can find
diverse, but                                                       a way to get along again.
                                                              16
THOMAS B. SCRIBNER                                                            Class of

                                                                                                          ’71
                         “Tom”
                         3110 Portage Bay Place East HBT H, Seattle, WA 98102
                         503-944-9039 | scrt@yakamafish-nsn.gov

                          My priorities were probably             the fish in their
                          evident early on when I                 saltwater pens,
                          skipped graduation in order             I took a job with
                          to seize the opportunity of             the Yakama
privately rafting the Colorado River through the                  Nation in Eastern
Grand Canyon. Unfortunately my mother had                         Washington,
already booked her trip to Middlebury for the                     supporting their
ceremony and decided not to cancel. So, as she sat                court-mandated
there imagining my presence, I was hightailing it                 tribal fishing rights
across the country to Arizona in my red 1968                      on the Columbia
Beetle, packed to the gills and drafting behind semis             River. My original
to enhance my speed. The river trip was fantastic,                thought was to use
especially in that small, private party using mostly              this employment as
four-person rafts.                                                a one- or two-year
     Being the son of a doctor, I suppose it’s natural            stepping stone to a
that a career in medicine would be on my radar.                   higher level civil service job. Thirty-nine years later, I
After graduation, I tried twice to get into medical               am still a Tribal employee. These years have given
school—both times without success. During this                    me the continuing satisfaction of implementing
period I led a varied life. I traveled for nine months            numerous projects related to salmon recovery.
using a two-cylinder French car in Europe and in                      I was married late in life (51 years old) to my
North Africa, followed by a month in East Africa.                 wife Kathy (same age) who also had never been
                                     I then worked as a           married. Thus no kids. Kathy flew for Delta Air
                                     carpenter in Aspen           Lines for 32 years, which regularly allowed us to
                                     where, during the            travel internationally. Kathy passed away five years
                                     summer, I also es-           ago.
                                     tablished myself as              Until recently, I lived for 17 years in Portland,
                                     a fly fishing guide.         OR, where management of the Columbia River
                                         Ever since child-        fishery is centralized. I am now living in Seattle on a
                                     hood, fly fishing has        houseboat that belonged to my father and his second
                                     been a primary               wife. It’s a terrific way to be in the heart of the city
                                     passion, such that,          and yet to have at one’s doorstep the serenity that
                                     when medical                 open water provides. In each of the three winters
                                     school didn’t pan            prior to Covid, my houseboat life has been punc-
                                     out, I decided to go         tuated with fly-fishing trips to New Zealand. It’s a
                                     into fisheries and           terrific country of cheerful and exuberant people
                                     earned a master’s            and it offers very challenging, yet rewarding, fishing
                                     degree from the              for large and wily brown trout.
                                     UW in 1977.                      I recently purchased a new 38.1 Beneteau sail-
                                         I began my               boat that will be built this summer. It’s a “geriatric”
                                     fisheries career as          boat that can be managed almost entirely from the
a fish farmer in Washington’s San Juan Islands. For               cockpit. The plan is to spend beaucoup time on the
three years I raised pan-sized coho salmon for high-              boat and enjoy my sunset years cruising north to
end restaurants. When the company suddenly went                   some pristine country in British Columbia and
under due to a rare algal bloom that suffocated                   maybe Alaska.
                                                             17
MARIAN VAN BUREN                                                          Class of

                                                                                                     ’71
                        “Marian”
                        178 Sergeantsville Road, Flemington, NJ 08822
                        908-782-6740 | mvanboroosie@hotmail.com

                          Wow! Fifty years! How did            that rarely held
                          that happen? I look back at          true in any other
                          who I was in 1971—                   relationship I’d
                          uncertain, confused, dis-            ever had. Bailey
oriented, no sense of purpose—and wonder at the                and I worked,
journey that brought me to the person I am now.                played and com-
    I searched for years to find a slot that would fit.        peted together
I wandered my way from managing a small stable                 for 17 years, and
in Pennsylvania to working as a medical secretary              I will always love
at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where the              that big-hearted
support of my boss, a brilliant, cocky young doc               beast.
from Chicago, helped me realize for the first time                 When Bailey
that I really might have some potential. Next stop             died, training
was at a law firm in center city, where I served as a          another young-
paralegal until the discrepancy between justice and            ster didn’t seem
who had the most money drove me to search again.               like a realistic
How about computers? A black and white world,                  option. What to choose to fill the right-brained void?
and programming can be learned in next to no time.             Pottery? I’d learned as a teen, but hadn’t played with
I went through a six-month intensive course and                clay for years. Now seemed like a good time, and I
ended up with a great job working with a bunch of              began taking classes at the local community college,
crazy, creative kids at a software house in Princeton,         which had an excellent ceramics department. Once
NJ. When the company was snapped up by a hungry                in, classes could be repeated forever, and the class-
corporation, I found myself hunting again, landing             room became my studio. Another passion rekindled.
this time in the IT department at New York Life                    As the years moved on, my own responsibilities
Insurance Company.                                             at NYL grew to require large concentrations of cor-
    The position at NYL fit me well for almost 20              porate politics, which was not a skill I had any inter-
years. From programmer to supervisor to team lead              est in learning. I knew it was time to move on again.
to manager, I learned more and more about the pow-             Early retirement was an option, but I needed a plan.
er of encouragement and support. I got it from my              At the time I was no longer “studying” ceramics at
supervisors, and gave it to my teams, many of whom             the community college, having moved on to a pri-
were so focused on the black and white of program-             vate studio nearer to home. I would go there of an
ming that they barely knew what possibilities are out          evening, mulling over my options, until the master
there. What a charge I got from watching my fledg-             potter there suggested I come work for him. Presto!
lings develop confidence, purpose, and the courage it          A new path, and River Otter Pottery was born.
takes to truly take charge of their own ability.               In many ways, this choice has been the best fit so
    Throughout this time my left-brained days were             far. I have now been a full-time potter for 15 years,
counterbalanced by a totally different life; horses.           and life is very good indeed. After a few years in the
I had ridden for years, on and off, and finally was            wholesale world, successful but harrowing, I now
lucky enough to have a salary that made owning                 participate in juried craft shows, show my work in
a horse a reality. I found a four-year-old quarter             a few small galleries, and best of all, teach at the
horse, Bailey, and he was truly the love of my life:           studio where I used to work. Another chance to help
brave, talented, competitive, gentle, honest with              people surpass their own expectations, and to see
a subtle sense of humor that added just a touch of             a glimmer of my own passion in their eyes. What
spice. And I could trust him implicitly, something             could be better? www.riverotterpottery.com
                                                          18
Class of

                                                                      ’71
                ~ In Memoriam ~
PETER M. WHEELOCK
May 4, 1948 to January 19, 2021

Peter hailed from Newton, MA and graduated from Williston Academy. From a
young age, he was drawn to oceans and mountains, and loved sailing, hiking in all
seasons, and backcountry skiing. He overcame early challenges with dyslexia to
become an avid reader of books and news sources, including the Boston Globe, which
he read in full each morning before 7:00 a.m.
    After completing his major in Environmental Studies at Middlebury, Peter
spent two years on the ski patrol in New Mexico. He then went to the University of
Massachusetts, earning a degree in Structural Engineering with high honors in 1977.
He worked as an engineer for Weidlinger Associates, Inc. for 35 years, where he was
a respected mentor.
    He was an expert at renovating historical buildings in Boston. One of his
colleagues at Weidlinger described Peter as “…a unique thinker. Whenever there
was an unusual problem, I would ask Peter for his opinion and he would always
say something different that no one else [had] thought of and that would lead to a
solution that was unique. I would always consult with him when I had a difficult issue
and he would give insight that would lead to a solution that was perfect.”
    Millyn Moore, who was on Peter’s hall in Hepburn freshman year, recalls him
as “a solid guy—calm and composed.” Stefan Nagel ’69, who was on the ski patrol
with Peter at Middlebury, recalls him as “a gentle, unflappable soul, almost Buddha-
like in his response to both challenging and pleasant events. This made him the ideal
companion for those outdoor adventures on which he thrived. Whether skiing the
gentle Lang at the Snow Bowl or over the lip at Tuckerman’s, sailing in protected
waters or along the wild, fog-enshrouded Maine coast, or hiking in the soft Green
Mountains in the summer or climbing ice-encrusted Mt. Lafayette in the Whites in
the bitter-cold heart of winter, Peter would be focused, balanced, and content. He
was not fazed by nature’s adversity, and in fact quietly and confidently thrived on it.
He was also great company—witty and cheerful, a master of cribbage, just plain fun
to be around. Even though we were last together fifty years ago, I can still hear his
frequent chuckles that passed as laughter. I miss him still.”
    Peter was a devoted family man, a team player in family gatherings, as well as a
giving and supportive husband and most proud father. Peter is survived by his wife
Susan, his daughter Dr. Alyse Berk Wheelock, and by two sisters.
    Peter died in January 2021 from complications of Covid-19 and Alzheimer’s
disease.

                              19
PAMELA SUE PHILIPP WHELAN                                                 Class of

                                                                                                      ’71
                         “Pam”
                         9304 Talisman Drive, Vienna, VA 22182
                         703-938-7479 c. 703-944-4216 | Sunnyand75@gmail.com

                             Will Whelan, who happened               During the years that we were raising our five
                             to have been born on “my”          children, we were so busy “doing” that we didn’t
                             birthday, became my life’s         think too much about what an effort and responsibility
                             companion two years after          it was to raise these kids. Wow! Outside of meeting
I graduated from Middlebury. Nothing in our lives               each other, they and our grandchildren have been our
looks symmetrical or planned. Our house exudes a                greatest gifts. Our son Matthew (43) and wife Natalie
feeling of “gentle chaos” that comes with doing our             live in Waco, TX, with their three daughters. They
best and meeting life as it has come to us. Everything          are both moral theologians. Natalie is a professor at
looks “well-used”—including us. So many of the best             Baylor and Matthew, whose recent book is BLOOD
things in our lives were not “planned”—our five-year            IN THE FIELDS: Oscar Romeo, Catholic Social Teach-
experience in Lusaka, Zambia as a family, my tutoring           ing and Land Reform, is a senior fellow at the Baylor
business, people we have met and experiences we                 Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty. Kevin (42) and
have had just by being in a particular place at a par-          his wife Kiraz, both lawyers, live in Geneva with their
ticular time. And what was certainly unplanned was              son and daughter. Kevin represents Amnesty Interna-
our meeting in August of 1973 at the Jesuit Volunteer           tional to the UN Human Rights Council; Kiraz works
Corps Orientation in Portland, OR. I was going to               for the Global Fund. Elizabeth (39)—after spending
teach in Fairbanks, AK and Will was going to Kabwe,             four years with Catholic Relief Services in both Ghana
Zambia. Although our paths crossed for only four                and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and
days in Portland, we eventually found a way to teach            four years in Myanmar with Save the Children—is
together in Kabwe.                                              now living with her husband Franco in South Africa;
    We have been residing in Vienna, VA, outside of             Elizabeth is a nutrition consultant for various inter-
Washington, D.C., since we returned with our five chil-         national programs and specializes in the first 1,000
dren (aged 4 through 15) from Lusaka in 1993                    days of life, while Franco teaches at the International
after a life-altering, five-year experience. Will spent         School of Johannesburg. We are all thrilled that they
his entire career teaching and working on hunger                are expecting a little boy in July! Joseph (36), a Park
issues and famine prevention. I have taught in various          Ranger at Glacier Bay National Park in Gustavus,
places, including for two years at the American Em-             AK, is a dedicated environmentalist and a captivating
bassy School of Lusaka where I had the truly awesome            musician. Our youngest Kate (31) is an incredibly
opportunity to be our Elizabeth’s 6th-grade teacher.            kind, nurturing elementary school teacher in Waco,
For almost 23 years now, I have been tutoring a variety         TX. I wish I could relive a year of my life as one of
of subjects and students. Right now, my students                her students! Our children and grandchildren are all
range from 5 to 18 years old. They include four out of          far away physically but are deeply and dearly woven
our five grandchildren, as well as many kids who have           into our lives. As you can imagine, we have missed
been working with me for years. The ramifications of            out on a lot of traveling during these pandemic times.
the pandemic have made this an even more intense                I don’t allow myself to think about all of the hugs we
endeavor. Although I feel fortunate to be a part of so          have missed. What would we do without Skype?
many children’s lives, I have found the virtual tutoring             We are exceedingly grateful that we are well and
to be demanding and tiring. Among other ventures,               are moving around without any real problems. We
Will has been a Santa Claus ever since our children             realize that we don’t have control over much, but we
gave him the retirement present of sending him to a             are doing our best to do the necessary maintenance to
professional Santa Claus School. With a real beard and          keep ourselves moving. We have so much left to do!!
a fake belly, he loves Christmas time when he has fun           I joke with our grandchildren that we want to be in
raising money for Kasisi Children’s Home, an orphan-            shape so that we can all dance together at Grandma
age we became attached to during our Lusaka days.               and Grandpa’s 100th birthday party.
                                                           20
CAROLYN R. WHITING                                                             Class of

                                                                                                                ’71
                              “Carolyn”
                              17 Chestnut Road, Reading, MA 01867
                              781-944-1917 c. 781-439-9631 | crwhit99@aol.com

                         After my sophomore year                        My father died
                         at Middlebury (with a                          in 2002 and my
                         planned major of Sociology),                   mother died in
                         I transferred to Springfield                   2004, so 2002–
College (Springfield, MA), with a major of Commu-                       2004 was a chal-
nity Leadership and Development. I never actually                       lenging period of
worked in either field, but I think that both parts of                  time for me and
my college experience were worthwhile, anyway.                          my siblings.
    After graduation, I worked as a psychiatric aide                        I did some
at the Brattleboro Retreat (in VT); as a sewing                         car-camping in
machine specialist; and as a medical secretary                          Europe in 1972,
(in the Springfield, MA area) before moving to                          and I have taken
Washington, D.C., and taking a six-month course                         some memorable
at Computer Learning Center. I worked as a                              trips since then, to
computer programmer for a hospital in Southeast                         Florida, to Califor-
Washington for four years, and then I moved back                        nia, to D.C./Ten- Me celebrating the Centennial of
                                                                                                Women’s Suffrage near Lake Wauke-
to Massachusetts.                                                       nessee/Louisiana/ wan in Meredith, NH, last August.
		I have been working as a programmer, first for                        Kentucky/Ohio, to
New England Deaconess Hospital, then for the                            Ontario and Québec, to Nova Scotia and PEI, to
merged Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in                          the Gaspé Peninsula in Québec by Via Rail, to
Boston, since 1981 (nearly 40 years), and I have                        Gettysburg, and to Cooperstown. I haven’t done
been living in Reading, MA, for most of that time. I                    much long-distance traveling since I developed
feel fortunate to be able to work remotely full-time.                   multiple food sensitivities nearly 30 years ago. I am
    I have never been married, but I had an eleven-                     not doing much bicycling, hiking, or backpacking
year ‘til-death-did-us-part relationship with Louis                     these days, either, but I still enjoy singing and
Ventola who lost his battle with cancer in 2003.                        playing guitar; and I look forward to contradancing
                                                                        again someday. I enjoy virtual concerts and theatrical
                                                                        performances, too; but I am also looking forward to
                                                                        attending such performances (and sing-alongs) in
                                                                        person again someday.
                                                                            I have continued to participate in political/so-
                                                                        cial justice activities as much as possible over the
                                                                        years, usually in Reading, Andover, or Boston, and
                                                                        rarely in New York City or Washington. There are
                                                                        so many ongoing crises these days that I sometimes
                                                                        feel overwhelmed, but I enjoyed celebrating my
                                                                        70th birthday by attending the 50th annual National
                                                                        Day of Mourning and visiting the Wampanoag area
                                                                        in what is now known as Plimoth Patuxet Museums
                                                                        (formerly Plimoth Plantation) in Plymouth, MA,
                                                                        even though the weather was cold and damp.
Me with Louis Ventola in 1993 standing in front of my house                 I think that a virtual reunion is better than no
(with Sweetie, the cat, in the window) for which we had recently        reunion at all, and I appreciate all the work that
finished painting the trim.                                             people are doing to plan it!
                                                                   21
LESLEY AKER WISCOMB                                                      Class of

                                                                                                   ’71
                        “Lesley or Les”
                        1930 El Camino De La Luz, Santa Barbara, CA 93109
                        805-845-6036 c. 805-456-9108 | lwiscomb@cox.net

                        I’ll start by saying no one          1991–1995—BRISBANE,
                        will top Grove Nichols’              AUSTRALIA: We
                        post—a hilarious flash from          moved to Brisbane in early
                        the past!                            1991 for Scott’s job as
                                                             CFO of an Arco subsidiary.
1971–1973—BOSTON: Full-time work in a                        Spent three years studying
boutique travel agency, a job that I held during the         at Queensland University
summer of 1970. Met Greg, a Dartmouth grad.                  of Technology for a Gradu-
Shared an apartment with Sue Fritsch Hunter—                 ate Diploma in Landscape
she often covered for me when my Mom called to               Architecture. Challenging
“check in” and I was at Greg’s apartment!                    to go back to school! After
                                                             graduation, I worked for a LA firm in Brisbane. We
1973–1990—NEW YORK CITY: Greg moved                          had such a marvelous time Down Under and with
to New York; I shortly followed him. Married him             sadness left in late 1995 to spend more time with
(Husband #1). Worked for same travel agency’s                family.
Manhattan office. One day decided I needed a job
with more “growth potential.” As luck would have             1995–2008—SEATTLE, WA: We moved to
it, in a bar one evening, we started chatting with           Seattle. Went to work for a landscape architecture
a guy who was the head of HR for Smith Barney!               firm specializing in parks and civic spaces. Design-
After an interview, I was hired, and my 17-year Wall         ing parks was a great fit for me. After years at this
Street career was born. Most of my career was trad-          firm, a brief stint in the public sector, and obtain-
ing corporate bonds with my last stop at Lehman              ing my professional license, I opened my own firm.
Brothers. Greg and I divorced in 1983 and I met and          Fortunate to design two new parks in the Seattle
married Bill in 1986 ( #2). That marriage lasted two         area—both five-year projects of master planning
rocky years. For fifteen years, I had a close friend-        through construction. In 2006, I did my first triath-
ship with Scott Wiscomb, a LA client (later, #3).            lon, became hooked and continued with many for 12
During my NY years, I continued my daily runs,               years with Scott as my cheerleader at every race.
completing the 1982 NYC Marathon and qualifying
for Boston. Multiple knee surgeries really won that          2008–2021—SANTA BARBARA, CA: We
race and I switched to shorter distances.                    retired to Santa Barbara in 2008. Have volunteered
                                                             my time with nonprofits and am actively involved
1990—MALIBU, CA: Timing being everything,                    in the City, serving first on the Parks & Recreation
Scott and his wife divorced                                                               Commission and now on
amicably in early 1989.                                                                   the Planning Commis-
After some hesitation, I                                                                  sion. My swim, bike, run,
moved to a small guest                                                                    routine continues but now
house in Malibu to be                                                                     just for fun with friends.
closer to Scott and took                                                                  Scott has a married
some horticulture/land-                                                                   daughter and son and we
scape architecture classes                                                                have five grandchildren—
at UCLA. Scott and I                                                                      ages 4–16. We enjoy
married in late 1990 and                                                                  traveling and spending
30+ years later we are still                                                              time with family. Life has
together.                                                                                 been great!
                                                        22
✿ WOODSTOCK: WE WERE THERE ✿                                                                Class of

                                                                                               ’71
compiled by Clara Johnson Pincus with intro by Peter Wood

      When I was asked to write an introduction to the stories of our classmates who had gone to
      Woodstock in August 1969, I tried to think of who they might have been. I won’t tell you who
      I thought of, but it wasn’t these four who gave us their stories. It is clear the experience had
      lasting memories, but based on their bios, no lasting ill effects…

      There were many iconic events and photos from the late 1960s and early 1970s, but none
      sums up that period better than Woodstock. Fifty years later, the word brings up memories and
      images that most of us didn’t experience firsthand, but they are still ingrained like it was yes-
      terday. Thank you to our four classmates who are sharing their actual memories.

                                    *Well, I came upon a child of God
                                      He was walking along the road
                             And I asked him, “Tell me, where are you going?”
                                           And this he told me
                                 Said, “I’m going down to Yasgur’s Farm
                                      Gonna join a rock ’n’ roll band
                                        Got to get back to the land
                                             Set my soul free”

      ✿ I grew up in Darien, CT and went to Darien High School. In the summer of 1969,
      I was home living with my parents. A large billboard was erected on the Connecticut
      Turnpike between Darien and New York State advertising “Three Days of Peace and Music,
      Woodstock Music and Arts Fair.”

      We used to drive to Port Chester all the time, where the drinking age was 18, go to Vahsen’s
      Tavern, right over the NY line, so we drove by that billboard many many times during the
      summer.

      There was a 25-cents toll booth right before the New York line and the automatic lanes had
      baskets to throw your quarters in. Remember those? Beers at Vahsen’s were 25 cents. There
      were three automatic change lanes, so we would drive into the middle lane, have three people
      jump out of the car and collect the quarters that were lying in the ground in all three lanes
      where people had missed the basket. I think the high take was $4.25. Free beers all around.

      My high school buddies latched onto the idea that we would all be going to Woodstock. As
      the date approached, we decided to all buy tickets. They were expensive at the time at $18 for
      three days. We still have those tickets! As the days get closer, we realized this was going to be
      quite a big event.

      Since it started on a Friday night, we decided a group of five or six of us would drive up on
      Tuesday with tents, camping gear, food, drink, drugs enough to keep us intoxicated, drugged
                                                      23
Class of
and fed for at least a week. We easily drove into the site and scoped out a campground. We

                                                                                       ’71
set up our tents in a circle and left two people there to guard the food, liquor etc. The rest
of us drove back to Darien. At some point I mentioned to my girlfriend (now my wife), Jan
Halstead’s parents that we wanted to go to a really fancy outdoor music concert with tents
and separation of sleeping facilities! Janet and I had been dating for ten months and her par-
ents had gotten to know me well, for better or worse. On Friday afternoon, I picked her up at
her summer job at Burndy in Norwalk, changed clothes, picked up another close high school
friend and his date, now his wife of 50 years, piled into my 1957 Volkswagen bug, which was
called affectionately my “Little Green Pleasure Machine” because it was a little bit green!, and
headed off to the Woodstock Music and Arts Fair at Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, NY.

The ride to the site was quite different
from three days earlier. About 30 miles
from the turnoff we hit dead-stopped
traffic. Because my ’57 bug was notorious
for going anywhere, we drove in the
breakdown lane of the two-lane highway
for the last 30 miles, getting all the way
to the turnoff into Yasgur’s farm, about
a five-mile walk from the amphitheater
where the concert was about was to take
place. We still had a few provisions to
carry in, including a 24-bottle case of
Ripple wine, which I backpacked in the
last five miles.

When we arrived at the site it had
changed quite dramatically. All the
fences had come down. No tickets were
being collected and it had been declared a
“free concert.” Because we had acquaint-
ed ourselves with the location two days earlier, we relatively easily found our tent site and our
buddies who had been there, as well as others who had assembled.

As it turned out, we were camped right next to the circle of Grateful Dead buses with lots of
little kids racing around naked and music going 24/7 by the Dead for the entire weekend.

The first Friday night was fairly civilized and after listening to some remarkable music ended
up packing in after Joan Baez around 4:00 a.m. The list of entertainers at Woodstock was
pretty incredible as follows Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Incredible String Band,
Ravi Shankar, Sly and the Family Stone, Sweetwater, Canned Heat, Creedence Clearwa-
ter, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, The Who, The Band, Jeff Beck
Group, Blood Sweat and Tears, Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills and Nash, Jimi Hendrix with the
concluding “Star Spangled Banner” at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning. I vividly remember Joan
Baez on Friday night.

Janet and I were sleeping in a six-foot long canvas army tent that I had gotten from army
surplus many years before, probably for a Boy Scout outing. It was small, cramped, damp, and
completely uncomfortable.

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