News Staff Reporter
Choate’s annual Reunion Weekend was held the weekend of May 19th and proved to be a huge success with over 650 alumni in attendance. According to Ms. Hillary Burrall, the Director of Alumni and Parent Relations, this number represented one of the best attendances to date, despite the poor weather on May 19th. Invitations to this year’s reunion were sent exclusively to all classes ending with a six or one, following the five-year cycle.
Unlike prior years, alumni weekend coincided with Choate’s annual Grandparents day, which traditionally occurs in April.
“The decision to bundle the two events together was made last year by Kathleen Wallace, the Dean of Academic Affairs, with the intention of providing a larger space of time between the Spring Visits in early April and reunion weekend in May, allowing the faculty to breathe a sigh of relief,” says Ms. Burrall.
The overlap of the events gave the Class of 1946, celebrating its 60th reunion, an opportunity to adopt grandchildren for a day and see Choate Rosemary Hall through the eyes of a current student. Since the revival of Grandparents Day seven years ago, the number of grandparents visiting campus has ranged from around 160 to 175 each year.
According to Mary Verselli, Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications, Grandparents Day will be coordinated in the Communications Office by Mrs. Peard, who is currently the Parent Relations Coordinator.
For their “big event of the year” the bulk of the preparation was done by the staff of the Alumni and Parent Relations Office in the Development Department led by Dan Courcey and Hillary Burall.
“It’s my job to deal with everything from working with class reunion volunteers and helping them reach out to fellow classmates to promoting the weekend itself via mail reminders and invitations to working with the numerous departments on campus (Aramark, Facilities, Athletics, Deans) to ensure the weekend goes smoothly,” Hillary Burall explained.
Unlike last year’s reunion weekend, the newly renovated Chapel allowed more space and formality for the events and services that were held during the weekend.
Nearly five memorial and chapel services of different classes were held in the newly furnished Chapel. Most notably, the class of 1966 had a traditional Chapel service similar to those they were required to attend during their time at Choate. This service was led by the class’ former chaplain, Reverend Bryan (Choate Chaplain 1959-1967), who also spoke during the Seymour St. John’s Memorial Service.
The Seymour St. John’s Memorial Service was widely attended on Sunday Morning. Eulogies were presented by Edward Shanahan, the current Headmaster, as well as by Gordon Webb St. John ’55, the son of Seymour St. John ’31 and David Rawle ’58, the Chairman of the Student Council of his class. According to Mary Verselli, the Chapel was so quiet “one could hear a pin drop”. However, the ongoing ringing of the Chapel Bells seemed to have the opposite effect on Choate students.
Another notable event was the Alumni Prize Ceremony at which Nicholoas Negroponte ’61, founder of the MIT Digital Media Lab, was awarded the Alumni seal prize and the 2006 US Olympic Women’s Hockey Team trio: Kim Insalaco ’99, Julie Chu ’01, and Angela Ruggierio ’98 were awarded the Rosemary Hall Alumni Award.
There were also various widely attended musical performances. The Choate Festival Chorus performed the Annual Choral Concert with the Hopkins School Chorus on Friday night. On Saturday night, late-night entertainment was offered in the form of Jazz, Choate Orchestra, and Remember September performances. Earlier that day, a lecture called “So you want to be an entrepreneur…” was held in the Science Center attracted a large crowd as well.
As it is Choate’s tradition to invite first-years graduates to return for the reunion, the Class of 2005 was invited to a picnic hosted by Chuck Timlin at Atwater Cottage.
According to Hillary Burrall, alumni feel closer to the school as a result of returning and tend to give back to the school in larger numbers.
