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Class Pages : Class of 1960

Northfield Class of `60 Fall Update Letter

October 5, 2006

Dear Classmates,

Greetings from a member of the class of 1960 from Northfield!  Our 50th reunion is coming up in JUST FOUR YEARS.  Does it seem possible that we were those squeaky clean graduates about to face the world or college so many years ago?  A browse through the yearbook – faces of such innocence and confidence smiling forth.  No wrinkles, smooth skin and a rather cheerful smile shown out from these shots of us in the various pictures of dorm life and activities.

Last month there were meetings on campus for those of us interested in planning the 50th reunion.  I had not been back as an alumna since graduation.  Walking among the buildings of Northfield refreshed my warm memories of wonderful times on campus, from the sturdy tie shoes to the english classes with Miss Palmer and the history (fear) classes with Miss Davis, and most importantly the great learning and thinking experiences such as writing a paper that was really OK.  While the beautiful campus is now empty, the memories of very happy times there are very much alive.  It is not the place now that matters but the impact of the experience of years (and years) ago that is mellowing in the mind.  I could just see us all in trench coats and dungaree skirts dashing through Stone Hall for milk and crackers.  Dummy in green, yellow, or pink seems like a distant chore and I have not cleaned anything as well since those days.  The work program is alive and well with current students contributing four hours per week.  A good cooperative spirit on campus promotes easy clean up after events, where students automatically put the chairs away.  Imagine that – not likely in our house. 

The current Northfield Mount Hermon campus is thriving with activity in the classrooms and dorms, on the sports fields and the farm; and the chapel now holds the whole school.  Remember the days of required chapel where attendance was taken from the balcony and we tried to fill the row by expanding five people into six seats?  We met in the campus chapel to hear about the school today.  We heard about the academic challenges and daily lives from the newspaper editor, the head of school government, and sports leaders.  We even sang Jerusalem in closing. 

Today there is still required religion, with students required to take both an introductory religious studies and a world religion class.  The curriculum is a rigorous college prep selection of various requirements and options.  Perhaps the english classes are still as good as in our day.  The math and science curriculum far surpasses anything even thought about back in the 50’s.  The faculty members are young and middle aged with lots of enthusiasm for teaching their young charges and facing the usual “I can’t believe she/he got into that mess” situation.  They are a caring bunch hoping to instill honor and honesty but with some forceful discipline if there are infractions.  Rules are kept in place, but there is a bit more flexibility, for example lights out, and meal times are not enforced. 

Combining everyone on one campus has created a closer-knit community with more time to spend with friends – more like the old days that perhaps got lost in the bus traffic of the two-campus school.  The whole school seems to know itself and place value in caring about each other. 

“Go forth and make the world a better place,” “think critically,” and “care for the less fortunate” is the charge for current graduates as it was in our day.  While we were at Northfield only a short time, those years were significant, formative years.  The challenge runs deep.

Where are we now?  After 45 years, what is done, what is undone?  From the up and down in fortunes and pounds, only the wrinkles continue to silently creep out.  Perhaps wiser and certainly older, life for me has been great fun and I look back fondly on those times at Northfield. 

So, do think about sharing a bit of what you have been doing and plan to come back for our 50th in June 2010.  There will be lots more news, lists of events, and weekend details so think good thoughts and come spend some time with old classmates.  Answer that “I wonder what ever happened to……….” question.

Cheers for the fall,

Nancy Chambers Goff 

PS: Here’s my update: I married right after college graduation and eventually had two boys. Both are now grown and married; one with two girls the other just married.  For the past 30 years I have worked as a chemical engineer designing distilleries to produce alcohol, the kind you drink, for the world.  The job is great fun and has taken me to very interesting places from Kentucky to Canada to Scotland to Africa.   I also volunteer (a lot) at Africare, an NGO dedicated to improving life for the rural population in Africa.  My husband Bob is now retired and was a tax lawyer with an oil company. We live in McLean, Virginia and enjoy all Washington, D.C. has to offer.

I look forward to your news.  Please send me an email at ncgoff@aol.com.  Let me know if you want a list of classmates. 

Enc: 50th reunion committee listing – contact someone you know and volunteer to help if you have a small bit of time and a large curiosity.

Class Volunteers
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Class AF Goals & Giving
NMH Annual Fund : Class Progress July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008

Class and School	Giving to Date	Pledges to Date	Goal	Donors to Date	Pledges to Date	Donors Goal
1960MH	$60068	$2350	$60000	60	4	100
1960N	$26982	$50	$37000	50	1	60

Last Update: June 27, 2008

 

Class of 1960 Photos
2007 Lobster Bake Alumni Events Photos



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