HOMECOMING / REUNION

HOMECOMING & REUNION WEEKEND

OCTOBER 15 -16, 2021

The beautiful fall weekend kicked o with a 50th reunion breakfast followed by morning tours of the new Arts Center, where an alumni art show was on display. That evening alumni, their former teachers and coaches, as well as 20 reunion classes came back to celebrate at the Red & Gray Reunion Soirée on campus in the Historic Corridor.

Saturday highlights included the annual Alumni Fun Run combined with a new bike ride, an alumni chapel featuring former Middle School History Teacher Cli Dickinson, a campus tour with Headmaster Mason Lecky and cookout, followed by a football game against Woodberry Forest School that the Saints won 47-14.

Reunion

REUNION CHAPEL TALK

Former Middle School History Teacher Cli Dickinson said that in composing his Saturday morning chapel talk, he relived his last 27 years when he formed strong and meaningful relationships. Looking out at his audience, he said, “I can remember where you sat in class, and I probably can remember a story about you.”

He talked about his teaching philosophies and his focus on the fundamentals. Dickinson said that he tried to teach skills no one taught him, including how to be a better listener, how to take accurate, thorough notes, how to read with purpose, the importance of reading sources that conflict with your personal views to cultivate an open mind, and developing a broad vocabulary. He is well remembered for teaching boys to communicate their thoughts in a clear, logical, e cient manner in a five-paragraph essay. His lessons tended to focus on three times of history — “what happened, what we were told happened and what we were told to believe happened.”

Dickinson believes boys worked so diligently in his class because he valued the potential of each individual. He views his teaching as the greatest and most fulfilling career he could have pursued, ending his talk with a thank you to attendees for what they shared with him.

Reunion

Alumni & Friends Opening Concert

CELEBRATING the StC Arts Center

Grammy-winning Mason Bates ’95 composed “Rags and Hymns of River City,” for the Atlantic Chamber Ensemble, who performed the four movements. Bates provided live electronic sounds. Adrian Duke ’87 showcased his New Orleans-themed piano and vocal stylings on “Early in the Morning” and “Ophelia” alongside his band.

Tenor Will Ferguson ’95, a worldrenowned opera singer, sang selections that ranged from Schubert art songs to a Broadway number from Bernstein’s “West Side Story.”

The Oct. 14 opening concert in the StC Arts Center’s Louis F. Ryan Recital Hall featured a stellar roster of alumni artists, graduates of the 1970s, ’80s, ’90s and 2000s. When tickets went quickly, the School set up an overflow area on the Terraces where families, alumni, neighbors, faculty and sta relaxed on picnic blankets and fold-up chairs while watching performances on a big screen.

Buck Dietz ’82, a touring musical theater performer, sang several songs from Broadway shows, woven together to describe his time as a boy growing up at StC. Randy Johnston ’75’s trio performed his own jazz-tinged composition, “One for Detroit,” and Gordon Lightfoot’s “Rich Man’s Spiritual.” Upper School Teacher and Jazz Band Director John Winn was a lead organizer for the event and served as master of ceremonies.

Ira White ’11 choreographed and danced the exuberant “Itching To Groove” to Isaac Hayes’ song, “Run Fay Run.”

Dean King ’81’s reading of his moving personal short story, “The Prayer Bells of Heaven,” about Doc Watson’s influence on his life and family was followed by Wells Hanley ’93’s interpretation of that story with his song, “On the Searching For You,” featuring Will Perkinson ’93 on guitar. Hanley also composed and performed a song honoring the three StC teachers who had the greatest impact on him, former Glee Club Director Hope Armstrong Erb, former Middle School Head Andy Smith and Writer-In-Residence Ron Smith.