Reunited and it feels so good! Reflecting on 50 years of coming home to Trent
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housands of alumni, students, rowers and community members donned their green and white to take part in the 50th Homecoming Weekend and Head of the Trent Regatta (HOTR)—a highlight in the alumni calendar, and the opportunity to bask in nostalgia, see old friends, and enjoy a day of university (and college) pride. “Homecoming is a unique and fun opportunity for people to reconnect,” says Maile Loweth Reeves ’79, chair of the Trent University Alumni Association (TUAA) Homecoming Committee. “There is something really special about Trent, and the Symons Campus is especially stunning in the fall. There is such a strong sense of camaraderie during homecoming.” This year’s celebration, the first in-person event in three years, included a festival stage with live musical performances by bands such as I, the Mountain—proud Trent alumni—as well as busker-style entertainers, campus tours, Varsity games and, of course, rowing. Alumni also had exclusive access to the Céilie
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where Trent retiree Rod MacDonald and Michael Martyn ’90 entertained the crowds. Special events at this year’s Homecoming included the kick-off of Otonabee College’s 50th anniversary, the dedication and unveiling of the Prendiville Music Room at Lady Eaton College, an exclusive Anishinaabe Art
Tour in Peter Gzowski College, and aptly, Champlain College’s screening of The Novice movie, filmed right here at Trent! Traill College held their annual scarving ceremony, where alumni of Traill and Peter Robinson College introduced new students to the downtown college.
“There really was a variety of things happening around the campus,” says Danielle Britton, alumni engagement and services coordinator. “You could drop in for a live show, catch a race or Varsity game, or go on a self-guided campus tour.” No oar-dinary regatta The first HOTR regatta was organized in 1971 by Chris Leach ’70, founder of the Trent University Rowing Club. Over the years, the head-race regatta, now hosted by the Peterborough Rowing Club, has grown to become the region’s premier fall rowing event, attracting thousands of athletes from across Ontario, Québec, and the northern United States. It is also the only university homecoming event in Canada that revolves around rowing, and has become a huge economic boon to Peterborough and the Kawarthas. The course for the race has remained relatively unchanged since 1971—a scenic, spectator-friendly route up the Trent-Severn canal and into the Otonabee River, passing Bata
