• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

Kill Wellesley Cotill over a little weather? Snow way, say revelers

January 10, 2017 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

When a snowstorm strikes on the night that a fabulous party is planned, it’s never an easy decision to say whether revelry should bow to the weather. Last Saturday Cotillion organizers decided that the show would go on and all the special snowflakes would be allowed to dance the night away.

A Wellesley tradition since the 1940s, Cotillion is a formal dance to which all Wellesley public and private school juniors and seniors are invited. This year’s event, a year in the planning, took place at Boston University’s George Sherman Union Building. It helped the decision-making process that B.U. said they were ready to roll and all walkways would be cleared of snow and safe for their elegant guests. Also the policy, in its second year, of all guests arriving at the high school and from there boarding buses driven by professional drivers who took everyone there and back, helped set most minds at ease.

Still, some in town pointed out that the roads were dangerous and many kids would still be on them as they were getting themselves to the school and then back home (or to after-parties) in their own cars. Indeed, many shop managers throughout Wellesley had closed their doors by mid-afternoon, sending their employees home before the worst of the snow piled up. The salons were open, however, because primping waits for no storm. Pretty girls emerged, their mothers holding umbrellas over complicated up-dos.

Wellesley Cotillion 2017
The dance floor at Boston University. photo credit: Vishnu Thalanki

 

It wasn’t an easy decision, but parent volunteers and organizers made the call at 3pm saying on Facebook, “The Cotillion is going ahead as planned. Obviously safety is our #1 priority. Several committee members have driven down to BU, and while the road conditions are not ideal and we will likely get more snow over the next few hours, the Mayor has not issued a snow emergency, and BU assures us they will remain open and will continue to plow. If a snow emergency is issued we will cancel the event.”

The snow emergency didn’t come to pass, therefore Cotillion did.

I don’t envy the parents who had to make this call. Whether it’s Cotillion, or the Hunnewell Fun Fair, or the Fiske Wild West Round-Up, weather can and does interfere, wreaking havoc with the stress levels of parent organizers.  I’ve seen good women go gray straight through double-process bleach jobs over having to give the thumbs up or down armed with information from meteorologists who will concede only that things might be “unsettled.”

As I once heard one mom say when asked if she would consider chairing a particular event next year: “I’d rather have my fingernails pulled out.”

This time, it was organizers 1 point, weather zero. According to parent organizer Annie Cohen, “It was a spectacular affair!”

Here are some pics to back that statement up:

Wellesley Cotillion 2017, Vishnu Thalanki pic

 

Wellesley Cotillion 2017, Eric Cohen photo credit
Wellesley Cotillion 2017, Eric Cohen photo credit

 

Wellesley Cotillion 2017, Eric Cohen photo credit
Wellesley Cotillion 2017, Eric Cohen photo credit

 

Wellesley Cotillion 2017, Vishnu Thalanki pic
Their prayers were answered. Cotillion was a go. Photo credit: Vishnu Thalanki pic

 

Wellesley Cotillion 2017, Eric Cohen photo credit
Mom, how could you photo bomb our shot? Photo credit, Eric Cohen.

 

Wellesley Cotillion 2017
photo credit: John Harmon

 

More pictures here.

print

Share

Filed Under: Entertainment, Fashion, Volunteering, Weather, Wellesley High School

Comments

  1. Stephanie Hawkinson says

    January 11, 2017 at 12:46 pm

    A huge thank you to the organizers for their outstanding work on this event! They kept cool in an undoubtedly stressful situation and gave our kids a safe and spectacular party.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Write Ahead

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Admit Fit, Wellesley
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Events Calendar

« January 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
Tue 26

Rum tasting and history talk

January 26 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Wed 27

Online history lecture: Petticoat Whalers

January 27 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Thu 28

January 28 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Most Read Posts

  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Babson might want to study us; Downtown Starbucks temporarily closed; Sisters of Charity partners
  • Natick issues boil water alert due to E. coli, some Wellesley homes affected
  • 10 takeaways from the Town of Wellesley's FY20 annual report
  • Bench at baseball field honors Wellesley's Harry Clark
  • Nearly half of Wellesley's available restaurant alcohol licenses are gathering dust

Pages

  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Please support our advertisers—they support us
  • Embracing diversity in Wellesley
  • Wellesley, MA Police logs
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • Paul Starcevich on Wellesley loses Everett (“Eddie”) Knowles, RDF volunteer, medical miracle
  • Dennis Noonan on Nearly half of Wellesley’s available restaurant alcohol licenses are gathering dust
  • Kim Powell on Bench at baseball field honors Wellesley’s Harry Clark
  • David Henry on Wellesley electrical boxes coming alive
  • Bob Brown on 10 takeaways from the Town of Wellesley’s FY20 annual report

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (4)
  • Animals (377)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (534)
  • Beyond Wellesley (28)
  • Books (342)
  • Business (1,357)
  • Camp (1)
  • Careers/jobs (44)
  • Churches (72)
  • Clubs (207)
  • Construction (280)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,877)
    • Babson College (239)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (47)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (598)
    • Wellesley High School (883)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (37)
  • Entertainment (722)
  • Environment (664)
  • Fashion (133)
  • Finance (12)
  • Fire (141)
  • Food (327)
  • Fundraising (559)
  • Gardens (136)
  • Government (384)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (736)
    • COVID-19 (133)
  • History (358)
  • Holidays (365)
  • Houses (118)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (814)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (5)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (5)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (96)
  • Music (543)
  • Natick Report (27)
  • Neighbors (242)
  • Obituaries (58)
  • Outdoors (582)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (687)
    • Crime (344)
  • Politics (534)
  • Real estate (286)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (302)
  • Safety (142)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (107)
  • Shopping (121)
  • Sports (897)
  • STEM (104)
  • Technology (154)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (209)
  • Travel (11)
  • Uncategorized (1,205)
  • Volunteering (317)
  • Weather (161)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (258)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login