The 1960/2010 Connection Project
Elfing February, 2010
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Another “Elfing Buzz” rippled around the
Mount Holyoke Campus on February 12th
as members of the Class of 2010 were seen
comparing the “Sand Animal” key chains and sea
shells that they found in red bags hanging on
their dormitory doors.
The bags, dropped in the dead of night, also contained a Chef Jeff cookie, Valentine wishes, a card containing our respective demographics and a poem by Mary Jo Salter entitled, “A Phone Call to the Future.” |
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Preparations mirrored those of the first Elfing Event in 2008. This time, however, Security had been notified that older women carrying large trash bags might be seen entering dorms on February 11th, and that they should not be questioned. The perpetrators were said to have chortled their way through a final symbolic delivery in Dickinson House, stopping to hang their last bag on President Creighton’s front door. This did not go un-noticed; she contacted them with thanks and reflections, as have a number of students. A senior was overheard attempting to explain this Elfing/Grandmother Project to her parents, amused that her particular sand toy was a lizard as her special interest is Paleontology. Students were very moved by the poem and want to read more by Mary Jo Salter. Several were spotted reading the card with demographics in the bathroom. One student wondered how she could Elf the Class of 1960. |
And from the Mount Holyoke College News...
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Members of the Leadership Committee met on Campus in September, 2009 Our class has embarked on a community service project with the Class of 2010 that may best be described as a combined effort to knit, crochet, sew, or even purchase outerwear garments for the children in homeless shelters in Holyoke, MA. We hope that if both 1960 and 2010 began making these items now, we will have many donations to take to the shelters on approximately October 31st. On April 26th, we kicked off the project with the Class of 2010 at Dana Whyte’s home in South Hadley. Ten juniors came to Dana’s for a two hour lesson on knitting or crocheting. These lessons were offered by both our classmates and two or three wonderfully skilled students. Our class was represented by Dana, Debby Dodge Wood, Gemma Carboneau Baker, Joan Corcoran Steiger, and Nancy Bloom. The students seemed thrilled to be learning a new craft and returned to their dorms with the beginnings of brightly colored scarves and hats. We will repeat this “teach-in” in the fall when the students will not be hampered by end-of-semester papers and exams. How may you participate in this project? If you knit, crochet, or sew, please work on some children’s (or adults’) outerwear items during this coming summer and fall. You may mail your donations to Nancy Bloom at 21 Maple Avenue North in Westport, CT 06880. Nancy will keep these items together at her home until we are ready to present them to the shelters after October 31st. If you do not do any handwork, would you consider buying a scarf, hat, etc. and mailing it to Nancy? We hope to amass a large collection of items that we can combine with 2010’s donations. (Dana will store the students’ work at her home.) We think that this is a project in which many members of our class and the Class of 2010 may participate. Proximity to campus will be a non-issue for us. The students seem very excited about joining with 1960 in a community service project and especially in this one. Please look at the pictures below to get some idea of the connectedness of our two classes as we worked together on April 26th. You couldn’t ask for a better way to bond two groups of women with a 50-year difference in their Mount Holyoke experiences. Please join us! POST SCRIPT: Post script to our 1960/2010 community service project: On Sunday, December 6, 2009, Maggie Georgieva ‘10 and
Sandhya Banskota ’10 helped Dana Whyte and Nancy Bloom deliver over 70
scarves, hats, and mittens to Our Family Place, a shelter for children in
Holyoke. Most of these items
were handmade by either our classmates or by the seniors.
What an exciting finale to our project begun in April 2009.
On September 30, 2008, our class continued to
connect with the Class of 2010...again on campus. As part of our
mini-reunion, we invited 2010 to a 7:30 p.m. dessert reception in their
honor at Willits-Hallowell. The response was thrilling! Young
women from the junior class responded in large numbers and before long, the
living room of Willits was alive with conversations about topics such
as "gracious living in the late 50's" or "majors involving
courses at the five colleges in 2008." Some
"grandmothers" from our class met their "granddaughters"
from the Class of 2010 for the first time. New connections were made. Click here to see a further description of this
event and to enjoy the wonderful photos taken by Paula Ham Johnson.
Seen in the Hampshire Gazette on September 1st!
SOUTH HADLEY - It's kind of like a family, with its own quirks, frustrations and lovableness. A family you may get a glimpse of from the outside, but cannot appreciate unless you're a member. You can't help becoming known at Mount Holyoke, so allow yourself to be - and you will get the most out of it. The sense of belonging we have in our warm and fuzzy, proud and driven academic community may seem sappy to outsiders, but we cherish it. You're not a number here, as you may have felt you were in high school, or even felt in your nuclear family, as they were preparing to spend $48,000 to send you to college. We throw around words like "community," but that is truly what we are at MHC. ••• Campus attachments As a tour guide, I try to convey that, although cliché, Mount Holyoke truly is a "home away from home" for many young women. I'm eager to advertise the homeyness of "good ol' Mount Holyoke," even if it conveys a sentimentalism outsiders won't understand. I can't tell you how many times over breaks my friends have expressed their eagerness to return to campus. Students have stayed on campus over the J-term and all summer for an internship or research opportunity, but perhaps more so for the community they find. You get a powerful sense of belonging as you get to know the campus: from the library, famed for its architecture, to the wall-papered dining halls, waterfalls and inspiring athletic facilities and laboratories. The typical student marches up to college buildings to engage in rigorous yet supportive, classes. Even places like the health or career centers - those looming places you may avoid, because of anxieties we Mohos walk around with, despite the warmth of this campus - can be welcoming. You can't avoid it. Everywhere around you there is someone who wants to know you, to help you and to watch you grow in your years here. At the Career Development Center, their mantra runs something like this: "We're here to help you make a life for yourself, not just a living." Maybe that's why our endowment isn't up to par with some of our neighboring schools. Oh well, that's because we're setting off to save the world - an aspiration you'd most likely overhear as you grab a delicious Indian meal in Wilder Hall or while brushing your teeth before bed at 2 a.m. After a typical night of intense studying. ••• Buddy system Current students feel nostalgic for this place - and we haven't even graduated yet! As in a family, we connect past to present through strong tradition. I have an official "buddy" from the class of 1960, who sent me an infamous Chef Jeff cookie and, frequently, emails. A student here cares about her fellow MHC women and the continuity of community relationships. Here, you can walk into your residence hall and greet Mary, who is cleaning the homey, brick house we try to describe to our friends, who are accustomed to high-rise dorms with elevators and cement block walls. You may chat with Mike in Blanchard, as he prepares your individual brick-oven pizza, or be invited to a pool party at a professor's house to celebrate the end of the semester. You can certainly walk into class and encounter your professors and peers engaging in anything from small talk to intellectual dialogue to swapping personal anecdotes. I wave at people tidying the greens, smile at local families pushing baby carriages through the botanical garden, applaud for the unusual performers in the amphitheater and support as many clubs and teams as I can. A professor once said you could have a full course load just by listening to the many speakers the campus draws. You are affected by the enthusiasm, and are eager to sample a little bit of everything. Trust me, you'll be better off having done so. So, weather the days that might be stressful or boring, or the occasional weekend without social activity - there is always something unexpectedly exciting around the corner. We are connected as an intimate group for four years: a family tree of "uncommon women on common ground," as my orientation packet stated years ago. Perhaps it sounds sappy to you, but it is so true for many of us. From the firsties to the reunion classes, it becomes a place we all love, and in a sense, will never leave. Kelsey Andersen is a junior at Mount Holyoke from Wilmette, Ill., majoring in Spanish and English.
This past March, the 1960/2010 Connection was made even more special by an invitation from the Class of 2010 to attend their Sophomore Ring Ceremony. The invitation began with the following words: “Dear Dana, On behalf of the sophomore class, I would like to
extend our most sincere invitation for you and your classmates to attend our
Sophomore Ring Ceremony on Thursday, April 24, The invitation was signed by Gloria Tang, the President of the Class of 2010. Who could say “No” to these moving words? In fact, twelve of us from our class attended: Dana Feldshuh Whyte, Gemma Carboneau Baker, Pat Goss McLain, Cece Frack Scott, Nan Jones Clarke, Paula Ham Johnson. Debbie Dodge Woods, Kasha Duffield Kingsbury, Heidi Keller Moon, Sherri Faught Gillespie, Angela Archetto Brosco, and Nancy Zone Bloom. We gathered first in the The ceremony itself was a very elegant affair. An all-string chamber ensemble from the Class of 2010 greeted guests who were then seated by ushers at assigned tables. After speeches by Joanne Creighton and Connie Allen, the Class Dean, the Class Board called up students to receive both their class ring and a long-stemmed red rose. Dana and Nancy were asked to assist in this part of the ceremony. The highlight of the evening, perhaps, was the coming together for the first time of several of our classmates with their 2010 “granddaughters.” This cannot be captured in words. Perhaps the attached pictures will show the joy in these meetings.
In mid-February 2008 a small committee of our classmates (see the report of Dana’s email below) and some students from the Class of 2010 became “elfs” who delivered RED bags of treats to each of the 593 members of the sophomore (2010) class. The bags contained a “Chef Jeff” chocolate chip cookie, a letter “from your Great Big Sisters from the Class of 1960”, a brief poem (by Emily Dickinson), a history of the Odyssey (and Romeo Grenier), a biography of Emily D., and a red and blue friendship bracelet.
The response from the sophomores was warm and appreciative. (See example below of a Thank You note from a member of the Class of 2010). This project was described by Dana Whyte in an email which was too funny not to be shared with everyone. Click
here to read the email report of event from Dana
here
for the letter to the Class of 2010
here
for example of a Thank You note from member of 2010
here
for the Emily D biography The first step we took was hosting a dinner at Willetts-Hallowell on September 4th for the 2010 Class Board. Dana Feldshuh Whyte, Joan Corcoran Steiger, and Nancy Bloom presented some ideas for a connection to these lovely young women and they seemed very excited. They in turn offered suggestions. Our brainstorming resulted in some of the following ideas: Joining together to do volunteer work (sophomore class-sponsored blood drives this year; Alumnae in Action sponsored by the Alumnae Association) Coming together at events sponsored for or by the Class of 2010 (see description below about our attendance at the recent “More for Sophomores” event, the Sophomore Ring Ceremony this coming spring, Junior Show, a reception for 2010 at out class mini-reunion next October) Connecting the two classes via email or letters (connections based on our careers/their possible career choices, our geographic location/their home away from school, our major at college/their intended major) Classmates who participated were: Heidi Keller Moon, Cece Frack Scott, Sadie Dalmas Jonsberg, Susan Moore, Pat Goss MacLain, Joan Corcoran Steiger, Dana Feldshuh Whyte, Nancy Zone Bloom, Gemma Carboneau Baker, Nan Jones Clarke, and Sheila Porter Lirtzman.
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Remembering our Gatherings:
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Clifton Johnson, Hockanum: The Winding Connecticut
Viewed from Mt. Holyoke, ca. 1909
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KELSEY
ANDERSEN
