If your holiday shopping spree has yet to materialize — or if you’ve been scared into your house by an impending winter storm — the 2024 Bates Alumni Gift Guide is here to help you find presents from the comfort of your own home.
Stuffed with meaningful gifts sure to charm everyone in your life, from your youngest tots to your foodies to your eclectic art collectors, the fourth annual guide features more than 40 products and services by alumni around the world.
2024 Bates Alumni Gift Guide
Check out the complete 2024 Bates Alumni Gift Guide to shop for tomato sauce, handmade art, photography, and more.
From the Retail category, put together Liz, Lizzy, and Lewiston, and you get Lewis | Organic Essentials for Baby + Kids.
Liz Coulson Libré ’02 and Lizzy Sall Ott ’04 own and operate the textile and home goods company, aptly named after Bates’ home city. The two women were friends in high school in Pennsylvania, followed one another to Bates, moved to New York City as young alumni, and eventually drew on their distinct artistic skills to launch and grow the widely-successful Lewis.
Publications including The New York Times’ Wirecutter, New York Magazine’s The Strategist, HGTV Magazine, and Martha Stewart Living have featured Lewis. Celebrities Serena Wiliams and Amy Schumer were spotted on Instagram dressing their kids in the brand’s clothing.
As Bates students, Libré and Ott came to know and love Lewiston for its rugged beauty, in contrast to stereotypical imagery of coastal Maine. The ethos of Lewis echoes Libré and Ott’s impression of Lewiston as a place to let the underdog shine.
“All the artwork is done by hand by Liz, so it has a very loose imperfect look to it that we love,” Libré and Ott say. “We think Lewis and Lewiston share an uncommon beauty factor.”
Lewis is known for its patterned, 100 percent organic cotton baby and kids’ clothing and bedding.
“We aren’t interested in typical cookie cutter imagery for kids,” Libré and Ott say. “We mostly turn to nature for inspiration, and things other brands might not think of as beautiful — snakes, oysters, porcupines.”
Gift-givers from Maine to Florida can indulge in another Lewiston-influenced product with beer from Magnify Brewing, founded by Eric Ruta ’14 and based in Fairfield, N.J.
As a Bates student who majored in environmental studies, Ruta interned for two years at Baxter Brewing in Lewiston, a popular location for student interns to connect academics with real world experience. “That sparked my interest in the craft beer industry,” he says.
Magnify’s hazy IPAs, fruited sours, and sweet stouts are available to purchase in 11 Eastern states and at the Magnify taproom in Fairfield. The tap list includes a ready-to-gift Imperial IPA dubbed “Stocking Stuffer” and a nod to Lewiston with hazy New England IPA “Maine Event.” Delivery is available throughout New Jersey.
Ruta appreciates that his professors gave him academic credit for the internship. “Without that experience, I probably wouldn’t have opened Magnify.”
Check out the full gift guide for items from novels to shippable cheese to handcrafted ceramics and sustainable furniture made from something entirely unexpected: recycled chopsticks.
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