“Marc Davis has won this year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree art competition with “Granite Ablaze,” a beautiful winter sunrise photograph of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park….Davis traces his passion for photography to Mooreland Hill School in Kensington, Conn., where he was a student from 6th to 9th grade. “I was extremely fortunate to have a teacher with a photography hobby, and was therefore able to develop and print in a darkroom at school. With his encouragement and direction, I fell in love with photography as art, and that passion burns stronger than ever today, three decades later,” he said. Read full story.

Just over a year ago, the 25-year-old NOLS instructor from Kensington, Connecticut completed the first, modern-day canoe expedition across America—a 4,300-mile solo journey from Portland to Portland, Oregon to Maine, that is. 2011 presents a new year for “Zand” and with it, a new continent to paddle across. Martin explains: “The Trans-Europa Canoe Expedition will follow the waterways of history across Europe; the route will take us west to east from the Atlantic Coast of France at Nantes, up the Loire River, through French canals to the Rhine River, over the mountains of the Black Forest to the source of the Danube River, and down the Danube to the Black Sea. The route, from Nantes to Istanbul, is more than 4,000 kilometers long and will take place between September and December, totally roughly 100 days.”

Making a beeline for Budapest, hoping to make it before the harsh eastern European winter sets in, Martin sent in this correspondence giving us the lowdown through Kilometer 1100, Donau (Danube) River, Tuttlingen, Germany. Stay tuned to Canoekayak.com, where Martin will be recounting the epic journey in a series of exclusive En Route dispatches. CLICK HERE to see No. 1.

Pop Mega superstar Justin Bieber released his holiday album “Under the Mistletoe” on November first which includes a track written by Melanie and her team of songwriters in Los Angeles titled “HOME THIS CHRISTMAS” which features The Band Perry. The album is available on iTunes as well as local department stores. “Home This Christmas” is Melanie’s first published work as a songwriter.

Melanie continues to perform as well as songwrite. Since her graduation from MHS, Melanie has performed at children’s parties, as well as performances at town events,area coffee houses and lounges as well as New Britain children’s festivals prior to moving out of state. She has performed at top entertainment spots such as The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY and B.B. Kings in NYC. Most recently she has performed at House of Blues in Los Angeles as well as at the Los Angeles Lobster Festival. She is also recognizable in the greater Hartford and tri-state area for having written and recorded a trio of parody songs for DJ Gary Craig of WTIC-FM 96.5 in Hartford which aired coast to coast as well as via internet radio.

Melanie is currently employed as a songwriter and vocalist with various production teams in Los Angeles and works at several major recording studios. She is also employed part time as a vocalist/hostess for Wayne Foster Entertainment. Melanie currently lives in North Hollywood, CA with her siamese cat, Ms. Vanderbilt.

Classes of 1989-91
A Mooreland Hill School reunion for the faculty and graduating classes of 1989, 90′ and ‘91 and their spouses or significant others was  held on Saturday, June 25th, 2011.