St. Luke’s Society members work with Roger Liddell ’63, P’98 clearing woods near campus.
The history of St. Luke’s Society, the School’s oldest community service organization
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performance, she yelled to me. We had shared a fun time together, and her connection to me filled my heart. I had made a difference.” The same holds true today for students like Daniel Pai ’19, co-head of St. Luke’s along with Natalie Yang ’18 and Alisa Ghura ’19, who says he became involved in St. Luke’s because of his belief that “there is a moral obligation to help those in need.” The oldest continuously active organization at the School, St. Luke’s Society began in 1892, the year Hotchkiss was founded, just after St. Luke’s Day on Oct. 18, which honors the patron saint of artists, writers, and physicians. Its stated purpose was to “promote Christian fellowship among members of the School.” The vast majority of students belonged to the club, giving rise to the
belief, noted in the 1908-09 Handbook, “as St. Luke’s goes, so Hotchkiss goes.” As time passed, St. Luke’s mission became more focused on charitable work and less on its Christian roots. In keeping with its tradition of community outreach, the society began a program to assist the boys of the Ore Hill Mines in 1908 (see accompanying story). The description of St. Luke’s in the 194950 Handbook reads: “It is the duty of the St. Luke’s Society to see that Hotchkiss makes its contribution to the life outside the School and also to improve relations between different groups in the School and to help the life of the School in whatever way it can. It provides aid for the community of Lakeville and conducts drives for various agencies, organizations, and worthy
hunger relief. Beginning in the mid-1970s, St. Luke’s started volunteer programs with two local schools, Salisbury Central and Maplebrook. A decade later, its activities had expanded to include candy striping at Sharon Hospital, visiting with residents at Noble Horizons retirement community, tutoring and mentoring local school children, participating in Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and serving in the town EMT program. St. Luke’s has shown its strength in adapting to a rapidly changing world. At the same time,
Ore Hill Boys
BY ROBERTA JENCKES
PHOTO CREDIT: THE MISCH
inda Van Voorhis ’89 experienced a turning point in her life when, on a winter weekend in March of her upper-mid year, she helped organize a Special Olympics event at Schmidt Rink with St. Luke’s Society. That day, sounds of laughter filled the rink as Special Olympians skated and competed. The event was a fun and formative experience for Linda (now Linda Bowen). “My time with St. Luke’s was the confirmation about the type of service I felt a calling for,” she says. Today, a special educator teaching middle-school children in Webster, NY, she recalls an especially meaningful moment. “I remember sitting in the stands watching a young girl skating, and when she completed her
Members of St. Luke’s Society pose outside Main in 1976.
TOP PHOTO: DANIEL PAI ’19, BOT TOM PHOTO: HOTCHKISS ARCHIVES
A 125-Year Tradition of Helping Others
1976
causes.” During the postwar years, St. Luke’s spearheaded an annual collection for the School’s adopted war orphan, Henri de Fouw of the Netherlands, and contributed annually to CARE, an international humanitarian relief agency. In 1974, when a fire ravaged a two-family house in Lakeville, St. Luke’s helped to raise $924 for food and other essentials for the victims. Over time, St. Luke’s created ongoing service opportunities for students while continuing to respond to crises and host special events on campus, such as the annual CROP walk for
2017
From its earliest days, St. Luke’s Society has connected Hotchkiss students with the local community — notably with the Ore Hill Boys, who worked in the nearby Ore Hill Mines. According to the Hotchkiss Record, this link was forged in 1908: “The first seed for the Ore Hill Boys’ Club was probably sown in the Chapel on Sunday morning in 1908, when Mr. Estill told of a poor family in Ore Hill who needed help and to whom the day’s contribution would be devoted. Some of the Hotchkiss boys became interested in this family and, after looking into the conditions at Ore Hill, decided to see what could be done to make it possible for Hotchkiss boys and Ore Hill boys to get together…”
some things have remained constant. The Bow Tie Bowl, the annual multi-week academic competition in the spring between teams of students and faculty, continues to draw enthusiastic audiences and raise funds. And the Red Cross blood drive is still a strong School tradition, along with the annual drive to collect winter clothing and serve food to the homeless on the Green in New Haven. “The first St. Luke’s event I participated in was Chapel on the Green,” says Pai, one of this year’s St. Luke’s co-heads. “I helped to distribute sandwiches made by students on campus to the homeless in New Haven, along with Isabella Schwartz ’19, Eleanor Gray ’19, Brant Hadzima ’20 and Mrs. Hadzima, and Lou Pressman (longtime advisor to St. Luke’s). It truly was a wonderful experience to be able to give to the homeless. It was a rainy day, but there was still a large crowd waiting in line. “The more community service activities I participate in, the more I realize how much more I can and should do to help those in need,” says Pai. “I think, along with all the other St. Luke’s participants, that community service is really about giving; however, in turn, we get more than we give, and maybe that’s why each time I participate in an activity, it leaves me wanting to do more.” Special thanks to Joan Baldwin and Rosemary Davis of The Hotchkiss School Archives & Special Collections for their assistance with this article.
1917
Portrait of St. Luke’s Society in 1917 from the Misch
Permission was obtained for the old school house in Ore Hill to be used as a clubroom on Saturday nights, when the Hotchkiss boys would arrive with musical instruments and games to be enjoyed with the Ore Hill boys. The gatherings proved so successful that plans for a permanent, larger building were approved. Hotchkiss students and alumni, along with Lakeville residents, raised the needed funds. The Ore Hill boys, who toiled in the mines during the day, worked evenings on the new extension, which included a basketball court. Thus, a friendly sports rivalry developed between the Ore Hill and Hotchkiss boys. Spectators paid a small admission fee to watch the teams engage in good-natured competition.
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