Bob Sanford '77
Traditions run deep in the Sanford family. Bob Sanford '77 is the fourth generation at Sanford and Hawley, a building supply company with a dedication to value and a customer-centric approach which have kept them in business at their original location for 138 years.
Their success is due to their “down home” attitude, hard work, and dedication, and today they have nearly fifty employees across four sites in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Following their father’s path to Millbrook many years later, children Abby ’16 and Bobby ’14 are involved in the family business and maintain their connections to Millbrook School.
Millbrook had a significantly different look in the mid-1970s than today. 215 students were enrolled at Millbrook in the fall of 1974, including 137 boarders and 78 day students (some forty of those being females since the school had recently become co-ed). It was a picturesque drive past the marshes and down a dirt School Road, and after a visit to campus, Bob was certain that Millbrook was the place for him. During his three years, he served on the Fire Department Community Service, as a dorm prefect, and as president of the ‘Strongbox,’ the student-run bank located in the Barn.
“Millbrook was very formative in my life, especially in terms of leadership opportunities. Now, when I am on campus, I am enamored by the designs that Millbrook’s architects—whether that’s John Allee, Voith & MacTavish, or Gil Schafer—come up with. I am not creative; my strengths are on the other end, determining which materials will hold up better or be more practical in the long run. I enjoy working with the school and the architects to make the best choices for Millbrook.”
Frequent family visits to the area and to the Trevor Zoo made Millbrook seem like the home away from home it would eventually become for Abby ’16 and Bobby ’14. A tri-varsity athlete in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, after graduating, Abby attended Skidmore College and today is in commercial sales at Sanford and Hawley. Bobby played hockey at Millbrook and is operations manager, responsible for overseeing inventory and deliveries at the busy distribution center.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE PUBLISHED ABOUT BOB IN THE SUMMER 2022 MILLBROOK MAGAZINE
Their success is due to their “down home” attitude, hard work, and dedication, and today they have nearly fifty employees across four sites in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Following their father’s path to Millbrook many years later, children Abby ’16 and Bobby ’14 are involved in the family business and maintain their connections to Millbrook School.
Millbrook had a significantly different look in the mid-1970s than today. 215 students were enrolled at Millbrook in the fall of 1974, including 137 boarders and 78 day students (some forty of those being females since the school had recently become co-ed). It was a picturesque drive past the marshes and down a dirt School Road, and after a visit to campus, Bob was certain that Millbrook was the place for him. During his three years, he served on the Fire Department Community Service, as a dorm prefect, and as president of the ‘Strongbox,’ the student-run bank located in the Barn.
“Millbrook was very formative in my life, especially in terms of leadership opportunities. Now, when I am on campus, I am enamored by the designs that Millbrook’s architects—whether that’s John Allee, Voith & MacTavish, or Gil Schafer—come up with. I am not creative; my strengths are on the other end, determining which materials will hold up better or be more practical in the long run. I enjoy working with the school and the architects to make the best choices for Millbrook.”
Frequent family visits to the area and to the Trevor Zoo made Millbrook seem like the home away from home it would eventually become for Abby ’16 and Bobby ’14. A tri-varsity athlete in soccer, basketball, and lacrosse, after graduating, Abby attended Skidmore College and today is in commercial sales at Sanford and Hawley. Bobby played hockey at Millbrook and is operations manager, responsible for overseeing inventory and deliveries at the busy distribution center.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE PUBLISHED ABOUT BOB IN THE SUMMER 2022 MILLBROOK MAGAZINE
