February 9, 2006

Dear Classmates,

Greetings in the New Year! I am, at last, writing to you after all these months. I thought I would do so right after our glorious Reunion, but somehow the months have slipped by. Those of us fortunate enough to have gone to our 50 th are still basking in the warm glow of such a premier event. We shake our heads in wonder at how very well everything went – much better than any of us could have hoped for. This letter will recap in small measure those unbelievable four days. All of you who couldn’t come would have been extremely proud of your class.

First, of course, we all take our hats off to Terry Schmitt Soukup and Jackie Loohn Stempfle for their superb leadership. Without their devoted hours and much effort, it might have been just a good reunion. We also applaud all members of the Reunion Committee for their major contributions. There were 74 alumnae and 39 significant others in attendance for an impressive number.

Next we heartily thank Ellie Boughner Axford and Sue Warren Campbell for the outstanding job they did of spearheading the fund drive. With a great deal of hard work and with the help of many class agents, our final tally was $130,438 in Annual Giving and $642,000 in pledged and planned gifts for a monumental grand total of $772,438. Congratulations to Tracy Guthrie, who was given an Outstanding Service Award, a much-deserved honor. Well done, everyone!

Those are just the facts, and although they do convey some of our loyalty, generosity, and enthusiasm for Skidmore, they cannot begin to tell the story of our wonderful weekend. Here are a scant few of the many, many notes and emails I received all last June.

“I never dreamed I could have so much genuine feeling of affection for women I haven’t seen in all these years.”

“What a truly beautiful campus – it is such a perfect place for a college. I didn’t miss our old campus much at all.”

“We were very impressed with President Glotzbach. He is young, articulate and charming.”

“Thanks so much to you and all who made this Reunion an absolutely thrilling experience. I had a wonderful time … it was fun socially, the mini-classes were informative, and the food at the dinners was fabulous. Best of all was the Parade and Awards Ceremony. I got choked up and had tears in my eyes, and it felt so special.”

“Saturday morning was the big parade, and the weather was perfect. We were immediately thrown into a feeling of exhilaration as the bagpipers and drum corps filled the air…our class came at the end in our yellow shirts, white pants, and yellow and white parasols over our heads. As we strolled along people applauded – it was great fun!”

Lastly, I will quote from the speech I gave at the Welcome Dinner. It is loosely paraphrased from James Joyce’s, The Dubliners. “I feel more strongly with every recurring Reunion that our College has no tradition that does it so much honor, and which it should guard more jealously than its hospitality … this is a tradition of warm-hearted hospitality which has been handed down from our alumni to us, and which we in turn must hand down to future alumni.” Thanks to the Skidmore Alumni Affairs Office for making sure we all were treated to this kind of hospitality.

In closing, let me remind you that our yearly fund drive is underway and that the House has cut back on college loans. Please be as generous as you can, so that bright new students may enjoy our dear Skidmore College.

Warmly,