Lane
Eastland McCluer ’94
Ragsdale agreed that sitting at meals with the masters and their families was an important part of the experience and beneficial to his development as a youth. “The association with the masters and their wives at dinner was very comfortable and helped me learn how to relate to adults and have a conversation with them and not just be seen and not heard.” Eating with faculty offered more than just adult conversation. It aided in the development of table manners. Robinson remembered an encounter with Mr. Lee Sanford Ainslie, Jr. ’56, Headmaster from 1981-98. “I remember eating with my fingers once, only once,” Robinson said, “because Mr. Ainslie was like, ‘You got to use your knife and fork to eat your chicken. I know you love it, but you definitely shouldn’t use your fingers.’ That was interesting. Those are the things you remember!” The tradition of seated meals is revered not only by alumni, but faculty place strong value in the institution of seated meals at Episcopal, too. “It was Jackie Phillips, wife of Allen Carleton Phillips, Jr. (1955-94), who first made me understand the importance of seated meals over 20 years ago when I was a ‘rookie’ on the faculty,” said social studies teacher Bobby Watts (1992-2014). “Her point was that seated meals were another chance to educate young people. Her perspective was that in the fast-paced world of today, there were fewer opportunities for our students to actually sit at the dinner table for a served meal, surrounded by family members. The seated meals at The High School offer an opportunity that may not be regularly available to students, and there is a chance for them to learn more about displaying good table manners, conversing politely with others, and serving others by stacking and pouring. Seated meals are a tradition and a part of the mission at this School.” Holt strongly felt the dining room offered a crucial respite from ’ the realities of life and school work. “The dining facility was the shining light of Episcopal High School,” Holt said. “It could be snowing, ice and rain, or you could have had a bad day or flunked a course or something, but when you went into that dining room, and it was all lit up with the white table cloths and the silver and the Episcopal High School china, it was a savior. It kept us all together. I cannot overemphasize the importance of that dining room in my life because everything else was kind of sloppy and you made do, but the dining room was something special.” The dining room has changed since Holt, Ragsdale, and Robinson were students; there are no longer rectangular tables, with new boys serving old boys first. The room is full, circular tables filling every inch of space to accommodate the almost 450 students and their faculty. But the energy that resounds off the walls, the sign of a good story being told, with captive audiences wide-eyed, forks paused halfway to their mouths as they listen with anticipation, and the patient and gentle nodding of the faculty as they absorb and process the stories of their students while watching carefully for those who are struggling in class or with friends, praising athletic and performing arts accomplishments – those intrinsic characteristics of what Holt referred to as the “shining light” of EHS are still there, and vibrant, strong, and wholly unwavering.
ned 12 i l o r a C Hagoo
EHS The Magazine of Episcopal High School
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