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August 29, 2018 Class of 2018: Behind the scenes

40 Under Forty: A beautiful day at Tower Hill

Photo | Erika Sidor 2018 WBJ 40 Under Forty winners and members of Team Tower Hill: Ben Jones, Jennifer Leger, Grace Elton and Efua T. Dufu.

The problem with having a photo shoot at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston isn’t looking for a great background for photos. The problem lies in narrowing it down to a manageable number.

Luckily for WBJ’s 40 Under Forty photo shoot with in July, we had a guide – the best guide you can ask for, really.

Tower Hill’s young CEO, Grace Elton, was among the 40 winners this year, and she explicitly signed up to be in the photo group taking their shots at the 176-year-old botanical garden – Team Tower Hill: Elton, Efua T. Dufu, Jennifer Leger and Ben Jones.

The four of them had already planned elaborate outfit coordination: white and black outfits with a pop of red color through jewelry and ties. Jones, wanting to make sure he got just the right shade of red to match the women’s jewelry, brought about a dozen ties, dutifully carrying them from location to location as we took the various photos.

And with Elton leading the way, it was seamless to move from one great natural location to another.

The most obvious location – where Elton led the team, myself and photographer Erika Sidor right away – was the stickwork installation “The Wild Rumpus,” inspired by the children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are.”

Dufu, Leger, Jones and Elton played among the mini caves and sticks, with the only issue in the photo shoot was making sure no sticks covered their faces. One of these photos, with the four winners peering through a window-like opening in the sticks, was the runner-up to the 40 Under Forty magazine cover contest.

We could have shot all day at Tower Hill and gotten great photos every time, but unfortunately we only had a little over an hour. This still left plenty of time to visit installations like Pliny’s Allee, The Secret Garden, the Systematic Garden and The Court: Garden Within Reach.

With a mix of flowers, fountains, steps and sculptures, Sidor had a lot to work with, and Team Tower Hill was game for about anything.

The end result was Tower Hill had the best set of differing photos of all the 10 locations for the 40 Under Forty photo shoots.

Read about the entire 2018 Class of 40 Under Forty.

Michael Alden - Ascentria Care Alliance

Che Anderson - City of Worcester

Victor M. Archila - VMA Electric Inc.

Allison Beckler, DO - YOU, Inc.

Sam Bitar - Webster Five

Mark A. Borenstein - Seder & Chandler LLP

Kate D. Campanale - Massachusetts House of Representatives

Derek Canton - paerpay

Ryan Canuel - Petricore, Inc.

Jennifer Caron - Body Therapeutics

Danielle J. Clark - Clark Career Coaching

Heidi Cooper - Cooper’s Hilltop Farm

Matthew M. Copeland, P.E. - Copeland Building Envelope Consulting

Pat Davis - The DAVIS Cos.

Efua T. Dufu, MSW, LCSW - Ellite Event Planning

Grace Elton - Tower Hill Botanic Garden

Ursula Furi-Perry, J.D. - Becker College

Jared E. Gentilucci - Nitsch Engineering

David Gilchrist, MD, MBA - UMass Memorial Health Care

Alvara Gjylapi - Santander Bank

Erica Grinkis - The GazBar Sports Grill

Meredith Harris - Marlborough Economic Development Corp.

Erin Jansky - Worcester Housing Authority

Ben Jones - Boston Scientific Corp

Alexis Kelleher - Crust Bakeshop; North Main Provisions

Bert LaValley - Sustainable Comfort, Inc.; deadhorse hill & simjang restaurants

Jennifer Leger - Fidelity Bank

Brian Lemerise - Quiet Logistics, Inc.

Tom Lubelczyk - The Worcester Jazz Collective

Laura Marotta - Creative Hub Worcester

Ryan Matson - Small Business Insurance Agency

Michael P. McDonough, CPA - McDonough, McDonough & Corsini, LLP

Madeline Mendoza - NewVue Communities

Jessica Morris - MCPHS University

Nathan Oriol - Oakdale Rehabilitation & Skilled Nursing Center (Oriol Health Care)

Nicholas Pelletier - Pelletier Properties at Keller Williams North Central

Courtney E. Pelley - Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center

Lilian Radke - Unic Pro Inc.

Blaine Schnare - Harrington HealthCare System

Bonnie J. Walker - Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Learn how the winners were picked on our judges' page.

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