Photo of Class of 1977 Logo
Reunion Summary
- Photos
- Reunion Weekend Highlights
Photos
Photo of 35th Reunion Class of 1977 Attendees
Class of 1977 35th Reunion Weekend Highlights
Whenever the Class of 1977 gathers it is a guaranteed great time, and our 35th Reunion was no exception. This past Memorial Day weekend, 73 members of our class, plus 20 friends and relatives and 7 children, returned to Mount Holyoke’s magnificent campus to relive our shared past. Old memories were awakened and new ones created; old friendships were rekindled and new bonds forged. Reunion Chairs Sue Rittenhouse Sokoloski and Sandy Jones did a wonderful job putting together what proved to be an all-too-short weekend. We left with promises to return for our 40th and a renewed appreciation of how fortunate we were to have had the opportunity to attend such a special college.
The weekend began on Friday, May 25th. As we arrived on campus, we were delighted to learn that our class had been assigned to the beautiful Creighton Hall. The dorm, which was built in 2008 and houses 176 students during the academic year, was the first new residence hall to be built in over 40 years. It was named in honor of Joanne Creighton, (the 17th President of our esteemed alma mater, who served from 2006 until 2010), and it is an extraordinary achievement of architecture, engineering and technology. Creighton Hall is not only beautiful and functional, but it a “green” building which received a LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
After settling into our temporary quarters, many of us took advantage of the “Back-to-Class” offerings, especially a fascinating discussion on “Brittle Bones” and osteoporosis, led by none other than our own Dr. Cathy Kowal-Montecalvo, as well as a very well attended and thought-provoking lecture by Professor Vincent Ferraro. We were also treated to the State of the College Address by President Lynn Pasquarella in Gamble Auditorium. The afternoon activities concluded with a reception for alumnae, faculty and emeriti in Kendade Hall. This building, which is the heart of MHC’s magnificent science center, was built in 2003 and connects the old Carr and Clapp laboratories and Shattuck and Cleveland halls. If you have not yet been inside, it really is worth the trip back to campus to see it.
Classmates who were there on Friday evening then enjoyed a delicious soup dinner in Creighton Hall, prepared by our own Okhee Pyun Hyon and Sue Rittenhouse Sokoloski. The varied offerings included New England clam chowder, Asian chicken vegetable soup, tomato basil bisque and lentil soup. We were also treated two delicious (and green!) sheet cakes by Sandy Jones and also to Nicky Mesiah’s devine “M’POWer cookies”, which are somehow healthy even though they taste totally decadent (and no, you can’t have the recipe but you can read about them at http://missnickys.com/healthybites.html)!
Members of the Class of ’77 continued to arrive on campus throughout the evening. Those of us who arrived too late to register in Mary Wooley were directed to the new Campus Police Department, which is now shared with Hampshire and Smith Colleges. Their new headquarters at 1 Everett Road opened in January, and is a magnificent, state-of-the-art facility – – a far cry from that old Public Safety Building near the heating plant and also worth a visit if you are on campus.
Conversation and reminiscing continued until late on Friday night, when we reluctantly retired in order to be ready for the next day’s festivities.
Saturday dawned warm, with above average temperatures. Although the skies were threatening, Mary Lyon was looking down on her daughters as we gathered at her grave and it remained dry. Following the traditional renditions of “Bread and Roses” and our “Alma Mater”, the Class of ’77 was proud to watch as our own Jeanne Amster was awarded an Alumnae Medal of Honor.
We then lined up for the Alumnae Parade, dressed in our whites and adorned with new, brilliant green, Class of ’77 scarves, designed by Sandy Jones. As we processed from the grave to Mary Wooley Hall, it was, as always, fun to read the signs and watch the other Reunion Classes, particularly the remarkable women of the Loyalty Classes. Many photos from the Parade and other highlights of the Reunion can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aamhc/collections/72157629862484422/. Make sure to check out our Class’s signs!
The parade was followed by the annual Alumnae Association Meeting in Chapin. We were proud of our classmate Christine Johnson Sledge who received an Alumnae Loyalty Award, and took vicarious pride as Adrienne Skinner’s mother, Catherine Wild Skinner ’52, was presented with an Alumnae Achievement Award. We also joined in recognizing our Head Class Agents, Jodie Hurwitz and Pam Taylor for their wonderful efforts in raising more than $207,000 this year as our reunion gift to the College, and a total of more than $1,303,000 over the past 5 years.
Following the meeting, the Class of ’77 gathered for a wonderful lunch in the Blanchard Great Room, before racing across Skinner Green for our official Reunion Photo on Skinner’s steps. As you can see from the unofficial picture below, which was posted on our Facebook page (thank you Carolyn Clausius!) the Class of ’77 looks pretty great!
We then had some free time, which the Class of ’77 used to its fullest. Although sadly, the CI has not been there for many years now, some classmates were undeterred and found other venues for libations and conversation. Some took a nostalgic drive to Amherst, or to Atkins Farm, which is still making those delicious doughnuts. And others simply used the time to relax, to get reacquainted with the campus, or to play “mini-golf” on the course outside the Lab Theater. And the mini-golf game, amazingly designed by Sandy Jones, was the talk of the reunion,
At 4:30 on Saturday, we all convened in the living room of Creighton Hall for our Class Meeting. Class Officers were selected (thank you Liz, for agreeing to continue to serve as our President!); classmates were recognized for their yeoman’s efforts in Reunion planning and other capacities, and gifts were bestowed. We also read the names of our deceased classmates (check out the list on our class website, and then we were visited by Meg Ayer’s mother, who was celebrating her own reunion. Mrs. Ayer seemed really pleased to meet with those classmates who knew Meg so well.
Then the real fun began! Classmates were treated to a wonderful happy hour organized by Adrienne Skinner, who brought delicious and unusual cheeses, fruits, nuts and crackers from NYC. And our laughter and conversations were complemented with the piano stylings of our own Ann Reynolds. Ann, who has a PhD in the sciences, is now a professional musician in Seattle. If you were not lucky enough to hear her at the Reunion, check out her page on MySpace, http://www.myspace.com/annitareynolds1 along with her bands’ website: http://www.swojo.org.
After the happy hour (or two) we managed to find our way back to Blanchard for dinner. Conversation was lively, the room lovely, and the food delicious – – a distinct improvement over that which was served during our time at MHC! Our Saturday night dinner chairs, Okhee Pyun Hyon and Stephanie Jaffe Green organized a lovely event, highlighted by centerpieces that included “alumni-flowers” that had all of our graduation photos attached. We all had lots of fun going from table-to-table to find our flower. We also were lucky to have math professor Harriet Pollatsek and her husband join us as our class honoree and a tribute to her was given by Valerie Barr. Mrs. Pollatsek is retiring this year, so her attendance was extra-special.
Well-sated with food and alcohol, we returned to Creighton Hall for the evening’s entertainment – – a PowerPoint show and trivia game created by Sandy Jones. Somehow we managed to divide into teams as we competed to test our memory and knowledge in a contest filled more with laughter than correct answers. When the game ended, the night continued with more music and merriment. Those who still had some energy left joined in dancing to our favorite “oldies”; while others, (like yours truly) got a kick just out of watching them – – especially when Janice Bell’s twins and some of the other children took to the dance floor!
All too soon the night ended, and with it another wonderful Reunion. Some classmates met for brunch on Sunday morning at Willets-Hallowell, but most left to return to their busy, challenging, fulfilling and uncommon lives. All of us happy that we had come, sad to once again leave Mount Holyoke, and already looking forward to our 40th. Hope to see you all there!
Andrea Popik Taber