HONORING JERRY DEPOLO and ANNE

Transcription

N
G d O
N an AN
RI LO M
O
N PO RO
O E Y
H Y D RR
RR JE
JE E &
AN
2 0 0 2
•
S P R I N G
B U L L E T I N
Spring 2002
Volume 72 Number 3
Bulletin Staff
Editor
Julie Reiff
Director of Development
Chip Spencer ’56
Alumni Notes
Anne Gahl
Karen Taylor
Design
Good Design
www.goodgraphics.com
Proofreaders
Nina Maynard
Bob Campbell ’76
Bulletin Advisory Board
Bonnie Blackburn ’84
Todd Gipstein ’70
Nancy Novogrod P’98, ’01
Josh Quittner ’75
Peter Frew ’75, ex officio
Julie Reiff, ex officio
Bonnie Welch, ex officio
Mail letters to:
Julie Reiff, Editor
Taft Bulletin
The Taft School
Watertown, CT 06795-2100 U.S.A.
[email protected]
Send alumni news to:
Anne Gahl
Alumni Office
The Taft School
[email protected]
Deadlines for Alumni Notes:
Summer–May 30
Fall–August 30
Winter–November 15
Spring–February 15, 2003
Send address corrections to:
Sally Membrino
Alumni Records
The Taft School
[email protected]
1-860-945-7777
www.TaftAlumni.com
This magazine is printed
on recycled paper.
On the Cover
FEATURES
North American
Showdown on Ice
17
A.J. Mleczko ’93 and Tammy Shewchuk ’96
compete for Gold in the XIX W inter
Olympic Games.
By Lance Odden
Page 6
To the Garden,
To the Sea
20
Jerry and Anne Romano head to the Cape
after 31 years at Taft.
By Willy MacMullen ’78
In It for the Kids
26
Math teacher Jerry DePolo retires.
By Al Reiff ’80
PHOTO BY MITCHELL LAYTON
The Taft Bulletin is published quarterly, in February,
May, August, and November, by The Taft School,
110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT 06795-2100,
and is distributed free of charge to alumni, parents,
grandparents, and friends of the school.
E-Mail Us!
Now you can send your latest news, address change,
birth announcement, or letter to the editor to us via
e-mail. Our address is [email protected].
Of course we’ll continue to accept your communiqués
by such “low-tech” methods as the fax machine
(860-945-7756), telephone (860-945-7777), or U.S. Mail
(110 Woodbury Road, Watertown, CT 06795-2100).
So let’s hear from you!
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with old friends or make new ones, get a job and
more!—all at the new Taft Alumni Community online.
Visit us at www.TaftAlumni.com.
DEPARTMENTS
Page 10
Tammy Shewchuk ’96 shows off her gold
medal in Salt Lake after Canada defeated
the United States in the finals. A.J. Mleczko
’93 came home with her second Olympic
medal, this time silver. See story on page 17.
What happened at this afternoon's game?—Visit us at
www.TaftSports.com for the latest Big Red coverage.
From the Editor
4
Letters
4
Alumni Spotlight
6
For other campus news and events, including
admissions information, visit our NEW main site at
www.TaftSchool.org, with improved calendar
features and Around the Pond stories.
Larger than life sculptures, memories of a
cavalry man, and fun in the Capital.
Around the Pond
10
Wooden flutes, Rockwell artists, Paduano
lecturers, students compete in music, debate,
and engineering, and a new face in the hall.
Page 14
Winter Sport
Highlights
For more information on
Alumni Weekend,
please turn to the inside back cover.
14
By Steve Palmer
Endnote
30
By Court Wold ’02
Page 26
䉳 The Romanos on Cape Cod in 1977. See story on page 20.
L
E
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T
E
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S
From the Editor
In Eindhoven
Remembering Others
For the first time in Taft history two
alums competed in the same Olympic Games, against each other! When
it came down to U.S.A. and Canada
in the finals of women’s hockey, we
knew one alumna would have gold
and the other silver. For Tammy
Shewchuk ’96, this turned out to be
her turn (page 17).
Spring at Taft brings another
rite of passage: celebrating the careers
of those faculty members who’ve
chosen to retire. In this issue we pay
tribute to the dedication of Anne
and Jerry Romano, who’ve filled the
needs of our school in so many ways
over the years—teaching, advising,
coaching, tutoring, as well as heading the Development Office and the
library. We also recognize Jerry
DePolo’s many years of devoted service in the classroom. All three will
be dearly missed as a daily presence
here on campus, but we know the
ties that bind them to this community will keep them in touch with
many of you for years to come.
I write this letter with a heavy
heart, knowing that this is the first
issue of the Bulletin I have ever assembled that Tom Losee ’59 will
never read (see page 38). From my
first days at Taft, Tom was a loyal
mentor and was instrumental in
the creation of an advisory board
for the magazine last spring. A giant
in the field of publishing, he cared
deeply for his alma mater and
supported her at every turn. He
will be greatly missed.
Alumni Weekend is right around
the corner, and it promises to be an
exciting round of reunions, games,
talks, and of course, the traditional
parade. (See the inside back cover for
more details.) Please don’t miss it.
It was a great surprise to read the story of
David Kenyon Webster ’40 [Endnote,
Winter 2002], who as a paratrooper took
part in Operation Market-Garden and the
liberation of my hometown, Eindhoven.
At that time I was 5 years old, but I still have
strong memories about those exciting and
terrifying events.
On Sunday, 17 September 1944, in the
early afternoon we saw the parachute droppings in the far distance. Monday afternoon
my father returned early from work and
told us that the Americans were in town.
We went to the center of the city, and there
they were—U.S. paratroopers of the 101st
Airborne Division. In the memory of a
child they looked very impressive and tough.
My father started a conversation with one
of them, but it was in English and I could
not understand it.
On Tuesday morning I was watching the
British army pushing through Eindhoven
on their way to Arnhem. It was a real and
emotional liberation. I was waving with a
small Dutch flag to welcome the allies. In
the evening, the German Luftwaffe attacked
the city. My family took shelter in our cellar.
All around us bombs were dropped. Our
neighbors who were in their cellar got a
direct hit from a firebomb. None of them
survived. I still remember the whistling sound
of the falling bombs followed by tremendous explosions. Due to the damage to our
house, we slept for a couple of days somewhere on a farm in a sort of stable.
My parents were much afraid that the
Germans would attack Eindhoven again,
and even worse would recapture the city. In
that case revenge was a possibility. Of course
I got this information when I was older, but
I can still hear the noise of the artillery from
close by. After a few days when the situation seemed safe, we returned to our house,
where we lived for a few weeks with broken
windows. For six months the front line was
not more than 20 miles off, so the war was
visible and not far away. I was 6 when the
war ended, so all my early memories were
related to the war.
Good winter issue. Do we have a roster of
alumni killed in action? I cannot forget the
many times in 1944 and ’45 that Paul
Cruikshank read memorials at Vespers for
them, always beginning with “I am the
resurrection and the life ...”
The photo on page 22 is far earlier than
1952. It was in the prospectus which I got
in 1943. Not to be lugubrious, but maybe
one or more of them were KIAs.
I was surprised to read that Mr. Taft
thought of building a chapel (page 6); my
impression was that he (and Cruikshank)
espoused a civic religion without much
liturgical or denominational element. I do
remember spending many hours at the old
Library with books which Jeanne Shons
didn’t stock.
—Julie Reiff
—Frederik van Rysinge ’58
4
Taft Bulletin Spring 2002
—Kingsley Smith ’46
USMC 1951–53;
USNR Chaplain(Cdr) 1954–76
Ed. note: In addition to the memorial in
Lincoln Lobby that contains photos of most of
the men who were killed in action, a complete
list of WWII casualties ran in the winter
1996 issue of the Bulletin.
Waiting Game
The photo on page 22 of the winter issue
was taken during 1942–43 for a story about
the implementation of the “jobs” program
instituted because so many of the grounds
and support people went off to war. So the
maids who cleaned our rooms and waited
on tables went off to war work and Tafties
had to do the grubbies, which is how we
beat Hitler.
If you get a Pap or an alumni magazine
from 1943 you can read all about it. And you
heard it here first. (See caption at right.)
—Jim Morrison ’43
I hate to challenge such an august staff of
historians, but I have no choice. The photo
on page 22 of the winter issue shows Sam
Adams at far left and Ted Pratt four down.
Robert Snyder back right, and Don Hyatt,
far right and in charge, all Class of ’43. I
sincerely doubt they returned in 1952 to
perform such menial tasks as waiting again
in those hideous white jackets.
—Ev Clark ’43
Enjoyed your winter Bulletin as usual. Re
waiting tables picture: That is my class of ’43
lining up for a dubious serving. I can identify
most of them—from left, Sam Adams, Sam
Marsh, Hank Conners, Hank Estabrook,
Jim Palmer, Ted Pratt (moi), Ross Legler,
Jack Durfee, Dave Sears, Bob Snyder, Tom
Benjamin, (unidentified lad), Paul Vastola,
mystery fellow, and our chief Don Hyatt.
Jim Palmer was one of our WWII casualties.
The usual scuttlebutt before a dance
weekend was that the “authorities” put
saltpeter in the food!
Keep up the excellent work.
—Ted Pratt ’43
I just received the winter issue and when I
saw the photograph of student waiters on
page 22 it was, in the lexicon of Yogi Berra,
“Déjà vu all over again.”
The photo was taken in 1943. I am on
the far right holding my list of waiter
assignments. The Class of ’43 was the first
to experience the wartime Job Program. So
many of the school’s employees had either
The 16 waiters of 1942—in the many letters received—are reported to be Sam Adams
’43, Sam Marsh ’43 (or Warren Stanton ’44), Hank Conners ’44 (half hidden), Henry
Estabrook ’43 (or Dave Hosuton ’44), Jim Palmer ’43, Ted Pratt ’43, Ross Legler ’43, Jack
Durfee ’43, Dave Sears ’43, (and here it gets sketchy depending on whether or not one
counted the faces in shadow) Tom Benjamin ’43, unidentified, Bob Snyder ’43, Paul
Vastola (or Connie Fleischer ’43), unidentified, and Don Hyatt ’43, far right and in charge.
gone into service or into high-paying
defense work that our class had the responsibility of stepping in and taking over the
majority of Taft’s janitorial maintenance
and kitchen work. Paul Cruikshank called
me into his office at the beginning of the
school year and told me that for my senior
year he was assigning me the new job and
title of kitchen supervisor and headwaiter.
He was smiling as he said that.
The job entailed the logistics of running
the kitchen, organizing a rotating list of
waiters and kitchen help for three meals a
day, dishing out the food, operating the
kitchen machinery such as dishwashers and
dryers, and cleaning the kitchen and dining
areas after each meal. About the only thing
we didn’t do was cook … which of course
was a great blessing.
Most of our class was destined for military service at graduation and at times it
seemed the regimentation of waiting on
table was a taste of basic training. An outpouring of marching orders was needed for
the waiters to act in unison while hurriedly
passing in and out of the kitchen trying to
serve each course and to clear all tables at
the same time. But in all the hustle I don’t
recall one dropped tray, overturned soup
tureen, or messy disaster during the year.
Our class was very proud to meet the
challenge and initiate the wartime Job Program. It proved to be an enriching and
maturing experience … a hands-on course
of work ethics and teamwork.
You do an outstanding job with the Taft
Bulletin. It’s very informative, entertaining, and just plain fun to read.
—Donald B. Hyatt ’43
Ed. note: Our appreciation goes to the many
alumni who wrote in to identify the waiters in
the winter issue. That archive photo has long
been mislabeled as being from 1952. Thanks
to all for setting the record straight.
As Good as It Gets?
Each time I receive the Taft Bulletin I think it
is as good as it can get. You prove me wrong
again and again, and I do read it cover to
cover. As a former Skidmore art major, I’m
especially interested in the graphics and layout, and you consistently stand out in ALL
the publications we get from Dr. Mac and my
schools and those of our four children. LOTS!
—Claire Macfarlane P’81
We welcome Letters to the Editor relating to the
content of the magazine. Letters may be edited
for length, clarity, and content, and are published
at the editor’s discretion. Send correspondence to:
Julie Reiff, Editor • Taft Bulletin
110 Woodbury Road
or to [email protected]
5
ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
Alumni
S P OT L I G H T
Math, Nature, and Negative Spaces
TOM MONTGOMERY
For sculptor John Simms ’55, “There
is so much more to a piece than its
structure. Much of the beauty is in the
shadows cast and the changing organic
negative spaces. Some of my current
works are designed to revolve or pivot.
Many are wind driven while others are
hand or motor driven. These, too, have
their origins in mathematics.”
Working in Jackson, Wyo., Simms
featured leaves, trees, waterfowl,
hawks, and eagles in his earlier sculptures, but says that several years ago his
“works took a definite trend to the
mathematical. Geometric forms began
to dominate. The relationship between
nature and math,” he adds, “is virtually homogenous.”
Bison Bison, one of his earlier
pieces, is both mathematic and natural. The construction utilizes three
circles; one full circle, two half
circles, and a third broken into five
segments—“a bison of equal radii.”
John Simms ’55 in his Jackson, Wyo.,
studio putting the final touches on
Imploding Cube, a six-foot aluminum
cube mounted on an apex. A stainless
steel base (not shown) contains a set of
tapered roller bearings which allows the
sculpture to rotate in winds as light as
10mph. The sculpture is installed in the
sculpture gardens at SHIDONI gallery in
Santa Fe, N.Mex.
ALUMNI
Before Taliban:
Genealogies of
the Afghan Jihad
By David B. Edwards ’70
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, APRIL 2002
CLOTHBOUND: $48, PAPERBACK: $17.95
In this powerful book, David B.
Edwards traces the lives of three recent
Afghan leaders—Nur Muhammad
Taraki, Samiullah Safi, and Qazi Amin
He has recreated this design in sizes
from one foot to as much as 24 feet
long, with no loss of the elegance in
design. A local jeweler under license
now makes them, even smaller, in precious metals as necklaces and earrings.
Simms’ larger pieces are fabricated
from steel or aluminum plate, while
stainless steel, silicon bronze, and copper are often used on the medium-sized
works. A variety of finishes are used,
from natural rust to high-quality powder coatings in vibrant colors.
A former product designer, Simms
began to exhibit his sculptures in 1992.
His work has received, among other
awards, the 1997 Jurors’ Choice Award
at the Garden of Sculpture Show in
Littleton, Col.; First Place Purchase
Award for Professional Sculpture and
Artists’ Choice Award for Professional
Sculpture at Summer Art ’94 in Steamboat Springs, Col.; and the People’s
Choice, Merit Award for Sculpture in
Manitou Springs, Col., also in 1994.
His sculptures are part of 17 private collections and are displayed
publicly at the Omniplex in Oklahoma City; City Park in Bellevue,
Wash.; Hudson Gardens in Littleton,
Col.; the Teton County Library in
Jackson, Wy.; and on Highway 390
in Jackson, Wy. For more on his work,
visit www.johnesimms.com.
Waqad—to explain how
the promise of progress
and prosperity that animated Afghanistan in the
1960s crumbled and became the present tragedy
of discord, destruction,
and despair.
B e f o re Ta l i b a n
builds on the foundation that Edwards laid
in his previous book,
Heroes of the Age, in
which he examines the lives of three significant figures of the late nineteenth
century—a tribal khan, a Muslim saint,
and a prince who became king of the
newly created state.
In the mid-twentieth century,
Afghans believed their nation could be
a model of economic and social development that would inspire the world.
Instead, political conflict, foreign invasion, and civil war have left the country
impoverished and politically dysfunctional. Each of the men Edwards profiles
was engaged in the political struggles of
the country’s recent history. Each hoped
to see Afghanistan become a more just
and democratic nation. But their visions
for their country were radically different, and in the end, all three failed and
were killed or exiled.
Now, Afghanistan is associated with
international terrorism, drug trafficking,
and repression. Before Taliban tells these
men’s stories and provides a thorough
analysis of why their dreams for a progressive nation lie in ruins while the
Taliban succeeded. In Edwards’ able
hands, this culturally informed biography provides a mesmerizing and revealing
SPOTLIGHT
look into the social
and cultural contexts
of political change.
David B. Edwards is
professor of anthropology
at Williams College and
chair of the department.
He is also responsible for
bringing the Afghan Media
Project—an archive of 700
hours of videotape and
12,000 photographs—to
the college.
Last summer, wrote
the New York Times, “when no one
knew how eerily significant the archive
would soon become,” Edwards and
Shahmahmood Miakhel, a former
Voice of America journalist, brought
the collection from the Afghan Media
Resource Center in Peshawar, Pakistan,
to Williams College “hoping to save it
from the heat and dust of Peshawar and
to digitize it for posterity.”
“If you want to understand the breakdown of the nation-state in Afghanistan,’’
Edwards told the Times, “if you want
to understand how the Taliban took
hold and the terrorists seeped in, this
archive is very relevant in an immediate way.” The Afghan Media Resource
Center shows “a side of the war that
no other archive does,” he said. “It is
from an Afghan perspective.”
To read more about the Williams Afghan Media Project visit
www.williams.edu/AnthSoc.
䉴 Author Dave Edwards ’70, center, professor of anthropology at Williams, in
1995—the last time he was inside Afghanistan. His latest book, Before Taliban, and
the Afghan Media Resource Center he has
helped to create at Williams go a long way
toward helping others understand the context of what is happening in that country.
7
ALUMNI
SPOTLIGHT
To Carry a Torch
When the Olympic Torch passed through Tonawanda,
N.Y., on its 46-state, 65-day relay from Atlanta to the
XIX Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Patty
Buttenheim ’79 became part of the living chain of
11,500 torchbearers. “Runners,” who carried the glass
and silver symbol of the Olympic spirit, were chosen
from over 210,000 nominations nationwide. In addition to running, they traveled by wheelchair, bobsled,
canoe, and covered wagon. Patty, who in 1999 became
the eighth American woman to complete a double
ironman triathlon (“Woman of Iron,” Winter 2000),
was more than prepared for the quarter-mile run.
A Capital Time
Over 80 alumni,
parents, and
friends attended
the reception for
Pam and Willy
MacMullen ’78 at
The Sulgrave Club
in Washington, D.C.
Hosted by Mimi and
George Boggs ’65,
P’02, Ann and
Charlie Yonkers ’58,
P’88,’89, and Karen
and Wesley Williams
’59, the party was
the first of several
that the MacMullens
have planned in
order to visit alumni
and parents across
the country.
8
Recalling the Cavalry
Frank McGowan ’38
Our last issue devoted to alumni in the
military sparked recollections from Frank
McGowan ’38, who earned two Bronze
Stars and a Purple Heart. He also knew
the satisfaction of liberating a prison
camp of Americans held at Santo Tomas
University in the Philippines during
World War II. Busted from private first
class to private “because of a fistfight
with my sergeant,” Frank earned the
nickname “Ironman McGowan.” He later
became a staff sergeant.
䉳 Kelly Ohman ’00
and Willy
MacMullen ’78
䉲 Kat Penberthy
’98, Ribby
Goodfellow ’00,
Mythri Jegathesan
’00, Tom Druan ’95,
Willy MacMullen
’78, and Mike
Mortara ’00
ALUMNI
“ We trained on wild horses,
trained and imported from Virginia,”
he said. He’d ridden a few times before but not many. As one of five
regiments in the Philippines with the
First Cavalry Division, they soon discovered that the heat and bugs of the
Pacific jungles were too much for the
horses and they came to rely on jeeps,
tanks, and foot power. They did keep
some mules, he added, to carry ammunition up the mountains.
“We had a rough time going in to
Manila and lost 17 of our 34 men in
the recon platoon, but made it to the
SPOTLIGHT
Santo Tomas University where the Japanese had imprisoned all the American
civilians who had worked in the city and
other islands of the Philippines. They
were starved almost to skeletons and
begged for food, but we were ordered
not to feed them or they would die.
They had to have intravenous feeding
until their organs were normal.”
He also encountered Don Hanning
’32, not at the university/prison but
at the makeshift hospital near the
capital. The son of the manager of the
Oakville Pinshop, McGowan now lives
in Middlebury, Conn.
Winston Lord ’86, Donna Henry Wright ’88, and Kate Yonkers ’88
John Rentzepis, Ginny Poole ’80, and Larry Stabler ’80
McKim Symington ’66, Pam MacMullen, and Jerri Ginman P’03
Steve Blakeslee ’54, Charlie Demmon ’79, and Matt Wolins ’79
9
AROUND THE POND
pond
As one walks through the halls, there are
portraits of headmasters, deans, and Horace
Taft’s brothers. Now, joining their ranks
along the corridors is the likeness of Winifred
Thompson Taft, wife and helpmate of the
school’s founder. Winnie’s early death in
1909 meant that for years, many alumni
never realized Horace Taft had ever been
married, but archivist Anne Romano, who
created a biography of the “first lady” during her sabbatical in 1993, has helped restore
a piece of school history to its proper place.
“Winifred Taft added an intellectual,
fiscal, artistic, and social depth” to the
school, Anne wrote. A teacher herself, it
was Winifred who “met with architects,
managed the daily account books and endless details, while Horace saw to scholarship,
lessons, and ideals. Together they formed
an exquisite balance.”
The idea for the portrait began, says
Anne, when a rare photograph was “found
in a 1909 history magazine. I thought it
was too important to be ignored.” The portrait, by Larry Bishop, will hang outside
the Woolworth Faculty Room.
10
COURTESY OF LARRY BISHOP
First Lady of Taft
AROUND THE POND
What Braught
Brought
Arts Department head Bruce Fifer, left, and art teacher Loueta Chickadaunce with
visiting artists Mark Braught and Chris Norman, right. GREG STEVENS ’02
Titanic Sounds
Chris Norman, an extraordinary wooden flute player, came to school as a
Rockwell artist-in-residence. Visiting classes, coaching instrumental students,
and playing for the whole school in Bingham, Chris completed the day with a
concert in the Choral Room, assisted by Chamber Ensemble, Collegium
Musicum, Paul Halley on keyboards, and Arts Department chair Bruce Fifer
singing a baritone song or two.
“Chris brought his own special music making to the Taft community,”
said Bruce. Among his many other achievements, Chris is the featured flute
player in the 1997 Oscar-winning soundtrack of Titanic, and is a member of
The Baltimore Consort, one of America’s leading early music ensembles.
“He is renowned for his expressive playing, engaging personality, and
breadth of repertoire,” Bruce added, “that also encompasses Canadian,
Scottish, and Irish traditional music.”
“Fortunately, I was able to have Chris Norman in three of my classes (jazz
band, AP music theory, and Experiments in Writing),” said senior Ayuko
Nakamura. “During his visit, I could not stop smiling as if I fell in love with
music and the creative world again and again.”
Norman inspired students with his wide variety of musical abilities and
his genuine enthusiasm for the flute. “He was my favorite outside visitor this
year,” said senior Sera Reycraft.”
Several students also remarked how Norman understood the more subtle
aspects of playing the instrument and, agreed Kirsten Pfeiffer ’03, he gave
them a new perspective on their own playing.
Norman wound up commissioning Braught to do the poster for his
Boxwood Music Festival, a summer concert series in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
For more information visit www.chrisnorman.com.
Having recently completed 50 paintings
for the Harry Potter merchandising campaign run by Warner Brothers, designer/
illustrator Mark Braught spent time on
campus in February as a Rockwell Visiting artist. He brought several sequences
of drawings that had to be approved and
altered so that everyone, including author J.K. Rowling, was satisfied with his
interpretation of the characters and their
settings. He explained his use of models
and reference photographs (most of
which he takes himself) for his paintings.
He brought posters and promotions of
his work as well as an original for students to see.
“I was very inspired and interested by
what he had to say,” said Annie Owen. “I
love the idea of art in advertising. I even
changed my concentration to advertising
in my portfolio.”
For senior Jess Haberman, founder
of the school’s Harry Potter fan club,
meeting Mark Braught was particularly
interesting.
“I thoroughly enjoyed his visit,” said
Jess, “because it gave me the opportunity
to view many of his sketches in progress.
I was especially impressed by his ideas and
sketches related to Harry Potter, as I
learned a great deal about the intricate process he goes through when illustrating for
a popular subject.”
Braught’s work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, books, brochures, and
posters for business publications, sporting events advertisements, as well as for
musical and theatrical productions. Currently maintaining a studio and residing
in Decatur, Georgia, he also teaches design and illustration at The Creative
Circus and The Atlanta College of Art and
Design. He presented a slide show of his
work for Morning Meeting and talked
with students in Loueta Chickadaunce’s
art room throughout the day.
11
AROUND THE POND
In Brief
Novice Debaters
Mark George, Marisa Ryan, Tory
Ilyinski, and James Blanchard came
in first at the 2002 Loomis-Chaffee
Invitational Debate Tournament,
novice division, in February. They
competed against nine teams from
seven other schools and were the clear
winners in their novice category!
“They worked hard preparing,
though all were completely new to debating,” said adviser Rick Davis. “Their
dedication and ‘learning under stress’
during the actual debates showed their
innate strengths since they won every
single round they were in!”
The team hopes to attend several
more tournaments this spring and
build on their record, encouraging a
more active debate program next year.
Able Engineers
Thirty-two students participated in
the national Test of Engineering Aptitude Math and Science (TEAMS)
competition on March 4. One team
tied for first, but lost in the tie
breaker and the other came in third.
In addition to plaques for each of
the students, the teams came away
with $1,250 in cash awards for science purchases for the school. The
second, ungraded section of their
tests were forwarded to the national
competition in Washington.
Competing on the two varsity squads
were Somponnat Sampattavanich,
Tharathorn Rimchala, Khanh DoBa,
Kyle Dolan, Annabelle Razack,
Henry Tsai, Norah Garry, and Jason
Chen, along with Steven Ambadjes,
Pea Phadhana-Anake, Tucker
Serenbetz, Neena Qasba, Tom Hull,
Natalie Ie, Allison Lesher, Samantha
Hyner, and two JV teams.
12
Finding Fault with Suburbia
Architectural critic James Howard Kunstler gave a provocative and entertaining
talk at school assembly in February, challenging students to consider the ways in
which architecture and atmosphere influence attitude and culture. He is the author of Home from Nowhere, The Geography of Nowhere, and The City in Mind:
Notes on the Urban Condition.
Kunstler says he wrote The Geography of Nowhere “because I believe a lot of
people share my feelings about the tragic landscape of highway strips, parking lots,
housing tracts, mega-malls, junked cities, and ravaged countryside that makes up
the everyday environment where most Americans live and work. A land full of places
that are not worth caring about will soon be a nation and a way of life that is not
worth defending.” Home from Nowhere is a continuation of that discussion with an
emphasis on the remedies. A portion of it appeared as the cover story in the September 1996 Atlantic Monthly. The City in Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition, was
published last December.
“I thought what he said was not only interesting but also realistic,” Annie Owen
’02 told The Taft Papyrus. “Now I want to be a city planner.”
Although his critiques got many students talking, not all were equally inspired. “He had a lot of good ideas,” said Shari Jessie ’03, “but he failed to give
insight into how to resolve the problems. He also failed to show the good side of
our country’s character.”
Kunstler is a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine and Op-Ed
page, where he has written on environmental and economic issues. His visit was
funded through the Paduano Lecture Series, which invites speakers to the school to
share their provocative ideas, and to challenge the community to think deeply
about issues of philosophical and ethical interest. Other guests this year were author
Andrea Barrett, poet Donald Hall, Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang
Monastery, and Yale University Chaplain Rev. Dr. Jerry Streets (right).
The final Paduano lecturer this year, architectural critic James Howard Kunstler warned
students that modern architecture too frequently creates a “uniformly miserable environment” that “adds up to places that are not worth caring about.” SAM DANGREMOND ’05
AROUND THE POND
Arts from the Heart
This year’s Mothers’ Day concert featured 115 Taft students performing in
Chamber Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble,
Dance Ensemble, and Collegium
Musicum. The school’s three a cappella
groups—Oriocos, Hydrox, and 8th
Notes—also performed for moms and
dads, as did Taft Improv.
In the Peanut Gallery
Parents were also treated to a production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie
Brown in the Woodward Black Box
Theater. The cast featured the singing talents of Andrew Belcher ’02,
Alexandra Sinderbrand ’02, Jenn
Palleria ’03, Anton Yupangco ’04,
Oliver Reyes ’02, and Glenton Davis
’03 as Snoopy.
The Word from Streets
Speaking on the actual birthday of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., the Rev. Dr. Jerry Streets, chaplain of Yale University, encouraged students to
strive for universal equality in remembrance of
Dr. King.
Senior pastor of the Church of Christ in
Yale, assistant professor of pastoral theology, and
adjunct member of the clinical social work faculty at the Yale Child Study Center, Dr. Streets
has had a profound influence on generations of
Yale students and faculty.
A licensed clinical social worker and a minister in the United Church of Christ, he is also a
member of the Harvard Program in Refugee
Trauma, helping to implement a model of pastoral care in Bosnia and Herzegovina for those
traumatized by war.
“His interests are both local and global, extending pastoral care well beyond the walls of
Yale,” said Chaplain Michael Spencer. “A gifted
speaker and a wonderful man with an engaging
intellect who stands firmly in the legacy of the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is fitting that
he visited us on Dr. King’s birthday.”
Dr. Streets attended classes and spoke with
students and faculty throughout the day.
䉱 Head of School Willy
MacMullen, Chaplain Michael
Spencer, and the Rev. Dr. Jerry
Streets before morning meeting.
PETER FREW ’75
Senior Andrew Belcher as Charlie
Brown, pondering the meaning of
“happiness” with sister Lucy, played
by Alexandra Sinderbrand ’02.
SAM DANGREMOND ’05
13
S
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sport
Winter Highlights by Steve Palmer
BOYS’ SQUASH 13–3
2nd at New England Tournament
Supriya Balsekar, a middler from India, played at the number one spot for girls’ squash
and didn’t lose a game in the regular season. An all-Founders’ League selection, she
won the N.E. tournament losing only one game.
14
The boys’ squash team continued its
tradition of excellence, placing 2nd at
the N.E. Championships this winter.
This marks its 10th straight year as
either the first or second place team
of the 34 N.E. prep schools. Senior
captain Eric Wadhwa led the team for
the second year in a row and has been
an outstanding player for Taft for four
years. Beyond his skill on the court,
Eric will be remembered for his selfless leadership and his flawless
sportsmanship. Again this year, Taft
was selected as the winner of the N.E.
sportsmanship award for the season
and the final tournament. Eric, along
with four other players, will represent
the United States at the World Junior
Squash Championships this summer.
Fellow senior Andrew Vinci won his
draw at the N.E. tournament for the
third straight year, defeating his rival
from Brunswick 3–0 in the finals. Senior
Scott Persing and captain-elect Auloke
Mathur ’03 also made the finals at the
tournament.
WRESTLING 13–4–1
This was a great year for the wrestling
team, due to the dedication of a core of
three- and four-year seniors. The big wins
this winter came early over a very strong
Pomfret team (45–35) and later against
the always competitive Williston (39–33).
However, the most inspiring victory was
actually a come-from-behind 39–39 tie
with Choate. The match had seesawed
throughout, with Taft losing entering the
final match. The tie was achieved with
senior Charlie Serafine’s pin, earning the
six points needed. Senior tri-captains Jeff
Volling, Andrew Bisset, and Bruce
Trammell, and Tom Hull all finished 2nd
or 3rd in the league tournament, with
Hull placing 3rd at the N.E. tournament.
GIRLS’ HOCKEY 16–5–2
New England Semifinals
This was a deep team with solid speed that
found itself in some close games in the
middle of the season despite outshooting
nearly every opponent. Bouncing back
from some close losses, the girls roared into
the N.E. tournament as the 4th seed,
thanks to huge wins over rival Hotchkiss
(2–0) and a very strong Berkshire team
(5–0) in what was clearly the best game of
the year for Taft. The first round 5–2
victory over Cushing set up a showdown
with undefeated Nobles, the one team to
outshoot the lady Rhinos earlier in the
season (a 1–0 win for Nobles). Though
they scored midway through the final
period to make it 2–1, Taft never got another good chance to tie the game and
perhaps knock off Nobles, who went on
to win the title. Seniors Megan Scully and
Jen Fischl were selected as Founders’ League
All-Stars, while the leading scorers for the
season were Jaclyn Hawkins (36 pts.) and
uppermid Nicole Mandras (32 pts.). With
a host of talented young players, this is a
team that should have a shot at the title
again next year.
Katie McCabe ’04 in the N.E. tournament game against Choate. Taft powered through
the regular season with 15 straight wins, and was up by ten points in the second half of
the quarterfinal game, only to lose a heartbreaking 49–47 final on two Choate free throws
with two seconds left in the game. SAM DANGREMOND ’05
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL 17–3
New England Quarterfinals
The girls powered through the regular
season on the strength of 15 straight
wins, including solid victories over four
other N.E. tournament teams—LoomisChafee, Choate, Miss Porters, and
Williston. The team was led offensively
by Watertown post-graduate Ann Belforti,
a N.E. Class A All-Star, a skilled ball handler and a natural shooter. Yet, the team
motto this year was defense, and the type
of defense Taft played all season was a
physical, never-let-up style that stymied
all but the top team in N.E.—Tabor Academy—in the only game that Taft did not
have a chance to win this year. The defense
was anchored by sisters Kara ’02 and Katie
McCabe ’04, four-year senior captain Marci
McCormack, returning uppermid Caitlin
Gritt, and captain-elect point guard Katie
Franklin ’03. The tournament quarterfinal
game v. Choate saw Taft up by ten in the
second half, only to lose a heartbreaking
49–47 final on two Choate free throws
with two seconds left in the game. The
junior varsity finished their second consecutive undefeated season at 15–0.
15
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GIRLS’ SQUASH 10–3
3rd at New England Tournament
Girls’ squash followed a solid 5th place
finish at the N.E. tournament last year
with an inspiring and impressive 3rd place
finish this year. For the first time ever, all
seven Taft players made the quarterfinals
in the N.E. tournament, and the team was
tied for first place at the end of the first
day of competition. In the end, Taft players Well Kovithvathanaphong ’02,
Catherine Haldeman ’04, and Hannah
Baker ’03 all made it to the semifinals,
while middler Supriya Balsekar continued her season-long domination of the
best players in N.E. In winning the individual N.E. Championship, Balsekar lost
only one game, setting herself as the best
Boys‘ Basketball
Girls’ Ski Racing
Boys’ Ski Racing
9–13
4th in SL
5th in SL
player in N.E. by some measure. Her level
of skill and effort was critical in this fine
season for the girls’ team, which included
victories over Hotchkiss, Choate, and
Andover, and the Founders’ League title.
BOYS’ HOCKEY 22–4
New England Finals
The boys’ varsity hockey team continued to build its legacy as one of the finest
teams in the country, making the N.E.
tournament and winning over 19 games
for the 3rd consecutive year. Once again,
Coach Mike Maher’s team was defined
by a deep bench and solid speed, meaning that Taft would outskate and
outshoot most of its opponents. The
regular season success included another
Lawrenceville Tournament championship, two-win sweeps of Avon (4–1,
3–0) and Hotchkiss (6–2, 6–2), and an
inspiring 2–0 win at home against a very
strong Deerfield team. Goaltender
Travis Russell ’03 posted eleven shutouts and gave up fewer goals than any
goalie in the N.E. prep school ranks.
Taft’s defense was anchored by the relentless, physical play of Jamie Sifers ’02,
and the offense took its cue from senior
co-captain Ben Driver. Both players
were selected for the All-N.E. team, and
together they helped define Taft hockey
with their leadership, perseverance, and
sportsmanship for the past three years.
Their run to the N.E. tournament
championship game hinged on the play
of emerging star uppermid Casey
Ftorek, who scored both goals in the
unbelievable 2–1 overtime semifinal
win over Cushing and the first goal v.
St. Sebastian in the final game. Taft
began the tournament at home, jumping out to a 3–0 first period lead over
Salisbury but needing a late third-period
goal to clinch the 4–2 win. In the semifinal victory over no. 1 ranked Cushing,
all three goals were scored on power plays,
with Ftorek burying the game-winner off
of a brilliant pass from Ben Driver 10
minutes into overtime. The excitement
of that win carried over into the final
game versus the defending champion,
St. Sebastian. The championship game
was a battle of momentum changes, with
Taft jumping out to a 1–0 lead but falling behind 3–1 in the first period. The
Big Red then outshot St. Sebastian 16–4
but could not convert on a two-man advantage in the second period. In the third,
Todd Johnson ’04 put back a rebound
to make it 3–2, and Taft would have several chances to tie the game, including a
flurry of shots around the St. Sebastian
goal in the final 30 seconds, but it was
not to be. Seniors Scott Seney and Peter
Hafner, along with Travis Russell, were
selected to the All-Founders’ League team.
䉳 Ben Driver ’02 eludes his Salisbury opponent en route to the team's 4-2 victory
in the quarterfinals of the N.E. tournament.
Taft then defeated no. 1-seed Cushing
Academy before falling to defending champion St. Sebatian 3-2 in the finals. BOB FALCETTI
16
NORTH AMERICAN
Showdown
on ice
Two Alumnae
Compete for
Gold in the XIX
Winter Games
MITCHELL LAYTON
By Lance Odden
P
GENE SWEENEY
atsy and I journeyed to Salt Lake this winter,
following the search of hockey players A.J. Mleczko
’93 and Tammy Shewchuk ’96 for Olympic gold.
They shared so much in common: A.J., the trailblazer, held scoring records at Taft and Harvard and
led both teams to championships. Her scoring records
at both schools were then broken by Tammy, who
shared a national women’s championship with A.J. at
Harvard when A.J. returned for her last year of
collegiate eligibility after playing a key role in the USA
Olympic triumph of 1998. Of course, each played for
Patsy at Taft and for another Taft protégé, Katey Stone
’84, at Harvard. The similarity stops, however, at the
49th parallel, as A.J. would play for Team USA and
Tammy for Canada, participating in the strongest
international rivalry in women’s sports.
18
In spite of Patsy’s g1owing reports of
the Olympic experience and her visits
to Lillehammer and Nagano, I was unprepared for the excitement, glory, and
beauty of the XIX Winter Olympics at
Salt Lake City. The people of Utah were
extraordinary hosts; the events were efficiently produced. In spite of judging
controversies, sportsmanship prevailed
at every turn and the crowds were spirited, patriotic, and filled with a great
joie de vivre. From the brilliant skating of Sarah Hughes, to the risk taking
of skier Bode Miller, to the extraordinary level of hockey contests, we could
not have been exposed to a more exhilarating Olympic experience.
The E Center in Salt Lake provided
a perfect site for Olympic Hockey.
Of the dozen games we saw, half were
men’s, and those were distinguished
by the most wide-open, exciting
hockey ever offered as a direct result
of international rules and a larger ice
surface. The same was true for the
women’s contests, though to be fair,
their traditional game is happily free
of the clutch-and-grab behavior
which slows down men’s hockey and
leads to so much unnecessary violence. For hockey fans, the ten days
of the XIX Olympics would be the
ultimate experience.
In women’s hockey the early games
showcased the elegant playmaking and
overall poise of Team USA, who easily
skated through their preliminary games
to the medal round. Team Canada’s
courage and determination were evident throughout but their games were
closer, particularly a 3–2 victory over
Finland, whom Team USA dominated
with ease. Each a central fixture on her
team, A.J. and Tammy excelled, setting up goals and participating in
power play situations while working
well with the respective systems of
their squads.
In a way each woman reflected the
strength of her nation’s team—A.J.,
older, more experienced, and a beautiful team player; Tammy, younger,
blessed with great speed and exuberance but less experienced. The odds
makers favored the Americans, but as
Tom Mleczko, A.J.’s father, noted, the
pressure would all be on Team USA,
who had beaten Canada eight consecutive times by ever narrower margins.
Moreover Tom underscored the great
team speed of the U.S.’s rival from the
North and worried that early success
would provide them with the confidence they had lacked throughout
their preliminary clashes. And so it
would be.
Patsy and my pride swelled as A.J.
and Tammy went through the warmup
of the gold medal game. As she had in
every period of every game, A.J.
started at defense. Similarly, Tammy
would anchor Canada’s second line—
their fastest and highest scoring unit.
When the first puck dropped it went
initially to Mleczko, who feathered a
perfect pass to a breaking wing, but
to no avail. Thirty seconds later a burst
of speed by Shewchuk provided
Canada with their first scoring opportunity. Thus it would be for our Taft
Olympians, each playing brilliantly
for her nation. However, the day was
to be Canada’s—their team speed and
mastery of odd player situations, especially the power play, enabled them
to score early and then to hang on for
a 3–2 victory, one justly deserved. On
this day they were the better team.
The medal ceremony was deeply
moving, with American tears juxtaposed by Canadian joy. As the teams
shook hands, Tammy and A.J. briefly
embraced, each undoubtedly feeling
powerful and conflicting emotions.
What a shame that someone had to
lose. At the beginning of the Games I
had asked Tom Mleczko what he, as a
veteran Olympic father, feared most in
these Games. His searingly honest answer, “that I might see A.J. play her last
game.” On February 21, 2002, Patsy
and I shared that emotion for both
these great Taft Olympians. It was too
great to end here, but it had.
GENE SWEENEY
MITCHELL LAYTON
This summer,
Anne and Jerry
Romano retire
to Cape Cod
after 31 years
filling every need
the school has
asked them to,
finding time
finally to nurture
gardens instead
of students,
luring fish instead
of donors, and
finding time for
themselves.
By Willy MacMullen ’78
To the
Garden,
You would hear a symphony of praise
and affection if the entire Taft community voiced its feelings about this
couple that has given so much for
so many years. This is what a few of
their friends say:
䉱 A lot of couples look at Anne and Jerry and think, “That’s what a marriage should be.”
When you think of Anne and Jerry
Romano, you think of scenes that look
like watercolors.
Anne has a garden in Chatham.
When I visit, that’s where I usually find
her, her legs scratched from the roses, and
her face smudged with dirt and sweat.
She is always smiling. Often she has a
plant in her arms—a transplanting in
process. She is the best gardener I have
ever seen, and the most passionate. She
soaks seaweed in buckets of water and
pours the mix on her perennials. She carts
in manure from a nearby horse farm and
spreads crumbly, dark compost around
shrubs. She can take cuttings, dip them
in root hormone, and three months later
she has a knotted miniature hedge of rue
or boxwood. A few years ago, she and
Jerry brought a dozen thin, scraggly arborvitae trees to plant behind their house,
as a screen. Today it is a lush green wall.
Her plants are like people. She will point
to a rose, for instance, and say, with her
delightful Italian accent, “She is a perfect lady, and so well behaved.”
Anne loves to touch leaves and petals, and she cannot walk by a blossom
without holding it to her face and breathing in the fragrance. The rose garden is
bordered by privet, and the walkways are
of pea-stone. Walking under the arch
to enter, you have to duck your head
beneath a tumult of blossoms from a
climbing rose. Fruit trees bend over the
hedge at the corners. Each flowerbed has
knots of plantings, intertwined in patterns; and you brush against delicate tea
roses and heavy-headed peonies when
you stroll toward a bench at the end of
the garden. Anne likes to sit there in the
early evening, with cold ice tea made
from her own herbs, and it is in the garden where she entertains and holds her
annual “Ladies’ Tea Party,” an event
which seems to spring from the pages of
There simply is not another person in
the world who is as kind, gentle, and
patient as Anne Romano. She took students under her wing, and cared about
them like no one else. There was so
much energy and passion in everything
she did, whether reading an uppermid’s
paper, driving students to go horse
riding, or arranging flowers. It’s just sad
that future Taft students won’t benefit
from this incredible woman.
—Christina Coons ’00
I am one of the lucky ones. I was touched
by many great Taft teachers, but Jerry
was different. When I looked in his eyes,
I saw love. I am not sure I deserved it,
but I could tell. I was an angry youth,
and my temper was hard to handle, but
he stood by me. He was tough and
didn’t tolerate my behavior, but the love
was always there. It never left.
—Adam Bronfman ’81
He was the perfect leader. I spoke to
him almost every day during the “Campaign for Taft,” and he was the man
who held it all together. He was the
conductor, and we played to his beat.
—Drummond Bell ’63
to the
Sea
How much they have both meant to
the Taft community! Their contributions
are so towering it is hard to imagine
the place without them. As the school’s
third headmaster, and personally, I will
always treasure them both.
—John Esty, Headmaster 1963–72
21
How can a man do so many things and
do them all so well? A great lineman
must be intelligent, determined, courageous, tireless, self-effacing,
resourceful, and humorous; and those
are Jerry’s traits. Perhaps intelligence
is the most important, as it took a wise
man to woo Anne and convince her
that the life of a Taft teacher would
be a wonderful adventure. And she
was a faculty mom, and then raised
their kids, and then on to Beezer’s archives, and so on. We will always be
grateful to Anne and Jerry.
—Hope and Gino Kelly ’55
I always admired his brilliant mind, his
sensitivity to kids, his quiet wit, and
his subtle classroom manner.
—Robin (Blackburn) Osborn,
faculty emerita
Anne was a renaissance woman. How
appropriate that she should be the one
to reestablish Winnie Taft to her rightful place in Taft history! Jerry was the
protean school man, ever evolving from
the world of Melville and the English
Department to coach extraordinaire, to
dean, and then to maestro of alumni
relations. What essential support and
wise counsel he gave Taft.
—Patsy and Lance Odden,
Headmaster 1972–2001
People are always surprised at what
ex-football players can accomplish.
They just don’t realize how all those
hours of digging around in the mud
and then going back to catch up on
homework can be great training for
any difficult job. And offensive linemen
never get much credit, nor for the
most part do they seek it.
—John Burns P’84,’88,’93
22
䉱 Anne, in Venice in 1968, was born not far from Rome and moved to Connecticut as
a teenager.
a Jane Austen novel. If you were a painter,
this garden is where you would see her:
the green hedge framing the scene, the
splashes of color in the foreground, and
near Muddy Creek, on his hands and
knees, with a metal basket of steamers
on the sand next to him, and a big clam
rake in his hand. At Ryder’s Cove, he
“They think of him raising his eyebrows, his eyes twinkling in jest, and ready to tell a
story or give advice. And there are a lot of people who foundered on life’s shoals and made
their way off only because Jerry was there to save them.”
a carpet of rose petals at her feet.
When Jerry is done helping Anne in
the garden, he goes to Pleasant Bay. This
is his garden. Sometimes you’ll find him
tends to do what most boaters do: walk
the docks, peering in at boats, and talking to guys unloading fishing gear. On
Saturday and Sunday mornings, he gets
䉲 Head of Cruikshank House 1974
䉱 Jerry served so well as director of development, that many here forget he was
once dean of students, a three-sport
coach, and one of the best teachers in the
English Department.
䉱 Jerry, kicking off the capital campaign in 1995 with Development staffers Graceann Hess, Bob Campbell ’76, Kirsten Nixa,
Olivia Tuttle, Bonnie Welch, and Chip Spencer ’56.
up very early so he can have the Bay before the weekend crowd is on the water.
He steers through crooked channels,
pokes behind islands, and drifts past the
lobster buoys as the sun comes up.
At other times, he likes to stand at the
edge of the water, in the stillness at dusk,
and he’s careful not to disturb the scene with
too much fishing. If you were to paint him,
this is what you would see: Jerry gazing at
his moored boat, the barrier beach a distant edge, a lobster boat working its way in
to the harbor. He stands and watches, and
then the sun goes down as he walks back
to the house to see Anne.
It is to Chatham that Anne and Jerry will
retire, and when they leave Taft, the
school will have lost two of the most beloved and respected people it has ever
known. It is impossible to think of this
place without them; together they
touched people deeply and in every corner of the campus. Jerry’s leadership as
director of development, especially during the capital campaign that raised over
$130 million dollars, was inspiring. He
was simply the best in the business, and
he may have worked harder in those years
than anyone on campus. He worked so
well and for so long in the Alumni Office that you almost forget that he was
dean of students, a three-sport coach, and
one of the best English teachers in the
department. He did everything very, very
well; and he never cared who got the
credit. He was a lineman, after all, and
more than any players on a football team,
Anne with her first
group of Peer
Tutors in 1997 䉴
they know what it is to toil anonymously.
But the people around Jerry always have
known that his intellect, humor, compassion, and integrity made him unique.
There are probably a couple hundred
people in the extended Taft family who
feel that Jerry is their best friend. They
think of him raising his eyebrows, his eyes
twinkling in jest, and ready to tell a story
or give advice. And there are a lot of
people who foundered on life’s shoals and
made their way off only because Jerry was
there to save them.
Anne’s career was just as distinguished. A dorm parent, head librarian,
director of the archives, a tutor in the
Learning Center, and author of Winifred
Taft’s biography—she touched students
and faculty everywhere. If Jerry speaks
䉲 Jerry coaching football with Larry Stone
His effectiveness as the director of development was in his quiet, unassuming,
and often humorous persona, but he engendered total confidence. And how
many people could occupy that spot
and end up a friend to so many of the
Taft constituency?
—Lee Klingenstein ’44
Both Anne and Jerry showed an unforgettable concern and caring. I
remember after I graduated and Jerry
was on sabbatical, living in their tiny
cottage on the Cape, and commuting
to Harvard. In the spring of that year,
my boyfriend was diagnosed with a
virulent form of cancer. When Jerry
found out, he found me, made me pack
my bag, and brought me down to the
Cape so I could spend a weekend with
the family. … I am so happy to think of
them retiring, but I am sad that future
classes of Taft students won’t know
them. Their values are the ones that
should be taught and perpetuated at
Taft. I know they live on in me.
—Sara Frankel ’77
23
portrait which today hangs at the school
(page 10). You feel that Anne and Winnie
met, had tea, and then Anne invited her
back to campus, to join Horace.
Their friendship and devotion to the
school highlight their exemplary careers. The Taft experience is richer for
all those who have known the
Romanos during these dynamic years.
—Brad Laube ’51
What began as a working relationship
soon developed into a truly pleasurable friendship with Anne and Jerry.
Most memorable moments include
ravioli construction projects, porchetta
extravaganzas, and at the top of the
list, a delightful time together in
Firenze, enjoying the remarkable
sights and tastes of Anne’s native land.
We look forward to adding to those
happy memories.
—Bob and Graceann Hess
Jerry was a neophyte in putting together a capital fund drive back in
1993, but as in everything else he became an expert fast. Very soon I
became the learner and, to my good
fortune, a confidant. His versatility
amazes me. One morning I arrived at
8:30 to be told Jerry would be back in
an hour. He had gone to teach a Latin
class. Then there was Joyce’s house.
After a long, grueling campaign day
he’d adjourn until 11 p.m., tearing
down walls, building cabinets, and
performing many other tasks normally
reserved for a master carpenter.
—Joe Anderson,
campaign consultant
24
䉱 With granddaughter Kayla
quietly and slowly, at times even sotto
voce, Anne is bubbly, loquacious, irrepressibly optimistic. She has a great laugh,
and even simply hearing her call your
name can make your day. She is also so
maternal, so soothing and empathic, that
scores of Taft students, especially those
from other countries, have adopted her
Jerry grew up in nearby Derby, and he was
one of the best football players in the state.
A tough lineman—his opponents there
and in college said, “you simply could not
move him”—he was recruited by Amherst,
and there he had a great career, graduating in 1971. He had a high school
sweetheart, the prettiest gal in town, and
her name was Anne. They married not
long after they left Derby. When he was
encouraged to look into teaching, he came
to Taft. One member of the faculty wondered about this “football coach” joining
the department, until he saw that Jerry’s
thesis had been on the poetry of Robert
Lowell. So Jerry taught and coached foot-
“She is also so maternal, so soothing and empathic, that scores of Taft students, especially
those from other countries, have adopted her as a surrogate mother. To her, the entire
school is her garden; she rescues the wilting flowers.”
as a surrogate mother. To her, the entire
school is her garden; she rescues the wilting flowers. Perhaps her greatest gift was
saving Winnie Taft from anonymity in
penning her beautifully written and impeccably researched biography, in giving
lectures and slide shows on Horace and
Winnie, and finally in commissioning a
ball, wrestling, and track. In 1980 he was
appointed dean of students, and four years
later he became the director of development. Taft was lucky to keep him; he had
people knocking on his door every year
trying to get him to work elsewhere. But
Jerry prizes loyalty and relationships, and
he served magnificently.
䉲 Anne, who reintroduced Winnie Taft to the school, presented a morning meeting
about her with Sara Beasley, Robin Osborn, and Bruce Fifer in 1999.
䉱 Whether it is advising a student’s ISP in fly-fishing or finally
catching “the big one,” Jerry loves the sport.
Anne was born not far from Rome,
and she moved to Derby as a high school
student. Jerry was a sophomore, she a
junior: “I was dating an older woman!”
he recalls. A shop owner in town shared,
“How could you forget them? He was a
two-time All-State player, and maybe the
smartest guy in class, and she was smart
and beautiful. They don’t make them any
nicer than those two.” After she graduated, Anne went to Sacred Heart and
graduated with a degree in English. She
began graduate work in art at Smith, but
when she and Jerry married and came to
Taft, she began what would become a 31year love affair with the school. She is
still as active as ever, now as a tutor and
䉱 Jerry, with Headmaster Lance Odden and future Head of School
Willy MacMullen ’78 fishing at Pleasant Bay, Cape Cod, in 2001
archivist. In the Main Hall you often see
her with a stuffed book bag, laughing
with a student, or putting finishing
touches on an archival exhibit, with a
knot of boys and girls around her as she
tells stories. She spends hours tutoring
students in the Learning Center, and they
all love her. Usually there is a sprig of
lilac or a daffodil poking out of the bag.
The walk from her house to campus takes
her by innumerable trees and gardens,
and she can’t help herself.
A lot of couples at Taft look at Anne
and Jerry and think, “That’s what a marriage should be.” They are still in love,
and watching the fun they have together
you feel you have a sense what things
䉱 Anne conducting interviews with members of the Class of 1933 for the Oral History
project, contributing to the archives.
looked like in 1966 when they were the
talk of Derby High School. Here at Taft
they raised three great children—Christina, Joyce ’92, and Jerry—and it’s a
family filled with love and laughter. They
will retire to the garden and the bay, and
they have books to read, a granddaughter to spoil, and a boat to steer. They
symbolize the very best of a great school,
and they leave an astonishing legacy of
love, spirit, and commitment.
The Romano
Scholarship
A scholarship has been established
in honor of Jerry and Anne Romano
by some alumni, parents, and friends
in recognition of this couple’s 31
years of devoted service to Taft. This
endowed fund will provide financial
assistance to a deserving student who
will be selected as The Romano
Scholar. If you would like to participate in this fund to pay tribute to
this remarkable Taft couple, please
send a check made out to The Taft
School—Romano Scholarship to:
The Taft School, 110 Woodbury
Road, Watertown, CT 06795.
Attention: Clayton B. Spencer ’56,
Director of Development.
25
In It
for
the
Kids
Jerry DePolo
Retires
By Al Reiff ’80
“
W
hen I was younger, I used to look like
Paul Newman.”
On Taft’s faculty, only the inimitable
Jerry DePolo can get away with this line year after year
in his classes. When students ask him why the top of
his head is so shiny, he gives a sly grin and replies that
he likes to have “a wide part” in his hair, but that in his
youth, he and Paul were virtually twins.
Dry humor has always been one of Jerry’s trademarks. His “Jerryisms” are legendary, as he has made
learning math a truly enjoyable experience for generations of students. He has always been in it for the
kids, even when they haven’t altogether been here.
“Wait a second, Mr. DePolo. I’m lost. Where are
we?” asks a boy whose attention has been elsewhere.
“Why Timmy,” Jerry says very slowly and enunciating every syllable, “we are in Watertown,
Connecticut. We are at The Taft School. That’s
where we are, Timmy.”
The rest of the class fails to hold back
their giggles. They have learned by now
to pay attention at all times to the wizard at the blackboard.
All teachers hold out hope that their
students can recall material from prior
courses. In math, few of us relish rehashing fractions and long division yet again,
but it’s no problem for Jerry.
“Now you remember, back in grade
school learning the ‘guzintas,’ ” he tells
a class. They look at each other hoping
for enlightenment.
“Mr. DePolo,” one brave student ventures, “my school didn’t teach the ‘guzintas.’ ”
Pausing, Jerry looks over the class
and reassures them. “Of course you did.
Each and every one of you did. When
you learned division, you’d say 4 goes into
8 twice and 5 goes into 15 three times.
You did the ‘guzintas,’” The class howls
with laughter.
Jerry has needed that sense of humor to help him through the many
tough battles he’s faced since graduating from Providence College in 1962.
As he earned a master’s at Fairfield
University, Jerry spent the year as a
permanent substitute at Crosby High
School in Waterbury at $11 a day.
Paul Newman’s twin (?) graduated
from Crosby High School before earning a degree at Providence College.
Upon earning his degree, Jerry began teaching at Watertown High School.
After one year, his brilliance in the classroom was recognized and he was made
the chair of the Math Department at the
ripe age of 24. It was a few years before
the rebellious nature of that time crept
into the public schools, before students
were battling teachers, teachers battling
administrators, and administrators battling unions. But Jerry lived through it
all. And worked through it all.
We forget that the notion of reasonably-paid teachers is a very recent
phenomenon. When Jerry’s kids were
born, he held down three jobs to pay the
bills. Besides teaching at Watertown
High, Jerry taught at Mattatuck (now
Naugatuck Valley Technical) Community College, he taught at Post (now
Teikyo Post) College, and he worked as
a landscaper. There was no such thing as
a vacation for Jerry in the 1970s.
One of Jerry’s other jobs in the 1980s
was teaching at the Taft Summer School.
Then-director Rusty Davis was looking
for a math teacher, and a friend recommended Jerry. It was there, in the summer
䉳 For 11 years, the Taft Community enjoyed the presence of the DePolo teaching team, until Lois succumbed to cancer in 1997.
27
As golf coach, Jerry instilled in his
players a love for the game that will
last a lifetime.
of 1983 as the intern for his geometry
class that I first met Jerry. Toward the end
of the summer session I asked him for
some career advice. “Al,” he told me, “I
wouldn’t recommend going into teaching.” I like to think that his assessment
wasn’t based on my ability, but on the
state of the profession at the time.
After two years of teaching at the
summer school, Jerry was hooked on Taft.
Despite being named Connecticut teacher
of the year for the town of Watertown,
Jerry was ready for a change. Not many
people would go in to see Lance Odden
cold about a job, but Jerry is not many
people. His oldest daughter, Anna ’89, had
been a childhood pal of future Taft classmate Laurie Odden. When the girls were
little, they had played on the same youth
soccer teams. Jerry had met Lance on the
sidelines at many games, and the two
proud fathers had become acquainted.
Eight months after sitting in Lance’s office, he was sitting in his kitchen when
the phone rang. Lance was on the other
end offering Jerry a job.
In September 1985, Taft got its
first true taste of “Jerry’s kids,” as his
colleagues would soon call them. Since
that first month, students have clamored to get into Jerry’s classes. Year in
28
and year out, he carries the heaviest
student load of anyone in the department. A couple of years back, Michelle
Holmes ’00 told me, “I learn so much
in his class, but the amazing thing is, I
do it without trying to learn. He has
an unbelievable way of synthesizing information so that you learn everything
without realizing that you’re learning
it all. His style coupled with his contagious enthusiasm makes him entirely
unique. I love going to his class.”
After Jerry had been here one year,
Taft doubled its DePolo stock by hiring
Lois, Jerry’s wife and fellow math teacher.
“Our whole lives revolved around
Taft,” Jerry says.
Taft became the center for his family as all three daughters (Anna ’89, Beth
’91, and Sarah ’94) were to graduate
throughout the following decade. Lois’
gentle manner and ready smile charmed
countless students. She and Jerry formed
a great math team for Taft. Their compassionate natures and warm spirits made
math classrooms wonderful places to be.
For eleven years, we had the joy of
experiencing the DePolo duo. Sadly, in
1997, Lois succumbed to cancer. The
entire community was devastated by the
loss, and the outpouring of emotion was
overwhelming.
“We have a tremendous connection
here,” Jerry tells me. “The entire DePolo
family is proud. The people of Watertown
and the parents and trustees of Taft have
been incredibly generous.” The Lois
DePolo Scholarship annually assists a day
student in defraying the cost of tuition.
After teaching here two years, Jerry
was named head of the Math Department. His philosophy of “math for all”
directed the department. John Piacenza
explains, “Every school has students that
struggle with math, students whom
most math teachers find difficult, timeconsuming, and frustrating to teach. Jerry
knows how to reach those students. His
gift to Taft has been to motivate hundreds of students who would otherwise
never have opened their minds to mathematical concepts.”
In 1991, when the Abramowitz
family created an award to recognize
outstanding teaching at Taft, Jerry was
the runaway choice as the inaugural recipient. More than 60 percent of the
senior class chose him as the teacher
“Our whole lives revolved around Taft,” says Jerry, whose wife Lois and daughters
Sarah ’94, Anna ’89, and Beth ’91 quickly became part of the community as well.
“whose distinguished contribution to
classroom teaching has made learning
come alive and who has been most inspirational to students at Taft.” Jerry
was also the first holder of The Henry
L. Hillman Chair, established by Henry
Hillman ’37.
“Since my earliest day as his colleague,” says Steve McCabe, “Jerry has
impressed me as the consummate professional who always put the kids’ best
interests first. With ‘repetition is the
mother of learning’ as his charge, he
reached countless students through holding them to high standards while never
losing sight of the fact that this can be
done ever so successfully with compassion and a dose of humor.”
“I only hope that I will have a similar type of impact on my students that
Jerry has had on his,” says Susan McCabe.
“I don’t believe that I’ve ever heard a negative comment from anyone who has had
Jerry as a teacher. He cares deeply for his
students, and always gives his best regardless of how he feels.”
Jerry works his magic every day in
every class. He never tires of helping
kids learn. After presenting a difficult
topic on the blackboard, he pauses to
see if everyone has understood. When
certain they all have, Jerry asks, “You
know what we call this?” Dead silence
as the kids await enlightenment from
this teaching wizard. “We call this
thinking,” he says with clear enunciation so it sounds like “think-king.”
“Jerry teaches the student, not the
material,” says longtime math teacher Ted
Heavenrich. “His teaching style combines
humor and warmth, so that his students
feel very comfortable in the classroom.
This is a testament to his professionalism
and his belief that he should be available
for extra help on a regular basis.”
Giving extra help is a major component in a math teacher’s day. “We all put
in a lot of time here,” observes Karla
Palmer, “helping kids in math, but I don’t
think anyone does more than Jerry.”
Inside the classroom and out, Jerry
has always cared about kids, even more
than he does about golf.
“Jerry served the Taft golf program
faithfully for 16 years,” says current varsity coach Jack Kenerson ’82, first with
the varsity and then for 10 years with the
JV. “His first teams were the powerhouse
teams of the mid-1980s that compiled
terrific records and tournament victories.
Most important, Jerry instilled in his
players a love for the game of golf that
will last a lifetime, and that is a gift a
number of Taft golfers will appreciate in
years to come. If there is a gentleman who
epitomizes the principles of fair play and
love of the game, Jerry is that man.”
In the spring of 1992, the family of
Erika Hellstrom ’92 had a litter of yellow
labs. Jerry took one and named him
Quincy. The two have been virtually inseparable since “Quince” is the gentlest,
most trusting dog you’ll find. Who is it that
says a dog takes on the traits of its owner?
Every night, when Jerry gives extra help
Quincy is right there by his side. For kids
far away from home, this has been a gentle
and furry reminder that Taft could be just
as warm and caring as any living room.
Jerry has been in the business for 40
years now. He looks back fondly at his
years in the classroom. “I made so many
great friends at Watertown High—many
former students are close friends now.”
“I have met people at non-Taft
events,” says Karla Palmer, “and they had
Jerry years ago at Watertown High or at
Mattatuck who recall him as one of the
best math teachers they had. His roots
go so far beyond our little community.”
But it is Jerry’s impact in our community we celebrate. Leaving Taft will be
hard, very hard for him. He has cherished
every day he’s been in a Taft classroom.
When Karla Palmer interviewed here, she
had lunch with Jerry. “I listened as Jerry
spoke with such reverence of his colleagues and teaching here. Clearly, he
cared deeply about Taft, and I knew right
then I wanted to work with him.”
A devoted and popular teacher,
Jerry was the first recipient of the
William and Lee Abramowitz Award
and the inaugural holder of the
Hillman Chair.
For this shy, modest man walking
away after 40 years in education will be
no small task. He has touched the lives
of so many and served as a wonderful
example of a teacher who truly believes
in “kids first.” Karla sums up all our
thoughts, “I will miss him more than he
will ever know.”
Jerry’s youngest daughter, Sarah, says
that she recently went to her dad “to ask
the impossible question of ‘what should
I do with my life?’ ”
He simply replied, “Sarah, I don’t
have an answer to that, but I will tell you
that there has never been a day that I have
not been happy to walk into the classroom. Do what will make you happy.”
It has been a great ride for Jerry. He
asks, “How many people can work 40
years and say they had fun everyday?”
And our community has shone a
little more brightly these last 17 years,
even if it has only been the reflection
beaming off the top of Jerry’s head.
Al Reiff ’80 is the current head of the Math
Department, having pursued a career in
teaching despite Jerry’s earlier advice. They
both joined the faculty in 1985.
29
E
N
D
N
O
T
E
By Court Wold ’02
I
come from the western state of Wyoming,
and my opinions, morals, and character
reflect my unique upbringing. For some,
this school will shape their adolescent
lives. They will learn many lessons that
will help them understand who they are as
individuals. For me, it was the spirit of the western
frontier that has made me who I am today, but
coming to Taft has opened many doors for me,
and three years at this school have helped to chip
away my many rough edges. Several aspects of my
life have shaped me into the young man I am:
work, my family, Taft, and my friends.
I have grown up working outside. The outdoors
is where I like to spend my time. In the summer, my
boss reminds me that we only work half days:
“seven in the mornin’ ’til seven in the evenin’.” On
my family’s ranch we raise Black Angus cows and
calves. Ranching is not about dudes, hayrides, red
bandanas, and cowboy boots. Ranching is waking
up to a night sky filled with sparkling stars, doctoring an injured cow, having a deep respect for the
land and its wildlife, and jumping back on your
saddle after you get bucked off.
I am paid around $30 for a 10-hour day. These
wages do not produce a secure salary in today’s
material world, but my western spirit tells me that
although ranching is not often a profitable way to
live, it provides a gratifying way of life—a way of
life that has permeated and captured my soul. I
would like to share a story about something that
happened to me last summer and how it relates to
my experience here at Taft.
It was late July, and my cows needed water
badly. The day began around 4:30 a.m. I had to
move 40 pairs of cows and calves to a water hole.
As the sun peaked over the horizon, I saddled up
for the long ride ahead. The cows were a halfday’s ride away. When I finally reached them, I
moved them toward the water hole. As Powder,
my horse, and I moved behind the herd, the
familiar sound of a rattlesnake broke the silence.
Powder bucked, spooking at the sight of the
coiled snake. Even before I hit the ground, my
horse was headed back to the cow camp. With a
bleeding eye and several sore ribs, I knew I must
keep going; I was close to losing calves to dehydration. So I moved the herd on foot, following
with an encouraging “yip” or holler. It was a
harrowing five hours to the water hole, but we
made it. After another three miles on foot, I
staggered to the cabin, where I found my stubborn horse waiting at the corral.
I retired to my bedroll around ten o’clock,
injured and exhausted, but as I shut my eyes I
thought about the beautiful country and the job
I had accomplished, realizing that the most meaningful and educational moments in life were
lessons that can only be acquired through hard
work and commitment. It is from my experience
30
of work on our ranch that I have come to appreciate the benefits of sweat and success, to
appreciate how difficult and yet rewarding only
a half day’s work can be.
The things that make a ranch work also make
a family work. They are devotion, passion, and
love. Just as you need to be devoted to your work,
you must be devoted to your family. Growing up
with two sisters and loving parents has been a
blessing, although until an accident occurred in
our family several years ago, I rarely expressed my
love for my family and friends.
My sister Holly was 13 at the time. She was
buried alive on June 28, 1998, by thousands of
pounds of sand that fell on her when she was in
a tunnel that collapsed. My dad and I found her
at least 40 minutes later. She was without oxygen, and after we dug her out, her pulse was
gone—no breath, no life. The deadly gray of her
eyes and skin and the deoxygenated blue in her
lips are colors I will never forget. This accident
has changed my life forever.
Although Holly’s heart had stopped, a friend
of mine performed CPR on her and found her
pulse. After six months in the hospital and hours
of rehabilitation, Holly’s new life began to unfold. Today, miraculously, she leads a perfectly
normal life, playing field hockey and going to
school, doing everything else that a normal 16year-old would do.
The ability to survive, cooperate, and love
take on a different meaning after an accident of
this nature occurs to someone you love. What my
sister experienced was one of the most frightening and painful accidents imaginable, and yet I
see it brought a blessing rather than a tragedy
because it drew my family so much closer together and made me realize how fragile life is. I
know this sounds clichéd, but don’t be afraid to
tell the people around you that you love them.
The lessons that I have learned through working on the ranch and my sister’s accident shaped
me before I came to Taft, but they have also
influenced my experiences here. Take individuality for example. Being an individual and
standing by what you believe in helps you to be
an essential part of your family and your community. Coming from Wyoming, I have many of
my own opinions that are different from most of
yours. One of the aspects of Taft that I have
battled with is the difference in all of our beliefs.
For example, many here understand the organization PETA to stand for People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals; I understand PETA to
stand for People for the Eating of Tasty Animals.
I have come to recognize that at times I must
temper my thoughts and opinions and listen to
and respect others so that I can live and work
cooperatively within the community, still honoring my own character.
Hard work and perseverance are also vital to a
job, a family, and a community. Those of you
who know me understand that I am not the
sharpest knife in the drawer. I have average SAT
scores and for most of my Taft career have
struggled to get 4s—though for the first time this
fall I made the honor roll by working harder and
studying more than I ever have. Likewise, when
I showed up for preseason my mid year, I hunkered
in my room for three nights because I was so
intimidated by the other players. By persisting
and battling through the bigger and better players, I gained a respect for myself and what hard
work can accomplish. I know that I could not
have taken on the challenges of Taft without the
work habits I learned in Wyoming.
A ranch, a family, or a community cannot
function unless all members also feel deeply
responsible. If I had not taken responsibility for
the cows on our ranch that day last summer, they
would have died. In a similar fashion, we as
students at Taft sometimes have to take responsibility for our friends in a way that determines
whether or not they make it through this school.
I can tell you from my experience at the ranch
that I would not have been able to save the cows
that day without the experience of taking on
responsibilities when less was at stake.
The little responsibilities that we face every day
are preparing us for those moments in life when we
are faced with a major responsibility that might
even involve saving a life. I was ultimately reminded of this responsibility over winter break,
when my sister told me that her last thought before
she quit breathing, was “I am just going to go to
sleep, because I know Court will find me.”
Let us not forget what our lives are about. We
must know and understand our priorities and
what really counts in life. Whether it is bringing
the cows home, hugging your precious sister, or
excelling in the classroom, it is your responsibilities, independence, and hard work that will take
you beyond your expectations.
Last but not least, I know that my three years
at Taft have added much to my character and my
inner soul. The academic education I am receiving here has created a foundation I will build
upon every day of my entire life. Taft’s administration and teachers have encouraged me to
challenge and broaden my individual character,
and my friends here are many. They have opened
my mind to our differences and our similarities.
Without them I would not be the same, and my
love for them will never die.
Court lives in Kaycee, Wyo., and Denver, Colo.
After repeating his sophomore year at Taft, he
has become a school monitor, plays varsity soccer, and is the only student who can be found flyfishing for carp in Potter’s Pond.
Thursday, May 16
6:30
50th Reunion Dinner, Class of ’52,
Waterbury Country Club
Friday, May 17
7:50–2:00
Classes open to alumni
8:00–3:00
Taft Golf Tournament
Watertown Golf Club
10:30–11:30 Taft Today and Tomorrow
with Head of School
Willy MacMullen ’78
and selected students
Choral Room
11:45
Assembly and Parade, Main Circle
12:30
Alumni Luncheon
The Donald F. McCullough ’42
Field House
•Announcement of new
Alumni Trustee
•Presentation of the
Citation of Merit
•Remarks by Head of School,
Willy MacMullen ’78
12:45
Children’s Program with Magician
McCullough Field House
2:00
Student-Guided Campus Tours,
depart from McCullough
Field House
2:30
Home Athletic Games:
Boys’ Varsity Baseball vs. Kent
Boys’ Thirds Lacrosse vs. Avon
Girls’ JV Lacrosse vs.
Greenwich Youth League
11:00–1:00 School Lunch
Armstrong Dining Room
12:00
Reunion Luncheons
Classes of ’33, ’37, ’42, ’47
12:30
Class of ’52 Luncheon
4:00–5:00
Early Registration, Main Circle
4:00
Home Athletic Game: Girls’ Varsity
Lacrosse vs. Sacred Heart
5:00
Service of Remembrance
Christ Church on the Green
6:00
Old Guard Dinner
Head of School’s Home
176 Guernseytown Road
5:30
Barbecue
Head of School’s Home
176 Guernseytown Road
6:30
Reunion Dinners, Classes of ’57,
’62, ’67, ’72, ’82, ’87, and ’92
7:30
Reunion Gatherings,
Classes of ’77 and ’97
Saturday, May 18
7:00–8:00
School Breakfast
Armstrong Dining Hall
7:30–12:00 Registration, Main Circle
Sunday, May 19
10:00–12:00 School Brunch
Armstrong Dining Hall
10:30
23rd Annual Fun Run, 1-Mile Run,
William Weaver Track
11:00
Alumni vs. Boys’ Lacrosse
Geoffrey C. Camp Field
Alumni vs. Boys’ Baseball
Rockwell Field
12:30
Picnic
Geoffrey C. Camp Field
7:50–11:45 Classes open to alumni
9:00–10:30 Student-Guided Campus Tours
Main Circle
9:30–10:30 Diversity at Taft, a discussion
facilitated by Lynette Sumpter ’90,
Director of Multicultural Affairs
Laube Auditorium
SCHEDULE ’02
REUNION
Non-profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 101
Burl., VT 05401
Taft Bulletin
The Taft School
Watertown, CT 06795-2100
860-945-7777
www.TaftAlumni.com
Change Service Requested
THE TAFT SCHOOL
presents
CHINA and the
YANGTZE RIVER
OCTOBER 6–22, 2002
Travel with Patsy and Lance Odden,
and a party of Taft alumni and friends, on a two-week journey to the fabled sites
every visitor to China longs to see, including Beijing’s Forbidden City, the majestic
Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors in Xian, the vibrant city of Shanghai, and
Guilin, land of painters and poets. Highlighting our program is a cruise along
the Yangtze River aboard the enchanting river ship Victoria.
Taft alumni and friends living in China will add meaningfully to this unique journey.
For detailed information and reservations,
please call Taft Alumni Travel Representative Debra Gibson
at 800-257-5767, ext. 511, or 212-774-1511.
Notice: Postal regulations require the school to pay
50 cents for every copy not deliverable as addressed.
Please notify us of any change of address, giving
both the new and old addresses. You may e-mail
changes to [email protected].

HONORING JERRY DEPOLO and ANNE

Transcription

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