Annual Events
In general, our Board — in collaboration with the MHC Pen Club’s Board and our Alum Admission Representative(s) — hosts the following events every year (click to expand for more details):
Winter
Mary Lyon Tea
- Date: on or around February 28 (Mary Lyon’s birthday)
- Host(s): NorCal Club and/or Pen Club
- Location: tea salon, teahouse/tearoom, or boba shop
- Description: A celebration of Mary Lyon’s birthday, where we meet for afternoon tea, and/or (in recent years) the Peninsula Club hosts a more casual gathering at a bubble tea (boba) shop.
Spring
Pangy Day Admitted Students Reception
- Date: late March or early April (around Pangy Day)
- Host(s): NorCal Club, Alum Admission Representative (AAR)
- Location: alum home in San Francisco or East Bay
- Description: Our take on the school’s springtime tradition, where we celebrate admitted students and welcome them to the Mount Holyoke community. (Maypole not included.) This event is a collaboration between the MHC NorCal Club, MHC Pen Club, and our AAR(s).
Summer
Annual Meeting
- Date: mid-June
- Host(s): NorCal Club
- Location: varies
- Description: A gathering of alums where we recap the past year in NorCal events, membership, and finances; hold board elections; and network with each other. Recent annual meetings have featured alum career panels and MHC-themed trivia.
Fog-to-Foliage Committed Students Send-Off
- Date: mid-August
- Host(s): Pen Club, Alum Admission Representative (AAR)
- Location: alum home in Peninsula or South Bay
- Description: An opportunity for alums to offer well wishes and last-minute advice to committed students before they set off for Massachusetts. This event is a collaboration between the MHC NorCal Club, MHC Pen Club, and our AAR(s).
Fall
Mountain Day Ice Cream Socials & Hikes
- Date: fall semester (on and around Mountain Day)
- Host(s): NorCal Club and Pen Club
- Location: varies
- Description: After the bells ring for Mountain Day in South Hadley, we have mini-reunions throughout Northern California and the Peninsula at 18:37 (6:37 PM)! Alums who aren’t able to attend an impromptu event are encouraged to celebrate by joining a scheduled hike in honor of this beloved tradition.
Founder’s Day Prospective Students Social
- Date: on or around November 8 (Founder’s Day)
- Host(s): NorCal or Pen Club, Alum Admission Representative (AAR)
- Location: alum home in Peninsula/South Bay (in recent years) or in San Francisco/East Bay
- Description: Our take on the tradition honoring our school’s opening, where alums are asked to bring their MHC memories and a pint of their favorite ice cream to share with prospective students. This event is a collaboration between the MHC NorCal Club, MHC Pen Club, and our AAR(s).
Non-seasonal
Board members also host a variety of ad hoc and other onetime events throughout the year.
Ad Hoc and Onetime Events
All Club members (i.e., MHC alums living in Northern California) are highly encouraged to lead or otherwise help organize an ad hoc or onetime event. The Club is able to support event leads with logistics, so no prior event planning experience is required!
If you already have an event you’d like to lead in mind…
Fill out our Member Event / Comms Request form! We can help you set up registration, promote your event, and more, as long as you submit the form at least one month in advance of your proposed date.
If you would like to informally invite alums to join you somewhere…
Make a post directly to our private, alum-only Facebook and LinkedIn groups to tell people that you’re going to a marketplace or fair, ask about seeing a show together, or publicize whatever other mini-reunion you’d like to do! You can also tag @mhcnorcalclub in your Instagram post or story, and we’ll repost it to our publicly viewable profile.
You’re additionally welcome to fill out our Member Event / Comms Request form, but please read the instructions carefully to make sure the Club has enough lead time to best support you.
If you are interested but not sure where to start…
Check out our list of event ideas! The Board also has some events-in-progress that would benefit from co-leads, so reach out to us with your general interests and location to see if we have a potential event that would be a good fit.
Recent events include a cookie exchange and ice skating at Union Square, a group visit to SF Opera to see The Handmaid’s Tale, a knit-/crochet-along, a get-together in Berkeley to support Cal women’s gymnastics, a guided tour of the Joan Mitchell (Smith ’44) exhibit at SFMOMA, and virtual and in-person Lunar New Year celebrations. We’ve also helped alums promote their NorCal-based art exhibits, book signings, and more.
Learn more about volunteering →
Book Club
Hannah Fairbanks ’03 started the MHC NorCal Book Club in September 2020 and has been running it ever since! Check out the full list of book club picks, and join us to read, discuss, and learn about books by authors of color. Meetings occur over Zoom on the fourth Wednesday of the month and are open to all members of the NorCal and Peninsula Clubs.
The book club tries to get together a couple of times a year in person. Usually we meet in the spring at the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley. In December 2023, we also got together for lunch and a viewing of The Color Purple in Oakland. In January 2025, we met at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to discuss The Vegetarian.