2006 Reunion Report

Windsor Mountain School Alumni Association, Inc. – September 8 – 10, 2006 Reunion final report.

General Statement:

Actual attendance was 140 alumni and 37 guests and a few (2 or 3) gate crashers.

First let me start by saying the event was awesome. The bond that unquestionably exists between Windsorites of all eras is amazing.

The immense joy of sharing the campus for the weekend with people from 4 different decades of our schools past and discovering the common thread that runs through and connects us all is the single most repeated comment from those who attended.

Boston University the owner of the property initially required that we employ their security people for this event. In the end because “everything was so calm and controlled” they declined to bill us for the brief time they were in attendance. It is very safe to say that our reputation with BU as remained after the last event has been repaired and in the words of the properties manager we will be welcome back anytime.

We also found a great friend in Rob Peterson the “Head of School” for Berkshire Country Day. His visit with us on Saturday afternoon and address to the group was warm welcoming and punctuated by a tour he lead of the theater building which had not been part of our arrangement.

Throughout the weekend we also had full access to the main house, all floors all rooms were open and available to us.

Our registration area was in the front hall. People brought their significant others, their parents and their children. There was impromptu folk music on the back lawn as people broke out their guitars, banjos and voices. There was music under the tent for Saturday nights party and there was music in the library.

And one of our own, in an incredible touching moment brought another of our own back to Lenox and graduation hill. We actually closed the doors late Saturday evening after the party under the tent and the memorial gathering in the library. Benjamin Porter returned to take a panorama photograph as he had done 10 years earlier this time offering a color copy as well.

In response to a posting on the Yahoo message board some thoughts on the relatively small turnout.

There were many reasons why people did not attend. Some are very understandable and begins with the overall costs involved. Some were strictly a numbers thing, the 1996 effort was able to reach out to slightly less than a 50% larger group, about 1500 vs 1000 people. Some, quite a few especially the teachers and those with children still in school found the time of year to be a problem. Either the main group of dissidents who battled over the original pricing and general format as well as several others who pushed different issues, some making the debates personal and uncivil, stayed away themselves and influenced others to do the same.

We received several letters stating the “lack of harmony”. For everyone that wrote with this or similar reason there were likely 3 or 4 who reached the same decision and did not write. Heinz’s decision during this period to not attend also played a role in a few people’s decision not to attend. There was also some confusion over the failed attempt to organize a 70’s only gathering at Jiminy Peak by my predecessor. There were other factors like the botched and then re-assigned phone confirmation effort that caused nearly six months delay in getting out the word to those not on line or participating in the message board shortening the time people who were not on the board (at the time as now @ 75% of our confirmed community) had in receiving notice in time to make plans for the journey.

The bottom line result is that we just barely had the turnout necessary to cover the expenses and in fact several volunteers did not recover all of their out of pocket costs to help put this event together. It should also be noted that at this time no one is looking for any further reimbursement and all the bills are paid. The other sad fact is that with a larger turnout we would have been in a position to entertain notions of doing some good works with the excess. Several ideas that had been suggested were of course the Windsor Mountain Foundation. A donation to the Lenox library in exchange for maintaining an archive of donated Windsor memorabilia. And of course our gracious host Berkshire Country Day, one of the remaining keepers of the New England Private school tradition and current resident on our old campus.

In closing I would like to thank the association board, the many volunteers and the alumni of Windsor Mountain for making this effort a joyous experience.

Dave Beller WMS ‘68.