Grandparents Day

The orange blossoms were in full bloom to welcome our grandparents to campus this year. Even by California standards the weather was beautiful, making it difficult for many of our east-coasters to move indoors for classes. Campus was bustling with 116 extended family members to join in this favorite event that has grown from a half-day of classes and a glass of lemonade to two days of much-loved and anticipated events.

 

Once again, Esther and Tom Wachtell (grandparents of Ashley ’13 and Lexi ’15) opened their home for the welcome lunch, which was followed by tea with Head of School Michael Mulligan, and a formal buffet dinner shared with students and faculty members.  From dinner, the grands were escorted to the Performing Arts Sampler, featuring the Jazz Band, Dance Ensemble, and Chamber Singers. 

 

On Wednesday, our grandparents enjoyed a back-to-school experience with classroom discussions in multiple subjects, an assembly, and a peek at the riders’ impressive accomplishments preparing for the Big Gymkhana in May.

 

Lots of the visiting grandparents are Toads themselves, with many family members following their lead. Tad Williamson CdeP 1950 sported seven legacies on his nametag with Patricia Kong-Slater coming in a close second with six. The entertaining stories and history shared over the two days together validated why so many relatives choose to attend Thacher.

 

The overall consensus was that the event was a huge success! One grandparent captured the essence of the event in a note of appreciation, writing, "Mr. Mulligan enlightened us and frightened us with ghastly statistics and we again came away knowing our grandson is in a wonderful, nurturing school."

 

It is with heartfelt gratitude that we thank Sofie Howard (Jackson CdeP 2012, Hayden ’16) for, once again, leading an extraordinary group of caring parents, who went above and beyond to make sure this was a very special event from start to finish.  These volunteers included: Kim Baldwin (Jackson ’14), Lauren Bearden (Ian CdeP 2012, Avery ’16), Cherie Demopoulos (Alexandra ’13), Sarah Ferranti (Spencer McCune ’16), Sasha Gifford (Katharine CdeP 2010, Marshall CdeP 2012, Ellie ’16), Heidi Evans Girardoni CdeP 1986  (Julia ’15), Jenny Gregory (Anne ’15), Julie Hale (Bailey Cypheridge ’15), Charmaine Herzig (Erich ’14, Emma ’16), Jennifer Kelly (Declan ’15, Karl ’17), Susan Mirbach (Kenlyn ’15), Pamela Reiss (Sean CdeP 2010, Sasha ’15), Carrie Rheinfrank (Nevin Bernet ’16), Kim Robertson (Emma ’16),  Paul and Caryn Schiff (Elliot ’16), Morgan Smith CdeP 1985 (Colly ’16),  Carla Van Kalsbeek (Chase ’16), Therese Voevodsky (Paule CdeP 2012, Mia ’14), and Muriel Walker-Waugh (Aiden ’14).