St. Elmo Hall’s eagerly awaited 105th Anniversary Reunion is scheduled for the weekend of November 1–3, 2013. The Reunion Committee has been busy since the beginning of the year, recruiting Class Representatives and setting an overall plan for Reunion activities. With the official release of the 2013 Football schedule in late February, the Committee was able to pick an attractive ACC game, and preliminary plans were finalized. The weekend of the Clemson game on November 2nd was selected for several reasons, including the likely mild weather, the greater availability of hotel rooms, and the desire to avoid competing with Homecomings Weekend, usually scheduled in mid-late October.
The Reunion Committee has put together a Schedule of Events that is quite similar to past Reunions, relying on a formula that has worked well for many years. Co-Chairman Tommy Brannock ’79 will again organize a shotgun Golf Tournament on Friday, November 1 at UVA’s Birdwood G.C., beginning at 9:30 A.M. Although the exact format has yet to be determined, there will probably be enough spots for 60-70 golfers. There will be a mid-round lunch, and prizes will be awarded for the winning foursome, closest to the pin and longest drive. For the “golf widows” and other early arrivers, there will be a tour of the Academical Village -“Secrets of the Lawn” – led by noted local historian and radio personality Coy Barefoot. The tour will begin at 1:30 and should last about 90 minutes.
The Welcome Cocktail Reception will be held Friday evening at Alumni Hall, from 5:00-7:30. While Alumni Hall doesn’t have the same cachet as Carr’s Hill, it is a good venue for this event, with plenty of space and parking nearby. Following the Reception, Class parties will be held at various locations around Charlottesville. The Class Representatives will be coordinating plans among themselves and organizing gatherings of “peer” classes. Details of these parties will be posted on our website.
Saturday will feature the traditional Pre-Game Brunch at St. Elmo Hall. The exact time will depend on the Kickoff of the Clemson game that afternoon, which won’t be officially announced by the satraps of ESPN until two weeks before the game. We have a large block of tickets in the Lower Level, which can be purchased through the Elmo website. Since these tickets are for specific seat locations and are not “general seating”, classmates or friends who want to sit together should coordinate their purchases of tickets.
The gala Dinner Dance will again be held at the Farmington Country Club, beginning at 7:00 or 7:30, depending on the game. Entertainment for the evening will be provided by Big Ray and the Kool Kats, a band that performs frequently throughout Virginia and is well known in Charlottesville. They play a wide variety of music that should appeal to all generations of Elmo Alumni. And if our younger Alumni still have “anything left in the tank” when the party ends around 11:30, the undergraduates will be hosting an “After Party” at the Elmo House. (The definition of “younger alumni” is TBD.)
Registration for the 105th Anniversary Reunion will begin in July, and updated information will be provided frequently over the summer – in print, by email and on our website.