Denna Laing, Harrington Boarder of the Year

Click here for photos from the 2010 Boarding Banquet.

As the year comes to an end, the Class of 2010 is bracing itself for a barrage of "goodbyes" to classmates, faculty and staff. Thirteen seniors need to add at least one more farewell to their list; this year's senior boarders need to say goodbye to a campus they've come to know as home and to dorm mates they've come to know as family. At the annual Boarding Banquet on May 18, campus residents - students and faculty - gathered in the Castle to celebrate community, recognize accomplishments, and share parting words.

Director of Boarding Karen Gallagher began the evening by thanking the adults in the community for their supervision and support in the dorm. She led the room in saying goodbye to faculty residents who are either moving off-campus or leaving Nobles next year. Gallagher delivered a particularly poignant "goodbye for now" to fellow dorm parent Kate Ramsdell, who will take a sabbatical away from Nobles next year. "While this is just the first of many goodbyes as you prepare to take your year away, I would be remiss if I did not take this chance to publicly thank you for all you have done for Wiggins Hall in these past two years," said Gallagher.

Ramsdell stayed at the podium to announce the two non-senior recipients of the Deb Harrison Boarding Prize. The award is "given annually to a boy and a girl member of the boarding community whose commitment to the program exemplifies the years of dedication and service that Harrison brought to her boarding position over the course of 20-plus years." The recipients, Pat Toomey '12 and Shelly Picard '11, were charracterized as the some of the "finest young citizens who strive to be examples for their peers while looking for varied ways of improving the strength and cohesiveness of the Boarding community."

Before diving into the delicious dinner (prepared by FLIK), dorm parent Shannon Clark awarded two seniors with The Swayze Mabley Art Purchase Prize. The award is given "annually to a member or members of the residential community whose creative spirit, dedication to community, and love of boarding best reflects the years of dedicated service Joe and Joanna Swayze and Chris and Jan Mabley gave to the Nobles Residential Program." The 2010 recipients were Julia Vermeulen and Ashleigh Davila.

After dinner, each senior was honored by his or her roomate, who shared memories and heartfelt stories about the departing students. Almost all the speeches referenced the fact that this moment certainly isn't a permanent goodbye; the lifelong friendships forged in the dorm will carry on for endless years to come.

The final presentation of the evening was made by Gallagher, who awarded the Harrington Boarder of the Year prize, in honor of contributions by Mark and Tilesy Harrington, to senior Denna Laing. Of the dorm prefect, Gallagher said, "Denna, it is clear that you loved your boarding experience. You looked at this group in front you as members of your extended family and you treated them that way. I hope that the impact it had on your time at Nobles is something you will carry with you and look back on fondly. You should know that there are boarders looking at you up here today who know that their Nobles experience and their days in Wiggins Hall would not have been the same without you."