Remembering our 45^th Reunion

June 2007

Our 45^th Reunion was a wonderful time, with many highlights, thanks to so many of our classmates.  I’d like to share some memories and thanks with you.  This list is like the movie credits at the end of a film.  It may seem long, but then there were so many who did so much to make our own reunion so special.

Our Class Officers

Our former class officers were the backbone of reunion. Peggy Mahaney Rhoades, our President and Reunion Guru, helped inaugurate reunion planning at her summer home in Maine, and kept in touch with encouragement throughout the year.  Peggy’s husband, Steve Rhoades, inaugurated our ’62 Reunion web site with both skill and good humor.  Lucy Kirk, our Vice-President, chaired the Record Book, and, with the help of Mike Obourn Quenell and the St. Regis Workshop, and with Annie Smith’s dear bears, produced the lovely volume that was sent to every classmate this year.  Margaret Gaskins Gill, our Treasurer, handled checks and payments, coordinated with our Reunion Treasurer Virginia Greer Bonesteel, and also generously opened her doors in Maine for reunion planning.  Annie Steele Hummel, our indefatigable Secretary, kept us all in touch, and helped track down lost classmate addresses, and organized our winning walk/run participation during reunion.  And, of course, Karen Capriles Hodges worked diligently with a large committee of classmates over several years to solicit the contributions we gave to Wellesley College.  Susan Standish Brown was our diligent point person for Planned Giving as well.

Our class officers decided early on to sponsor several reunion events, to help set the stage for moving towards the 50^th reunion. Thanks to this decision, the Class Record Book, the tote bag and a portion of the Class Dinner were supported by the Class.

Reunion Committee and Events

Wellesley provides excellent assistance with Reunion, and many events are reunion-wide.  Sally Meredith from the Alumnae Office was always available for advice and direction for our particular questions.  Severance students were also available during the weekend for our help, and were delightful young women as well. 

We were so happy when Annie Smith agreed to be our Class Parade Marshal.  She had come down to the Boston area in 2006 for a lecture, bringing her books and inspiration for a class luncheon at Sara Clift Jones’s home.  In spite of her grave illness, she was delighted to lead us all in marching and song.  We were so fortunate to have her with us, and will never forget her leadership and courage.  Her images were in our Record Book, on our tote bag and on the ’62 in the Arts CD; she spoke at our panel session; she signed books for those of us eager for one; and

Another Reunion backbone was Virginia Greer Bonesteel, who early on agreed to take on the task of Reunion Treasurer.  She has kept the roster of reunion costs and expenses, working with Margaret Gaskins Gill during this time.  Virginia also led a lovely Reunion Photo Shoot early one morning, and was joined by several of us as we sought out the scenic vistas of the campus.

Tupelo Grove and Memorial Moment

Our opening class event took place on Friday evening, after dinner under the tent on Severance Green, when we held a Memorial Moment in a grove of tupelo trees in the new Alumnae Valley next to the Lulu Wang building.  The grove had been donated to the college by Margaret Gaskins Gill and her husband, through the Margaret and Stephen Gill Family Foundation. The college planned to plant 59 trees, but Margaret and Steve asked that 62 be planted!

Rev. Jane Vennard led us in prayer and reflection in a thoughtful and moving time.  Several classmates spoke in fond memory of those who had passed away since our last reunion. We placed purple glowing circles onto the tupelo trees in memory of our deceased classmates, and the trees were full of these circles as we left.  Betsy Bolln Munzer had the idea of using these glowstick circles, and provided them.  They were magical.

Hospitality

Key to a happy reunion is the hospitality provided at the dorm.  Early on, Marj Parish Bribitzer volunteered to be our Hospitality Chair.  Marj gathered a wonderful group of classmates who welcomed us, decorated the dorm, set out social hours, provided munchies, organized displays, provided and arranged flowers, put candies on pillows, and created a lovely warm environment for us all to enjoy.  Marj’s committee included: Betsy Bolln Munzer, Sara Clift Jones, Barbara Hobart Shope, Marcia Dennis O’Neil, Helen Goldblatt Guttentag, Mary Althouse Eikel, Carol Kurson Goldman, Carolyn Patton Detwiler, Ellie Holcombe Friedman, Marcia Kinnear Townley, Mike Obourn Quenell, and Ros Micou Winsor. Carolyn brought Wellesley glasses which she had personally ordered, both etched and engraved.  We were happy to use some for our gifts to speakers. Mary put out a call for our  “Purple Passions and Projects,” and set up a display of the articles, projects, books and materials sent by classmates.  Carol met with Wilma Slaight, the college archivist, to ensure that these, and all reunion books, articles, our art CD and future materials would be housed at the archives.   (NOTE:  Wilma welcomes all of our college-era materials for the archives, and said that they’re low on materials from the ‘60s.  She’d like our diaries, correspondence, photo albums, class notes and syllabi.  So send your boxes to her when you clean out your attic! You can ask Carol for more information, if you have questions.)

Saturday Class Panels

In 2006, Sally Rial Phelps suggested at Sara Clift Jones’s luncheon that there be class-led discussions of major events, highlighting the experience of our classmates.  She agreed to chair the development of these panels.  We were fortunate that Saturday was a rainy day, and gathered around the panels to warm us and inspire us.

For the first, ’62 in the World, Peggy Mahaney Rhoades brought together both classmates with international perspective and experience with two members of the Wellesley faculty.  Her panel included:  Lucy Kirk, Judith Stamp, Victor Kazanjian (Wellesley faculty), and Larry Rosenwald (Wellesley faculty).

Helen R. Strieder chaired the second panel, dealing with health issues and concerns.  Her excellent panel included:  Jackie Parthemore Blank, Sara Clift Jones, Anne Steele Hummel, Annie Smith, and Stacy Sneeringer (Wellesley faculty).

Marcia McClintock Folsom, who had chaired “62 in the Arts” when we were seniors, chaired a panel on the arts which included:  Pauline Bilsky, and Mary Welsh Baskett and herself.

These were thoughtful, and provocative, and classmates wished that we could have extended each one for a longer time.  Our classmates, both moderators and panelists, have invested their professional lives in their areas of experience, and had much to say.  This was extremely popular with the class.

Readings

In the summer of 2006,  Susan Levine Dworkin suggested that it would be good to invite class writers to have an opportunity to present their work during our reunion.  She was willing to chair the event, and carefully shaped two marvelous sessions during the day on Saturday for our class readers.  Some read from published books, some from works in progress, and their readings represented a range of work, from stories, to technical articles, to work on spiritual growth and meditation.  Our readers included: Carol Bensinger Liebman, Joy Kimball Overstreet, Annie Smith, Jen Carden Rogers, Marcia McClintock Folsom, Sue Sessions Zuccotti, Ellen Cantarow, Carol Kurson Goldman, Signe Clutz Hammer, Judith Stamp, Barbara Watt Friend, Jane E. Vennard, and Susan Levine Dworkin.  Again, we enjoyed the benefit of the rainy Saturday, and gathered ‘round our class writers to be enlightened, entertained, and delighted.  After the readings, and during the weekend, some of our class writers were willing to sign books for classmates.

Class Social Hour and Dinner

Toni Hess Gal took on the key task of organizing our class social hour and class dinner at the Davis Museum, a huge effort, which she organized seemingly effortlessly.  There were continuing questions during the planning year, since the Museum was under construction.  But everything was ready by reunion: the tent and white orchids, and food and drink brought us an elegant and memorable evening.  Toni used Emma Roberts, daughter of a Wellesley alumna, and her Capers Catering, to cater the evening.  Our social hour took place in the museum, and our dinner in our own huge white tent next to the lobby.   It was beautiful and grand. Toni contributed the cost of the glorious orchids, which were given to classmates who had helped with reunion.

Another highlight of this evening was the ’62 in the Arts show, organized by Diane Churchill.  It ran continuously during the social hour and dinner on the plasma screen in the Davis Museum lobby.  This was a power point presentation of 108 images of paintings, photographs and crafts produced by classmates.  They included works by Diane, Virginia Greer Bonesteel, Jeri Brunell, Joanne Couch Cogar, Leila McConnell Daw, Carol Kurson Goldman, Anne Steele Hummel, Martha Scoville Fetherolf Loutfi, Sue Wheeler Mason, Barbara Schlesinger Paul, Lynette Porteous, Barbara Hobart Shope, and Annie Smith.  Director of the Davis Museum, David Mickenberg, was impressed by the class artwork to the degree that he offered to work with the class to plan an exhibit for our 50^th at the Davis Museum!  Diane received assistance in the production from Davis Museum Technical Director, James Olson.  (NOTE:  If you’d like a copy of the “62 in the Arts” CD, I’d be happy to send you one.  Just send your request to me at marbewick@comcast.net.  There’s no charge, but you can send a contribution to the class if you wish.).

Parade Insignia

Our straw hats, flowers and double color ribbons (’62 royal purple and Wellesley blue) were inspired by Sue Wheeler Mason, a color and design guru, and Peggy Mahaney Rhoades, a great gardener.  This year, we invited classmates to select a purple blossom and to create their own hat arrangement.  Some had a modest lavender rose, and some an entire garden attached to the hat brim.  There wasn’t great uniformity, but great creativity, and some classmates had even brought their purple hats from earlier reunions. With blossoms attached.  When we marched along, led by class officers past and newly-elected, Annie Smith heard the comments from the side of the road “Will we look like that in 20 years?” and one of our classmates responding “You only wish!”  Annie marched us into Alumnae Hall for the Annual Meeting with great joy and enthusiasm.

What a memory!

Sunday Piquenique

On Sunday, after the Annual Meeting, we enjoyed a French café experience,  Café Au Revoir, under our great white tent and decorated with the gorgeous orchids from the night before.  Chaired by Joan Foedisch Adibi, this provided a leisurely and relaxing end to our reunion.  The mood was set by Ellen Cantarow’s easy jazz playing, and CD.   Virginia Greer Bonesteel had found purple berets in Paris for members of the committee.  Wine flowed.  John, my husband, with his degree in nuclear engineering, showed us how to fix the expresso machine (plug it in!).   Food came from La Riviera Gourmet of Wellesley.  And Joan and her committee, Siamak Adibi, Elise Adibi, Joanne Couch Cogar, Libby Sturges and Stan Browne, Ellen Cantarow and Jack Cole, Ros Micou Winsor, Virginia Greer and Charles Bonesteel, and John and I, enjoyed greeting and farewells to classmates.  (NOTE: Ellen, Elizabeth Hendry Vercoe, and Jill Coxhead McManus have all produced CDs of their compositions and performance.  Copies are in the Wellesley archives, and you can contact them individually if you’d like to purchase a copy from them.)

I hope I’ve included everyone, and want to thank those who helped, and those who came.  Please pass along your thoughts and suggestions to Marcia Kinnear Townley to ensure that our 50^th Reunion will be the best ever.  Do offer to help too.  It will be a great occasion!

With love and thanks,

Martha Reardon Bewick                                                                                                                Wellesley ’62 – 45^th Reunion Chair