LETTER FROM JULIE, JUNE 2020 |
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Dear 1960 Classmates, We actually did it! A Virtual 60@60 Reunion, thanks to Marna Hayden’s power point slides, a report on the Class survey, a discussion about books and book clubs with Betsy Beidler Cussler and Hannah Druker Heyle, a wonderful review from Martha Manchester Wright of the Smith College Museum of Art, and more. Thank you to all who helped put this “virtual” together and to those 99 of you who registered and “zoomed” in to watch us. Thanks to Jodi Fallon Fern and the Smith techies who arranged the Webinar reunion. It is possible to view our entire 60th Virtual Reunion here. We also received the news that our class raised an astounding $6,593,391 five-year total for Smith College. We won the reunion award for having the most Smith Stars, those who have given to The Smith Fund for five consecutive years. Thank you and congratulations! You will soon have a chance to vote on the Slate of Officers for the next 5 years. Smith will send an email the week of June 22 to everyone in the class for your vote. Class of 1960 officer slate 2021-2025: Linda Fisher Smith, our Planned Giving Chair, says we now have 86 members of the Grécourt Society, classmates or their spouses who have mentioned Smith in their wills and estate plans. Included in our class five-year total of $6.5 million was $2,375,865 from 11 classmates who notified Smith of their specific bequest intentions the past five years. Thank you for your generosity. A reminder from Linda that there is no minimum to a gift mentioned in your will to become a member of the Grécourt Society. Just go to smith.plannedgiving.org and indicate that Smith is included in your will or estate plan and become a Grécourt Society member. Diane Allen continues to keep our class website updated. View the website to see the list of the books mentioned by Betsy and Hannah during our Webinar, as well as fundraising info, Jane Yolen’s reunion poem, and a description of the Class of 1960 memorial library room. Unfortunately, we lost two more classmates in May. Elizabeth Brooks Dennett and Marjorie Cohen Relin-Ratcliff. Diane Allen has listed others on the Class website. I look forward to a real reunion on campus in 2025. Let us all survive this year of the pandemic and keep our sense of humor while we remain homebound. Gratefully, Julie Brown Gordon |