BUCKLAND — The year 1991 was a fiscally gloomy one for the Mohawk Trail Regional School and its affiliated elementary schools. The Recorder headlines for Mohawk that year tell the tale: “Cuts threaten Mohawk,” “Officials balk at Mohawk’s budget. Selectmen ask level-funding,” “Mohawk committee trims $200,149 from assessments” and “Mohawk accreditation still on warning status” — with this last headline triggered by cutting programs due to budget restraints.
And so “Gift catalog a ‘wish-list’ for Mohawk schools” was a headline that must have brought some relief to those seeing “red” in all the school budget news.
Back then, through the new Mary Lyon Fund Inc. (now Foundation), Susan Samoriski talked to school teachers after budget cuts to find out what their classrooms needed that was not in the budget. In July 1991, the Mary Lyon Fund published a gift catalog of supplies requested by teachers, ranging from a weekly box of Kleenex for one classroom to a $3 million indoor pool for another. In between those requests were art supplies, tennis rackets, musical instruments, atlases and personal computers.
Twenty-five years and $2 million later, the Mary Lyon Foundation is celebrating its anniversary, Saturday, Aug. 6, with a party that includes a hot-air balloon launch, complementary beer, wine and appetizers, speakers, music and a release of 25 doves to symbolize its years.
It all takes place at the Mary Lyon House, where Lyon, who was born in Buckland, taught classes before going on to start Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley. The historic home is located at 8 Old Upper Street, off Route 112. And the party begins at 4 p.m.
Tickets are now on sale at Boswell’s Books and Sawyer News in Shelburne Falls. The tickets are $35. For $50, those attending can come at 3:30 p.m. for a private tour of the third-floor ballroom where Mary Lyon taught school in the 1820s.
Tickets are also available online at: www.marylyonfoundation.org or by calling 413-625-2555.
Former Mohawk Trail Regional School District superintendent Bruce Willard will be among the guest speakers. For 14 years, Willard was the West County superintendent for the Mohawk Trail high school and for all the elementary schools that sent students to Mohawk. For several years since his retirement, Willard has been affiliated with an educational consulting firm that helps school systems find qualified candidates for school superintendent.
Willard said, in a telephone interview, that he never expected the foundation that Samoriski proposed to last 25 years. “I would not have predicted, 25 years ago, that the Mary Lyon Foundation would be celebrating 25 years. Obviously, we had hopes, but we did not know what the success would be.”
But he does remember that, in 1991, “We had very tough budget issues — not unlike what many schools are dealing with today. There is so little in school budgets that can really be cut,” he remarked. “About 85 percent of expenses are either mandated by state law or by contract.”
“This is both a friend-raiser and a fundraiser,” Samoriski said of Saturday’s celebration. “It’s a way to thank all the people who have helped us for the past 25 years and help us for the next 25.”
Susan Daniels, a Mount Holyoke College graduate and chairwoman of Mount Holyoke’s theater arts, will speak about Mary Lyon and her legacy, as well as “The Fire in Her Bones,” that propelled Lyon to found the college.
Much of the event will take place under a large tent, with food catered by Log rolling of the Delaney House and music performed by Mohawk Trail Concerts.
For those who take the tour, the original room where Lyon taught a winter school has been restored, with the textbooks and benches she used in her classes. The house, which is owned by the Samoriskis, is also known as the Major Joseph Griswold House and it’s on the National Register of Historic Places.
Samoriski said the event is also an occasion to reflect on some of the educational achievements of the local schools, with mini-grants and other aid provided by the Foundation. The finale will be a launch of the Misty River balloon, a slice of birthday cake and other goodies from Mo’s Fudge Factor in Shelburne Falls and Cold River Cafe in Charlemont.
The Foundation still publishes a gift catalog of supplies requested by teachers for their classrooms. It also makes “mini-grants” available, offers awards and scholarships and financial aid to school families in emergencies. The Foundation has also hosted educational conferences and children’s literature festivals.