Reunion 2013

The Ojai Valley was bathed in sunlight and mild temperatures during Reunion Weekend 2013, extending a perfect welcome for the 425 participants in Thacher's joyous, annual celebration. CdeP 1953 and 1958 enjoyed great turnouts, arriving a day early to commence a long weekend's festivities, with many spouses joining in for the various dinner parties, seminars, toasts, and recreational activities. CdeP 1963 started their weekend with a luncheon in the Library's Margaret Appenzeller Huyler Courtyard, a fitting venue for John Huyler and his classmates as they joined together to acknowledge their 50-year milestone. 

 

Thanks to the care and creative efforts of alumni, faculty, staff, and volunteers, the weekend came off without a hitch or even a fall from a horse! As usual, every riding session was full on Saturday and Sunday, as was the lineup of trapshooters. Jay Gudebski CdeP 1993 walked away with the highest shooting score of the day with 21 of 25. And Katherine Bechtel CdeP 2003 raised the bar as well, making 19 of 25 shots. Of all the classes represented, CdeP 2003 was the top squad. Trap range master Steve Kanaly made this event possible, with the help of Robert Torres (father of Justin CdeP 2004 and Stephanie CdeP 1999) and Chris Van Son (father of Toto '16 and Sarah '15), along with student workers. 

 

Seminars, services, and entertainment were offered by a variety of alumni throughout Saturday, preceding the traditional banquet. Those presenting in various forms included:

Nick Thacher CdeP 1963, son of Anson Thacher CdeP 1923 and grandson of our founder, Sherman Day Thacher, and his classmates Joe Hollow and Steve Griggs honored their class' 50-year reunion during the Sunday Memorial Service. Nick Thacher facilitated the service, inspiring everyone present with his words about the campus and the Outdoor Chapel:

For me this Memorial Hill has powerful significance, primarily entangled in what the greatest of the English Romantic poets called “intimations of mortality.” My best friend’s name rests on a plaque embedded on the simple stone pillars to your left. I bid my formal goodbyes to the only grandparent I knew as well as to both of my parents and to innumerable friends, relatives, teachers, and casual acquaintances right here in this powerfully restorative place—a place that stirs in me not so much a freshet of grief and celebration as a torrent of loss and appreciation and deep, abiding affection that—though I am no Biblical scholar—always puts me in mind of the most beautiful lines of Ecclesiastes:

 

All the rivers run into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full.

Unto the place from whence the rivers come,

Thither they return again.

So—if the view before you seems slightly changed, as it undoubtedly does in its details—find consolation, as the Romantic poet did, in those little changes, as well as in the things that haven’t changed—the mingled scents of dust, orange blossom, greasewood, and manure; the sweep of the citrus groves luring your eye westward towards the far rim that obscures the sea, the looming but familiar solidities of Twin Peaks and Chief and Topa Topa, the occasional nicker from the corrals.

 

(Read the complete remarks here.)

There are countless ways that alumni made a difference in the tenor and scope of Reunion Weekend. Many thanks to all of you for showing up and participating in a happy, memorable time together. We appreciate our unique community, are grateful for their contributions to Thacher and throughout the world, and are always grateful for the presence of alumni at Casa de Piedra. 

Come back any time!