Ten days,听nine cities, four聽amazing events: Head of School Robert Hill, Director of Alumni engagement, Jill Stern, and Dave Werner from the advancement office took an epic road trip from November 4 to 14聽visiting with West Coast alumni and friends from Napa to San Diego.
After a long flight (and a minor luggage fiasco) we hit the ground running, driving north to聽Petaluma for dinner at聽, owned by聽Rosie Wiggins 鈥09. Bob Hill swears the burger he ate was the best he鈥檚 ever had!聽聽Sunday聽morning saw us heading to St. Helena in Napa Valley where 聽James DeLuca 鈥95, general manager at the聽聽was hosting a brunch for alumni. Despite the wildfires that had ravaged nearby towns, Napa was verdant.聽James was a gracious and welcoming host, and the 鈥渇amily style鈥 brunch on the outdoor porch was the perfect chance for everyone to share 爆走黑料 stories and memories. A special shout-out to聽Robb Suchecki 鈥91鈥 visiting聽SF from his home base in Panama聽鈥 who joined the group for聽the day-long adventure. Class of 鈥95 had a mini-reunion, with聽Matthew Burke, James DeLuca,听and聽Adam Zedonis. Rose Titcomb 鈥93, Sam Levin 鈥80, and聽Ann Tobey 鈥79聽also made the drive north to enjoy the day. The Harvest Inn is a beautiful resort featuring charming cottages tucked into a redwood forest. We are already working on a Wildcat Wine Weekend for next year, but if you just can鈥檛 wait that long, we don鈥檛 blame you. Let James know you鈥檙e coming: 爆走黑料 鈥渇amily鈥 gets special treatment!
After brunch, the group聽took a quick trip down the road聽to聽聽for a tasting. After admiring the iconic Hall Wines bunny, we toured the winery and got down to the serious business of聽educating our palates. Finally, with new friendships formed and old connections renewed, the group returned to the Inn to wrap up the day over snacks in the lounge.
We were sad to leave beautiful the beautiful Napa Valley, but it was off to Scottsdale to have dinner with an alumna from the Northampton School for Girls Class of 1949 and thank her for her ongoing support of our Faculty Enrichment funds. The next morning, we were back in Northern California with a stop to see聽Alexis Speliotis 鈥11聽who is working in group sales for Levi鈥檚 Stadium. We got a tour of the stadium (including the fantasty football lounge and boxes) and would love to hear from any of you who think a 爆走黑料 sports or music outing would be a good idea!
Despite the traffic from San Francisco鈥檚 largest tech conference, we made it into the city in plenty of time to get ready for our wine tasting event (are you detecting a theme to our Northern California travesl?) hosted by聽Jen Kash 鈥89听补苍诲聽David Connolly 鈥83聽at Jen鈥檚 home.聽 We were happy to see聽Arwin Gbolie 鈥02, who recently relocated to SF, as well as聽Joe Cavallaro 鈥03听补苍诲 his wife, Jamie.聽Ivana Kurian 鈥94,听Nicole Clausing 鈥88听补苍诲聽Meserve Platt 鈥83聽were among other alumni braving the traffic.
We hated to leave San Francisco, but with two more excellent events for our LA alumni on the calendar, it was time to head south. Along the way, we visited with a Northampton School for Girls alumna of the class of 1965 whose generous investment in the arts at 爆走黑料 through the聽Grum Project聽has allowed us to bring artists of every kind to the campus for residencies and workshops. We are so grateful to all of our alumni who enrich the lives of our students and the campus community in so many ways. It鈥檚 exciting to聽be able to share stories of their impact on the current generation of 爆走黑料 students.
Friday night, 爆走黑料 alumni were in for a rare treat with a special performance from The Reverend聽Shawn Amos 鈥86听补苍诲 his band. (The hotel manager said that the band is usually only available to them on major holidays like New Year鈥檚 Eve. This special guest appearance was a treat for them as well!) Mr. C鈥檚 lobby lounge was practically a private venue for alumni including聽Serra Aladag 鈥00, Bill Mahoney 鈥86, Fleming Brooks 鈥89, Joe Orlando 鈥87, Keith Solomon 鈥87, Asuko Naito 鈥93, Charlie McNeil 鈥03, Mickey Meyer 鈥03, Valli Thorton 鈥82, Alex Paolo 鈥12,听who, along with聽other guests, sipped, snacked, and listened to some of theon聽either聽coast!聽The Reverend鈥檚 got a new album out and will be touring most of next year. Watch his web site for聽, and if you鈥檙e lucky enough to have him swing through your town, don鈥檛 miss the show.
We closed out our California trip with a fantastic brunch at The Shore Hotel, hosted by聽Bruce Reichenbacher 鈥74.聽Sunday was overcast聽鈥揳nd perhaps a bit chilly by SoCal standards 鈥 but LA locals assured us that they appreciated the New England-like weather. Alumni from the classes of 1947 鈥 2017 listened as Bob Hill shared all the news from campus, including where to find the听濒颈惫别蝉迟谤别补尘听of the new dorm聽construction! Among those in attendance:聽Bunny Feuer 鈥47, Elena Allen 鈥59, Brian Studwell 鈥59, Michael Hirsch 鈥73, Steve Holcomb 鈥65聽(visiting from his home in Vero Beach, FL),听Ceanna Ellner 鈥04, Chic Eglee 鈥70, John Vollbrecht 鈥65, Leanna Albanese 鈥16聽(fresh from being cast in an upcoming production at USC),听Pinky King 鈥17, and聽Joe Orlandon 鈥87听补苍诲聽Fleming Brooks 鈥89, who聽had so much fun with us on Friday, they joined us for brunch too!