Join us in South Hadley for Reunion Commencement weekend to celebrate fifty years as true daughters of Mary Lyon.  Return not only for another coveted opportunity to parade in white (!) but to honor each other and our graduating granddaughters – the Class of 2010- as they follow generations of Mount Holyoke women weaving the Laurel Chain around Mary Lyon’s memorial monument. 

Sentimental? Yes, but meaningful. 

Inspiring? Yes, but timely. 

Intellectually stimulating? Definitely, as we explore the themes of our Uncommon Women’s Common Read…Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” and share classmates’, students’ and faculty thoughts on the world today. 

Fun? Absolutely, but only if you relish spending time with women you respect in the setting of one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country.

                             Carey & Joan                       

Carey Downs Gibson                   Joan Corcoran Steiger

carey@careygibson.com                    steigerj@aol.com

Co-Chairs, Class of 1960 50^th Reunion

Thursday, May 20 to Sunday May 23, 2010

South Hadley, Massachusetts

Click here to view minute video of Jan Keffer inviting you to lunch	Click here to view minute video of Carey Gibson talking about The Common Read	Click here to view minute video of Sheila Lirtzman, requesting help for hospitality

Some weekend highlights. Note: Reunion begins on Thursday 

·        Thursday evening discussion of the world’s environment led by popular  MHC Professor Tim Farnham and students from the Environmental Studies Center as we all will have read Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring…right?  Following our Welcome Back reception  on the patio overlooking the bridge  next to Willits Hallowell Alumnae Center, dinner in the upstairs dining room 

·        More opportunity to refresh our minds  in Back-to-Class sessions led by outstanding MHC  faculty and alumnae on  Friday 

·        Traditional alumnae parade – a floating sea of white dresses of every size and shape on alumnae spanning more than 70 years; dark green leaves of the Laurel Chain resting on shoulders of exuberant seniors; tears, cheers, flowers mix with unbridled pride of place.   We  see it all this time as not many classes march in front of us!                                                       

·        A Saturday afternoon event  in the state-of-the-art Equestrian Center honoring the leadership of Liz Topham Kennan who was instrumental in the creation of this landmark  college facility 

·        A not-to-miss, Friday morning jazz send-off salute to our graduating granddaughters in the class of 2010.  Some will meet our granddaughters in person for the first time;  For others, a memorable show of support for young women we have mentored and come to treasure 

·        Luncheon on deck of the charming, historic clubhouse of  The Orchards, Mount Holyoke’s own golf course designed by legendary Donald Ross and site of a USLPGA tournament 

·        Opportunity to play The Orchards course Thursday afternoon 

·        Early morning yoga with alumnae from all classes on Skinner Green … rejuvenating exercise in a place where memories were made  

·        A share-the-Mount-Holyoke-spirit, all college picnic lunch under the Big Reunion tent Saturday  

MHC golf course – The Orchards Clubhouse Site of Friday’s Luncheon	With a Championship View

Some of the classmates planning our reunion’s success and having some play time together as well

50^th Reunion Committee – A Work in Progress

Carey Downs Gibson – Co-Chair    carey@careygibson.com
Joan Corcoran Steiger – Co-Chair                  steigerj@aol.com
Dana Feldshuh Whyte – Class Co-President        dlfwhyte@comcast.net  Sue Bradley Cabot– Class Co-President            amitybc@maine.rr.com
Bev Rowlings Smith – Treasurer                    dpshac@comcast.net  Pat Kennedy Ascher – Co-Chair 50th Reunion Gift Committee pascher@mtholyoke.edu
Joyce Johnson Spencer – Co-Chair 50th Reunion Gift Committee jjandbobs@msn.com
Gemma Carbonneau Baker – Co-Chair Reunion Book Committee   gemmacbaker@sbcglobal.net
Paula Ham Johnson – Reunion Book Chair, Reunion Photographer, Leadership Gifts  phj38@cox.net  Sara Dalmas Jonsberg – Program  & Uncommon Common Read
Nancy Zone Bloom – 2010  Granddaughter Class Connections   nancyerb@aol.com
Sheila Porter Lirtzman,  – Hospitality  porter1vt@yahoo.com Email porter1vt@yahoo.com  to volunteer for an hour on the reception desk greeting returning classmates .  This will be a big, fun committee.  Sign up and bring your smile!  Cece Frack Scott - Hospitality
Lu Jaeckle Stone – Sign Wordsmith
Jo Amanti Piltz –Reunion Scribe, Leadership Gifts   Jean Angelilli Mahoney, Publications and Nametags  jeanmahoney@verizon.net
Alice Westbrook Cross - Hospirality Dana Feldshuh Whyte - Wednesday Evening
Jan Herridge Keffer – Friday Lunch & Golf , The Orchards janetkeffer@aol.com Susan Breitzke Dunn - Saturday Evening Dinner & Social Hour curlydunn@bellsouth.net Sally Bever Zweibach - Saturday Evening Program   szwiebach@gmail.com
Linda Cole LeStage & Margy Dodge Hyde    –    Spanning the Bridges of our Lives Conversations
Mary Ann Woodruff, Debby Dodge Wood –Reunion Telemarketers, Leadership Gifts          Join them and earn extra Reunion points!!
Sue Kovacs Buxbaum – Remembering Classmates Service, Leadership Gifts Evie Backlund Fuss - Leadership Gifts Carol Parker Beatty – Parade Attire Stylist, Leadership Gift Committee
Tina Marsden Gillis – Class Honoraries, Leadership Gifts
Rinda Yust Allison – Leadership Gifts rindaallison@yahoo.com Barbara Main Derbyshire - Leadership Gifts Nancy Bireley - Leadership Gifts Bireley1@comcast.net   Jackie Cannon Brown –Leadership Gifts momabrown23@gmail.com   Lucy Tripp Eubanks eubankslucy@bellsouth.net   Elizabeth Topham Kennan – Honorary Chair 50th Reunion Gift   Fran Hall Miller – Leadership Gifts fmiller@bu.edu    Carolyn Hansen Montgomery – Leadership Gifts chmonty@aol.com   Ellen Patz Myers- Leadership Gifts Epm710@verizon.net   Sarah Koerner Peterson – Leadership Gifts Sarahhp458@earthlink.net   Sandra Germond Pritz – Leadership Gifts sandypritz@aol.com   Judy Rogers Swisher – Leadership Gifts jrv@psu.edu

At our quinquennial class meeting on the Sunday morning of Reunion Weekend, we will vote on the following slate of officers
to serve for the next 5 years---

ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION OF MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE

PROPOSED SLATE FOR CLASS OF 1960- REUNION 2010

The Nominating Committee respectfully submits the following slate of candidates for class officers to serve from 2010 to 2015.

President                                                    Patricia Kennedy Ascher, pascher@mtholyoke.edu

Vice President                                            Carey Downs Gibson, carey@careygibson.com

Reunion Co-Chairs                                   Janet Herridge Keffer, janetkeffer@aol.com

                                                                    Joy Fletcher Montgomery, joyandym@aol.com

Secretary/scribe                                        Judy Sayler Olmer, olmerj@aol.com

Treasurer                                                    Beverly Rowlings Smith, dpshac@comcast.net

Co-Heads Class Agent                            Lucy Tripp Eubanks, eubankslucy@bellsouth.net

                                                                    Julia Gibson Biehn, jkbiehn@quadnet.net

Web Coordinator (highly recommended)  Joyce Johnson Spencer, jjandbob@smsn.com

Nominating Committee                            Sheila Porter Lirtzman, porter1vt@yahoo.com

                                                                    Judy Sayler Olmer, olmerj@aol.com

                                                                    Patricia Wood Barber, 973-635-6758 or office email:

                                                                    patricia.barber@atlantichealth.org

(3 members)

q These candidates have all been informed of their nomination, have knowledge of their job description and responsibilities, and have agreed to take office if elected and to serve a term of five years.

NOTE:  Additional nominations may be made from the floor at the class meeting providing that consent of the nominee has been obtained in advance.

Submitted by:

Carole Corcoran Huxley, Chair of the Nominating Committee

Thoughts on the Meaning of Reunions from

 Reunion Scribe Jo Amanti Piltz…

Tis the season---for college applications, recommendations, and interviews.

Yesterday I met with a young woman who is eager to make Mount Holyoke her academic and social home for the next four years, and I was struck by how much she reminded me of all of us over fifty years ago.  She is agonizing over grades, SAT scores, and the dread college essay.  Do you remember that hoop?  I do, and I feel a similar frisson as I struggle to write something meaningful now for this 50^th reunion site. 

That long-ago essay destroyed my Christmas vacation.  Our topic was “Why do you want to attend Mount Holyoke?”  I must have wept buckets of tears before admitting that after moving and changing schools endlessly as an army brat, I wanted to attend a college whose name alone would say something immediate about who I was. Time after time over the years, new acquaintances have greeted my background information with exactly the “Aaah” that I wanted at eighteen.  
 

Certainly my colleagues, students, and friends have all known me as an advocate of Mount Holyoke.  For years I’ve worn my keys on a MHC lanyard, driven a car with a MHC sticker on the window, and decorated my classroom with MHC posters.  I truly hate selling, but I am never embarrassed by touting my college experience.  In fact, I have clarified my own awareness of the value of four years at Mount Holyoke while encouraging others to attend.  I borrow from our President David Truman, when I tell prospective students that three things make a great school: a great library, a great faculty, and a great student body.  Now I add to my spiel the question: “and with which of those three things will you spend the most time?”  With other students, your talented friends.” 
 

At MHC, I lived in the library, and I loved learning from Peter Viereck, Mr. Leedy, Mr. Rox, Ben Reid, and Mr. Smith.  Miss Regier’s organ concerts made the hotly-contested chapel requirement a pleasure.   But the buildings and the faculty have changed, and even the concepts we learned are updated.  Our fascinating and warm-hearted friends are the constant. 
 

These are tough economic times, and a week with old friends must be considered within the context of other important priorities: food, shelter, family, and even the reunion gift to the alumnae fund. When our heads rule our hearts, women tend to put sensible items in first place and other’s desires and needs ahead of our own.  Until our 30^th reunion that was my own pattern.  I missed our 35^th but the 40^th and 45^th reunions strengthened my realization that memories of friends pale in comparison with time together in the present.  If you’ve never been back for a reunion or if you are questioning the need to attend our 50^th, I hope that you will make a commitment now to the May 2010 weekend in South Hadley.  The friends with whom we learned will be there.  I consider this special reunion an investment in the future.
 

A reunion is not really self-indulgent.  It is a necessity. 

                                          Jo

*********************

Be strong.   Do extraordinary things.  Treasure women friends.

Come to Reunion!