Class Note 1996
Issue
March-April 2021
With this, our first notes for 2021, I hope everyone in our extended ’96 family finds him/herself happier, healthier, and wiser than we all were in a hardship-ridden 2020. This year marks our 25th trip around the sun since our full class Commencement; and we have much to look forward to in the months leading to that big 25th milestone this June!
In a completely unplanned coincidence, this first column of 2021 includes updates on two classmates who had great news in our first column last year—and the unexpected directions a year of pandemic can have on even the best-laid plans.
As of last report, Lara (Burgel) Fowler, husband Chris Fowler ’97, and their kids (ages 13 and 10) had moved to Sweden for what was supposed to be the better part of one year. Lara had received a Fulbright scholarship to study water issues and Chris was on sabbatical (both on leave from their jobs at Penn State). Their kids were enrolled in an international school in Stockholm. They managed to travel to the Netherlands, France, Spain, and Norway in between working, studying and “eating cardamom buns.” In late February they went to the French Alps for Sweden’s “sportlov” (or sport week), returning to a Sweden changed by Covid. Chris contracted a mild case of Covid in early March; but his health deteriorated, including an unexpected trip to the Stockholm emergency room in late April. They managed to extract themselves in May—returning to the United States as Covid surged across Europe (and as Sweden continued to take its own unique approach to the pandemic).
Lara returned to her instructor role at Penn State’s Law School, but Chris was forced to take leave from teaching in the fall to handle the impact of Covid on his neurological system. As Lara put it, “All in all, it was an interesting year of wonderful adventures and serious challenges. If anyone wants a firsthand account of Covid and Sweden, feel free to reach out!” Continued best wishes for your recovery, Chris!
When we last heard about Christopher Newell, he had just won an Emmy Award for his documentary Dawnland. However, 2020 had its own plan for Chris as well! Growing up in Motahkmikuhk (a Passamaquoddy reservation in Washington County, Maine), Chris had long enjoyed festivals and events held in Bar Harbor by the Abbe Museum, a privately run exhibit space in Acadia National Park dedicated to the history and culture of Maine’s Native peoples. But the Abbe itself had remained largely unchanged since its opening in 1928 and distant from the Wabanaki culture it was intended to represent; a site celebrating the Wabanaki living community gave way to highly dated items locked under glass. Last March Chris took over as the Abbe’s new executive director and senior partner to the Wabanaki Nations—becoming the first Wabanaki executive director since its founding.
In some ways timing could not have been worse as the pandemic forced the museum to sit dark starting with Chris’ second week on the job. But therein lay an incredible opportunity to decolonize a museum that was intended to represent the four tribes of the Wabanaki community. Its unexpected closure led to an “on-the-fly” reinvention of the Abbe, while still retaining its entire staff and keeping overhead costs down. Chris was able to help move lectures and other programming online, so that they could be attended by people around the world and significantly increasing participation in museum events. “The year 2020 has been a disaster for the world,” according to Chris. “It’s been a disaster for the museum in a lot of ways as well. But at the same time, it’s been amazing. The sky is the limit, is what I feel like right now. That’s a hell of a feeling to have when, a couple of years ago, it was a struggle to pay for socks. A lot of ancestors are really looking out for me.”
—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org
In a completely unplanned coincidence, this first column of 2021 includes updates on two classmates who had great news in our first column last year—and the unexpected directions a year of pandemic can have on even the best-laid plans.
As of last report, Lara (Burgel) Fowler, husband Chris Fowler ’97, and their kids (ages 13 and 10) had moved to Sweden for what was supposed to be the better part of one year. Lara had received a Fulbright scholarship to study water issues and Chris was on sabbatical (both on leave from their jobs at Penn State). Their kids were enrolled in an international school in Stockholm. They managed to travel to the Netherlands, France, Spain, and Norway in between working, studying and “eating cardamom buns.” In late February they went to the French Alps for Sweden’s “sportlov” (or sport week), returning to a Sweden changed by Covid. Chris contracted a mild case of Covid in early March; but his health deteriorated, including an unexpected trip to the Stockholm emergency room in late April. They managed to extract themselves in May—returning to the United States as Covid surged across Europe (and as Sweden continued to take its own unique approach to the pandemic).
Lara returned to her instructor role at Penn State’s Law School, but Chris was forced to take leave from teaching in the fall to handle the impact of Covid on his neurological system. As Lara put it, “All in all, it was an interesting year of wonderful adventures and serious challenges. If anyone wants a firsthand account of Covid and Sweden, feel free to reach out!” Continued best wishes for your recovery, Chris!
When we last heard about Christopher Newell, he had just won an Emmy Award for his documentary Dawnland. However, 2020 had its own plan for Chris as well! Growing up in Motahkmikuhk (a Passamaquoddy reservation in Washington County, Maine), Chris had long enjoyed festivals and events held in Bar Harbor by the Abbe Museum, a privately run exhibit space in Acadia National Park dedicated to the history and culture of Maine’s Native peoples. But the Abbe itself had remained largely unchanged since its opening in 1928 and distant from the Wabanaki culture it was intended to represent; a site celebrating the Wabanaki living community gave way to highly dated items locked under glass. Last March Chris took over as the Abbe’s new executive director and senior partner to the Wabanaki Nations—becoming the first Wabanaki executive director since its founding.
In some ways timing could not have been worse as the pandemic forced the museum to sit dark starting with Chris’ second week on the job. But therein lay an incredible opportunity to decolonize a museum that was intended to represent the four tribes of the Wabanaki community. Its unexpected closure led to an “on-the-fly” reinvention of the Abbe, while still retaining its entire staff and keeping overhead costs down. Chris was able to help move lectures and other programming online, so that they could be attended by people around the world and significantly increasing participation in museum events. “The year 2020 has been a disaster for the world,” according to Chris. “It’s been a disaster for the museum in a lot of ways as well. But at the same time, it’s been amazing. The sky is the limit, is what I feel like right now. That’s a hell of a feeling to have when, a couple of years ago, it was a struggle to pay for socks. A lot of ancestors are really looking out for me.”
—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org