New SUWC member Jennie Bernheim is encouraging us to see the performance of The Diary of Anne Frank at the Menlo School February 10-12. In this time of extraordinary change in our country, consider taking the time to call a friend and see this poignant production together.

For those not familiar, The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the extraordinary writings of young Anne Frank, detailing life-in-hiding under Nazi terror in World War II. Anne’s diary lent a voice to the fight for human dignity and this adaptation brings to life one of the most important people of the 20th century, whose message is especially relevant today. Reserve your tickets now at www.menloschool.org/tickets.

The Director, Steven Minning, has worked as a director and choreography in theaters across the country. He was the Assistant Director of Lion King on Broadway. Note in the interest of full disclosure, Jennie’s daughter Maddie, is playing Mrs. Frank, and her son, Ethan, will be Peter Van Daam.

 Here is a feature on the Chop Chop section where SUWC members enjoy hands-on cooking classes.   Thank you Yuet Berry for this news “scoop.”  If you’d like to know more about the next Chop Chop class, join the list!

January is the month when people in France eat a very traditional and yummy dessert called the “King’s Galette”.  It’s a puff pastry cake with the féve hidden inside ( a petite figurine). Our talented member Florence deBretagne graciously showed us how to make this wonderful cake and the French traditions associated with it.  We also prepared an “Eggplant Caviar”, a specialty from South of France and also found in Lebanese or Mediterranean food.   They were delicious treats shared with friends on a rainy afternoon.

In addition to being an amazing cook,  Florence is a talented artist.   Visit http://www.flodebretagne.com/       Thank you Meng Sui for organizing the Chop Chop section and Florence for sharing her talents.

Florence prepares to cut the homemade bread

“King’s Galette” baked and enjoyed by Chop Chop chefs

Happy 100th Birthday to Margaret Weissenbuth.     She was born December 30th, 1916.      This incredible woman joined SUWC when she came to Stanford  in 1950 with her husband Mitchell Weissbluth, a physicist that helped create the first medical linear accelerator.   Two SUWC members Haillie Spurr (1946) and Eda Luck (1947) have been in our club longer.     Margaret taught elementary school children for many years until she retired in 1983.  In the summer you may find her at the Stanford Campus Recreation Center pool where she has been swimming since it opened 1962.  Helen Lieberman and Margaret are both charter members of SCRA.  Margaret welcomes visitors at her home on Pine Hill Road.   She enjoys SUWC club activities as well as Scrabble, crosswords, going out to lunch and daily walks.   You can find her contact info in the RedBook to make a date with her.  She inspires us with her curiosity, knowledge and energy.

Our first program of 2017 will be with Scotty McLennan.  He will address the “Values, the Financial Crisis and Goldman Sachs,” on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at 7:00 pm at the Stanford Humanities Center, Levinthal Auditorium (424 Santa Teresa Street).

Join us to learn how can we think about the ethical dimensions of the financial
crisis of 2008 now, with 20-20 hindsight? Specifically, what was
the responsibility of Wall Street investment banks? Scotty
McLennan will lead us through a Socratic discussion of the role of
Goldman Sachs before, during, and after the crisis. What were the
major issues? If you had been the CEO, what would you have
done? How can we use this case to learn about the process of
ethical decision-making in general? Scotty McLennan is a lecturer
in political economy at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. He
is a lawyer, minister and author of four books. Scotty practiced law
for the first ten years of his career and then spent thirty years in university chaplaincy at Tufts University and at Stanford. He has taught business ethics at the GSB, Tufts and Harvard Business School.  All members and their guests are welcome.
This program is co-sponsored by the Humanities Center at Stanford

On October 23 a group of SUWC members enjoyed a wine tasting at Woodside Winery.  We sipped six different wines and were treated to a tour of the winery and their collection of antique and special cars!   Lunch was assorted pizzas, burgers and salads.  Designated drivers brought everyone home.

Good food, good drink, good friends, good tours all make for another wonderful SUWC trip.        Thank you Diane for this report and the photos.

As we begin a new year with new First Lady Mary Hynes, this is a wonderful time to share long time member Janet Germane’s delightful recollections.

Janet Germane with new member Katie Vigeant taken at the Spring Tea. This venue was the Jackson Home in 1952, where a Business School Reception was held — 64 years ago.

Janet writes:   “We were a smaller faculty in the 1950s. The Sterlings entertained both faculty and wives at Hoover House, where we went up and down the stairs to the garden.  Anne Loftis would remember; she and John came in 1952, the same year that we did, as did Patricia and David Levin and Pat and Larry Ryan.

My late husband, Gayton, and I arrived at Stanford in fall of 1952, and were welcomed by a reception at the home of the dean of the Business School.  Dean J.Hugh Jackson and Fredericka Jackson entertained at their home on El Escarpado — the same home where SUWC had a tea in May.

We lived a few months at Stanford Village on Ravenswood in Menlo Park, which was full of students with families.  It had been an army hospital, perhaps called Dibble.

Anne Sterling was active in various ways and even wrote notes to each faculty wife, when babies were born to us. She was instrumental in organizing a committee of some of us to provide support to an organization of student wives.  Mary Stegner, Ruth Spangenberg, and I were some of those appointed to that committee in 1955-56.
Other minutia, related to the Women’s Clubhouse:

Mrs Felix Keesing was chair of the dance section of the SUWC and later persuaded me to become section chair. We had monthly dances in the upper floor of the Women’s Clubhouse, playing records for our music, such as: “Love and Marriage”, “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White”.

We took turns in bringing sandwiches for supper, which we served in a room on the lower floor.

We even met there in the lower floor room of the clubhouse for a formal dinner when Bayless Manning, then the new dean of the Law School, spoke to a group.  It must have been before the Faculty Club was built.  (The Faculty club was dedicated on Oct. 1, 1965)

Anne Sterling was a charming, interesting, high energy, and authoritative woman, urging the wives to attend various cultural events in our area, which usually meant traveling to San Francisco, which we called “The City”. This was at a time when there were traffic signals on Bayshore at University Ave.  And, when driving down to San Jose,  I could count 19 windmills in the many truck gardens beside 101.

Fun to remember all of this; not all of it is relevant to the Lou Henry Hoover House, but perhaps to the history of SUWC.

Ten years ago, I helped Cassandra Moore write a history of our Radcliffe Club of the Peninsula. [1967 to 2005}. Fifteen Radcliffe alums were also faculty or faculty wives back in the 1970s.  They were: Rosemary Enthoven, Jewelle Gibbs, Gloria Leiderman, Cassandra Moore, Constance  Pratt, Anne Scowcroft, Leah Chodorow,  Madeleine Crowley, Mary Moser,  Maclin Guerard, Iraida Espinosa, Ellen Ehrlich, Margaret French, Gretl Meier and Janet Germane. Only 4 or 5 survive now.”

Editor’s Note:   I welcome messages and hope to share more memories during this Anniversary year.  – Audrey

We look forward to welcoming you back at our 120th Birthday Party on Sunday, September 11th, from 4 to 6 pm.  Have a slice of fun!  See old friends and make new ones.    Please look for your invite on Paperless Post with all the details.

Welcome to the SUWC 120th anniversary year.  Our club has existed almost since the beginning of the University.  It shares the ideals of the Founders and we are proud of the role we have played in the history of Stanford University.  We have retained our traditional values by sharing cultural activities and promoting friendship.  We have made changes over time to reflect current interests.  We have a full schedule of activities planned for the year, including art, music, cuisine, talks by faculty members, and parties in the lovely gardens of campus homes. As always, all the work of keeping the club going is done by the members.  This takes some effort and the return is in satisfaction, friendships and fun.  We hope all those eligible to do so will join us and share this special year.    More information will be available in early September.

— Roz Bienenstock, President 2016-17