Sunday brought more fun, including an invitation to the famed Leander Club during our afternoon break.

Leander is steeped in tradition and rowing lore. Over the years many of the oarsmen on the British National Teams have trained under the banner of the Club as they prepared for the Olympic Games. However, don't even dream of referring to Leander's signature color as Pink. The word is Cerise.  Here’s a set of those distinctive Leander oars coming down the course:

Clearly the event of the day and, perhaps, of the entire Reunion, was our ceremonial row down the last half of the Henley Course on Sunday morning. Actually, we rowed twice so that everyone, including Hilda Buss, had a chance to participate.

Here's our motley crew once again, this time dressed for action:

Some preferred to show another profile...

...and once again, the stalwart Women of MIT:

It's a wonder that the process of getting the crew shell from the boat tent to the dock, fastening the oars, and getting into the boat didn't result in anyone falling into the drink. At least half of the team hadn't been in a crew shell for forty-five years:

Yet, in spite of the many challenges of getting our act together, we were soon underway.

This part of the story should end with an entire gallery of photographs of our race down the course. However, the Women of MIT, it turns out, were more interested in this string of Canada geese (count them, 22 in all !!) that occupied our docking area shortly after our departure than they were in photographing their spouses' adventures on the Thames.

Still, we are fortunate to have these two rare photographs showing the MIT 1962 Lightweight Varsity steaming energetically toward the Finish Line, leading all its competitors by open water!  ☺

Sunday afternoon we enjoyed the Finals for each event, a total of nineteen races, followed by a farewell dinner back at the Burnham Beeches. Before leaving Henley we watched as all of the coveted Henley trophies, in this incredibly informal manner, were carted over to the grandstand for the awards presentations. I find it remarkable that the name of every single winning oarsman is carefully inscribed on these trophies, with the oldest—the Grand Challenge Cup—dating back to 1839! Another bit of the unique history and tradition of the Henley Royal Regatta.

The next morning after breakfast, we scattered into the many directions from which we had arrived.  The Reunion was over, but it had left an indelible impression on each and every one of us. I hope you enjoyed this recap of our festivities even a fraction as much as the twenty-two of us enjoyed being there. The Lord willing, we might give it another try in 2012.