Dear Wellesley Sisters,
Another year of robust programming has drawn to a close with luncheon at the Riverhouse Waterfront Restaurant in Palmetto and a fantastic tour of the Manatee Performing Arts Center. Thanks to Karen Morgan for organizing and orchestrating this wonderful pair of events.
At our closing luncheon we bade a fond farewell to our longtime member and volunteer extraordinaire: Julia Griffith. Julia has been a member and a leader in our club for over 20 years. She's been our President twice and has been our Communications champion for almost her entire membership in the club. Julia received the very-well-deserved Sed Ministrare award from the Alumnae Association in 2019. In parting, Emilie Robinson composed a delightful poem celebrating Julia’s warm and uplifting spirit and leadership and we all wished her well. We presented her with a parting gift of a Wellesley blue necklace with a college seal medallion. This has been another year of varied and interesting activities. The hurricanes of September and October slowed our start but we soon resumed regular meetings. We heard a wonderful speaker from the Ringling Museum of Art at the Sarasota Yacht Club in January, enjoyed a fascinating meal at the Keiser Culinary Institute in February and dined at the Stoneybrook Club in March with a speaker from the Sarasota Symphony. These three programs were held jointly with Vassar and Mt. Holyoke. We hope to continue joint programming next year.
We celebrated the holiday season at Fiona Ertugul’s waterfront home, went on a boat ride with Molly Johnston Jane Hansen ‘72 Outgoing Club President and her husband, were entertained by Emilie Robinson’s Theatre of the Mind. We held Wellesley on the Go outings to SILL’s music programs, heard interesting talks on archeology and developments at Mote Marine. We even supported All Faiths Food Bank by attending their Bowls of Hope fundraiser in the fall.
We welcomed the College’s new Provost, Courtney Coile in March. And for the 6th year running, our Filmsters film club has met every two weeks with Anne-Marie Tardiff in the lead, discussing wonderful films both new and old. Thank you, Anne-Marie, for continuing to lead us! Our Book Group continues to meet monthly under the leadership of Julia Griffith. We are delighted that Julia has volunteered to continue leading Book Group via zoom.
Rosemary Hartmeyer has served very ably as our Vice President and she is now stepping up to the role of President for the next two years. Fiona has done an outstanding job as Program Committee Chair and will step back a bit. I will do my best to fill her shoes. We have had, and will continue to have, terrific volunteers on the Program Committee including Fiona Etrugul (chair), Karen Morgan, Rosarie Hartmeyer, Kathy Walker, Anne-Marie Tardiff, and Julia Griffith.
Kim Himmelfarb has been our Treasurer and Diane Davidson has been our Secretary. Thanks to both for the past two years and for agreeing to continue for another two years. As you can see from this distinguished list of volunteers, many hands make light work and together this team has produced an outstanding year of programming. We thank all of them for their time and effort and creativity.
If you haven't been involved in our Club’s activities, we encourage you to join in! Filmsters and Book Group are “opt in” activities, so please let Anne-Marie Tardiff or Julia Griffith know if you would like to participate. Both will continue over the summer.
I am stepping down as president and so appreciate all of the wonderful volunteers who have made our club so active. It has been an honor to serve with you. I hope you enjoy a wonderful summer, whether here in Sarasota or in a cooler climate. We look forward to an equally active year next year. Please be sure your address and contact information is up to date in the Wellesley College Alumnae Association directory because that is our main way of reaching you.
Cheers to all!
Jane Hansen ’72
Outgoing President