Reunion Service Projects

Beyond the dizzying array of traditional activities (faculty lectures, alumni performances, bike rides, bird walks, campus tours, golf outings, campus tours, film screenings) two dozen alumni chose to help out in local service projects over Reunion Weekend 2014.

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Some worked with Higher Ground and Habitat for Humanity at the Spruces Mobile Home Park, dismantling one of many residences wrecked by Hurricane Irene and salvaging saleable metal for its owner, 85-year-old Arthur Smith. Now resettled in North Adams, Smith was surprised and delighted that a group of total strangers had showed up to help out. (Read this local news coverage.)

Other alumni cleaned kitchen appliances that had been donated to the First Congregational Church, which will sell them at a community-wide recycling and fundraising effort in September. Still others worked with the Hoosic River Watershed Association (HooRWA) to remove litter and invasive plants from the shoreline of the Hoosic River, where it winds past Cole Field.

At the Spruces: Arthur Smith chats with Williams volunteers
At the Spruces: Arthur Smith chats with Williams volunteers

Fred Elia ’79, one of the principal drivers behind this year’s reunion service projects, is a social worker who organized two small projects for his class’s 30th reunion in 2009. The recession had hit particularly hard in northern Berkshire County, and Elia was uncomfortable with the thought of celebrating alongside other relatively well off classmates while many local residents struggled. “I thought doing something like this might help change that impression of us.”

When Elia proposed a more ambitious suite of projects for his class’s 35th, Williams reunion director Ashley Cart ’05 urged the class invite all alumni to participate. She put Elia and his classmates in touch with Paula Consolini, director of Williams’ new Center for Learning in Action. The center worked with the local nonprofits to create the projects, and Ephs ranging from the Class of 1974 to the Class of 2009 signed on. (Alumni also participated in a Bone Marrow Donor Drive organized by the class of 1989 as part of its 25th Reunion.)

“Many of us are already involved in our own communities,” said Elia, “so it’s nice to create opportunities to bring that part of ourselves to Williamstown.” Kristine Ball ’79 and Betsy Harper ’79 agreed, noting that cleaning up the Hoosic shoreline seemed a natural extension of the environmental work they each do back home. Williams alumni also gather together for service projects in their own regions. Last year, Ephs in Washington, D.C., prepared meals at DC Central Kitchen, led by Mike Curtin ’86. Two weeks ago, Boston alumni volunteered at the Greater Boston Food Bank.

“Having been a student at Williams gives people great advantages,” said Rick Moog ’79, who worked on the Spruces project. “We’ve been privileged to have the education and the lives we’ve had, and we should be giving back.”

Hoosic River: Removing invasive plants
Hoosic River: Removing invasive plants

“It is great to give a little back,” said Audrey Albern Sheffield ’84, wiping river mud off her hands, “It’s also a wonderful way to spend a beautiful afternoon in Williamstown.”