Formal Announcement of the Launch of our Building Community Campaign, Harvest Fair, October 17, 2009
David Stone Class of ‘73, President of Applewild’s Board of Trustees and parent of an alumnus, made the following remarks:
Thank you all for joining us this morning to celebrate our progress and our plans. 
The path to today’s announcement began about four years with our Long Range planning process. Through that process, which incorporated recommendations from our re-accreditation process, Applewild identified a series of needs. Once we defined these needs, a broad group including Chris and his Administrative Team, trustees, parents and friends went to work developing more detailed plans to meet these needs and, importantly, to fund them. On both the planning and the funding efforts, we have made great progress which we are excited to share with you today.
• We recognize the need for affordable faculty housing which serves as an inducement to attract outstanding faculty to the school. We were able to meet this need through the renovation of the apartments at Flat Rock, and a generous early gift allowed us to complete these renovations before the start of the 2008-09 school year.
• We needed to increase our endowment in support of our enhanced Financial Aid programs. Doing so would both assure that faculty and staff children can affordably consider Applewild as an option, and increase the outreach to our diverse population. Here also, several very generous gifts have already allowed us to meet this goal.
• Finally, we identified several key facilities needs which are central to our program:
o We need a modern dining hall and kitchen to seat and provide meals for
each division, and;
o We need a new Wood Shop for our Upper School program.
We are extremely pleased to have found an excellent solution to our need for a Wood Shop. Following our Campaign announcement here, I encourage you all to take the short walk up the hill with us as we dedicate that new facility.
I want to thank the members of the Steering Committee who have created such early momentum: Kim Ansin, Todd Crocker, Wells Dow, Ron and Pia Feldman, Joe and Tia Lotuff, Christin Catalano, Kelly Jennison, and Chris Williamson. Now, I would like to invite Ron Feldman, an Applewild parent, trustee, and member of the Campaign Committee, to share his thoughts on why we need a new kitchen and dining facility.
Ron Feldman spoke about how, to address our facilities needs, we have developed plans for a more efficient campus footprint. The Dining Hall will be located to connect the upper and lower campus and provide a strong visual link. He explained that we envision a campus with a kitchen and dining room in the center of the campus which will serve lunch to
all students in two sittings.
Ron went on to note that family style lunches at Applewild are central to the school’s culture and climate: “Personally, I think the name dining hall does not convey the true use of the building. It could be called the Applewild Community Center,” he said. “Lunchtime is much more than simply eating a meal. Family style meals are a time when the school comes together to reinforce Applewild’s core values. Students read poems, get their birthdays announced, share information, and – most importantly – communicate with other students and faculty.” Looking ahead to a reconfigured K – 8 school, he noted, we will still be too large to sit one division in our existing space; and our Crocker kitchen, originally built in 1911, cannot be materially improved. The new facility, he reminded us, is a key need.
Board member and Building Committee Chair Will Aubuchon, ’92 then spoke about the planning process for the Dining Hall. He introduced the Design and Concept team: Board members Sandy Dannis, David Duval, Wells Dow, Lincoln Associates architect Dan Quaile, Bennett Builders owner Walter Bennett, Dave Wood, John Kellar, Tally Lent, Erica Hager, and Chris Williamson.
Will noted that the building addresses our key need for modern, well equipped dining room and kitchen facilities in a cost-effective way. As careful stewards of our community’s resources, the committee, he said, has focused on providing an energy efficient building that combines functionality, careful use of site, and aesthetic value. It will be located to assure future development opportunities, including space for choral and instrumental music, which will further tie the campus together. Click here to read more of the Formal Announcement...