I was fortunate enough to have been a 4-year student on the MH campus, and to have spent much time on the NFLD campus. As a member of the stage crew which spent many hours in the Auditorium, and a summer employee of the conferences for two years, I came to love the Northfield side as I did my Hermon side. Our reunions have over the years taken place more often on the Northfield campus as well. I worked the Gould kitchen, lived in Hillside, walked the expansive lawns and sat on Roundtop late in the evening watching the constellations slowly turn overhead. How many of you have explored the towers of the Auditorium, or taken a yellow bus to the drive in movie theater from the campus where we parked across the back row and sat on the ground? I had more fun on both campuses than I ever did at my family home, and have come to the realization that the schools really were my home, reunions and visits are homecomings. The houses I lived in as a child aren’t in the family any more, relatives are gone, where is there to go to muster up those feelings? I drive back to the Connecticut valley. It’s sad to see that there are some graduates who have lost their connection, who don’t feel there is anything to come back to. If you miss the Dolben library or the art studio, the carillon, give the new arts center a chance to re-enchant you as it did me. The school is more than the sum of its geography to me, it’s the people and the memories, the mission, the excitement of learning. I will be back next June, come too and give the place a chance.
Dave Stone ‘65