One of the highlights of our summer was sponsoring the first annual Alumni party, held on a warm and breezy summer Friday evening, July 30. Alumni,
teachers, board members, parents and friends of Waldorf schools from
around the country met at the newly opened Club Helsinki Hudson, in
Hudson, NY, to greet old friends and make new ones. The networking
opportunity was a kick off for future Alumni Parties at the Helsinki
Hudson and around the country.
The party was also the official launch of the new secure
Waldorf Alumni site. This new site welcomes Waldorf
alumni, alumni parents, alumni grandparents, teachers, and high school
students. It is already publishing news and information about Waldorf
alums and will provide a place where alums
can track down old friends and contacts in the Waldorf community.
The
festivities were graciously hosted by the wonderful staff at Club
Helsinki Hudson, which offered excellent food and a spectacular venue
for the event. It was followed by a splendid concert performed by the
celebrated musical band 'The Blue Ribbon Boys' at 9 p.m., which featured
Waldorf alums Julia Gottlieb, Seth Travins, Evan Palazzo, and Lukas
Schwartz. The people you meet in Waldorf schools become friends for
life. The party showed this with glowing highlights, as teachers, alums,
and friends mingled and mixed, sharing old stories and creating new
relationships. Fifty people came on short notice to the party and a
hundred came to the concert. It was a warm hearted fun evening with good
friends and good food.
A raffle, funded by the generosity of
Waldorf alumni and their friends included gift certificates from the
Hawthorne Valley Farm Store and AWSNA Publications, a CD from The Blue
Ribbon Boys, a CD from the band Mother Fletcher, a recently published
novel by Winslow Eliot, and a year's subscription to Renewal.
The event
would not have been possible without these fabulous sponsors - almost
all of them Waldorf alums:
The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA)
Malibu Compost (Colum Riley, Kimberton 1992)
Destino (Gavi Cohen, Hawthorne Valley School 1999)
Winslow Eliot (Author of 'Heaven Falls,' Michael Hall School 1974)
Farm at Miller's Crossing (Chris Cashen, Hawthorne Valley School 1993)
Swept Green (Susanne Ameln, Kimberton 1996)
Design Build - Living Architecture (Erlend Neumann, Kimberton 1993)
Hawthorne Valley Farm (fertile with alums)
Club Helsinki Hudson (alum club of choice in the Hudson Valley)
If
you're interested in sponsorship opportunities for future Waldorf
Alumni Garden Parties, or to help in the organizing and spreading the
word process, please contact Kirin Buckley at webeditor@awsna.org or
call 518 672-7878.
