Class of 1974 President Diane Fiero Claffey’s Letter

Posted on January 25, 2015 by laverill

January, 2015

Dear Classmates:

What a great reunion we had. Your new class officers are already working hard to continue the momentum. They are: President – Diane Fiero Claffey, Vice President – Mary Feeney, Secretary – Doris O’Keefe, Treasurer – Nancy Marks Arcieri, Reunion Chair – Gail LaBroad LaRocca, Scribe Lynn Massman Mordan, Nominating Committee – LaVida Dowdell and Denise McLeod Thomas (with more appointments closer to our next reunion), Web Mistress Laurie Averill and of course, Head Class Agents Jane Zimmy and Debby Hall.

Several of us were able to gather at MHC the weekend of September 19, 2014 for the volunteer training conference. It was great to connect not only with fellow classmates again but also with members of other classes, including 2016. We came away with thoughts about where we would like to see our class go over the next five years – and would like to hear from you with your thoughts and suggestions.

The theme for the past five years was Staying Connected. We’d like to continue that – but add another facet – Getting Connected. Although we have record attendance at every reunion, there are still quite a few of our classmates who do not attend or attend infrequently – and you are missed! For those of you who do attend, you can help by reaching out to classmates and encouraging them to provide or update their information on the Alumnae association website (http://alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/), join our class Facebook group (Mount Holyoke Class of 1974), attend a mini reunion, get together informally to catch up, go to Vespers in New York City (December 2016, 2018) or Boston (December 2015, 2017) and in Abbey Chapel on campus every year, and your local alumnae club events. If you have their contact information, give them a call or send them an email – let them know that you have been thinking about them.

To help us to stay or get connected, we plan to continue the new mini-reunion tradition. Several people expressed an interest in arranging a mini reunion in their area – so we will be following up on that and will keep you posted. We are also looking into hosting an event on campus with a possible theme of covering issues that we are all facing as we and our parents age.

If you are interested in helping plan activities, have ideas for events, or any other suggestions please contact any of your class officers. We’d love to hear from you. Contact information is on the Alumnae Association site under Contacts, and is also on our class web page: https://new.alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/1974/

Stay tuned for more information in the New Year, and best wishes for a great 2015!

Diane

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CLASS HISTORY for Class of 1974

Posted on June 13, 2014 by laverill

40th Reunion, Alumnae Association Annual Meeting, May 17, 2014

by Carole LaMond, Class President

Forty years ago, I stood in the balcony of this auditorium with my mother, fresh from participation in the laurel chain and the parade, and we watched as row upon row filled with women in white, the rows punctuated by splashes of red, green, yellow and blue. The faces in those rows showed the range of years, from the youngest soon-to-be graduates in the class of 1974 to the single class of 1909 alumna celebrating her 70th reunion.I looked over at my mother, and saw tears in her eyes.

“You are a part of all this,” she said, and at 22 I understood, but not with the depth I do today, what my mother was telling me.

Now, I understand that what we alumnae share is much more than the individual histories of our classes – more than my 1970s memories of the vote to remain a single sex institution or the lowering of the drinking age to 18, more than the Vietnam War protests at Westover Air Force Base, more than 15-cent ice cream cones at Wilbur, Lanz nightgowns buttoned in the front, or buses that broke down on the Notch, more than the huge social changes that were launching women into careers my mother never dreamed were more than an anomaly for a woman and nigh unheard of for a woman of color, more than all of the college traditions we experienced – it is a sisterhood we share. A sisterhood that bridges the classes and ages of alumnae, a bond that comes from sharing four years in this special place, at a time in our lives when we were still becoming who we would be, a time when we were shedding the definitions of who we were made by our families or high schools, a time when we were falling in – and out – of love, or acknowledging that who we loved might not fit the accepted norms, a time when we were beginning to see all of the possibilities – but not without some trepidation – that our Mount Holyoke education could help us discover.

Experiencing those four years of sisterhood has enabled many of us – and in my class in particular with our many mini reunions – to welcome new friends into our individual circles of college friends and to continue to strengthen the special bonds that were forged more than 40 years ago on this campus. Those bonds are even stronger and more special when we gather at Mount Holyoke every five years for Reunion and join with the love and wisdom of the generations of women who have come before, and after, my graduation year of 1974.

The welcome theme for my class’s arrival on campus in September of 1970 – and later the title of our Junior Show – was “We’re Glad You’re Here.”

So, to the classes of 1944, 1964, 1974, 1989, 1994, 2004, 2012 and the Frances Perkins alumnae……..I’m glad you’re here, and I am proud to count all of you as my alumnae sisters!

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1974 40th Reunion Parade Signs

Posted on June 13, 2014 by laverill

May 16-18, 2014

Parade Signs by Deborah Saunders and Margaret Saunders

“We’re Glad You’re Here

or What’s a Nice Girl Like You

Doing in a Place Like This?”

                                           Junior Show

When we were at MHC,

both the VOTING age and the DRINKING age

were lowered to 18.

We were BI-PARTY-SAN.

Our phones had dials and wires;

no e-mail either.

A postage stamp cost 10 cents.

In the early 70’s

Title 9 became the law

2 women served in the Senate

0 women presided on the Supreme Court

1974 Debuts:

Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”

People Magazine

Rubik’s Cube

                           And us!

1974: All in the Family

2014: Modern Family

Streaking was a fad our senior year.

We looked better naked then.

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Class of 1974: Trivia Hunt

Posted on June 13, 2014 by laverill

40th Reunion: May 16-18, 2014

The Trivia Hunt will take you on a walk around campus. See how many clues you can solve!

  1. Where would you find a rare a Cattlianthe Jewel Box “Dark Waters” (which also happens to be in our class color)?

A red orchid, found in Talcott Greenhouse

  1. Which dorm is a perfect place to watch canoes slice through the water with lanterns glowing, and listen to soon-to-be-alumnae singing?

Prospect

  1. We bought our books here, and checked for mail. Time has certainly changed this place.

Blanchard

  1. A pause to remember by Lower Lake: find our class memorial bench. What would a Latin scholar notice?

Memorial bench – Memoriam misspelled with a u

  1. Who wrote the music for the alma mater – and what building is named in her honor?

Gladys Pratt ’14, Pratt (the music building)

  1. This building has plaques inscribed with the names of four of our classmates: the Genevieve Schmich Memorial Award given to a senior whose activities lent most distinction to the life of the college and the Margaret Davis Stilt Prize given to a senior excelling in the Dramatic Arts. The latter prize name may give a big clue, but what are the names of those four 1974 graduates?

Judy Yeckel and Bonnie Panson (Genevieve Schmich)/ Barbara Weiner and Anne Holton (Margaret Davis Stilt), in the lobby Rooke Theater

  1. We bought 15-cent ice cream cones here. What is the name of this long-closed snack bar and the building it was in?

Wilbur in the basement of Mary Woolley Hall

  1. This dorm, named after an alumna, was used as a freshman dorm in 1970-71. The September 1970 welcome banner, adopting a cigarette ad line popular at the time, summed up this distant dorm correctly, “You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby.” MHC’s current president lived here as a junior in Room 103. What dorm is this, and for whom is it named?

Dickinson House was built in 1916 as a faculty dormitory called Faculty House. It was renamed in 1931 in honor of Emma E. Dickinson, class of 1867.

  1. “Let others tell of storms and showers, I’ll only mark your sunny hours” is inscribed on what? It’s something you might have noticed as a visiting high school student, and again as a prop for your senior picture.

Sundial in the garden at Mary Lyon Hall

  1. What dorm is named after an original trustee of the college and his wife? Mary Lyon counted them among her closest personal friends; one of them is well known for a dessert served annually on Mary Lyon’s birthday.

Deacon Andrew W. Porter of Monson, Massachusetts, aided Mary Lyon in the building of the College and served as one of the original trustees from 1836 to 1877. He was a good friend of Mary Lyon’s, known for his business talents, integrity, and experiences as a builder and contractor. He and his wife, Hannah, played vital roles in establishing Mount Holyoke as they spent several days each week in South Hadley, helping with the physical chores necessary to prepare for the first 80 students. Mary Lyon counted the Porters among her closest personal friends, and Porter Hall, built in 1897, was dedicated in honor of them and their contributions to the College.

  1. What classmate has a computer room named in her honor for a donation to a new (to us) $36 million building which opened in 2003? Bonus points for the name of the building and the room number.

Kendade Hall, G06 (A gift from Jane A. Zimmy, May 2004)

  1. “Clear and Gold Tower” is the name of what piece of art – and where is it? It is a recent gift from the Centennial Class of 1937.

Williston Library lobby

  1. “In Loving Memory of our dear friend Jane Brechlin Olesin ’74 from the women of Pi Alpha” is inscribed on what structure in the garden of the Office of Admissions?

A bench, on the Pearsons Annex side of the garden (Admissions office is now located in a building on College Street)

  1. Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou, Romeo? Where can you find a portrait of this beloved bibliophile?

Stairway, Odyssey Bookshop

 

Compiled by Carole LaMond

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We Had a Blast! — 40th REUNION: May 16 – 18, 2014 — Share Your Photographs and Remembrances

Posted on November 25, 2012 by laverill

Historic Postards         Odyssey Display of What We Read in 1974

To share your photographs, join the MHC Class of 1974 group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/mhc74   (Thank you, Doris, for starting this group!)

To post your news on our Facebook page, join us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/148070727264/

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