MS. FORD: For the last three years, NAPSG has had as part of its programming honorary reflections at this point in the program. And it's always a pleasure to hear stories about NAPSG and some historical reflection on it. It's a pleasure that this year we're going to hear the honorary reflections from Blair Stambaugh, whom you have seen take two bows, I think, so far. She's not finished yet. As you know, she was the head of NAPSG from 1989 to 1991, and she's now enjoying her first year of retirement after what has become increasingly a very rare, very lengthy headship as the head of Baldwin School. Blair.
MS. STAMBAUGH: I joined NAPSG when I became head of the Bryn Mawr School in 1973. My first meeting was in 1975, presided over by Marion Hamilton, about whom you will hear in the Memorial Resolutions. The meeting was in Hot Springs, Virginia, at the Homestead. A number of my memories date from that meeting. It was the custom at the Homestead, although I did not know it then, for you to sit at an assigned table the whole time you were there. I came to breakfast the first morning and was about to be seated by myself, when Anne Healy, president of NAPSG in 1970 and 1971, the headmistress of the Roland Park Country School, a neighbor of Bryn Mawr, invited me to sit with her, and incipient loneliness went away and eternal gratitude took its place. Later that evening, a co-ed raucous group of Washington area school heads invited us both to join them, and there we happily stayed for the duration.
At teatime, a Homestead tradition, I was amused and amazed to see Jean Fair Mitchell, former head of the Brearley School, after conversation with a violinist, pick up his violin and play with the quartet. Will wonders never cease? I later found out she was an accomplished player. It was also during that meeting that I learned about the enrichment of a spa, an enchantment which remains today. I had signed up for a massage, a hot tub, and something scary like a Scotch douche. It turned out to be a rubbing with salt, followed by something akin to being sprayed with a fire hose. It was definitely a pleasure-pain principle at work. There were people lined up on the benches waiting for their services, including, to my surprise, Miss Virginia Wing, and Miss Margo Johnson, giants in our field, wrapped in towels, talking as if they were dressed to the nines! I couldn't get over it. They were human!
And finally, there was my first experience of the then-formal introduction to NAPSG at the head table on the dais. Nancy Kussrow, who is here, our former executive director and an honorary member, known for her meticulous arrangements and care of the membership, would begin in this way. "On my right, your left, is our speaker, Dr. So-and-so. On my left, your right, is our president, Ms. X." And so on down, right down the table. It made eminent sense, but I thought it was very funny at the time.
We wore formal clothes to dinner. Telegrams from former presidents and executive directors who were absent, like Connie Pratt from California, were read and it made us feel very important.
In addition to the interesting programs, NAPSG is all about friendships, whether on a golf course or tennis court with Joyce McCray, and Evy and Ed Halpert as partners or opponents. If we were at Colorado Springs, new comrades could be found at the Golden Bee, a tavern where the bravest drink a yard of ale. In more recent years, we seized the opportunity on a free evening to gather a group of people, old friends, new heads or second members to form a dinner party. Some of us will never forget The French Laundry, the height of our culinary adventures, and the one which did the most damage to our pocketbooks. Armed with James Beard and other guides, Aggie Underwood, president in the mid '90s, and I would vie to provide the most gourmet experience. We had wonderful Times sharing the ups and downs of our personal and professional lives. I think of Julia Williams, who's on her way to the meeting, with her wonderful Virginia accent and courageous spirit, president in the late '80s, and Diana Beebe, fetching in a couturier jacket and absolutely committed to teaching young women independence; Kiki Johnson and her characteristic laugh and uncanny historical perspective; Marlene David and her insightful mind; Leah Rhys with her luminous spirit; and Gussie Bannard with her honesty and soulful nature, to name just a few of my dining comrades.
A few other vignettes come to mind. One is the lengths people will go to contribute to and draw from the strength of the group. I shall always remember Virginia Deane, former president from St. Paul's School, replete with oxygen tank, sitting alongside the pool at the Coronado in California. And then there was the inimitable Anne Lenox, who was asked to say grace at the Air Force Academy when the commandant was present. Without hesitation, she drew out that veritable source, a placemat, from First Class on American Airlines, and read a grace from it. She must have known it would come in handy!
From Millie Berendsen and Joan McMenamin, both former presidents, I learned the secret of packing. They always came to meetings, each with a small suitcase, while I had a behemoth on wheels, having packed for both NAPSG and NAIS. Their secret was black pants and a black top, over which one wore a colorful jacket or a scarf.
From Edes Gilbert, president in 1998 and 1999, I learned the art of multitasking. Edes would listen to a session attentively, all the while doing beautiful needlepoint. From Liza Lee, president in 2002 and 2003, I saw how graciousness makes a difference along with able mind and indomitable spirit. And from Bodie Brizendine, immediate past president, I learned the power of poetry. She introduced us to Billy Collins, poet laureate, Sharon Olds, and Natasha Trethewey, a new poetic voice from the south. Inspiration is a great gift.
Lastly, a seminal experience for me was hearing Tom Woodward, then head of the Montgomery School in Pennsylvania, in 1984, lament the dearth of women heads in a session entitled, "Your Problems and Mine," followed by a resolution from Barbara Barnes. What could NAPSG do about it? A group of us got together the following summer at Dobbs, men and women, determined to make a difference. A winter planning session at Garrison launched our first Administrative Career Session in 1985. I was asked to be director, and 41 women came that first year. After several years I was followed by Barbara Boerner and then for a number of years by NAPSG current president and mentor par excellence, Burch Ford. Bodie also directed a program last year in California. I thought it would be interesting to ask that anyone who has attended or taught in the seminar, please stand up, so you can see its widespread effect. So would you do that, please?
In the winter NAIS Independent School Magazine, Pat Bassett suggests that 70 percent of school heads will retire over the next ten years. We can be proud that our organization took heed and did something. We are making a difference in equipping leaders of the future. Hurrah! Thank you.
MS. FORD: Apropos of all that, I did say to Blair that she needs to stay up here for a few minutes after she finished her wonderful remarks.
It's a particular pleasure now to present an award to Blair. Most of you know her for past leadership roles, formal and informal, in this and many organizations. But one thing that you may not have been aware of before tonight was that she was one of the founding members of the Administrative Leadership Seminar for Women in Independent Schools beginning in 1985, and I'm particularly pleased to be the person making this award because I was in that original one, and thought, what an amazing group of women. Blair was outstanding, and she's been a member of that faculty until her retirement, up through 2005. It's an extraordinary record for anybody. Her impact on so many has been great. In light of that, I have the honor or presenting Blair with a plaque, the text of which I would like to read to you now.
I want you to know that in addition, Blair will be the guest of NAPSG at the 2008 annual conference with the Girls Schools Association in the United Kingdom, and she will also carrying with her a small gift on our behalf which will enable her to extend her trip and have a bit of a holiday from us in gratitude for all she has done for so many in the service of NAPSG. Many thanks, Blair.
You'll hear from Blair a little bit more at the end of this program. In the meantime, if the representatives from Canada, CAIS, are here along with the representative from the GSA in the UK, we'd love to hear from you.