I am the son of Elisabeth (Betty) Ann Plattner Cook [1938]and live in Browns Summit, North Carolina. This morning at 5:36 my mother passed away. Going through her papers I came across her diploma. She was a delightful woman who was ever so proud of her days at Nasson. She put her degree in home economics to use in a variety of ways and i am proud to say she could (back in the day) cook anyone under the table. Perhaps that is a bit informal to put it but she was tremendous in many ways and you would have been as proud of her as she was of Nasson. I am thrilled to have found the web sight and your email address. Thank you for carrying on the good name and heritage.

God Bless you this Christmas Season and in the year ahead,
Robert B. Cook, Jr., Episcopal Priest since 1973
(December 14, 2013)

It was my first time away from home and I loved every bit of it. I made many life long friends.

There are too many to mention but one amusing memory is of Mrs. Jackson (our housemother) and her weekly lectures on how to conduct ourselves and be a perfect lady -- including how to walk down a staircase without lowering your head to look at the stairs! I would love to hear from some of my classmates. A few months ago I was able to catch up with Lila Mitchell Sparrell (she was a two year student) whom I hadn't seen in over 50 years. We had a great visit and I plan to visit her when I next get up to Massachusetts. I found Lila through the Alumni Association. Thanks.

What dorm or house did I stay in while at Nasson? Well, Brown Hall when I was a Freshman, Bradeen House when I was a Sophomore until they moved us back to Brown Hall to make Bradeen over into a home for the new President, John T. Holden. My Junior year was spent at Hanson Cottage and then for my Senior Year I was asked to remain at Hanson in order to be a House "Warden" for which I earned a small salary which was applied to my tuition and other expenses. That helped my struggling parents considerably. My own class moved on to Holmes House.

How many people were in my class? Oh gosh, the four year class had only a handful...14 and there were 16 two year students. What was Springvale like in those days? Like a small rural village in which everyone knew everyone else. People congregated at Raymond's across the main street for snacks in between classes, we got goodies at Kostis' delicatessen and we did our practice work in and around Springvale.

I did my legal practice work in the office of L. Orlo Williams, who had an office right there in the post office building near Brown Hall. My religious secretarian office practice (if you could call it that) was done with the Rev. Fred Charrier, minister of the North Parish Congregational Church on Main Street in Sanford. I used to go there one afternoon a week and type his letters and do other chores. The office was about as large as a closet and was heated with a little small radiating fan on the floor -- the rest of the building was unheated -- making for "cold runs" when I had to deliver things to other parts of the building.

My roommate was Lee Thorndike -- she was a home ec student so I was always privileged to participate in samples from the home ec labs whenever they were trying something new out in their kitchens.

One would ride the bus from Springvale to Sanford for an excursion -- be it shopping or going to the movies.

Brown Hall had a laundry in its basement and there we could wash our clothes and hang them on lines to dry. Some of us would forget them for days at a time until our house mother would remind us to take our clothes down.

We always had to "sign out" and "sign in" when I was at Nasson. Deadline for being in was, I believe, 10 o'clock.

Two nice things which happened to me as a result of being at Nasson was that I met Dr. Francis Bailey, President of then Gorham State Teachers College (now Univ. of Maine) and he called me to become his secretary there at Gorham. I did that for a year but found I was terribly homesick for the "religious" work I had left (I was then working for a local Mass. Council of Churches.) And the other things was that Dr. John Holden (who by then had gone to the University of New Hampshire to teach) called me to become his secretary up there at UNH. Unfortunately I had just accepted a job with the National Council of Churches in NYC so could not accept his offer. But it was great just to be asked.

I still miss Nasson and all its good folks, even after 57 years. Keep up your good work with the Association.

Helen "Geg" (Gegenheimer) Kennedy
P. S. through you folks I did find Lila Mitchell who was at Nasson same time as myself and made contact. She and her husband stopped by my Branford apartment for about an hour one day on their way south. It was a great reunion.

Making great friends and keeping in touch all these years.

My husband of 45 years, George, and I have returned to Nasson for Alumni Day and Homecoming in 1999. It was great to see old friends, and very exciting to learn what the Alumni Association is doing -- a dedicated group! One of my favorite memories is to just close my eyes and picture living in Maine Hall. What a homey place. We all had so much fun -- talking 'til midnight or after, playing jokes on each other, singing the latest songs, and last, but not least, studying and cramming for final exams!

The roomies and friends there then; the "Smoker" in Brown Hall; Big Sister Christine Stone Hoar and Journalism class; Nat Marriner Hoag and Bill; Betty Buzzel, Roommate Alice Aloisi; the fire drills when my fur coat would leave before I did, so much more that I'm recalling since I found this site.

Dave and I met at Nasson our first night of school there and married two years later.And that was just freshmen and sophomore year!

All of them, playing Whist, English class.

Maine Hall.
Winter Carnival snow sculptures.
Ted's for coffee.