Class Notes from 2010
Click on a name (with any luck, they’re alphabetical) to get right to an alum’s specific note(s). Please send us news about what’s going on in your life by clicking here: alumni@nya.org, or use the Alumni Update Form link in the left column.
January 2010: Wellman let us know that he “Retires from the Army as a Master Sergeant on 31 Jan 2010 after 22+ plus years. Working as a computer scientist in the Army Research Laboratory, Vehicle Technology Directorate in Autonomous Unmanned Systems. I am excited to continue the work in unmanned ground vehicles as the field of robotics is fascinating.”
January 2010: Sam writes, “I have just graduated from the London School of Economics with a MSc in Public Policy and Administration. I am still happily living in London where I am currently working as an internet marketing consultant at Distilled (www.distilled.co.uk). In addition to the full time gig I have been working (and unfortunately, am still working) on launching an ethically sourced fashion label. You can feel free to keep track of my progress (http://crockstarlimited.com/blog) and I would love to hear from any old classmates coming through London.”
April 2010: I am currently in my first year in PA school at Shenandoah University in VA. While I miss Maine, I am loving living in the greater DC area and studying medicine. If there are any alumni in the area let me know!
February 2010: Kayte writes, “Hi! I’m wrapping up my second season on the swim team at Gettysburg College. Hoping to go for another conference win! Loving my sorority, Chi Omega, and enjoying being in the all women’s a cappella group called Upscale. I also just wanted to pass on the attached photo from this summer when I had a tea party at my house 
In the picture (from left to right): Laura Gribbell, Olivia O’Reilly, Kayte Demont, Lizzie Zuckerman, Alex Noyes, Annie Znamierowski, Emma Hinkens, Marion Leslie, Helen Poliquin. Hope NYA is doing well!” 
May 2010: “My husband Kevin and I welcomed our daughter, Katherine Parker Donahue, on April 28th, 2010. She’s adorable and has us wrapped around her little fingers already! Kevin is finishing his third year as a radiology resident at Boston Medical Center and I am currently on leave from teaching third grade in Wilmington, Massachusetts. We are enjoying a few weeks at home together and we are loving every minute of being new parents!” I am in my second year of my Master’s degree in International Conflict Resolution at the George Washington University and love DC. In July I became engaged to Frank Wallace. We are planning a BBQ wedding at my parents’ home in Swarthmore, PA. My sister, Julia (class of ’04) is maid of honor and will be attending the wedding just 3 weeks after the birth of her first child!
March 2010: Ethel notes, “Sold my house on Spring St. in Yarmouth, ME. Now live in St. Petersburg, FL. Married for 3rd time – sister Alice (MacNeil Sawyer) ’46 lives in Mapleton, ME. Brother John ’48 lives in northern Florida. Don’t know how many of my class are living. Graduated from Farmington – taught 4 years.”
After leaving Australia in late 2007, my husband Tim and I sent six months backpacking around the world. While we were volunteering at an orphanage in Ethiopia, we met a four-year-old boy named Biniam. We adopted him in early 2009, and this July, I had a baby girl named Bronwyn. We live in Cambridge, MA, where I run a nonprofit called Lola Children’s Fund (www.lolachildrensfund.org) that benefits HIV-affected orphans in northern Ethiopia.
February 2010: Britt writes, “Hi all! I wanted to let you know that Thomas Thor Peterson (of Lake Forest, IL) and I got engaged this past November. Our wedding is planned for May 2010 in Portland, ME. Here in Texas we are building a house on the headwaters of the Guadalupe River. We have fun travel plans to New Zealand, Sweden, Argentina and South Africa – also business/consulting travel to Tanzania.”
June 2010: Erec and Joaniko Koch wrote that “Nicole graduated from Mount Holyoke College in May 2010 and will begin work as a research assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital this summer.”
June 2010: In an update with his Annual Fund envelope, Matt let us know that he and his wife Gretchen welcomed Sebastian Knapp in August. They live in Redmond, Washington.
March 2010: Katie writes, “I am currently studying at the University of Haifa in Israel in their Undergraduate Honors Peace and Conflict program, which includes both Arabic and Hebrew, before returning to Maine for the summer at the end of June. When I return to Boston University in the fall I will have one more year of study before completing a major in International Relations and a minor in Muslim Societies. Who knows where I’ll be headed then!”
July 2010: Steve writes, “Having a good summer, enjoying the Maine coast out on Andy Pease’s ’02 boat every chance I get. Sadly, I won’t be able to make the Steve Morris Tournament this weekend due to a wedding in MA. As for my life: After college, I lived in Boston, working for a small advertising company, assistant managing a night club (next to Fenway), and coaching girls hockey. I moved up to Maine a year ago to get my Real Estate Appraisal License and now currently working for a Real Estate Appraisal firm in Scarborough (DAS). Along with that, I helped Coach Hulst and Peter Gerrity 05′ with NYA’s hockey team as an assistant coach. I plan on being the assistant for Cape Elizabeth next year and continue my appraising career and education classes. Excited to see some alumni at Brad Myers wedding this August and congrats to all alumni marriages. I left my girlfriend down in Boston (joke….she is a kindergarten teacher and not many jobs up here). No engagement soon to come.”
March 2010: Alison and Louis Joseph (Joe) Lobert III were married on Feb. 27, 2010 in Charleston, SC. Alison earned her undergraduate degree in Art History and Marketing from Wheaton College in Norton, MA and works as an Acquisitions Manager for Advantage Media Group in Charleston, SC. Joe has a degree in communications from the College of Charleston and owns Archer Construction.
June 2010: I just finished my first year of law school this Spring here in Vermont. I am in classes all Summer working on a masters degree in environmental law and policy, and will attend a public lands management seminar in Missoula, Montana this August, which will include overnight backpacking and lectures in the wilderness. I plan on specializing in fisheries regulation and sustainable aquaculture development. I live in the woods of Vermont with my four year old weimaraner. Any fly fishing alumni in the White River area, or Missoula in August, drop me a line and we’ll hit the rivers.
March 2010: Richie is engaged to Caitlin Woo, a July wedding is planned. He is a Bowdoin graduate and is employed as a Senior Associate for SAC Capital Advisors in Stamford, CT.
March 2010: Allison Pilitsis gave us an update on her sons: “Taki ’06 graduates from Babson 5/15. He is now doing an internship with C.B. Richard Ellis Commercial Real Estate in Boston. He has had his MA realtor’s license for 2 years. Hopes to work in real estate development. Alex ’08 is doing a spring semester at USM and hopes to transfer to Bentley for the fall semester.”
March 2010: Allison Pilitsis gave us an update on her sons: “Taki ’06 graduates from Babson 5/15. He is now doing an internship with C.B. Richard Ellis Commercial Real Estate in Boston. He has had his MA realtor’s license for 2 years. Hopes to work in real estate development. Alex ’08 is doing a spring semester at USM and hopes to transfer to Bentley for the fall semester.”
Jay Reighley, mother of Christine ‘10, attended The Head of the Fish regatta in Saratoga Springs, NY on Saturday, October 9. About 30 colleges attended, and the course was 5 km’s along the Fish Creek which dumps into Saratoga Lake. This particular race was the Novice 8, and there were 27 boats competing. Williams College came in first, St. Lawrence second and Hobart and William Smith third. Abby McIvor ’10 rowed for St. Lawrence, and Katie Paige ’10 and Christine rowed for Hobart and William Smith. March 2010: The Times Record reported that Krista has been selected to enter the Maine Conservation Corps’ 2010 Trail Training Academy and will conduct conservation projects throughout Maine, including extensive trail construction and rehabilitation. She will also receive training in chain saw use and safety and will be certified as a Wilderness First Responder.
March 2010: Travis will be honored at the Charles River Center’s 15th Annual Building a Dream benefit gala on May 5 with the Sam Gerson Humanitarian Award for the work he does with the Travis Roy Foundation as well as the inspiration he provides to countless others.
January 2010: Amy writes, “I’m currently nearing the end of my third year at Boston University School of Medicine and the plan is to eventually continue on to a residency in Emergency Medicine. I’m living outside Boston with my fiance, Sean Costigan, and we are planning an October 2010 wedding in Maine.”
June 2010: George writes, “I was always proud to be an alumnus of NYA. It must have been for the French studies I took that France awarded me the Croix de Guerre avec Etoile de Bronze in WWII while serving with General Patton.”
May 2010: Josh sent this note with his Annual Fund gift, “In my second year as an instructor at the Navy’s Nuclear Power Training Unit in Ballston Spa, NY. My wife Sara and I are gearing up for our daughter Evelyn’s first birthday in July.”
August 2010: Chris writes, “Just moved to the southern shore of New Jersey. Enjoying a new job on the ocean. Many visitors this summer. Hope to make it to NYA in October.”
