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August was a very active month for local Reedies. Mela Kunitz ’87, assistant director
of alumni relations events and programs, visited the annual barbecue picnic on August 7;
the book group met August 14; and on August 21, Mike Teskey, director of alumni relations,
joined us for a Reed on the Road event with Reed Professor Doug Fix at the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art. Professor Fix’s presentation was linked to a LACMA exhibit
of Japanese art displayed at world fairs of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The next scheduled event is the solstice party on December 10; look for a printed or emailed
invitation. If you have a spam filter that screens your incoming email, please set it so
you can receive messages from BobPatHadley@aol.com. The book group meets monthly, usually
on the second Sunday. For the November 13 meeting, the book is Richard Dawkins’ The
Selfish Gene. Alumni visiting from outside the area are invited to call ahead for
details, read the book, and join the discussion. For further information, call Robert Hadley ’53
at 310/391-1427 or send email to BobPatHadley@aol.com.
The Portland chapter steering committee welcomed a new chapter chair this August, Barbara
Smith-Thomas ’64, and new members Deane Bennett ’55, Joanne Hossack ’82,
Tamara Lishka ’92, Paul Manson ’01, and Barbara Pijan ’79. Thanks go
to retiring chair Aarin Lutzenhiser ’97 and retiring member Nora Leibowitz ’93
for their service over the past years, and to returning members Johanna Colgrove ’92,
Esteban Gutierrez ’94, and Ron Sato ’68 for their continuing service.
We hosted
a pizza party at Old Town Pizza in May to congratulate new Reed graduates and to welcome
them into our ranks. In August, we held a potluck family barbecue picnic on the Reed campus.
By the time you read this, we will have been on a private docent tour of the “Fair
To Remember” exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society, led by public historian Richard
Engeman ’69. Two hundred years have passed since the Lewis and Clark expedition,
and 100 years have passed since the World’s Fair in Portland celebrating the centennial
of the expedition.
Roger
Porter, professor of English and humanities, led an Alumni College session at the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival in Ashland in July. Attendees saw two plays, Richard III and Twelfth
Night, and engaged in discussion of the texts and film adaptations over the course
of the weekend. Clockwise from left: Tom Landye ’60, Roger Porter, Jennifer Ash,
Laura Graser ’73, Barbara Smith-Thomas ’64, and Pat Landye.
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In August, Dick Goodwin ’63 and Judy Bell ’63 hosted the chapter’s
annual summer picnic at their wonderful wooded property in Chain Bridge. The rain held
off and everyone had a wonderful time. There was a great mix of alumni and new Reedies
eating and talking under the trees until early evening. During the picnic, the chapter
elections were held and Susan Rudy ’79 was elected chair. Leslie Overstreet ’71,
who has held the position for many, many years, deserves a great deal of gratitude for
her commitment to the chapter.
Upcoming events should include the annual solstice party
in mid-December. Get in touch with Susan if you have ideas for alumni events in the coming
year, or if you can suggest an evening meeting venue in the District or near a Metro (either
a large private home or public space), where we can have speakers and serve wine and cheese.
If you are a recent grad and would like to be a college fair attendee, Susan would like
to hear from you (703/379-1796 or fosteryrudy@earthlink.net).
Our second-annual Indian Independence Day dinner was organized by Alison Birkmeyer-Aske ’93,
and held August 13 at the Viceroy of India on Devon Avenue, the heart of Chicago’s
Indian community. We were pleased to be joined by Rachel Fredericks ’04, assistant
to alumni relations, who graciously answered questions about the college from four decades
of Reedies (all of whom were positive “Old Reed” ended the year before they
arrived on Woodstock Boulevard).
We look forward to upcoming events, such as our fifth
annual Dim Sum Chinese New Year Celebration (Sunday, January 29, 2006, Three Happiness,
2130 South Wentworth), and quarterly bar gatherings at local watering holes. The steering
committee is always on the lookout for event ideas and welcomes new participants. Contact
Greg Clarke ’88, at glc0012@yahoo.com or Chantal Sudbrack ’97 at csudbrack@alumni.reed.edu if
interested.
The
Chicago chapter’s Indian Independence Day dinner, clockwise from left: Sarah Austin ’85,
Kate Piatt-Eckert ’04, Joe Reid ’74, Julie Dugger ’91, Ray Coyne ’71,
Chantal Sudbrack ’97, Rachel Fredericks ’04; photo by Alison Birkmeyer-Aske ’93.
Over the past few years, members of the Rainier chapter have been active in the alumni
association’s oral history project. Under the direction of Nancy Stewart Green ’50
and her successor, Brie Gyncild ’91, nearly a dozen volunteers have collected oral
histories from more than 30 alumni in the classes of 1927 through 1954. Their work is part
of a larger effort by volunteers in the alumni association as we advance to Reed’s
centennial celebration in 2011.
If you’d like to learn more about activities in the local chapter, including the
monthly reading group and brewpub gatherings, or would like to find out how to be involved
with alumni efforts on the national level, please contact chapter chair Erik Speckman ’91
(eas@geekfun.com or 206/715-4100). |
