News

Trail Dedicated in Stotts’ Honor

The “Stott Trail” was dedicated to Fred and Susan Stott in a small and intimate ceremony last Tuesday at the trailhead. Fred Stott, who passed away on December 1, 2006, was fondly remembered by everyone attending the dedication. Ruth Quattlebaum, Intructor in Art and School Archivist, called him her “institutional memory,” because he was raised on campus and returned to work in the Office of Academy Resources. Mark Cutler, Search and Rescue Director at Phillips Academy and Andover Village Improvement Society (AVIS) trustee, said that for Susan Stott, a passionate activist and conservationist who retired from her position as Director of Business Services at Phillips Academy in 2003 and currently acts as an AVIS trustee, the trail represents a connection with her husband that will remain in perpetuity. “Fred was born two-tenths [of a mile] from where the trail is, in Taylor Hall,” said Susan Stott. “It’s special that the trail was named both for my husband and myself. Phillips Academy has become a far more important community in my life than I ever imagined 25 years ago.” The trail, located behind Taylor Hall, links a conservation owned by AVIS with the PA campus. Cutler said, “The trail symbolizes a figurative but also literal connection between AVIS and PA.” Emily Trespas, Instructor in Art, and Stanley Warden, who went to school with the Stotts’ daughter, supervised most of the project. Under her direction, Search and Rescue students and Non Sibi Day volunteers performed the bulk of the trail clearing in addition to designing and building a boardwalk. Susan Stott said, “[The process of building] the boardwalk was kind of fun. I went down and Mark [Cutler] and Ada Fan, who is at Deerfield now, were down there and the kids had jumped into the stream and were covered in mud while they were trying to put in the posts to hold up the boardwalk.” Before the trail became overrun during the construction of surrounding developments, the trail was used by PA students and faculty walking down to Pomps Pond. Cutler said the town swimming was most popular “probably in Fred’s time.” The Stotts’ daughter used to often play at the pond, looking for salamanders. After words from Cutler, Trespas and Susan Stott, the “Stott Trail” sign, made by Ron Johnson, Manager of Grounds and Vehicles, was unveiled and participants were invited to take a stroll along the trail. “It was a small gathering, so I had a chance to say ‘Hi’ to most of the people who had come and all of whom were special in one way or another,” said Stott. “We had beautiful weather, the sign was wonderful and Mark [Cutler]’s comments were wonderful.”