This past weekend marked The Island School’s first annual summer run-swim tour. First stop: Nantucket! 22 brave run-swim participants gathered around the flag pole at the Parizeau’s home on Saturday morning to stretch and sing the Bahamian national anthem before hitting the course. Three laps around the course and almost an hour later, the run-swim was complete, with everyone placing a triumphant slap on the flagpole.
The Parizeau family (Kate F’03, Doug S’06, Molly S’10, Sam S’14) then hosted everyone for lunch at their home before taking a tour of the UMass Field Station just down the road. UMass’s Dr. Sarah Oktay walked us through the facility and spoke about the important work she and her colleagues are doing to preserve the health of Nantucket, its inhabitants, and its surrounding environment.
After a much-needed rest in the afternoon, Island School folks gathered together again, this time at the home of the Simmons (Reilly F’12). They hosted a delicious barbecue which afforded the opportunity for alumni, parents, and prospective families to socialize.
The next morning, The Island School headed to the Taft’s home (S’09, S’13) in Pocasset on Cape Cod to tackle another run-swim. In true Island School fashion, Spring 2009 students took on the leadership role of taking the group on a course in and out of the water, complete with lots of arm workouts using rocks on the shore. Alumni and Island School families hung out through the afternoon playing lawn games and enjoying the delicious food provided by the Taft family.
To round out the weekend, Chris and Pam took a quick trip to Martha’s Vineyard on Monday morning and got to see a few familiar faces before heading back down the coast to their house in Lawrenceville.
We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to all of the families and alumni who opened up their homes to host these fun events and make the weekend possible: The Parizeaus (Kim, Ernie, Kate F’03, Doug S’06, Molly S’10, Sam S’14), the Simmons (Julie, Brian Reilly F’12), the Vanacores (Tricia, Mark, Caroline S’11, Cole S’13, Avery S’14, Reed) and the Tafts (Terry, Dave, Will, Krissy S’09, Sarah S’13, Haley).
We will be hitting the road again next summer so mark your calendars! In an effort to increase attendance and participation, we are going to consolidate the event to one location, so save the date for July 12 in Nantucket!