nyc-mini

Back to home page

New York City Mini

May 23, 2012

Dickie Singer, Bop White Saunders, Judy Cooper Healey, M.C. Churchill, Doe Lefkowitz Litwin, Jane Estey Peters, Rhoda Ernst Bannon, Nancy Young Duncan, Ann Underhill Rosenbaum, Cathy Suarez Szap, Juli Shea Towell and Joan Winkel Ripley all met at the Yale Club, thanks to M.C., and reminisced about how for many years we would have had to enter through the side door. No longer second class citizens, we held our heads high and marched under the main canopy looking and feeling as if we all belonged there....which we did!

This year we were able to eat out on the patio which was lucky because we made so much noise we might not have been entirely welcome inside.

As Cathy Szap wrote ..."Yesterday's luncheon was wonderful. It was so good to reconnect with dear old friends and even meet a few who I hadn't known those long years ago. We really do have a special connection and it is especially cherished as the years pile up. Everyone looked so good -we seem to be holding up really well !!!

Many thanks to MC for the arrangements. The Yale club was a lovely location for the reunion."

Our Hostess With the Mostest

Bop, Ann and Cathy

Bop, Rhoda and Dickey

Nine members of the class of 1955 (plus four husbands) traveled to Philadelphia on June 27th for our latest mini-reunion, organized by Philadelphians Ruth (Harby) Harberg Dubois and Jane Barth. We spent two days viewing an exhibit of Impressionist works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as the Barnes Foundation’s incomparable collection of Impressionist and Post- Impressionist art.

Locals and art historians had known for many years about the world-famed collection put together by Dr. Albert Barnes from 1912 until his death in 1951. The museum Dr. Barnes built to hold his collection was located on an obscure residential lane, and visitors were tightly limited. Barnes was very particular about how the art should be arranged, and specified in his will that it should never be moved. For years Philadelphia art enthusiasts had tried to get around this restriction, and in 2011 they found a way by building a contemporary museum in downtown Philadelphia, which houses an exact replica of the original museum, where the art is arranged exactly as in the old one. The new museum opened this past spring, and Janie and Harby seized the opportunity to put together a two-day art mini-reunion just one month after its opening.

On Wednesday June 27 we all gathered for an early lunch at the Barnes Museum’s restaurant. Sylvia Wilson Lucas and Ian and Phyllis Kenney Gaffney and Steve came from Connecticut,. Debbie Walsh Kennedy and Betty Sturtevant Gardner from Maryland and Pennyslvania. Class President Joan Winkel Ripley and her husband Mills from New York. Judy Segal Drexler and husband Dave, who drove up from Delaware. Betsy Winters Horton, who flew in from Minneapolis, and, of course, Jane Barth and Ruth Harberg DuBois. The only near calamity was the class member who was looking for Benjamin Franklin Drive (site of both museums) but found herself driving – in error – across the Ben Franklin bridge to New Jersey! (Clever woman, she found her way back in time.)

After lunch we started into the exhibit. I had seen the collection several years ago in its original home, and entering the main room was amazing – it was indeed identical to the original, except that the beautiful yet unobtrusive lighting made the paintings virtually glow as they never did in the former gallery’s semi-gloom. Renoirs in abundance (total of 181!) – numerous Cezannes – paintings and specially made wall hangings by Matisse – these are only a few highlights of this magnificent collection. Picasso, Van Gogh, Seurat, Modigliani, Henri Rousseau, Chaim Soutine, and Degas were amply represented, plus an amazing Monet (Camille [the painter’s wife] at Work) that most of us had never seen.

After spending hours at the Barnes we re-assembling that evening at the Dandelion Pub, a replica of a true British pub complete with English chef and traditional pub grub. Several of us dined blissfully on mussels in white wine with garlic and a toasted slice of crusty bread and other similar treats. Who ever said the British couldn’t cook? The conversation never ceased!

The next day we gathered even earlier at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Sylvester Stallone as Rocky famously ran up the 72 steps to the front entrance of the museum. (There’s even a large bronze statue of Rocky in front.) The exhibit gave us a view of impressionist art quite different from what we had seen at the Barnes. Titled “Gauguin, Cezanne, and Matisse – Visions of Arcadia,” these painters had idealized the image of Arcadia – the ancient Greek era during which gauze-draped women, fauns, sprites, and Pan himself were said to make merry in the countryside enjoying nature’s pastimes – a virtual heaven on earth.

You’d think that after indulging in this surfeit of riches, we might be too overwhelmed to think of food. No such thing! We gathered in the museum’s new restaurant, Granite Hill, and most of us succumbed to the temptations of a delicious and unusual lunch buffet. We left fully satisfied, both gastronomically and artistically. Wink, Harbie, and Janie deserve our warmest thanks for having put together such a delectable two days in the city of Brotherly (Sisterly?) Love.

Best till last – the Philadelphia weather didn’t top 100 until after we had left!

Steve, Debbie, Janie, & Betty

Betsy, Debbie, Wink Betty, Janie & Harbie

Ian, Phyllis & Betsy

Steve & Sylvia

Ian, Phyllis, Mills & Betsy

Wink & Steve

Janie

Sylvia & Debbie

The Safford Sirens -- Janie, Bop, Cathy & Wink

The Pearson Princesses -- Juli, Ann, Nancy & Rhoda

Brigham's Beauty -- Doe

Porter's Pin-Up's -- MC, Dickey & Judy

MC & Juli

BACK TO SCHOOL MINI-REUNION

SEPT. 26-28, 2012

Joan Willenbrok Leonard

Dee Lamb Barstow

MC Bachman Churchill

Phyllis Kenney Gaffney

“Miz” Comey Grant

Carol Pilloni Johnson

Nancy Nutting Lane

Sylvia Johnson Lucas

Joan Winkel Ripley

Juli Shea Towell

Ellis Batchelder Weatherly

Mary Lou Judd Carpenter

Rhoda Ernst Bannon

Elizabeth Saunders White

Margot Roy Nasjleti

What is so rare as a day in June? A perfect fall day back in South Hadley!

Many of us arrived at Willits on Wednesday afternoon and were greeted by a beautiful flower arrangement compliments of the Alumnae Association and a table with blue folders and yellow pens and stationery for each of us. We were all staying in Willits-Hallowell with all the comforts of home. After an impromptu wine party in Wink’s room with much chatter we had a lovely dinner in our own private dining room.

The next morning we all met at breakfast and let me tell you we weren’t on diets! You should have seen this group chowing down eggs Benedict and bacon to boot! Perhaps we all have decided what the heck…why not live it up! Classes started at 10:00 so off we went to hear about The History of Life, Comparative Politics or Development of Social Thought. At 11:30 we went on to Racism in Schools or Music and Film or Modern Political Thought. The students were wonderful and the discussions were vibrant. It brought back so many memories.

After lunch we had another round of classes involving American Political Thought and Educational Psychology. We wanted to go to all of them! Soon it was time for our Social Hour in the living room and the arrival of our guests. First and foremost our two class honoraries Eleanor Townsley and Edwina Cruise. Edwina had just returned from a month in Italy the night before and threw her jet lag behind her and graced us with her presence. Eleanor has another new responsibility as Assistant Dean of the Faculty.

Joni Hass-Zubi was also an invited guest. Joni is now retired but for the many years she worked in the Alumnae Association she was of immeasurable help with all of ‘55’s reunions and activities. We have made Joni an honorary member of the class of ’55 so she is now one of us. Kate Rindy also joined us. Kate is head of the Mount Holyoke Fund. NOT there to talk money she was there as our guest. Kate, FP ’08, has been such a help to our class and incidentally is one of the nicest people I have ever met. I see an honorary in her future as a good friend of ‘55. Our speaker, John Lemly from the English department, also arrived in time for the social hour and dinner.

Professor Lemly spoke to us about Wendy Wasserstein and Suzan-Lori Parks. He knew Suzan quite well and they have stayed in touch. He brought his computer with him and on it played back her Baccalaurreate Speech which was absolutely wonderful and quite famous on campus. What a woman! I tried to find it on line but was unsuccessful. I did find her graduation speech at Mount Holyoke to the Class of 2001 when she received an Honorary Degree. It is well worth looking at. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/stories/5683067

The next morning we spent in the living room luckily since it was raining. Not just chatting…we were very busy. First Tanya Williams, Associate Dean of Students for Diversity and Inclusion, came to facilitate the book, The Namesake, by Jumpa Lahiri, which was the common read this year. She is also on the committee to choose the common read. Tanya was delightful and we loved hearing all about the students and how the Firsties were introduced to college life at Mount Holyoke. All of the Firsties were assigned to read the book over the summer. To see Tanya and to read a speech she gave go to

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/stories/5682353 It is well worth reading.

Next we had a discussion of our proposed class project based on the two books, Half the Sky and Girls Like Us. Trafficking and exploitation of children is high in the news these days as Obama spoke about it and there is a two day PBS special Oct. 1st & 2nd based on Half the Sky. We discussed ways in which we might help and if we wanted to. There will be more information on this here on the web site in the near future and we would appreciate hearing from all of you about this proposal.

At 11:00 Vinnie Ferraro joined us to discuss “What’s Happening in the World”…primarily the middle east. Vinnie was not teaching on Thursday or Friday and we couldn’t imagine having a mini without hearing Vinnie so he graciously made time for us. The class officers also elected to ask Vinnie to be a Class Honorary since he has been such an important part of our reunion experiences. He seemed to be very happy and surprised to be asked and accepted with pleasure. Sylvia and Wink had their cameras clicking trying to record all our fun for the rest of you.

After another delicious lunch it was time to leave our ivy tower and return to reality. This was the challenging part of the event as the rain was torrential and the driving was actually scary. Luckily we all seemed to have arrived safely but even this awful rainstorm could not dampen our uplifted spirits. A super shout-out is in order to Willie, Dee and Nancy for all their organization and planning!

Miz, Nan & Bop

Dee & Mary Lou

Bop, Nan, MC, Willie, Ellis, Phyllis & Miz

Ellis, Carol, Juli, Nan, Edwina & Rhoda

Margot, MC, Mary Lou, Joni (our new classmate)

& Dee Professor Lemly & Miz

Tanya & Dee

Bop & Eleanor

Margot, Rhoda & Sylvia

Eleanor & Wink

Miz, Mary Lou, Sylvia, Carol & Phyllis

Dee & Professor Lemly

Phyllis, Kate Rindy, Bop, Eleanor, Wink & Willie

Dee, Mary Lou, Carol, Margot, Rhoda & Sylvia

Ian, Phyllis, Betsy, Mills, Wink, Steve & Sylvia

Philadelphia Mini Reunion

June 27-28, 2012

NEW YORK CITY MINI REUNION MAY 15, 2013

On Wed. May 15th ten of us came to “The Big Apple” from near and far to feed our culture gene and enjoy each other’s company. Some of us started off at The Frick Museum, a gem of a museum for those that don’t know it, and viewed the Impressionist exhibit on loan from the Clarke Museum in Williamstown. It was a delightful morning and whet our appetites for our gourmet lunch at The Yale Club. We’re not sure just how MC Bachman Churchill is considered a co-ed Eli back in 1955, but we feel it is better not to ask as we so appreciate her making the club available to us.

By the way if any of you feel you need a shot of adrenaline I suggest spending a little time with Rhoda Ernst Bannon who will have you laughing hysterically inside of fifteen minutes. I don’t think she charges for this service. On the way down to the Yale Club on the Madison Ave. bus our shy friend Rhoda says in a loud voice to the bus driver…”You have a lovely bus. How long have you had it?” Well I thought the woman across the aisle was going to lose it completely! She managed to croak out where are you from to Rhoda. Do you think she thought she was not a native New Yorker? I told the woman to think of the fun she could have that evening telling her friends about the crazy tourist on the bus.

We were delighted to have Janie Estey Peters with us on her first outing after a horrendous accident last November. Janie was a victim of a text and driving accident while she was walking along a sidewalk in Norwalk, CT. Even more unbelievable was that it wasn’t a teenager but rather an adult woman. She had a bad concusion and a broken leg and was thrown 15 feet into the air landing on Route 1, a very busy road. We’re grateful to have her still with us!

After cocktails in the lounge (all paneled with several portraits of important MEN) we moved upstairs to the restaurant. The south end’s noise level increased by 100% but there was no problem with searching for conversation (if you don’t include the several moments of silence when we each searched for that particular word that was right on the tip of our tongue). I'd have to say we really didn’t look like a bunch of staid old Octogenarians as the ideas and questions and answers were flowing rapidly. To think that sixty-two years had passed since we all had met was mind boggling! Thanks again to MC for making this annual NYC mini such a great treat.