S P O T L I G H T D E P A R T M E N T S - The Taft School

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S P O T L I G H T The white wood duck is a mutation, not an albino, of the Carolina wood duck found along the eastern seacoast. The mutation happens once in 100,000 birds. The bird on the right is an old squaw, which is found along the Atlantic seacoast. Julia and Kem Appell ’55 in their backyard aviary. education. As Julia explains, “We can’t be all things to all people. We make the choice not to breed the birds.” Instead, they are bred and hatched in Litchfield and then brought to the Sanctuary. In fact, Kem is quick to invoke his “mentor” Mike Bean, and to credit his help with creating and maintaining the Sanctuary. Mike is some thirty years younger than Kem, and is the superintendent and curator of the Livingston-Ripley Waterfowl Trust in Litchfield, begun by Dillon Ripley, an ornithologist and former secretary of the Smithsonian. It is Mike Bean who first showed Kem, clad in his Cole-Haan shoes and his Sunday finest, as they tramped together through the muddy grounds of the Waterfowl Trust, what is possible to create for these birds. Kem’s reaction, he says, was “typical: I want it all, and I want it now.” Unfortunately, he had to wait for the eggs to hatch and for the hatchlings to fledge (to feather), so he read, and he learned “the hard way.” I sense the determination of this man—and the vision, and the patience it took to execute his dream. There was much to add and to alter in terms of his property. The pond originally held trout; the neighbors had to learn to accept the deliveries of propane to heat the buildings, and to get used to the school buses. Kem gave up golf, skiing, the country club, and trips to the Caribbean. He and Julia are fairly tethered to their backyard oasis, in fact, and they get only part-time help in running and maintaining the Sanctuary. Yet both are quick to affirm its centrality in their lives and its many rewards. Put most simply, it is something to share with others, from second graders to college students, from grandchildren to hip-wader wearing Audubon Society members. The Appells’ creation of the Sanctuary has led to professional memberships and an ardent side interest. Kem is on the board of the American Pheasant and Waterfowl Society. He has also developed a passion for wood carvings of birds and has been asked to judge carvings from all over the world. “Wildfowl Art,” as it is called, is a beautiful and delicate form of representation. Like the second graders, wood carvers also make use of the Sanctuary. They come to observe and study the eider and other waterfowl living on the pond. Kem and Julia show me some of these incredible carvings, and I am struck by the detail of each. Life-size and life-like in every way, the carvings are warm and vivid renderings of the very creatures I had seen swimming, splashing and feeding on the pond. Thanks to the Appells, I am far away from Friday afternoon traffic and the cares of a restless world. Sara Beasley is a member of the English Department. She came to Taft two years ago after teaching at Davidson College. 20 Winter 1999
ALUMNI IN THE NEWS Alumni IN THE NEWS Bob Taft ’59, Governor of Ohio Ohio picked another Taft for public office last November. Bob Taft, two-term Republican secretary of state, won the governor’s seat 90 years to the day after his great-grandfather William Howard Taft was elected U.S. president. Bob also recalled the service of his grandfather and father in the U.S. Senate [Robert Taft ’06 and Robert Taft ’35]. “My only aspiration is to be the very best governor I can be,” Bob said. He prevailed in an “often bitter campaign” with a 50-to-45 percent victory that marked the closest Ohio gubernatorial race since 1978 and a largely Republican sweep in that state in November. The New York Times called it “a race between Ohio’s conservative south and the urban north.” Taft built his near-180,000- vote statewide victory on comfortable margins in GOP-friendly smaller cities, greater Cincinnati, and rural Ohio. Taft, 56, campaigned on a “moderate package of promises led by his vow to improve both the funding and quality of public schools and to work aggressively to ensure that pupils can read well by the end of fourth grade.” He is the first Republican to succeed a Republican governor in Ohio since 1903. Prior to holding public offices in Ohio, where he has held various posts since 1969, Bob worked for the State Department in Vietnam and for the Peace Corps in East Africa. He holds a BA from Yale, an MA from Princeton, and a JD from the University of Cincinnati. Source: Randy Ludlow, The Cincinnati Post. Will Polkinghorn ’95, Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship Trust has announced that Will Polkinghorn ’95 was one of 32 American students selected for 1999. This year’s recipients of scholarships for two years of study at Oxford University in England were chosen from 909 applications endorsed by 310 colleges and universities. Currently a senior at Colby College, Will called Taft Headmaster Lance Odden shortly after learning of this prestigious honor. According to Mr. Odden, Will wanted to express his gratitude to the Taft School for “changing his life and making this possible.” In particular, Will wanted to thank Chemistry teacher David Hostage, retired English teacher Bill Nicholson, and retired baseball coach Larry Stone for “instilling in him the desire to reach for excellence.” Mr. Odden said that he is “incredibly proud of Will’s accomplishment,” noting that Will struggled at first when he came to Taft, but he “took full advantage of the school and held himself to the highest standards.” Will is the third Taft School alumnus to be named a Rhodes Scholar, following Karen Stevenson ’75 and Julianna Horseman ’85. Photo courtesy of Colby College Taft Bulletin 21
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Page 3 and 4: S P O T L I G H T They Call Her Dr.
Page 5 and 6: S P O T L I G H T Since the invadin
Page 7 and 8: S P O T L I G H T protect them from
Page 9 and 10: S P O T L I G H T This sort of excu
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Page 13 and 14: S P O T L I G H T “constructed we
Page 15 and 16: S P O T L I G H T far? As some of t
Page 17 and 18: S P O T L I G H T This pair of blac
Page 19: S P O T L I G H T Getting your duck
Page 23 and 24: Photo by Nicole Keys Donald Buttenh
Page 25 and 26: AROUND THE POND Squashing the Compe
Page 27 and 28: AROUND THE POND Summer Well Spent F
Page 29 and 30: AROUND THE POND Telethon Time Talk
Page 31 and 32: S P O R T Girls’ Varsity Soccer W
Page 33: E N D N O T E The complete sequence

S P O T L I G H T D E P A R T M E N T S - The Taft School

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