Charlottesville Mini-Reunion, October 11-14, 2012
Where can you experience:
- Sublime fall colors in the Blue Ridge Mountains;
- A fascinating engagement with James Madison (Virginian, Princetonian, Founding Father, primary author of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Secretary of State, President), the rest of the Virginia Dynasty, and the War of 1812 in its bicentennial year;
- An Oktoberfest at Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company.
At the Class of ‘69’s next mini-reunion, of course.
Wait, there’s more. How about a round of golf at Stoney Creek? How about a tootle over to the Virginia Wine & Garlic Festival in Amherst County? Or maybe the Crozet Craft Fair to find that perfect holiday gift? Or just a leisurely meander along the miles of nature trails.
We will be headquartered at Wintergreen Resort, about 50 minutes from Charlottesville, Virginia. Most major airlines have service from their hubs to the regional airport (CHO). We have two renowned intellectual leaders for the weekend. Professor John Stagg *73 of the University of Virginia, Editor in Chief of the Madison Papers, who, incidentally, began his Ph.D. work at Princeton under honorary classmate Jim McPherson in 1969, will accompany us on Friday. Jefferson Looney *83, a scholar at the Monticello Foundation and editor of Jefferson’s retirement papers, will be with us Saturday, complementing Professor Stagg’s Madison focus on Friday.
At present the overview looks like this:
- Thursday – Arrival at Wintergreen, informal dinner.
- Friday – Bus to Madison’s home, Montpelier, nearing completion of a multi-decade restoration, for a day focusing on James and Dolley Madison and the "Second American Revolution” as the War of 1812 is often called. Then on to a private dinner at Ash Lawn/Highland, home of James Monroe. Professor Stagg will be with us for the day and will address us at dinner.
- Saturday – Bus to Monticello in the morning and to Poplar Forest (Thomas Jefferson’s newly-restored second home) in the afternoon. Jeff Looney has discovered a Jefferson link to Princeton, but it won't be unveiled until our gathering. Then on to the Oktoberfest and dinner at Devil’s Backbone Brewing Company. Owners, our very own Rod and Martha Ferguson, have generously offered to supply at least a part of our needs at the 45th in 2014, so don’t miss the chance to evaluate the product.
- Sunday – Self-organized from the many options, including just relaxing around the resort.
The estimated cost, including three nights at Wintergreen, lunch and dinner Friday and Saturday, the Oktoberfest and admission at Montpelier, Monticello and Poplar Forest, should not exceed $650 per person, double occupancy in a studio apartment. As with our previous minis, those who sign up will get periodic news and updates from the management team, including reading suggestions. At this time we are collecting a deposit to secure the rooms and the only choices you need to make are type of room as indicated in the sign-up page, and whether or not you would like to reserve your room for addtional nights. Sign-ups for individual Sunday options such as golf will be taken when we collect the balances in August.
Registration is now open. Click the "sign up" button below to register.
Click here to see who has already registered.
To register by mail, click here.
Because this is the weekend of the UVA/Maryland game, Wintergreen can guarantee our block of rooms only until May 31. So we’re serious when we say register now. This is not one to miss.
