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February 2003 Dear Classmates, In response to our 1953 Reunion letter in the fall, many of you have let us know that you will be coming back to the MIT campus to join your classmates in celebrating 50 years since our graduation. It's now about four months until we will participate in this significant lifetime event, and your reunion committee has been working hard to make it a truly memorable occasion. I hope we will see you for all, or for at least a part of, our 50th reunion. As we said a few months ago, it will be a great opportunity to renew old friendships and catch up on each other's lives over the past years. We already have close to 100 of our classmates who are planning to be with us, and about 70 of those have paid for their Cardinal Jackets already.* The list of those currently planning to attend is attached. We are expecting a total of about one-third of the approximately 560 classmates we have contacted to sign up when the registration letters are sent in March. For all of you who have already responded to let us know you're coming, and especially to all of you who generously paid your five-year dues, thank you! A schedule synopsis on the next page will help get you started on your planning and give a bit more insight into our plans for Cambridge and Salem. It will be a grand pleasure for all of us to be together for this major milestone. If you have not yet sent in your card indicating that you are planning on joining us (or your $106 class dues), this might be a good time to do so. Enclosed are two letters that request some very important information. The first is a Biography Page for our 50th Reunion Book. The book will be mailed post-reunion to all who attended, as well as to those who paid the five-year class dues, but were unable to attend the reunion. The second is our traditional Reunion Questionnaire! But there have been a few changes and additions now that many of us are at or nearing retirement. Please send each back to the classmate indicated in the instructions, Mark Schupack for the Biography and Joe Cahn for the Questionnaire. These forms, and other class-related and reunion-related information, are also available on our class website: http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1953/. Again,
registration materials will be sent in March, but now is the time to begin
planning your trip to Cambridge. Hotel rooms may book quickly because
of Commencement and alumni activities at MIT that weekend. Book your Best Wishes,
REUNION PLANS Our reunion will begin with your arrival in Cambridge either Thursday, June 5 or Friday, June 6, 2003. For those arriving on Thursday, we will have a hospitality suite set up at the DoubleTree Guest Suites hotel, where we have a block of rooms reserved at a cost of $179 per night (plus tax). That evening will be one of greeting friends that we may not have seen since 1953! On Friday, June 6, you will be able to register on campus and take part in general Tech Reunion tours on MIT campus and in Boston. In the afternoon there will be "Affinity" group events (living groups, departments, etc.). Most of the department receptions will be held between 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. That evening, our 50th Reunion Class will be guests at the home of President Vest for a reception at 5:00 p.m. Our class picture will be taken at 6:30 on the steps of Walker Memorial before we make our way into Morse Hall for our class Dinner Dance (cost $50 per person), which will feature the music of Sal Tori's Sounds of Music band. Wear your Cardinal Jackets! On Saturday, June 7, the morning program session of Technology Day will be held with Panel discussions, followed by a special Class of 1953 luncheon and an afternoon Technology Day program. At the "Tech Night" dinner held on campus before Pops, we will be seated with our class (cost $40 per person). The event starts at 5 p.m., and then we will be whisked off in buses to Symphony Hall for Tech Night at the Pops. A post-Pops get together is planned at the DoubleTree for those of us still young at heart. On Sunday, June 8, we are planning a special Class of 1953 brunch ($20 per person) at the new Simmons Hall, which bears the name of classmate Richard P. Simmons. Immediately after the brunch, we’ll have a campus walking tour, featuring recent construction projects. (no cost). You will have the rest of the day free to shop or sightsee, and that evening, dinners coordinated by living group or department (pay for your own meals) will take place in local restaurants. We will be recruiting a volunteer representative(s) to head up each group. So, if you’d like to join in, please contact Bill Haberman. Volunteer coordinators will be responsible for contacting the group members (we will provide you with the contact information). Don’t worry if you are not Boston-based; the Alumni Association and Reunion Committee can help with restaurant suggestions. Monday morning, June 9, is Commencement, and as most of you know, our 50th Reunion Class will be in the Procession wearing our Cardinal Jackets. This is THE key event, and we hope that everyone coming to the reunion will participate. A continental breakfast will be held at our line-up location Monday morning to be certain that we are fed and ready for the day. Spouses are invited to attend Commencement and the breakfast. Please note that you may only request one guest Commencement ticket. Monday afternoon, all of us who would like to extend our reunion will travel to the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, MA., for two or three nights of class communing. We have already set aside a block of rooms for our class (cost is $143 per night plus tax). Planned for Salem is a New England Lobsterbake on Monday evening, an informal class dinner-dance on Tuesday evening, and several tours in this historic area on both Tuesday and Wednesday. We have even arranged for a very special “sneak preview” of the new wing of the renowned Peabody-Essex Museum! A Museum representative will lead us through the new site, which is not scheduled to open to the public until late June. On Tuesday, a guided visit to the gardens of the beautiful Ropes Mansion is scheduled, as well as a trolley tour will about Salem and local attractions. on Tuesday as well. Salem activity chairs Lou Peralta and Phil Stark have also coordinated a morning Schooner ride and activities in Marblehead and Rockport. Visit the Salem website at http://www.salem.org/ for more information on our June 9-12 activities. If you have questions about our Salem events, please contact Lou Peralta (508-497-8699 or pera5@alum.mit.edu) or Phil Stark (978-369-9131 or met2@alum.mit.edu). This will be a memorable New England holiday with plenty of time to take in area sights, galleries or interesting shops… as well as more fine time to spend with friends and classmates. Wednesday evening will be loosely scheduled, and Thursday morning, we will meet for a casual farewell breakfast and start making plans for our 55th Reunion in 2008!
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