Category Archives: Alumni Events

Williston Northampton in Mexico City

Editor’s note: From February 19-22, 2015, Director of Alumni Relations Jeff Pilgrim was in Mexcio City to visit with alumni and prospective families in the area. The following is his description of the trip.

Photo by Jeff Pilgrim
Photo by Jeff Pilgrim


The American School Foundation (ASF)

I had a nice long meeting with Ricca McGowan, the eighth grade counselor and counseling coordinator. Ricca has been at the school for four years. ASF is widely considered the top school in all of Mexico City with over 3,000 kids in Grades K-12. Williston’s strong athletic, arts, and academic program and location make this a good opportunity to collaborate on a study abroad program.

After my meeting with Ricca, I met with Ellie Molyneux ’04, who is teaching fourth grade at ASF. This is Ellie’s third year here. Prior to that, she taught at Indian Mountain.

Ellie is the daughter of Penny Dods Molyneux ’74 and one of my former soccer players. Ellie was as fast as could be and had a bulldog attitude, which I just loved. She would go charging down the field, limbs flying in all directions, bouncing off players…and the ground…with no fear at all. I used to call her “Gumby” for some of the positions she would end up in.

Continue reading

New Orleans Event Recap

IMG_0087We had a nice gathering at the home of Ben ’80 and Mary Maynard, overlooking the Mississippi River. Ben served a Sazurac, which is a New Orleans drink made with rye whiskey, simple syrup, bitters, and absinthe.

At Williston Northampton, Ben was a big lacrosse player and the 1980 boys lacrosse team were the “unofficial” New England champs, having beaten the Longmeadow High School team, the reigning Massachusetts State Champs.  They had six players go off to play college lacrosse, including Ben.

Continue reading

Alumni Ice Hockey Rousing Success

Game Debuts New Format

DSCN8992On Saturday, December 13th, our annual alumni ice hockey game was played but under a new and exciting format.  Not only did we have enough alumni come back for an alumni versus alumni game, but we also had our female ice hockey alumni join us for the first time.  It was a rousing success—25 alumni were in attendance along with 20 guests.

Team Waidlich (expertly coached by TJ Waidlich ’05) squeaked out a last second 7-6 victory over Team Bowden (coached by the injured Bobby Bowden ’10) behind four goals from Alex Paolo ’12. For his efforts, Alex was awarded the game MVP.  Down 3-5 late in the game, Mr. Bowden’s team made a spirited comeback to tie the score at six goals apiece.  Freshman goalie Gabriella Decomitis ’18 played stellar throughout the first half, making a number of spectacular saves to hold Team Bowden to one goal.

Continue reading

New York City Event Recap

DSCN8967The event was held at the home of Marlene Krauss and Zachary Berk on the Upper East Side. In the end, of the 69 people present, we had a total of 25 alumni. There was a ton of food and Marlene and Zachary were great hosts, as was their daughter Olivia ’16.

There were great conversations being had all over the room. Faculty members Monique Conroy, Sarah Sawyer, and Paul Rutherford socialized and spoke to prospective families. Director of Admission Chris Dietrich and Head of School Bob Hill spoke briefly and then Bob introduced Joshua Harper and the Caterwaulers. They sang three songs, which generated lots of conversation afterwards. Chris Dietrich said that this is the type of event we need to do on a more regular basis.

Danielle Wieneke McCarty ’04 and her brother, Michael ’03 there with their spouses/significant others. Danielle got married this fall and is working in the financial world. She connected with Monique Conroy, who was her advisor. Danielle played soccer for me on the 2004 New England Championship team. Michael played football here for Mark Conroy and is currently the Director of the Greenwich Rowing Club.

Continue reading

Washington DC Alumni Reception

Hosted by Dr. Peter Cressy ’59 at the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) headquarters on Tuesday, November 18, the event featured a scotch and bourbon tasting. Marc Belanger ’86 and Brittany Weiss ’07, who represented Williston Northampton School at the event, said the DISCUS staff did an amazing job of educating and entertaining the guests.

During a brief presentation Marc showed the Surface, part of Williston Northampton’s CTI program, and Brittany walked the crowd through downloading and using the EverTrue App.

The first guest to arrive was Michael Gaubinger ’05, who is living and working in Arlington, VA as a government relations specialist. Ray Ahearn ’67 came with his spouse Kerry Dumbaugh. He has an interesting job in Congressional Research at the Library of Congress.

Continue reading