The Smith College Club of the Peninsula conducts our year from September-August, which means this month it's time for... A YEAR IN REVIEW! It's been a busy and fun year as we have slowly, carefully, safely emerged from the pandemic to finally get together in person! Check out a few of the things we did over the past 12 months!
Tea Dates!
A new program this year from the creative mind of member and club president Donna Dong: go on a "blind date" with a Smithie! Donna developed a program where you can sign up each month to be paired with another local Smith alum and meet up for tea, or a hike, or whatever else you agree to do. What a fun way to get to meet more Smithies!
Mountain Day Celebration
October 9, 2021 - We met up for a short hike and a long snack time in Woodside, CA to reminisce and celebrate our beloved Mountain Day traditions.
Hiking at Pulgas Ridge
November 13, 2021 - A hot, interesting hike where we found some weird purple moss growing on felled trees (lower right image). Because a Smith quest for knowledge never stops, the hike stopped for a while so we could get a good gander.
Annual Cookie Exchange
December 11, 2021 - Thanks to Joy Silver for allowing us to gather safely in her beautiful backyard and enjoy this annual tradition of exchanging cookies and other treats.
Hiking and Beautiful Views at Mount Umunhum
January 8, 2022 - We tackled a slightly strenuous early-morning hike up Mount Umunhum, discovering the secrets behind the giant mountain-top concrete box, visible from all over San Jose. For those who were not up for the hike, Mount Umunhum has a winding road all the way to the top where hiking members were met by driving members for refreshments.
Book Club
The book club meets every month! During the pandemic we didn't miss a step, pivoting easily to meeting via Zoom. The book club is open to any local alums. If you're interested in joining, please get on the book club mailing list at:
www.peninsulasmithclubca.org/book-club. See details of our upcoming meetings below in the Book Club section of the newsletter.
Care Packages
April 24, 2022 - Twice a year, our care package coordinators lead the effort to create, assemble, and send care packages to current Smith students who hail from the Peninsula Bay Area. These projects are a great way for you to get involved in your Smith Club without a big time commitment!
Tea Ceremony at Hakone Gardens
May 1, 2022 - Hakone Gardens is an 18-acre traditional Japanese garden in Saratoga, CA. It is recognized as one of the oldest Japanese-style residential gardens in the Western Hemisphere. We had a lovely afternoon wandering through the property and taking part in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
Spring Tea to Welcome New Smithies!
June 5, 2022 - We gathered on this beautiful day to welcome local students who are heading to Smith for the first time this Fall! It was a great mix of new students, current students, young alums, and less-young alums.
Filoli Gardens
June 11, 2022 - A small group visited Filoli, a gorgeous 16-acre formal gardens surrounded by a 654-acre estate in Woodside, CA. Our own Diana McDonough acted as docent, showing us around this incredible property.
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Join the Fun! Become a Member!
As a paying member of the Smith College Club of the Peninsula, you will get proactive evites to every planned event, and the following additional perks:

  • Discounted admission to Club events, including lectures by faculty from the College
  • Evite invitations to fun programs geared toward the varying interests of local alums
  • The opportunity to meet and form lifelong connections with intelligent, interesting alums
  • A sense of satisfaction knowing that Club funds help Smith attract outstanding young women from the Peninsula and provide scholarship funds to enable them to attend the College
Why I'm a Member -- a story
I had the immense pleasure of attending my 30th Smith reunion this Spring. As with every reunion, I reconnected with long-time friends and made dozens of new ones. But this year was extra special.

I attended Reunion Weekend II -- the one that takes place the weekend after graduation. I was a little disappointed that our Ivy Day wouldn't include marching with the amazing young people who were on the cusp of graduation and all the palpable energy that goes with it. What I didn't realize is that the college had invited the students who had graduated in 2020 -- those who had been robbed of their Smith graduation ceremony by the outbreak of Covid-19 -- back to campus on that same weekend of my reunion.

On our first night of reunion, I was gathered with my (very loud) group of '92-ers in our assigned dining tent, reconnecting, eating, and already busting a move or two, when I heard someone yell my name. I looked around, excited to see another classmate, but instead I saw a beautiful young person running across the tent right towards me. There's no way I know anyone under 50 here, I thought. But I was wrong.

Juliana, class of 2020 and member of the Smith College Club of the Peninsula, saw me across this enormous and crowded tent and came running over to say hello! What an amazing connection! And then it happened again. Just a little later during the same evening, Trang, class of 2020 and member of the Smith College Club of the Peninsula, suddenly appeared at my table to introduce me to her mother who had travelled with her to finally celebrate Trang's graduation ceremony. My heart was bursting with pride for these two young women -- who have both taken on leadership roles in our club -- and with the thrill of getting to share this special weekend with them.

I proselytized to my classmates all weekend: This is why you stay active in your local club! This connection across classes, across generations, cannot be found elsewhere. You're a Smith student for four years, but you're a Smith alum forever. Thank you Juliana and Trang for making my reunion weekend even sweeter.
-- Amy Gardner, Smith College Class of 1992
Suggest a Group Event
We're always looking for new ways to meet up and connect. If you have great ideas for group events, there's a way to make those suggestions: Go to our website under the Events tab, or just click here, and you will be presented with a Google form to guide you through your event suggestion. Please complete the form, including as much information as you can. After you submit the form, someone from the club's events team will contact you.
STAY APPRISED OF MORE UPCOMING EVENTS
Follow us on social media to stay up to date on our virtual and in-person gatherings.

PENINSULA BOOK CLUB
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If you are interested in attending our meetings or getting on the mailing list, please contact the Book Club Coordinator Sally Smith '64 via email or by filling out the form on our website at https://www.peninsulasmithclubca.org/book-club.

The book club meets at 7:00 p.m., generally on the third Wednesday of each month.
UPCOMING: AUGUST 17
It's time for our annual Book Club Movie Night! Movie Night will be “Victoria and Abdul,” based on the book of the same name by Shrabani Basu. The book is available at Kepler’s. We’ll meet in person at the home of Nisha Thatte-Potter (many thanks, Nisha), starting at 5:30 with a potluck dinner. If you’d like to attend, please go to
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FP22j12MqdthEVHLDx1sia0K5VF31gY0eamxBD8HZlc/edit?usp=sharing and sign up to bring an Indian or British dish; Nisha’s address will be emailed to you. We will eat outside, so if it looks to be a cool evening, bring a jacket. We’ll watch the movie inside; masks are encouraged.

SAVE THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 21
Our September book will be fiction. We haven't finalized the book choice yet.

REVIEW: JULY 2022
Our July book was “City of Thieves” by David Benioff. We all liked this coming-of-age novel, despite the frequent scenes of horror and violence. We felt it was very well written, with research well integrated, humor balancing the heavy spots, immensely likable main characters, and vivid scene-setting details. The siege of Leningrad was not familiar history to most of us, so we learned a bit as well.