• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

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

  • Advertise
  • Wellesley Square
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Camp
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Business index
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Schools
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Kids
  • About us
  • Events
  • Natick Report
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Live government meetings
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Fire & police scanner
  • 2023 Town Election
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Manners tested in Wellesley as 2 etiquette/dance programs vie for 5th graders

April 7, 2017 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

If you’ve had a 5th grader go through the Wellesley schools, then you surely recall that 9-week period in the fall where the girls donned party dresses and white gloves, the boys put on jackets and ties, and they all trouped over to the Italo-American club and learned the basics of ballroom dancing and social etiquette. Maybe you were even a “Patroness,” as the parent chaperones have always been called. You most certainly have the pictures to prove your kids did actually dress up.

We’ve been alerted to a bit of confusion over classes going forward now that Don Mason, the owner of Wellesley Assemblies, passed away in December 2016 at age 86. Mason according to a trust document forwarded to The Swellesley Report by Mason’s nephew, Douglas Trudeau, arranged for the dance class operating in Weston and an amount of money to go to his long-time friend and business associate Susan Cole. The document specified that the two dance classes operating in Wellesley were to go to Trudeau. Trudeau is running Wellesley Assemblies next fall at the Wellesley Village Church in Wellesley Square. Cole is running Boston Assemblies next fall at the Italo-American Club.

One Wellesley. Two etiquette/dance class options for 5th graders.

According to Cole in an email to parents from her company Boston Assemblies, “I have heard from a number of you that you have received invitations to a social dance class operating as ‘Wellesley Assemblies.’  …This entity, ‘Wellesley Assemblies,’ is advertising itself as operating classes at the Italo-American Club on the same dates as Boston Assemblies’ classes are scheduled for the fall.  We, Boston Assemblies have a binding contract to host our program, at the Italo-American  Club for the fall season. Please be aware that…Wellesley Assemblies entity is [not] associated with Boston Assemblies. By advertising these classes, ‘Wellesley Assemblies’  has created confusion which I hope to dispel with this email” (bold wording is not The Swellesley Report’s).

Cole says that Mason was “… a wonderful friend and companion. We worked together for over thirty years in Wellesley.” The two put together and fine-tuned the curriculum for the class, making it a fun and safe environment in which kids could learn some of the social niceties. It had been, for both of them, their lives and their livelihoods.

Trudeau says that with his Wellesley Assemblies class at its Village Church location next fall he is simply “…carrying on the tradition under my uncle’s wishes.” He says he currently has over 200 students signed up.

I also spoke with a Patroness, Rebecca Burstein, who told me that “Doug Trudeau had reached out to all the PTOs, introduced himself, and said that he was taking over his uncle’s business.” She found him personable and that his manner pretty much squared with her idea of how someone who teaches etiquette should conduct himself. Based on communications with him, she says that the Patronesses decided to support Trudeau and Wellesley Assemblies. The Wellesley Public Schools are not involved in the classes.

Trudeau had sent out an email of his own in which he said  “I am thrilled and excited to be taking over for my uncle to carry on a legacy that he started. I have very big dance shoes to fill, but I was taught by the best…and will do all I can to ensure the integrity of the program that he worked for over 50 years to build remains strong and intact.  After all, I know he’ll be watching over me and all of your children.”

As one parent said, “Who knew there would be so many Social Dancing options?”

print

Filed Under: Business, Education

Comments

  1. Christine says

    April 7, 2017 at 10:41 pm

    As far as I know, Doug Trudeau has been teaching the Wellesley classes for years, and it was long ago settled by Don Mason and Susan Cole that his nephew Doug would continue to teach the Wellesley classes, pursuant to their agreement. A number of people are quite surprised and perplexed that she is advertising otherwise. Such a shame, and so soon after Don Mason’s death that this had to happen.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Linden Square, Wellesley
Riverbend, Natick

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

 

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Wellesley
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Mature Caregivers
Admit Fit, Wellesley
  • 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 on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Letters-to-the-editor day in Wellesley—important election-time updates
  • Wellesley Public Works news: A PFAS warning; Weston Road construction on tap for summer; Wood recycling hot, pricey; Town Meeting article preview
  • Wellesley business buzz: Board business liaison phased out; Help ID top business leaders of color; Hospital taps new president
  • Wellesley Cotillion makes a strong comeback

Upcoming Events

Jan 25
7:00 pm - 7:45 pm

Olin College Presents Connecting Communities 2023: Sustainability

Jan 26
9:00 am - 10:30 am

Select Board office hours—in-person or online

Jan 31
9:00 am - 11:00 am Recurring

Coffee and Conversation with the Wetlands Administrator and Staff

Jan 31
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Families Eat Together online presentation

Feb 1
11:59 pm

Deadline for Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club grants application

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • LADY WELLESLEY on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Peggy Heffernan on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Beth Dublin on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Erika on Where to buy the Wellesleyest stuff in Wellesley
  • Alice Roy on Inside Track has jewel of a Wellesley engagement scoop

Links we like

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

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • 2023 Town Election (2)
  • Animals (428)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (592)
  • Beyond Wellesley (52)
  • Books (376)
  • Business (1,556)
  • Camp (11)
  • Careers/jobs (53)
  • Churches (82)
  • Clubs (236)
  • Construction (300)
  • Dump (130)
  • Education (3,189)
    • Babson College (252)
    • Bates Elementary School (18)
    • Dana Hall School (36)
    • Fiske Elementary School (11)
    • Hardy Elementary School (47)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (46)
    • MassBay (57)
    • Schofield Elementary School (26)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (613)
    • Wellesley High School (996)
    • Wellesley Middle School (204)
  • Embracing diversity (84)
  • Entertainment (814)
  • Environment (772)
  • Fashion (144)
  • Finance (15)
  • Fire (173)
  • Food (358)
  • Fundraising (641)
  • Gardens (164)
  • Government (604)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (15)
  • Health (866)
    • COVID-19 (203)
  • Hikes (6)
  • History (399)
  • Holidays (440)
  • Houses (162)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (867)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (10)
  • Letters to the Editor (71)
  • Media (72)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (13)
  • Morses Pond (109)
  • Music (579)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (280)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (86)
  • Outdoors (655)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (778)
    • Crime (395)
  • Politics (554)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (6)
  • Real estate (344)
  • Religion (138)
  • Restaurants (340)
  • Safety (155)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (127)
  • Shopping (163)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (1,012)
    • Athlete of the Week (12)
  • STEM (108)
  • Technology (165)
  • Theatre (397)
  • Town Meeting (23)
  • Transportation (240)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,244)
  • Volunteering (350)
  • Weather (179)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (280)
  • Wellesley Holiday Gift Guide (2)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (20)

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login