November, 2011

Dear classmates,

Reunion planning is in full gear…… Fifteen members of the Reunion Committee gathered at Ann Jackson O’Sullivan’s lovely home in Wellesley on October 14. Many new plans are being unveiled, and enthusiasm for Reunion weekend couldn’t be higher! Please click here to read the condensed version of the meeting minutes.

What will be new this time around? For starters, we will be able to register in Claflin, our “home dorm,” and pick up all of our materials at the welcome desk. A large group of our classmates have signed up to provide hospitality in the dorm throughout the weekend. Registration will begin at 1 PM, so you can easily get to the first faculty lecture which begins at 2:30 PM. A second lecture Friday afternoon begins at 4:00 PM. Although subject matter is not yet determined, these lectures always provide a stimulating springboard for our return to campus.

We are pleased to be located in Claflin, our perch overlooking Lake Waban. Many of our activities will be scheduled there, including continental breakfast each morning, if we choose to stay in the dorm. Claflin is handicap accessible for those of us needing assistance.

Another new wrinkle will be the delightful location of our traditional Friday night clambake – under a tent in the Davis Museum courtyard – and there is the possibility of some surprise entertainment after dinner. There will be a rousing all-College Dance Party in the Academic Quad, when our festivities conclude that evening OR the option of a nightcap in Claflin……

As you may recall….. weekend parking is available in the new parking facility by Alumnae Hall. Transportation vans will be regularly scheduled on a route throughout the campus. A special bus will also be scheduled from Crowne Plaza for those classmates staying at the hotel rather than the dorm.

We’ll especially appreciate a ride to the Houghton Chapel Saturday morning. Kerry Johnson Snyder will present an organ recital at 9:15 AM as a prelude for our 9:30 AM Memorial Service. Kerry has become renowned for her ability to master the Fiske organ, the remarkable instrument commissioned for our Chapel by the College in the 1980s. Also, David Ferry has accepted our invitation to read some of his poetry at the service.

Beth De Sombres, Chair of the Environmental Studies Department, will be invited to speak to us at our Annual Meeting on Saturday in Claflin. She has been a champion of the 1957 Green Fund since its inception, and can tell us much about the sustainability efforts that it has fostered at the College. We’ll also meet our new class officers, when Ann O’Sullivan turns over the gavel to the incoming Class President.

Our Saturday box lunch in the Claflin dining room will be organized by dorm, so we can have an opportunity for good visits with dorm mates. Fortunately, you can catch up on all their activities prior to Reunion weekend in our 1957 Record Book which will be published and mailed to everyone next Spring.

HAVE YOU SENT IN YOUR RECORD BOOK PAGE YET???? Betsy Rainoff has given us many options for getting it to her, and many have already done so. We hope you will help to offset the $30 cost of production and handling by mailing her a check of any size. Please see the Record Book link on this web site to submit your entry and photo.

An interesting all-College event is in the works for Saturday afternoon, followed by many different

tours of College facilities. Our finale for the day will be a lovely, relaxing evening at the College Club, featuring cocktails and dinner There will be a no-host cocktail hour and a fee for our guests, but our Class Treasury will host the dinner for all returning classmates this June, in honor of our 55th Reunion.

Reunion is not complete, until we assemble for our class march to Alumnae Hall on Sunday morning. No, we don’t get to ride in the vintage cars yet……! But we can have rides as needed, and we’ll have a trio of Parade Marshalls to keep us in tune. The refurbishment of Alumnae Hall, in honor of Diana Chapman Walsh, is handsome, and maybe we’ll even hear strains of “In a Pickle’ resounding through the corridors.

We sincerely hope you’ll plan on a “trip extension” to the Cape for two days following Reunion weekend. We’ll be heading there after our Sunday noon box lunch. It will be the best way to ensure that you have time for a good visit with your College friends – both old and new.

We hope you have already set aside the dates: June 1-3 on the campus and June 3-5 on the Cape. It will be glorious.

Fondly,

Toni and Jan
55th Reunion Co-Chairs

P.S. It’s not too late to join the Reunion Committee, and we would enjoy having you on board. Our next meeting is in April at the College. Please email one or both of us, if you are interested:

Toni Murphey Harkness (harknesst@aol.com)
Jan Reddig Coggeshall (jancoggeshall@gmail.com)