Jam-Packed Reunion Weekend

Students, faculty and staff welcomed over a hundred alumni and their family members to campus for the 2019 Vermont Academy Reunion Weekend. Warm, sunny weather and early fall foliage embraced the attendees as they strolled from event to event
The class of 1979 kicked off the festivities early with a dinner in Ludlow, VT on Thursday evening. Tim Burr acted as the emcee, and ran a trivia game based on his classmates’ year book entries. Questions ranged from “Who was the yearbook dedicated to?” (Freda Adams!) to “Who had the ambition to go on ‘The Gong Show’?” (Tom Aitken). The dinner was attended by current faculty members and class of ’79 alumni Joe Echanis and Lisa (Eckhardt) McNealus, as well as former faculty members Bob “Doc” Hewitt, Mark Herko, and Mary Hepburn.
 
Friday started off with community lunch and student-led tours of campus, followed by a welcome reception in the Class of 2011 Great Room in Fuller Hall. Members of the class of '69 then gathered for a 50th Reunion class photo on Long Walk before attending the Old Guard Dinner at the Warren Chivers Ski & Outdoor Education Center. Attendees were thrilled to have former Head of School Michael Choukas, Jr. ’46 join them for dinner, and asked him to head to the podium where he commended them for being such a memorable class. Ken Sauls, who traveled from North Carolina to attend this reunion, shared how the ABC (A Better Chance) program at Vermont Academy made a difference in his life. The program started in the 1960’s to provide students of color the opportunity to enroll in independent schools.

Saturday started off with breakfast in the Shepardson Center, followed by an Alumni Career Panel in the Nita Choukas Theater in Horowitz Performing Arts Hall. The panel featured distinguished alumni addressing the junior and senior classes about their career paths after Vermont Academy.
  • James Gallagher ’17 spoke about joining the Army and completing his bachelor’s degree in two-and-a-half years. He stressed how the armed forces provide a 9-5 job when not deployed, and that civilian education is a big part of life on base. He let the students in the audience know that the Vermont Academy faculty provided him with the polite and brutal honesty that he needed, and that his time at VA prepared him to succeed in the military’s highly structured system.
  • Madison Cota ’14 spoke about attending Lasell College for fashion design and to play Division III basketball. She graduated with a degree in fashion and retail merchandising. She spoke about how important it was to keep options open, as she found her true passion—interior design—after receiving her bachelor’s degree.
  • Dominick Dawes ’99 spoke about how he matured while attending Vermont Academy. He said that Vermont Academy helped teach him how to apply himself academically—not just athletically—which gave him many better options when it came time to go to college. Dawes went on to play hockey at Norwich University and then played two seasons of professional hockey before moving into coaching. He recently started a Division III hockey program from scratch at Stevenson University, where he is the head coach.
  • N’Dia Riegler ’02 found Vermont Academy to be a safe place to develop her identity as an adult. She told students in the audience that VA is a lot like college, just with more support. After graduating, N’Dia went to Barnard’s pre-med program, but within a year changed her major and eventually graduated from Barnard with degrees in biology and American literature. She went to work in finance after college, but determined that she wanted to teach. She is now a passionate elementary educator in Boston.
  • Will Nickum ’69 explained how the rigorous academics combined with the close relationships with faculty and the headmaster helped him quickly become an adult. Will lived in Seattle so when he came to Vermont Academy he called himself a “long-distance commuter.” After graduating he attended Dartmouth for a year but ultimately went back to Washington where he became a draftsman in his father’s naval architecture firm. Will stressed the importance of writing: it is a critical skill he developed at VA and it has helped him throughout his life.
After the alumni panel finished taking questions, Alumni Association president Tom Oxholm ’82 and students Lauren Eppinger ‘20 and Aaron Brown ’20 presented the Florence Sabin Class of 1889 Distinguished Alumni Award to William Hosley '73 and Lt. Col. Demere Kasper Hess '99. Click on the links to find the profiles for these two distinguished alumni in the Sabin Alumni Award section of the website.

After lunch, the annual Alumni Association Meeting took place at Leavitt House. N’Dia Riegler ‘02 was elected as the Co-President of the alumni association, joining Co-President, Tom Oxholm ‘82. Head of School Dr. Jennifer Zaccara provided an update about the exciting initiatives and recent developments on campus. The full text of her comments is included in the Alumni News section of our site.

The afternoon offered a variety of activities. Some alumni chose to hike Fall Mountain with the Wilderness Skills team. Others tagged along with the Cross Country or Mountain Bike teams as they practiced on our trails. Some joined Visual Arts Chair, Lisa Eckhardt McNealus '79 in the art studio for print-making while others watched the boys and girls varsity soccer teams play home matches against Proctor Academy and Brewster Academy. Others took part in a Magical History Tour with Sabin Award recipient Bill Hosley '73. Bill led a tour of historical sites in the local area, and some of the lucky participants were chauffeured in two of the historic Packard automobiles owned by David Robinson ’65.

As the afternoon drifted into the evening, alumni gathered on the South Lawn to remember members of our Vermont Academy family who have passed away in the last year and/or since their last milestone reunion. Dr. Zaccara read their names and extended to all who gathered the opportunity to plant daffodil bulbs in the garden outside of Jones Hall in their memory. People then strolled to the tent at former faculty member’s Mary Hepburn's house for celebratory drinks and dinner! The Little Big Band, featuring faculty member Maryann McArdle on keyboards, took over the barn and entertained the guests. The menu featured local Vermont food and beverage as well as staff member Eddie Mack’s famous roast pig.

On Sunday, festivities came to a close with a brunch followed by the traditional Alumni Soccer Game on Fuller Field. It was a glorious day to be playing soccer. After the game, alumni continued to linger at the picnic tables soaking up their last moments on our hilltop—a sure sign they felt at home.
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Vermont Academy is a coed college preparatory boarding and day school in southern Vermont, serving grades 9-12 plus a postgraduate year.