Current Students
September: Saturday, Sept. 30, 8:45AM to 11:15AM Elkhorn Slough Wildlife Boat Trip with family and friends welcome! We had a special group departure from Moss Landing, at $31 per person. Joanne Petersen arranged the trip, and you can see by the photos below how much fun everyone had. Sea otters, sea lions, and lots of pelicans were highlights.
October 29, Habitat for Humanity
We worked at Women Build, a home-building project sponsored by the Silicon Valley chapter of Habitat for Humanity. As the project name implies, the house is being built entirely by women in the Willow Glen section of San Jose and will be SVHFH's first ADA compliant home. The house is being built to serve a family with a 13 year old son who has Cerebral Palsy. Lyon's Pride joined us for this event.
Nov. 4, Career Focus: Cori Ashworth Career Development Counselor
Cori Ashworth, the Alumnae Association Career Development Counselor, returned for a presentation and group discussion followed by a potluck lunch, and then one-on-one counseling sessions. Cori has always been a hit with anyone who hears her, and this meeting was no exception!
Mary Lyon Lecture with Vincent Ferraro
Saturday, December 2nd, 6PM
Vincent A. Ferraro, Ruth Lawson Professor of Politics
Professor Ferraro gave a fascinating look at how the war in Iraq is affecting and may change surrounding countries.
This joint meeting with the San Francisco club had a large attendance.
Holiday Luncheon
Saturday, December 9th at 11:30 A.M.
Allied Arts, 75 Arbor Road in Menlo Park
We returned to Allied Arts for this year's Holiday Luncheon, probably offered for the last time in this tradional volunteer-run format. Most attendees did some holiday shopping before or after the luncheon, and all of us enjoyed meeting many new faces.
70's Decade Brunch
Saturday, January 20th, 11 A.M.
Joy Luck Place, 10911 Cupertino Village at North Wolfe Road, Cupertino (right off 280)
Six of us who graduated in the 70's met at Joy Luck Place for a delicious no-host Chinese Brunch and much talking, laughing and networking!
Mary Lyon's Birthday Tea
Saturday, February 24, 2 - 4 PM
Cypress Inn, Lincoln & 7th, Carmel
We carpooled south to join several of our alumnae whom we seldom see, due to distance. We were delighted to have ten alumnae there, representing every decade from 1930 through the 90's! Tea in the Cypress Inn was delicious. Next time we'll remember to bring our dogs - the Inn belongs to Doris Day, who is a dog lover, and there were many well behaved dogs on the premises!
Winifred Corbett '43 arrived early and thought she would be the oldest, but then in walked Dorothy Hudson Wheeler '30. Her one concession to age was that she had a ride there with Marjorie Fisher '42. The 50's were represented by Pat Mueller Vollmer '56,Anne Wagner Raphael was there from '62, plus Barbara Monks '70, Helen Kurtow '77, Jerri Barrett '83, Amena Rahman '90, and Christina Ilangakoon '95.
Wednesday, February 28, 5PM – 8PM
Anne Raphael's home, 12820 Viscaino Rd., Los Altos Hills.
Four of us celebrated Mary Lyon's 210th birthday by making some Deacon Porter's Hats and watching Wendy Wasserstein's "Uncommon Women" on a video. The video had us in hysterical laughter, as we remembered folding napkins and dressing for "Gracious Living" with housemothers.
Career Focus: Cori Ashworth, Alumnae Association Career Development Counselor
The Myers Briggs Test!
Saturday, April 28th, 11 A.M.
Cori Ashworth, the Alumnae Association Career Development Counselor, returned for another Club event, where members took. the self-scoring Myers Briggs personality test ahead of time. After the Myers Briggs workshop, Cori met individually with attendees for one-on-one counseling sessions.This event was held at Jill Breckenridge's home at 2505 Coronet Boulevard, Belmont.
Mother's Day Hike
Sunday, May 13th 1 to 4:30 pm
Bill and Marilyn Bauriedel (Mount Holyoke alumna) led a gentle hike on the Bay Area Ridge, Hawk, and Ancient Oaks Trails for a total of about 5.5 miles with approximately 300 feet of elevation gain. The event was sponsored by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and about 24 people showed up - but Marilyn wasn't sure if any were affiliated with Mount Holyoke besides herself and Jill Breckenridge.
Annual Meeting , Saturday, June 16, 1 - 3 P.M.
We enjoyed a fun and relaxing afternoon at Barbara Monks' house as we voted in new officers and discussed the club's plans for the coming year. Voting by email produced far more than a quorum, so approving new officers was a snap! We presented a Mount Holyoke College throw to Jerri Barrett '83, who has done a wonderful job as Club President for the past three years.
2005 - 2006
Film Discussion: Monday, September 19, 7:30 - 9:30 P.M.
Marilyn Bauriedel's "little sister" at Mount Holyoke, Kiseko Minaguchi , was a grad student at MHC for one year. She was visiting from Japan, and she presented her research findings and led a discussion of how mothers have been presented on the screen in post-WWII Japanese films. She is a professor of English and American literature and also a mother and grandmother. She has studied American and Japanese films for years and last year was awarded a Ph.D. in Japan for her film studies work. She has produced a book on the influence of American films on the maternal image presented in Japanese films. The juxtaposition of old film clips from "Stella Dallas" with corresponding Japanese films of the 30's was fascinating.
Mountain Day on the Peninsula!
Saturday, October 22, 9AM - 2PM. We carpooled up Woodside Road to Skyline Boulevard to see the Methusaleh tree. The Methuselah tree is an old growth giant redwood, hidden from the road, and you walk to it down a very short trail. (MUCH less than 1/4 mile!) After the tree, we went to the Yerba Buena Nursery for a talk, "What It Takes to Make a Garden Wild," by Phyllis Faber, author of "California's Wild Gardens," from 11:00 to 12:30. The gardens were lovely.
Peninsula Club Book Group followed by open club meeting and dinner: Sunday, November 20, 2 - 8 P.M.
The book selection for November was Collapse by Jared Diamond. Location –Barbara Monks House-1518 Montalban Avenue, San Jose, CA. Susie Betzer and her husband joined us for the book discussion and filled us in on latest announcements from the Alumnae Association.
Holiday Luncheon, Saturday, December 3, Noon till 2 p.m. Lugano Swiss Bistro, Carmel CA.
We had a wonderful annual holiday lunch at the Lugano Swiss Bistro, plus shopping in Carmel. Lots of car pools made it an easy trek, and weather was beautiful.
Joint Book Groups: OPEN TO ALL CLUB MEMBERS Saturday, December 10, 2 - 4 PM
We brought gift-wrapped books to swap with another attendee. Barbara Monks’ house - 1518 Montalban Avenue, San Jose, CA.
January Club Event: Ano Nuevo State Park, Saturday, January 28, 8:45 AM-2:30 PM Cost: $10.
We enjoyed a guided tour of the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo on Saturday, 1/28/06, 10 AM. This was a fairly strenuous hike: 3 miles, estimated 2-1/2 hours. Carpools worked fine, and the seals were numerous. A late lunch at historic Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero topped off a fine day.
Founder's Day Tea, Saturday, February 25, 2 - 5 PM.
This year, we moved the location of the Mary Lyon's Birthday Tea to the King George Hotel, 334 Mason Street (at Geary), in San Francisco. This was, as always, a sold-out event, held with the Northern California Club, so we met friends from that club as well. The tea was delicious.
Annual Club Meeting with election of officers was held on Saturday, June 10, at the home of Barbara Monks.
Admissions potluck picnic to send off students - and answer questions from them and their families - was held on July 15 at Barbara Monks' house.
2004 - 2005
The new board decided to continue the pattern of the past couple of years, with LOTS of meetings, even if each one attracted only a few members. We decided to highlight some hobbies of various members and see who else might be interested in them, like scrapbooking and stitchery.
Saturday September 18th 2-4 p.m. Candlemaking Workshop
It's never too early to get ready for dark winter nights. Five of us went to Anne Raphael's house for hand dipping and pouring candles. This was a messy but fun hobby, and we all took home some beautiful tall tapers.
Saturday, October 9th 1:30 to 3:15pm Fall tea at Lisa's Tea Treasures
We celebrated fall with a delicious traditional afternoon tea including scones, sandwiches and desserts. Noted local author Kat Meads spoke and read from her new book, "Sleep." She answered lots of questions about how she came to write the book, the joys and problems of doing publicity tours, and what she hopes to work on next.
Linda Horiuchi and Co- President Janet Chang, with Kat Meads at the top.
Saturday November 13th 4-6 p.m.
Book Group Meeting
In celebration of the founding of our country and the advent of Thanksgiving our book group read "Founding Mothers" by Cokie Roberts. The meeting was at Jerri Barrett’s house at 2815 Lexford Avenue, San Jose 95124 .
Saturday, December 4, 2004 11:30AM
Holiday Lunch at Allied Arts $30.00
Our annual holiday lunch returned to Allied Arts, where we saw the results of the multi-year renovation project Over 20 members attended and had a grand time shopping as well as talking and dining.
February 26th 2004 12 Noon
Annual Founders Day Tea at the Ritz with the San Francisco Club
The San Francisco and Peninsula clubs joined for one of the highlights of our year - the annual Founders Day Tea at the Ritz. Over 45 people attended for a calorie filled high tea. It was, as always, a delight for all.
March 7, 2005
Palo Alto Book Group Meeting at the home of Nancie Fimbel.
The Palo Alto Book Group discussed "Year of Wonder" by Geraldine Brooks.
March 19, 2005
Daffodil Days for San Mateo County
We helped to wrap and arrange daffodils as part of the American Cancer Society Daffodil Days Campaign. Most of the flowers were given to cancer patients undergoing treatment (Gifts of Hope). Jill Breckenridge, who is a cancer survivor, has helped with this project for many years, but this was the first time other club members have helped.
March 20 - Peninsula Club Book Group Meeting
This book group met at the home of Linda Horiuchi and discussed "The Rape of Nanking," by Iris Chang. It was unanimously agreed that this was the most depressing book they had ever chosen.
Sunday, April 10, Ann Lyles MacPhail's house, 975 Harrison Ave., Campbell
Thanks to some great cooperation from our alumnae and an incredible job by MHC Admissions, we had another strong applicant pool from the Bay Area this year. Our club region, which includes the Peninsula, South Bay and Monterey Areas, had 45 applicants. Of those, 33 were accepted (including 2 early decision), 1 was placed on a waiting list, and 2 are still waiting to learn if they will be accepted as transfer students. Ann MacPhail hosted a reception for accepted students, and 11 of them came, most with parents, plus six of our alumnae who tried to convince the students that MHC is the place to go. They must have succeeded, because as of May 12, at least 7 students have sent in deposits!
Sunday, April 24, Peninsula Book Group Meeting
Barbara Monk's house - 1518 Montalban Drive, San Jose, 95120 (408) 997-8131
This book group discussed "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night" by Mark Haddon. The description of an autistic teenager was fascinating.
Saturday, April 30, Rainbow of Colors Hike at Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve
Marilyn Bauriedel and her husband, docents with Peninsula Open Space Trust, led three of us plus many others on a wildflower interpretive walk, enjoying the most beautiful display of wildflowers in many years. Continuing winter rains - almost twice our normal rainfall this year - brought out more color ever before.
Friday, May 6, First half century luncheon!
Doris Fondahl and Anne Raphael hosted a lunch for club members who are members of classes before 1950. It was a happy occasion, attended by 15 out of the 30 members who live in this area. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any of the 12 folks from the Carmel/Monterey area at this time, but we'll try again to meet them. The food was fine, but the memories shared were priceless.
Saturday, June 11, 2005, Annual meeting and election
Barbara Monks hosted a barbecue picnic with potluck salads for our annual meeting. We had 11 present plus one by phone to make up a quorum so we could hold the annual election. The meeting started with a surprise baby shower for our ourgoing co-president, Janet Chang. This has been a "moving" month for three of our officers - Jerri Barrett, Janet Chang and Betty Cheng have all moved within the past few weeks. The Treasurer, Jill Breckenridge, told us we need to encourage more dues paying members, spend less on mailings and book awards, and be sure to do some volunteer meetings and make donations to the college so we can maintain our non-profit status without ever facing any problems with the IRS and without running the bank account down too far. Many of the officers have remained on the board for the coming year, and they are hoping to keep up an active club schedule for another year. New officers are listed on this web site. More
2003 - 2004
Saturday, July 19. The author of "Putting Your Heart Online" told us her research results concerning on line dating. Even the long-time married among us were fascinated.
Saturday, August 2. Summer sendoff potluck party.
We hosted several of the incoming "firsties" plus at least one returning student, at a potluck with parents where the students and parents could ask lots of questions and try to figure out what to take and how to take it to the college in the fall.
Pictures of the Summer Sendoff Potluck - August 2, 2003
Welcome to the Class of '07! We wish them the best as they prepare for their first year.
Thanks to Anne Raphael for graciously donating her house for the sendoff, Ann Lyles MacPhail, who coordinated and kept the brownies under perfect control and Cristina Ilangakoon took the photos for all to share. Click here for the photos, but patient! All the photos have been loaded onto one webpage. It will take a long time to load this page if you are connected by modem.
Saturday, September 13. Ten members of the Peninsula Club joined area volunteers in the monthly food sorting efforts at the Second Harvest Food Bank in San Jose. Following the sort our own club VP Mari Ellen Reynolds '91, the current Director of Development at Second Harvest, led a guided tour of the facilities. Afterwards, the morning of volunteerism was wrapped up with a panel discussion on non-profit work with Reynolds '91 and Amy Laden '65 Director of International Services at Interplast ( www.Interplast.org ), a group that provides much needed surgery for needy children and adults in developing countries.
Sunday, September 21, 2 PM. The San Francisco Opera presented:"The Mother of Us All"
The Bay Area premiere of this American Opera chronicled the life, career, and accomplishments of suffragette Susan B. Anthony in her struggle for women's political rights. This program was a joint one with the San Francisco MHC Club, arranged by them. We also enjoyed a pre-performance reception.
MHC '95 alumna and SF Opera staff member, Jennifer Lynch, led a discussion about "Mother" featuring special insight into the score and historical tidbits regarding Virgil Thomson, Gertrude Stein, and Susan B. Anthony. The reception and talk was at Arlequin, 384B Hayes Street (between Franklin and Gough) in San Francisco.
Saturday, October 18: 12 - 2PM Mountain Day hike! Marilyn Bauriedel led a hike in the Russian Ridge area, followed by a wine tasting session at Fogarty Vineyards. Fall colors weren't up to New England standards, but the views were spectacular anyway.
Saturday, November 15: 11:50AM to 2PM: We met at the San Jose Quilt Museum for walking tour of some downtown San Jose museums. We toured the Quilt Museum from noon to 12:25PM, then walked over to the San Jose Repertory Theater for a backstage tour. Jo Griffith Domingue '65 moved to this area of San Jose when she retired, and was our "native guide" that day
Saturday, December 13, noon to 2:00PM: Annual Holiday Luncheon at The Left Bank, 635 Santa Cruz Ave., Menlo Park. The menu included choice of soup or salad, the a choice of 3 entrees, followed by a luscious dessert. Despite the press of holiday events, all of us who attended had fun. We ranged in age from Margery Brandt, class of '39, to a prospective MHC student, a current junior!
Saturday, February 28, 2PM High tea at the Ritz Carlton, with the San Francisco MHC Club, in honor of Mary Lyon's birthday. Price was $35 per person, including tax and gratuity, and we worried that we might not have many atendees. But LOTS of alumnae wanted to attend, and the class of 1960 used it for a mini-reunion, so we finally had so many that the hotel gave us a private room for the 50 attendees! Both the tea and the goodies - and the chance to meet San Francisco club members - were as wonderful as last year, so we are looking forward to a "Third Annual" Tea at the Ritz next year.
Saturday, March 27, 10AM Eight of us met for the "Nature hike" in the woods surrounding Filoli, and for about two hours we learned about the flora and fauna on the open woodlands. Lots of banana slugs and lizards, but almost no mosquitos! The docent dropped us off in the spectacular Filoli
gardens, and some of us continued into the house to enjoy seeing what could be built by a man who inherited a gold mine before the days of income taxes.
It wasn't an official club meeting, but our own alumna KAVITA RAMDAS '85 spoke at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco at 5:30PM on Tuesday, April 13. Her topic is "Threats to Women's Rights Around the World." Three of us went to hear her, then off to a luscious dinner
Wednesday, April 28th, 12 noon - 2 PM Cantor Arts Museum, Stanford University, special exhibit.
Picasso to Thiebaud: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Collections of Stanford University Alumni and Friends. OK, so we're not all great art lovers - those members who are, had already enjoyed this exhibit on or around opening night. Six of us wandered through this hall, then split to appreciate other parts of the museum, from the African collections to a bunch of portraits and self-portraits of artists. And we showed great appreciation of their excellent cafe, as well.
Sunday June 6, 2-4 PM - Annual meeting and election of new officers, at the home of Jill Breckenridge, 2505 Coronet Blvd, Belmont, CA. This is traditionally our biggest meeting of the year, where we have a chance to meet and eat, with no long speeches allowed! With 18 present, we had a quorum, so we covered the past year at speed, thanked the many, many people who had helped to make it a great year, and held our annual election. Betty Cheng, our nomination chair, presented a slate that was unanimously approved. Co-Presidents will be Jerri Barrett and Janet Chang. Vice President and Program Chairman will be Gloria Barnes. Jill Breckenridge will be Treasurer and Marilyn Bauriedel will be Secretary. Ann Lyles MacPhail continues as Admissions Representative, and Betty Cheng continues as Web Mistress and will also be Co-Secretary with Marilyn. Anne Raphael will continue as Membership Chair. We wish them all a great year in 2004-2005!
We didn't get a quorum (15) at the usual annual meeting in June, 2002, so elections were delayed and bylaws didn't get updated. Last year's officers remained in office until the fall, when we had 17 voting members on October 5 at the home of Sally Basler, '66. By then there were so many reports from people who had returned to MHC for reunions and other alumnae association events, that we barely squeezed in elections at the end of a happy meeting. Stephanie Wick, '86, gave a talk on her group's work in encouraging young disadvantaged students to prepare for college. Phyllis Mayberg, club president, gave a short talk on the earliest days of the local club, and presented a plant to Margery Brandt, '39, who worked hard to get the club started and is still an active volunteer. Never did get to updating the bylaws, but the potluck refreshments were delicious.
The incoming board first met on October 27, at the home of Anne Raphael, and we started to plan an ambitious program of events and membership outreach. We knew we had a short year in office, but we planned on at least one event each month plus book club meetings. We looked at the treasury figures and realized that sending individual announcements by mail for that many meetings would leave us broke by mid year, so we decided to work on getting email addresses for as many members as possible, and to emphasize how much annual dues matter in keeping the club going.
On November 7 our first official event was a "young-at-heart" alumnae tap party at Stoddards in Mountain View. That coincided with the first major wind and rain storm of the season, dampening the attendance to a dedicated 3.
November 15: South Bay/Los Gatos Book Club meeting was held at the home of Beverly Bryant, and the book discussed was "Nickeled and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich. The college asked all students to read it, and the author went there in the fall to talk about her experiences.
November 19: Five of us stuffed care packages for the 12 current MHC students at the home of Marilyn Bauriedel, to cheer them up before midterms and finals.
December 3: Mountain View to Menlo Park Book Club meeting included a holiday potluck dinner at Marilyn Bauriedel's home.
December 8: Twenty members enjoyed a delicious holiday lunch meeting at Crocodile Café at 1PM in Valley Fair Mall. This location is across the street from the new Santana Row shopping center, so some attendees worked on holiday shopping before and after the lunch. Just before the meeting a false fire alarm started everyone streaming out of Valley Fair, but the evacuation stopped in time for us to relax at the lunch. Jerri Barrett collected new clothing for children, to be distributed through Estrella Family Services. Cost of the lunch was $25 for paid up members; $30 for alums who have not paid dues. Our VP and program chairman, Ellie Reynolds, arranged this lunch and it was a great way to get together before the harried rush of the holidays.
February 7: Los Gatos book club meeting. Anna Quindlen's "Blessings."
February 9: Jonathan Lipman, History professor from MHC, was on sabbatical at University of California at Berkeley. He spoke on "Islam in and around China: Uyghurs, Huihui, and the War on Terrorism." Stanford West community room, 700 Clark Way, Palo Alto. Cost was $5 per person. Professor Lipman gave a good overview of the group that China blamed for bombings in Beijing later in February, so it was both informative and timely!
Saturday, February 22: The Mount Holyoke Clubs of the Peninsula and Bay Areas joined in a traditional high tea to celebrate Mary Lyon's Birthday at The Ritz-Carlton, 600 Stockton at California Street, San Francisco, CA 94108-2305. We celebrated in high style, meeting old friends while making some new friends, in an update of "Gracious Living" but without any hats or white gloves. Cost was $30 per person for a lot of caffeine and calories we didn't need but loved.
March 21: The Lyon Lecture Series presented Professor Joan Cocks in San Francisco, in a joint meeting of both the San Francisco and the Peninsula Clubs. Her topic was a "The Pitfalls of Nationalism in a Post-9/11 world."
March 28: Los Gatos book club meeting at the home of Lassie Barela discussed "Caramelo" by Sandra Cisneros.
March 30: San Jose to Belmont book club meeting at the home of Jill Breckenridge discussed "On Edge" by Barbara Fister.
April 8: Board meeting at the home of Anne Raphael.
Sunday, May 18: Family picnic and tour of Wilder Ranch State Park, Santa Cruz, with docent Jan Hall Schwind, '60!
Monday, May 19: 7:30 PM Pulitzer prize winning alumna SUZAN-LORI PARKS '85 was at Kepler's Book Store, 1010 El Camino Real, in Menlo Park to read from and sign her new novel, "Getting Mother's Body." About 7 of us first went to a great little cafe next door to Kepler's, Cafe Borrone, for an early light dinner, and several others joined us just for the talk.
Friday, June 6: Joint meeting of both book clubs, to discuss "This Body" with the author, Laurel Doud, at the home of Jan Kyne, 13724 Lexington Court, Saratoga.
Sunday, June 8: Annual meeting of the club at the home of Jill Breckenridge, 2505 Coronet Blvd, Belmont, CA. We had the needed quorum to vote for officers and discuss and amend the club bylaws, we heard reports from officers and committees, and we still had time for some great snacks and socializing with over 20 members present. We finished the year with 50 paid members out of approximately 400 in our geographic area. THANK YOU ALL FOR MAKING IT A GREAT YEAR! We voted to make a $100 contribution from the club to the Alumnae Fund in memory of Jo Walker, plus any extra money contributed by members in her name.