Getting to Know You

This fall, the Alumni Council and area Bates Clubs will again offer a series of welcome events in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.The receptions will each take place on September 23.

In addition, Bates will join neighbors Bowdoin and Colby to sponsor welcome events in new areas, including Portland (Maine), Hartford, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Invitations will be mailed this summer from the Alumni Office announcing specific event locations and times. These promise to be great opportunities for recent graduates to network, both socially and professionally, in these eleven cities!

Talking Points

Spring events that bring together alumni and newly admitted students are among the more innovative and popular club offerings.Scheduled just after the admissions decisions are mailed on March 31, the events attract Bates alumni, current and past parents, friends, and students who have just received admission to the College.

“The admitted students and their families definitely come to these events seeking answers to questions they have about Bates. Many of them haven’t made final decisions; they are still researching their colleges,” said Assistant Dean of Admissions Karen Kothe, who coordinates the College’s volunteer Alumni-in-Admissions program. “Current parents talk to prospective parents. The proof that there’s a lot of talking going on is that not much of the food – and there are lovely spreads – gets eaten!”

This spring, guests also got to hear pianist Duncan Cumming ’93 (see the profile on page 51), who was featured in a series of five Bates Club concerts, performing for alumni, parents, friends, and newly admitted students in Hartford, Southern California, Northern California, Minnesota, and Chicago.

Cumming performed compositions by Chopin, Brahms, Satie, Ravel, as well as a piece written for him by William Matthews, Alice Swanson Esty ’25 Professor of Music at Bates.

Later Life

The Boston Bates Club was treated to an outstanding Robinson Players student theater production of A.R. Gurney’s play, Later Life, in January. The events of the play unfolded at an evening party overlooking Boston Harbor, where Austin (Ethan Craig ’98, Irvine, California) rekindles a romance begun almost thirty years ago with Ruth (Milena Zuccotti ’99, Brooklyn, New York), now a multiple divorcee, whose personal life is in such turmoil that their mutual friends look to Austin as Ruth’s last shot at normalcy. The play was directed by Jonathan Adler ’00 of Newton, Massachusetts.The Boston Bates Club and the Alumni Office thank the cast and crew ofLater Life for a wonderful performance!

Live Free…or in a Bates Club

The New Hampshire Bates Club is again an active club, thanks to the efforts of volunteers including Chris Poulin ’86, Ken ’62 and Martha Webb Snow ’63, Phil Alexakos ’94, Deborah Drouin ’89, Bonnie Groves ’69, Louise Malcolm ’56, Liz Palmer ’95, Bob Shepherd ’69, and Betsy Solon ’82.The club held an open steering committee meeting in November, where plans were laid for a holiday gathering. The event – an American Stage Festival presentation of A Christmas Carol, followed by a reception at a popular Nashua microbrew pub/restaurant – was a complete success.

The steering committee has surveyed New Hampshire alumni and parents for possible 1998 events. After evaluating more than one hundred returned surveys, the committee has announced a club schedule that began with an event at the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium in May and includes the following programs (invitations will be mailed out prior to each event):

“On Golden Pond” Lake Tour
Holderness, New Hampshire
Saturday, July 11, 1998

Conway Scenic Railroad Tour
North Conway, New Hampshire
Saturday, September 26, 1998

Candlelight Stroll at the Strawbery Banke Museum
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Saturday, December 5, 1998

Club Volunteers – Alert!

The Alumni Office needs your help in increasing the lead time for Bates Club mailings. In order to put club notices in the hands of Bates friends at least thirty days before the event (the ideal), we need your drafts of club invitations six to seven weeks in advance.

The long lead time is required because Bates has increased the volume of its printing and mailings – Bates Club activity alone has almost doubled during the past two years – so we need to increase our lead time for these in-house mailings.

Also, we now use third-class mail for many of our Bates Club mailings. Third-class postage rates are significantly cheaper than first class; however, third-class mail often takes longer to reach its destination (despite Post Office claims to the contrary!).

An Ideal Mailing ScheduleFor a mythical event on August 12, 1998, the following is an ideal timetable for invitations:June 24: Draft of club invitation received by Alumni Office approximately seven weeks prior to event date.

June 24-July 8: Invitation typed and sent to printing; recipients selected by computer; printed invitations addressed and enveloped.

July 8, 1998: Invitations mailed to Bates Club members five weeks prior.

July 15, 1998: Invitations received by members of Bates Club four weeks prior to August 12 event.