Gratitude

Our contact in the DA Development Office has noticed some newer and some larger donors to the Annual Fund from our class this fall and Doug Schmidt and I wanted to say thank you.  We've come a long way together, with trials and tribulations shared or held close, but when asked, we're the kind of class that will step up, for Deerfield and each other.

Here's some stats for the last 6 years.  Congratulations on hitting 50% in 2018!!!
(Sorry for the blurry screen grabs)

Class of 1983

2018 Stats:

Donors- 63 of 126 solicitable - exactly 50% (highest participation since 2011!)

Dollars-$52,317 for the Annual Fund (plus $32,035 capital = $84,852 total from your classmates last year)

Of our 63 donors: 51 gave online, 11 gave via mail and 1 gave cash in person!

We like our challenge contests too: 23 gave in March challenge and 26 gave in the June challenge.  (Some gave in both! Thanks!!)

Here's how we compare to the decade of the 80's over the past 3 years:

Finally,  Thanks to the specific donors who made our epic charge to 50% possible.  WORTHY!!! *

ARMSTRONG WHITNEY B

AVERILL CHRISTOPHER M

BADENHAUSEN JAMES M

BEAUBIEN MARK C

BRESNAHAN KEVIN A M.D.

BROWN JOHN L

BROWN SPENCER L

CHASE FREDERICK C

CLARK NELSE H

CRUIKSHANK DOUGLAS A

CZUJ MARK E

DAVEY CHRISTOPHER R

EHMANN JOHN C

EHRHART TIMOTHY G

ELEFTHERIO PETER J

ELLIMAN WILLIAM B

FLAGG CHRISTOPHER S

GAGNE CHARLES R

GEARY PETER C

GOTTSCHO JONATHAN A

GREENBERG JOSHUA D

GREGORY BRUCE W

GUYER LEIGH J

HARDIGG ARTHUR P

HARRIS CHRISTOPHER J

HINDMAN DONALD D

JACKSON HARDIE S

KERR ALEXANDER K

KNIGHT JOHN G

LAFLAMME MARK T

LELAND JEFFREY B

LEMIEUX HENRY F JR.

LOTSPEICH CHRISTOPHER C MPPM, MES

LYNCH CHRISTOPHER J

MADDEN DAVID C

MAGEE PAUL D

MAYS DOUGLAS A

MCGILL R. ROBERT JR.

NOTTAGE D. SEAN

NOURSE NATHAN S

PATTON BENJAMIN W

PETERSON ERIC F

PIERSOL WILLIAM B III

PRYCE SCOTT F

REHBERGER FREDERICK F IV

ROBINSON JAMES F

SCHIFF ANDREW N M.D.

SCHMIDT J. DOUGLAS

SINGEWALD DEAN R II

SMITH DAVID A

SORY JOHN B

SPADAFORA JEFFREY S

STEWARD BRIAN C

STEWART ANDREW M

SULLIVAN VAN K

TOWNSEND PETER R

TRITSCHLER CHARLES G

WARECK JAMES L

WEINBERG ADAM S

WESTER C. WILLIAM II

WEYMOUTH PHILIP B III

WOOD DEXTER E JR.

WRIGHT ERIC E

*Non-donor classmates are just as worthy my friends.  Just a bit of bragging.  But lets keep it up!!!

Battle at Baltusrol...

SPORTS UPDATE: Team New England fell to proud Team New York in a battle that was 75% class of '83.

Spence Brown and partner Ben Patton edged Peter Townsend and Stuart Strong '84 in a recent tilt.  Brown quipped that he and Ben "Beat them like a rented mule", so I'm sure the score was very close...

Parenting...Redux

Chris Flagg and Sean Nottage reconnected during Family Fall Weekend at DA.  Sean was visiting a niece I believe - as he makes the most of every excuse to get to the Valley...

Looks like they met up at our 35th reunion unofficial headquarters...The Deerfield Inn!

Nice work fellas.

Much Ado...

Sean Nottage is on the stage again in the Bahamas!!! Here's his trailer for Much Ado About Nothing!

Lemonade. Stand.

Dear '83 Classmates:

I had the chance to return to campus and speak last week, a nostalgic return to the place we called home for formative years in adolescence. While in many respects the focus in recent years has been on the ways in which the school and certain individuals didn’t conjure up their best while I and others were students, the truth is you didn’t receive my best, either. Far from it, actually. Perhaps you’ll better understand why after hearing the talk I gave to current students. 

So, though out of touch with so many of you for so many years, concurrent with a long estrangement from our alma mater, I’d like to let you know that I’d be glad to rejoin the ranks of our class and to get to know you as the men you have become and are today. And to have you know me as the man I have become. Few things would please me more. I hope this finds you all well. 

Best,

Whit

whit.sheppard@comcast.net

(*Link below is a video recording of Whit Sheppard's talk to the Deerfield Community at School Meeting on Wednesday, September 26th. Total run time is about 30 minutes.)

https://vimeo.com/292777205/1b73fdce1d

Beaubien remembers

Notwithstanding the fact that yesterday was Mark's birthday (video evidence of him at a Zach Brown concert is on his facebook page...), I caught up with him this summer to give him his Thank You Gift for volunteering for the 35th Reunion...He was thrilled to receive a handmade custom vase made by our classmate James Robinson of Athens Block LLC.

To celebrate we sauntered over to a local watering hole in Northampton and invited the owner to join us.  Under 30 minutes later our man Eric was in the house!

Supporting each other isn't hard and it's usually welcome!

Congratulations Ben and Blair!

The blog is back and has some catching up to do.  But first a timely shot of Ben Patton, his son Tiger and his newly minted wife Blair Miller! 

Way to go Ben and Congratulations!  Hopefully we'll all be able to meet her at the 40th reunion in 2023!

Six left for 50%

We're close gentlemen. 6 more gifts to DA, that each get a trustee's $1,000 added, to hit 50% participation. You've got 24 hours. Please give a dollar at www.deerfield.edu/grand. 

Thx!

--

John G Knight
413.522.2555 mobile
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johngknight

Ten Donors equals 50% participation

If you are going to make a gift to Deerfield's annual fund this year, you only have until Saturday. 

The Class of 1983 is only ten donors from 50% participation, the magic benchmark. 

And if you give $10 (or any amount, literally) a grand ($1,000) will by added to it by a trustee. 

Win Win Win but only if you act!

Www.deerfield.edu/grand

--

John G Knight
413.522.2555 mobile
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johngknight

DA Grand Challenge and 83!

DA83,

Still recovering from reunions here at the blog, so apologies for the lack of reunion content. Will pick it up soon. 

In the meantime, our class only needs 12 donors to reach 50% participation this year, which would be amazing. 

I expect you know that a trustee will give DA $1,000 if someone who hasn't given yet this year does so. So you should give 10 bucks right now at 

http://deerfield.edu/grand if you are in that category. 

The same trustee will give DA an additional million dollars if DA gets 1,000 donors more by June by 30. THAT'S A LOT OF GREEN. 

Please join the fun with a gift at 

http://deerfield.edu/grand

--

John G Knight
413.522.2555 mobile
http://www.linkedin.com/in/johngknight

35th photo

We saw a number of others at dinner but here's the Saturday 1 pm photo.

Current and Former Faculty at Reunion

Maybe you aren't hankering to chill with JK or Schmidt next weekend.  No biggeee - and don't let THAT keep you from attending our 35th.  Maybe this list of faculty attendees and the chance for catching up with someone who mattered to your development will persuade you...

Robert Binswanger ’48 P’78 ’80’84 G’17 Former Faculty
Jose Briones ’82, Faculty
Peter Brush, Former Faculty
Susan Carlson, Former Faculty
Peter Clark ’58 Former Faculty
Tina Cohen P’95 ’01, Former Faculty and Bruce Cohen
Charles Demers, Former Faculty and Kay Demers
Christa Donnellan ’93, Former Faculty
Anna Gonzalez ’12, Faculty
Lew Haight Former Faculty
Bob Hammond P’93 ’94, Former Faculty and Vicky Hammond P’93 ’94
Lydia Hemphill Faculty and Mark Silipo Former Faculty
Robertson Howe P’20, Faculty and Amanda Howe P’20
Callie Hughes Faculty and Scott Gray
Larry Jerome ’73, Former Faculty
Sean Keller ’86 P’20 and Sue Keller P’20, Hunter Keller and Avery Keller
Patricia Kelly Faculty
David Knight ’58 P’87 Former Faculty
Kristin Loftus Faculty
Elizabeth McNamara Former Faculty
Becca Melvoin Faculty
Shantel Moses ’93 Former Faculty and Kevin Ng, and Cheyenne Watson
David Payne Faculty, and Beverly Payne and Brian Payne
Julia Rivellino-Lyons P’21 Faculty and Joseph Lyons P’21, Faculty
Michael Sheridan ’58 P’93 ’00 ’05 Former Faculty and Kathy Robertson P’93 ’00 ’05
James Smith P’80,’82,’86,’91 G’13 Former Faculty and Carole Smith P’80,’82,’86,’91 G’13
John Stobierski ’78 P’12 ’14 ’14 Faculty and Pamela Stobierski P’12 ’14 ’14
Cranford Stoudemire ’68 Former Faculty and Dorilin Stoudemire
John Taylor P’13 ’16, Faculty and Mercedes Taylor P’13 ’16, Faculty
Gabe Temesvari P’92, Former Faculty and Agnes Temesvari P’92
David Thiel ’91, Faculty and Vita Thiel
Heidi Valk P’19 ’21, Faculty and Conrad Pitcher P’19 ’21, Faculty
Sue Watson Faculty and Sam Watson
Kim Wright, Faculty and Harrison Wright
Roland Young P’88, Former Faculty and Martha Young P’88

Urgent Reunion Items

Two big things this week.

ONLINE REUNION YEARBOOK entries will not be accepted after Thursday, May 24th at midnight.  With 45 entries (and counting) the yearbook promises to be engaging, enlightening and entertaining.  The more the merrier so please consider adding a few words about yourself.  Pictures welcome too!  Emails about yearbooks are coming from Nelse Clark and Meno Reunion Books...

REUNION PRICING increases after May 24 as well.  So even if you are planning a "gameday decision" it might be worth your while to register now!!

register now for your 35th - June 8-10, 2018!

Fresh 35th "Registered" list!

Remember prices go up May 24 - so register now for your 35th - June 8-10, 2018!  We know there are lots of you holding out - just do it!

1983
Eduardo Blohm ’83 P’13
Kevin Bresnahan ’83 and Maura Bresnahan
John Brown ’83
Spencer Brown ’83
Nelse Clark ’83
Doug Cruikshank ’83
Adam Feiges ’83
Christopher Flagg ’83 P’18 P’20 and Heidi Flagg P’18 P’20
Christopher Harris ’83
Don Hindman ’83
Robert Keirstead ’83
John Knight ’83 Former Faculty
Craig Pattee ’83
Ben Patton ’83 and Blair Miller
J. Douglas Schmidt ’83
Brian Steward ’83
Peter Townsend ’83 and Christina Townsend
Jim Wareck ’83
Adam Weinberg ’83
P.B. Weymouth ’83 P’18 ’20 and Elizabeth Weymouth P’18 ’20
David Ziccardi ’83

Still the Dean and Dave Show!

Great FB post by Dean Singewald with photos of David Morley's recent visit.

Catch up with more old friends at our 35th reunion!  Pricing increases after May 24 so ACT NOW if you haven't registered yet.

Reunion Attendees As of 5/11: (but at least 6 more are in the pipeline we're told)

1983
Kevin Bresnahan ’83 and Maura Bresnahan
John Brown ’83
Spencer Brown ’83
Doug Cruikshank ’83
Adam Feiges ’83
Christopher Flagg ’83 P’18 P’20 and Heidi Flagg P’18 P’20, Emmeline Flagg ’18, Elliott Flagg ’20
Christopher Harris ’83
Don Hindman ’83
Robert Keirstead ’83
John Knight ’83 Former Faculty
Craig Pattee ’83
Ben Patton ’83 and Blair Miller
J. Douglas Schmidt ’83
Brian Steward ’83
Peter Townsend ’83 and Christina Townsend
Adam Weinberg ’83
P.B. Weymouth ’83 P’18 ’20 and Elizabeth Weymouth P’18 ’20
David Ziccardi ’83

Past Faculty:
Susan Carlson, Former Faculty
Peter Clark ’58 Former Faculty
Larry Jerome ’73, Former Faculty
David Knight ’58 P’87 Former Faculty
John Knight ’83 Former Faculty
Shantel Moses ’93 Former Faculty and Kevin Ng, and Cheyenne Watson
Michael Sheridan ’58 P’93 ’00 ’05 Former Faculty and Kathy Robertson P’93 ’00 ’05
James Smith P’80,’82,’86,’91 G’13 Former Faculty and Carole Smith P’80,’82,’86,’91 G’13

Celebrity

Just because Duke can talk and stars in Bush's Beans commercials doesn't mean our award winning classmate Van Sullivan isn't a celebrity in his own right!  Van delivers culinary excellent at UMass Dining and we hope he will share copies of his award winning apple pie recipe at REUNIONS, JUNE 8-10!

New A/V Club?

Facebook delivered this gem to the blog via a military veteran's post.  

You may remember that Ben Patton helps veterans work through their PTSD by telling their stories through film.  You may also remember that Spence Brown helps celebrities (and others) get their stories out via radio and podcast.

Ben explains the photo: "Spencer and I reconnected in New York after three decades of not being in touch, when we discovered some important things in common. We both share a love of history and desire to support our veterans. This spring, Spencer generously offered to feature my org, the Patton Veterans Project and some of the vets we work with on a podcast taped for his kickass new digital audio platform, Cadence 13. We hope to roll it out on ITunes shortly - and if enough ‘83ers can help spread the word, maybe it will be the first of many. 

Great to be reconnected with Spencer, do some good and create some positive memories together. 

Can’t ask for more than that! See you at the reunion!"

Great things can happen when we connect...Speaking of reunion - here's where to get the info and register!

Executive 83

Chris Flagg and John Knight recently attended the Spring meeting of the Executive Committee of the Deerfield Academy Alumni Association.

As your representatives they asked good questions, made trustees listen to their salient points and twice disrupted the proceedings with selfie taking.  (Actually, that was all JK.  Flagg was falsely accused).

Deerfield's master plan for the campus proceeds apace - new and improved athletic facilities will open in the Fall, and a new Health facility will be built after the shabby grey Physical Plant building is removed.  (New Phys. Plant building already up and running on the Williams Farm property that DA purchased.)

The three seniors that spoke to the assembled committee were articulate, thoughtful and already years beyond most of our levels of maturity at that age.  The Head of School Search Committee hopes to have a new Head of School announced by Thanksgiving but no interviews have taken place yet.

A few pictures below - but nothing beats seeing it in person at our 35th REUNION!  Pricing increases May 24 - REGISTER NOW.  Even if you can only make it Saturday, please come!

Here's one look at the new field house with hockey rink underneath it (left side of picture), next to existing squash and pool building, taken from the playing fields.

And here's a fence banner image of what the complete look will be from the playing fields...

Coincidence at Denison? Don't think so...

The latest news from the Columbus Business Journal is that at Denison University "Applications to the college have increased 64 percent over the past four years."  Remember that Adam Weinberg started his tenure as President in July 2013?  That's no coincidence baby!

So what's the deal?  How has a commitment to the liberal arts and an emphasis on it's advantages for employment moved the needle at Denison?

You should come find out by attending our 35th reunion from June 8-10, where Adam will be a featured speaker!  Register HERE. (For the current list of those registered - check out this page).

Congratulations Vivian and Nelse!

Looks like Nelse tied the knot on March 23 in beautiful Florida.  Congratulations Vivian and Nelse!

Somewhere in CT

Doesn't matter where - just matters when.  Jim Wareck was recently in New Haven briefly and convinced Eric Suher to meet him "somewhere in CT".  Seems like they had a few chuckles!!

Our 35th reunion is June 8-10.  Would be great to have you there...

Rogue 35th Reunion Book!

With the help of our very own Nelse Clark and his Meno Reunion Books, we're creating a 35th reunion book for the class!  We're interested to know what you've been up to even if you won't be joining us under the green and white tent from June 8-10, 2018!  If you did not receive an email about the reunion book, please reach out to Nelse at nelsec7"AT"gmail.com.

A number of classmates have already uploaded photos and information and have agreed it is simple and straightforward.  The uploaded photos and data then get PROFESSIONALLY edited and designed, so don't sweat that sideways photo...  It's going to be great to catch up and will likely make for some lively reading!  Please make the time to write an entry, the more the merrier for sure.

Congratulations Drew and Alexandra!

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/25/fashion/weddings/alexandra-wolfe-andrew-schiff.html

Alexandra Kennerly Wolfe, the daughter of Sheila Wolfe and Tom Wolfe of Manhattan, was married Feb. 23 to Dr. Andrew Newman Schiff, a son of Lisa Schiff and David T. Schiff of Manhattan. Robert Sweet, a federal judge with the Southern District of New York, officiated at the Brook, a private club in Manhattan.

Mrs. Schiff, 37, is a staff writer at The Wall Street Journal. She graduated from Duke.

The bride’s father is an author and journalist whose books include “The Kingdom of Speech,” “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,” “The New Journalism,” “The Right Stuff” and “The Bonfire of the Vanities.” Her mother is a graphic-design consultant in Manhattan.

Dr. Schiff, 52, is a managing partner at Aisling Capital, a company in New York that invests in life science companies. He was until 2000 an internal medicine physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

The groom’s father retired as a partner of Kuhn, Loeb & Company an investment banking firm in New York. He was later the chairman of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The groom's first marriage ended in divorce.

The couple first met in fall 2014, through the groom’s sister and brother-in-law, but did not start dating until April 2016.

When the bride asked her father if he would wear his trademark white suit to her wedding, he replied: “No, you can wear white. It’s your day.”

ONE DEERFIELD is THURSDAY

If you haven't made a gift to DA yet this school year - Thursday, March 1 is your day.  Your gift will be 100% matched by trustee Rob Hale '84.  Every amount will make a difference!!!

Give Here.

PS. The giving site is open.  You could even give right this minute and it would count...

When Schmidt's in town...

Doug had a biz trip to Denver, so team 83 rallied in support.  Don Hindman organized a dinner which drew from up and down the Front Range.  Schmidt, Harrington, Knight, Hindman and Piersol enjoyed Mexican food and a ton of laughs at a cute spot in old Golden.  Nothing like a mini-reunion! Props to RJ for wearing the green and white...Don then dragged Schmidt into the mountains for a chilly day at Copper which apparently involved a good deal of cinnamon flavored liquid heat...and a solid photobomb.

Make the effort to get to our 35th reunion please - its gonna be a good time!

Kikoski's in Taipei

Reunion outreach by Schmidt led us to this newsy gem from John Kikoski!

"We are living in Taipei for a year and loving it here. My wife, who is a Professor of Law at Seton Hall University, is spending the academic year as a visiting researcher as part of the US Government's Fulbright Senior Scholar program. If you're interested in what's going on in China/Taiwan, you should check out Maggie's twitter feed at https://twitter.com/margaretklewis.The family moved over in August, and we will be in Taipei through next summer. Armas (now 5) and Faris (almost 3) are starting to pick up Mandarin at their preschool. I'm working New York hours doing private equity deals, but my schedule is pretty civilized since a lot of my business is Asia focused."

TEDx Deerfield - Livestream for Feb 17

What to know the level of discourse at DA theses days?  Check this out...

https://deerfield.edu/tedx/watch-live/

Happy Birthday Abe!

Even Abe Lincoln, here celebrating his 209th birthday, is pumped for reunions June 8-10!

Soaring!

We don't typically post about family accomplishments but Tom Perry's son achieving his Eagle Scout rank felt like a proper exception.  Congrats to the Perrys!!!

Another reunion

Chaz Gagne and Hardie Jackson connected in Atlanta during a biz trip for Charlie.  Great job getting a pic fellas!  There's more where that came from - June 8-10 at DA!

Reunion Registration now open!

Here's our chance to represent for our 35th.  The more people we can get to arrive by noon on Saturday, June 9, the better our 1 pm class photo will look!!!

Schedule HERE

Registration HERE

Pro Tip: Your "Deerfield ID" will help DA recognize you more quickly in the registration process - it is included in the footer of the Reunions 2018 email from Jenny Hammond - is labelled "Your ID" - and begins with "D" and two zeros..

Need a pick me up?

Brian Steward was tired the day of the original photo.  His friend on FB took some time to cheer him up.  With Brian's permission, you can bee cheered up too!

In case you were wondering...

John Knight wanted you to know that he can't help it.  Here's a picture after the strategy session held with his uncles over Thanksgiving.

On the left is Zeke Knight '54 (Chair of his 65th DA reunion - 2019) and on the right is David Knight '58 (Co-Chair of his 60th DA Reunion - 2018).

It's just what we do...

5 Things I Learned at 19,347 Feet

The latest from Jeff Spadafora.  Full story on his blog. Aim high fellas!

"On Wednesday, I made a successful attempt to climb Cotopaxi  - a snow covered, active volcano in the Andes mountain range of Ecuador. It was the most difficult thing I have ever attempted in my life.

I learned five really valuable lessons I'll never forget. I hope they help you.

1. Seize The Moment  - 

2. Stay in Shape -

3. Get A Guide -

4. Don't waste time worrying about the past -

5. Be a Savvy Friend, Parent, Spouse, co-Worker -"