Summer Scholar's Life: Quite a Happy One; Concerts and Lunches, Dances and Punches

It is difficult to find a blank space on the Summer School's social calendar. If there isn't a dance, there is a Yard punch. Or a music hour. Or a square dance. Or a Tanglewood excursion.

The summer students "are really a varied group of people...so we have a great range of things to appeal to all groups," commented Catherine D. Williston, Social Director and Counselor for Women.

The weekly Yard punch is undoubtedly the most characteristic social function. "The Summer School drinks about 600 gallons of punch," Miss Williston estimated.

The punches take place in the Widener quadrangle from 3 to 5 every Wednesday afternoon, beginning July 2. There is no charge. "Even tourists walking through the Yard will be served," the Social Director said. In case of rain, the punch will move to the porch of Memorial Church.

The first event of the season, however, will be a Convocation Dance, following tomorrow's opening exercise. The dance, starting at 9 P.M. in Memorial Hall, is free and Summer School privilege cards are not required. Miss Williston said that "we expect many students, especially men, from other colleges--Tufts, B. U., etc."

Mixer-type dances will also be held three Friday evenings, July 11, 18, and 25 at the Union. George Graham's five-piece orchestra will play, and punch will be served. These dances--costing 50 cents per person--are only for summer school students and their guests.

For the "swing-your-partner" devotees, there will be three square dances. Two will be "small" ones, on Tuesday evenings of July 15 and 29, and will be held at the Union from 8 to 10 P.M. Herb Gaudreau will call the dances. No privilege cards; no fee. These dances are designed, Miss Williston notes, for the "step-sitters.

A "big" square dance will occur on Friday, August 1. Gaudreau will again be the caller, but with live music accompaniment. This time 50 cents plus a Summer School card (except for guests) will be required.

The social program does not restrict itself to Cambridge. An excursion will go to the Berkshire Music Festival, Tanglewood, the weekend of July 25-27. The Summer School will arrange bus transportation, lodging, tickets for all events, and swimming privileges for a package fee of $28. Trips will also be planned to concerts at Castle Hill (Ipswich) and the Theatre-on-the-Green (Wellesley). If these appeal to your whim, pay a small visit to Mrs. Mel Clouser in Grays 2 for reservations.

For those who want music here as well, hours of recorded music are planned. This week there will be music in Grays 1, the Common Room, Thursday through Saturday, 3-5 P.M., and Sunday, 4-6 P.M. In subsequent weeks, only Saturday and Sunday sessions will be held at these times in Grays. But there will also be a Listening Hour in the Lamon Forum Room on Friday afternoons at 4.

Chamber music concerts will commence next Monday with Norma Sapp in Sanders at 8:30 P.M. Frequent organ recitals will also be available.

And July 17 is "open night" at the Harvard Observatory.

Because "men cannot visit women in their dormitories and vice versa," the Summer School assists social life by providing Common Rooms and operating a Messenger Service. "But," Miss Williston explained, "men can send messages to men, or women to men as well. We don't check the sexes."

The Messenger Service will operate from 1 to 11 P.M. every day. Callers and telephone messages are received at the Message Center, Grays 2, and the students are notified immediately by messenger. The phone number for student calls is KIrkland 7-7600, extensions 2677, 2678, and 1679.

Notes to Young Women

Although many students have telephones after the first week, the eight messengers are still kept busy carrying notes to inform young women that their dates have arrived. This Service makes it unnecessary to shout "Hey, Susie," when trying to get in touch with a dormitory resident, Miss Williston noted, terming the Message Service "one of our most important functions."

"A quiet place to entertain guests" is the social program's description of the Grays 1 Common Room. It is open Monday through Friday from 9 A.M. to 11 P.M., and weekends from 1 P.M. to 11 P.M. Magazines, newspapers, or a quiet game of cards or chess are available.

The Harvard Union, open Monday through Friday from 8 A.M. to 10 P.M., boasts a television set in its card room. Facilities at Phillips Brooks House include ping-pong, pianos, sitting rooms, meeting rooms, and a kitchenette. The building is open Monday through Friday from 9 A.M. to midnight, but permission for the use of meeting rooms and the kitchenette must be obtained in advance from Miss Roberts, the secretary.

For the hungry, a refreshment wagon will come to the dormitories Sunday through Thursday evening with milk, orange juice, doughnuts, and cake for sale.

Comprehensive calendars of Summer School activities are posted in Grays, Sever, Weld, and the Union. Additional information on extra-curricular activities and events in Cambridge and Boston can be obtained from Mrs. Clouser in Grays 2.

The social events continue at a steady pace throughout the Summer School session. In fact, the evening before final examinations there will be an Ivy Films performance of Ten Days that Shook the World.