It was a championship-winning weekend for Williston’s field hockey program! While the girls varsity team was winning its first NEPSAC championship in school history, Bridget Instrum ’12 was leading the Middlebury Panthers to that team’s second ever NCAA Championship. Ms. Instrum was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in the Division III National Championship game. Read more about the game.
Opting to live off the grid was an easy decision for Leisa Knettle Mukai ’81 and her family. The only difficulty was in picking the perfect place. Enter the Acocote Eco Inn in Xcalak (pronounced Ishkalak), Mexico. Formerly Sandwood Villas, the beachside location has been transformed into a diver’s paradise—all with a firm commitment to protect the environment and reduce the carbon footprint of visitors. In a place where water is gold, collected rain water is used for flushing toilets, wash dishes, rinsing equipment, pouring on plants, and taking showers.
In this interview with Director of Alumni Relations, Jeff Pilgrim, Ms. Mukai talks about how she went from riding through the New England countryside on her bike to catering to water enthusiasts of all stripes at Acocote.
“You can have a direct experience of the water without a lot of commercialism, thousands of other tourists, and it’s a responsible approach to travel,” she notes. “We facilitate more than the creature comforts; we facilitate the adventure as well.”
What is your favorite memory from Williston?
Fall of my junior year, I bought a bike and rode around the country side. I loved the New England colors. Hitchhiking to Northampton and catching the Five College bus was really exciting for a kid from small town in eastern Washington State. And dressing up as the Tin Man—a costume Mr. Dunnington made for me at Halloween.
This was a nice little event at Boston’s Liberty Hotel on October 6. Originally the jail house for Boston, it was converted into a hotel with three bars/lounges in 2007. They tried to keep the jail house feeling with bars on the windows and much of the original floorplan. A very cool setting, which several alumni commented on.
We had access to the outdoor patio and the weather was nice enough that most people (there were almost 60 registered) opted to be outside. The alumni ranged from the majority in the 2000s to Peter Holleran, who was representing the Class of 1959.
The event began with an intro to 175th Anniversary events. Then representatives from EverTrue gave a talk about the app and circulated to answer questions. All the participants received a 175th pint glass.
My wife Karin and I travelled down to Mystic, CT for the annual Fall Wildcat North dinner. Cocktail hour was nice as people circulated and I was able to meet just about everyone. (There were a total of 27 people present.) The dinner was at the Harbour House Restaurant at the Inn at Mystic. There was a big wedding party going on in the next room and there was no way to completely shut off the room. As a result, there was a good bit of noise, making conversations tough.
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I talked about the 175th, Reunion, the galas and the new Bulletin (they loved the piece on Sarah as well as the “lost Williston” article, saying “it wasn’t lost when we were there so that just means we are getting old!”). The evening was a lot of fun. We all loved playing the “who was still teaching at Williston from our era when you were a student?” game. We talked a lot about Red Culver (my math teacher), Couchie, Rick Francis, David Stevens (my 10th Grade English teach), Steve Seybolt (their classmate and my 12th Grade English teacher), and Carpie
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Charlie and Joanne Pinnell Jr. ’59 flew in from Seattle. Charlie is in law, while Joanne worked with street kids and teenage pregnancies. Gene Pfeifer ’58, who was there, is also in law, as the partner in the fifth largest law firm in the world. He is originally from Springfield, MA and was going up to visit his sister, so I invited him to come over to Williston for a tour. He said he has walked around informally about five years ago and was impressed how much nicer the campus was from when they were students. Gene has a daughter who lives in Utah so he goes out there from November to January and does a ton of skiing. He says, “I’m a New Englander by birth but I only ski Western snow.” Gene played ice hockey here and we talked about playing on the pond.
Former Williston Northampton football player Danny Rowe ’12, a senior at the University of New Hampshire, was just named a semi-finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which his former coach and Director of Athletics Mark Conroy describes as “the most prestigious college football scholar athlete award in the country.”
“It is a tremendous accomplishment,” notes Coach Conroy. ” It recognizes everything we believe in: strong leadership, citizenship, a strong academic record, (and outstanding football ability!)”
Mr. Rowe, who is one of only 23 FCS (1AA) players in the country on the list, added of the honor that he is “just continuing what I learned at Willy.”
