VASSAR CLUB
of Washington DC

MAY 2008

BASEBALL

Is there a better way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than at the ballpark with the Vassar Club? Perhaps, but this is fun, too!

Bring the family out on:

Sunday, June 29, 2008 at 1:35 pm
This is your chance to visit the brand new Nationals Park as the Orioles come to DC to play our Nats. Seats are $39 each.

Seats are limited, first come first served.

Call 301-299-4855 to reserve yours!

The Vassar Club of Washington DC Founder's Day EVENT CANCELED

We'll not meet on the charming grounds of Old Loughborough, 5312 Allandale Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20816 on Saturday, May 17th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Our hosts - who get a standing ovation for letting us visit so often - are VC Alumna Anne Mehringer and her husband, Terry Beaty.

We'll have everything in place for an olde-fashioned, family style picnic: soft drinks, burgers, hot dogs and vegetarian items for the grill. Your own picnic specialties are welcomed and encouraged. The same holds for musical instruments and games for kids and adults.

It will be a fine time to hear news of the new batch of students chosen to enter Vassar as freshmen in the fall. We'll also hear what's happening in the arena of American Crafts and try our hands at making jewelry. RSVP via the Vassar Club line at (301) 299-4855. Directions to the Founder's Day Celebration site: From Beltway - exit River Road toward Washington for about 4 miles, passing Fresh Fields and crossing Little Falls Parkway. Take the next right on Ventnor Avenue, right on Greenway, continue to end of street, and left on Allandale. The site is at the last driveway on the right, 5312 Allandale Road.

Jewelry Making at Renwick Gallery

Thursday, May 29 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Renwick Gallery's Grand Salon, Smithsonian American Art Museum, we'll join jewelry designer Kathleen Manning as she provides an introduction to jewelry making, including beading, tool handling, and wire working. Participants will have the opportunity to construct multiple projects from beaded necklaces to wire rings. Space is limited and advance registration is required at saamprograms@si.edu or (202) 633-8490; $35 materials fee.
Questions, contact LaFleur Paysour, at fpaysour@earthlink.net.

SAVE THE DATE FOR A WASHINGTON CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE!
On Thursday, May 29th, Professor Beth Darlington will offer a fascinating program drawing on her background in literary studies and Jungian psychoanalysis. Ms. Darlington joined Vassar's English department in 1967. One of the founders of the college's programs in Woman's Studies and Victorian Studies, she subsequently served as director of both programs. Her special academic interests include Arthurian literature, English romantic poetry (especially the poetry of Wordsworth), mythology, and fairytales. Mid-way through her Vassar career, she trained and became a certified Jungian psychoanalyst, licensed in New York State. Don't miss this chance to feel the excitement of participating in a Vassar classroom once again.

The Fourth Annual Vassar FilmFest

A Scholarship Benefit presented by the Vassar Club of Washington, DC

Showcasing New Films by Vassar Alumnae/i, Faculty and Current Students …

And a gathering of award-winning Filmmakers

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Jack Morton Auditorium

The George Washington University - Media and Public Affairs Building

805 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20052

The MPA Building is located on the corner of 21st and H Streets.

The Jack Morton Auditorium is located on the first floor of the building.

Metro: Orange or blue line to Foggy Bottom-GWU

 VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED
For information or to volunteer: contact Joyce Schwartz at jr.schwartz@verizon.net or Ann Loikow at aloikow@verizon.net

  Meryl Streep '71 wins Benjamin Franklin Creativity Laureate Award and speaks at Smithsonian

Actress Meryl Streep has portrayed an astonishing array of roles in an illustrious career in the theater, film, and television. The two-time Academy Award winner and recipient of a record-breaking 14 Oscar nominations had never acted in a drama before her sophomore year at Vassar College, where she won the title role in the Strindberg play, "Miss Julie". Today, Streep is widely regarded as one of our most distinguished actors.

In addition to her accomplishments as an actress, Streep is also a champion of many causes. She does her advocacy work with several organizations, including the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School; Healthy Child Healthy World; and Partners in Health, which promotes health and social justice for poor families and disadvantaged children.

On April 25th here in Washington, Streep will receive the seventh annual Benjamin Franklin Creativity Award. After the ceremony, she reflects on the role of creativity in her life and work and her thoughts on how creativity can be nurtured and developed. Thirty members from the Vassar Club of Washington DC are set to attend the sold-out event.

The Benjamin Franklin Creativity Laureate Award recognizes and celebrates some of the world's most creative thinkers, innovators, and catalysts in the arts, sciences, and humanities, in both traditional and emerging disciplines. Previous recipients include Yo-Yo Ma, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Ted Turner. The award is made possible by the Creativity Collaboration, a joint program of The Smithsonian Associates and the Creativity Foundation.  

Montpelier Wine Festival

Sample award-winning Virginia wines and relax on Montpelier's splendid 2,650-acre grounds while enjoying specialty foods, children's activities, kite contests, vendors, crafters and more!

If you're going.  The festival will be held Saturday, May 3, 2008;  11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Adults: $14/ advance/$20 at gate (price includes wine tasting); under 21: $7; under 12: free.

Admission to Montpelier includes admission to the mansion, the 2,650-acre gardens and grounds, seasonal and themed tours, the Gilmore Cabin: A Freedman's Farm, the Visitor Center, Education Center, Museum Shop, and duPont Gallery, Landmark Forest, Madison Family Cemetery, Slave Cemetery, active archaeological digs, and the Annie duPont Formal Garden. Admission also includes an audioguide which allows visitors to take a self-guided tour of the grounds.

We are organizing a Caravan of Vans and Autos to transport club members to this day of activities.  Those interested in driving (the trip takes about 2 hours) should contact Donna via the Club phone. 

An Afternoon with
Shakespeare Theatre Company

Antony and Cleopatra
Featuring some of the most sublime poetry of love and loss ever written, Antony and Cleopatra is a dark, intimate portrait of an ill-fated love affair. The play begins two years after the events of Julius Caesar, with civil unrest roiling imperial Rome. The aging Marc Antony, one of the empire's three rulers, lives a decadent life in Egypt, carousing with Queen Cleopatra. As Rome reasserts its claim on him, Antony struggles between his sense of duty to his country and his consuming love for Cleopatra. Michael Kahn directs one of Shakespeare's last great tragedies. The Baltimore Sun extolled Kahn for molding the Shakespeare Theatre Company "into the closest thing this country has to Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company."

If You're Going. 
The performance is Saturday, May 10, 2008.  Curtain is at 2 p.m. at Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F Street, NW. Verizon Center Metro stop. The group gathers in the lobby of the theater at 1 p.m. for refreshments and informal pre-performance commentary from alumnae/i Shakespeare enthusiasts.  Admission:  $57.75.  Please reserve seats through Donna and the Club Phone.

President's Message

If it were up to me, you'd receive an invitation to walk the red carpet at the Oscars or to experience the highs of Fashion Week. We know from reading Vassar, the Alumnae/i Quarterly, that fellow alums are right in the thick of those two major American moments. But inviting you to Hollywood or to New York isn't in my hands. What I can offer is an invitation to join several of us on the Board of the Vassar Club of Washington, DC, or as a member of one of several Club committees. Could you help us contact documentary and feature filmmakers or preview films, as a member of the FilmFest Committee? (Not quite the Oscars, but you never know.) Or maybe you're single and could represent the Club and meet area graduates of Dartmouth, the University of Chicago, and Cornell, among others, at monthly Ivy Singles Social Club events? (Not quite the red carpet, but I know you'll have fun.) How about interviewing and helping us identify High School seniors for Vassar's Class of 2013? Call or email anyone whose name you see to the left to let us know you're available. We'll tell you about all the important work you can do with and for your Club. By the way, if you know an alum with connections to the Oscars, come talk to us. Our FilmFest Committee will hang on your every word!

COMING ATTRACTIONS!

May 19              Founder's Day at Old Loughborough CANCELED
 May 29              Jewelry Making at Renwick Gallery
May 29              Vassar Classroom with Beth Darlington
 June 6 - 8         REUNION (Classes ending in "3" and "8")
September 19   Vassar Volunteer Weekend
 October 18       Vassar FilmFest
June 29            Nationals vs. Orioles at Nationals Park

 

To attend Club events, unless otherwise indicated please RSVP by clicking here or with the Vassar Club phone (301) 299-4855.

After reserving, make checks payable to "Vassar Club of Washington DC" and mail to P.O. Box 60022, Potomac, MD 20859-0022

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