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Mass revival
Mount Holyoke, on the other hand, was 14.1 miles, give or take, the traveling of which involved negotiating countless sharp curves on Route 116 as it rose and fell through a hilly area that people referred to as the “Notch.” That trip was less of a treat in winter weather, particularly if the driver had a greater confidence in his driving or imbibing skills than was warranted.
There was, I believe, a much more significant reason for the higher concentration of social activity at Smith than at Holyoke and, therefore, ultimately more nuptials (notwithstanding the overworked shibboleth “Smith to bed and Holyoke to wed,” which was reinforced, unfortunately, by the observation that dormitories at Holyoke were all “halls,” whereas Smithies all lived in “houses”). Of vital importance in the world of college penury was the fact that phoning South Hadley was a matter of incurring time-based toll charges from your friendly Western Massa- chusetts AT&T affiliate; a call to Northampton was free.
As I pointed out earlier, as a sophomore I had gone out with my Staten Island cellist, who lived, I believe, in South Mandelle Hall at Holyoke. In my junior year, I spent a fair amount of time with a horse- back rider from of all places, Fly Creek, New York (a suburb, if you can believe it, of Cooperstown), who lived in Pearsons Annex. The saintly Peggy Monack was also from Holyoke (North Rockefeller Hall), as was the girl who was probably the greatest mismatch with a Brooklyn boy one could conjure up: Sarah Harris was the daughter of a vice president of the North Carolina Light and Power Company, y’all, who drove a red “Trahmf ” (which in New York was marketed as a Triumph), y’all, was a skilled actress who, incredibly, could do an English accent or a Brooklyn accent at the drop of an r. Sarah impressed the hell out of me by show- ing up at my room unannounced on Holyoke’s Mountain Day, an annual surprise that was announced by the tolling of bells at 7:00 a.m. Classes were suspended for Mountain Day, and all students were expected to devote the day to the exploration of nature. Sarah—you might have guessed it—lived in Wilder Hall.
But that was about it at Holyoke. With the exception of one date at UMass, the source of which I do not recall but whose last name, Tucci,
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