Thanks to Carey Downs Gibson and Joan Corcoran Steiger and all their committees for a memorable weekend. 

What a weekend it was! Volunteers began arriving on Wednesday to assemble the reunion gift bags, and to attend a welcome cocktail party at the home of Dana Whyte and Curtis Smith.

Please click on respective pictures to see photos albums of each event. The photos link to Picasa (free) where you will see thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail photo to see a large view.

Hit "View All" to go back to thumbnail view.

Photo Album for Wednesday, May 19, 2010

On Thursday, those who had signed up for 18 holes of golf at the Mount Holyoke owned "Orchards Golf Club" enjoyed a beautiful afternoon. Classmates registered in Buckland Hall throughout the day. A cocktail party and dinner were served in Willits Hallowell.

Photo Album for Thursday, May 20, 2010

Friday began early with a Jazz Band and '60ers in those 50's outfits (college scarves, blazers, circle pins, poodle shirts, and "all that jazz"). We cheered the Class of 2010 (and our many "Granddaughters" from that class) on their way to Kendall Hall for a graduation rehearsal. Dana Whyte and Nancy Zone Bloom presented the graduating class with a check for $2010, to give their treasury a start.

There was a gathering in Gamble Auditorium (in the Art Museum) for a discussion of our Uncommon Women's common read followed by a class on "Top Ten Health Law Advances of the Past 50 Years" by Fran Hall Miller.

Lunch was held on the patio of the Orchards Golf Clubhouse.

More classes were held in the afternoon led by Carol Klein Mack ("Playwriting Now"), Curtis Smith (Women's Brain), Andrea Morel Farsakh ("What are the Prospects for Peace in Isreal-Palestine?"), and Linda Conway Correll ("Twenty-first Century Creativity: An Evolutional Paradign for Developing Ideas"). Overlapping activities included a Tea for the 50th Reunion Class hosted by the class of 2010 and an informal gathering of classmates in Buckland's living room.

Friday evening we gathered in Willits-Hallowell again for awards (Pat Kennedy Ascher and Barbara Main Derbyshire each received a "Loyalty Award" for their service to the college), followed by a social hour and dinner. There was also a Cornerstone Reception at the President's House after dinner.

Friday Day Album	Friday Evening Album

 

Then came the busy day (!) of the weekend - Saturday.

In the morning we gathered for the traditional reunion parade. We were alglow with smiles and our reunion fashions - a hat with a brim, a blue tote bag, and a blue "Mount Holyoke" scarf which was worn in many ways by the 150 paraders.

The graduates (596 of them!) carried the Laurel Chain to Mary Lyon's Grave where they placed it and sang songs. Then came the Alumnae Association Annual Meeting in the Amphitheater.

Eileen Shanley Kraus received the "Achievement Award" (Presented to an alumna whose achievements and service to the larger society, through salaried or volunteer fields of endeavor, exemplify the ideals of excellence of a liberal arts education, who uses her talents with professional distinction, sustained commitment, and creativity, and who reflects the visions and pioneering spirit of Mary Lyon). This is a rare award and we were very proud of Eileen!

The Class of 1960 received every possible award from the Alumnae Association for attendance and for fundraising. We had a dorm full of lovely flower arrangements for the rest of the weekend! We raised just over $1million from 100 percent of the "solicitable" members of 1960.

After a cookout lunch on Skinner Green, there was an "all-college" exhibition and reception at the Equestrian Center in honor of Liz Topham Kennan. The horses maneuvered through both Western and Traditional Dressage movements. It was a thrill to watch, knowing that Liz was responsible for the building of this now renowned center for equestrians on a college campus.

Next on the list of events for the day was our class photo (on the steps of Skinner), after which we walked to the 1904 Formal Garden (near the Art Museum) for a moving remembrance ceremony. An Anthurium plant named after Leone Guthrie Reeder (who was the Chair of the National Fund for the U.S. Botanic Garden (Click here for photo) was given to Mount Holyoke and is featured in some of the photos. Rose petals were tossed in the pond as a remembrance.

Saturday Evening included a social hour in Buckland and a delightful, delicious dinner (no dorm food for the 50th reunion class!!!) in the Abbey/Buckland dining room. The group then walked to the nearby Lab Theater (now called Rooke Theater), and had a memorable program by producer Sally Bever Zwiebach in which Deb Kretschmann Taylor, Carolyn Johnson Reese and Sue Kovacs Buxbaum played various roles in "A Tapestry of Accomplishment" (Click here to read the presentation) a beautiful tribute to "anonymous" members of our class who have done amazing things both as volunteers and in their professional lives.

Saturday Morning Album	Remembrance Ceremony Album	Saturday night - dinner and theater and "celebration" Album

As all good things come to a end, so there was Sunday.

After breakfast in our dorm(s) dining hall, we had our class meeting.

Meanwhile there was an interfaith alumnae memorial service in Abbey Chapel, and the Class of 2010 Commencement. There was a brunch in Willits-Hallowell (what will they do when the class size is > 600?) and final (sniff) checkout.

Any additional photos can be added to the albums. Please send (on a CD or thumbdrive) to

Below are the many committee members and various photos of classmates involved in the planning. Please note below that the Slate of Officers was Accepted. (Check under "Officers")

I hope you will all help update more photos and stories from our 50th reunion (jjandbobs@msn.com).

Hope to see YOU at our 55th!!!

Committee members for our 50th:

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 - Hospitality 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, voted 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@yahoo.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.