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By Rachel Borman
Hometown Weekly Contributor
Continuing in a 46-year tradition, the Hannah Adams Women’s Club hosted a Graduation Tea on June 7. Formal invitations went out to 122 of Medfield’s finest young women - every senior girl living in Medfield and about to graduate from either Medfield High School or Tri-Country Regional Vocational Technical High School in Franklin. School and town officials also received invitations to attend.
The Graduation Tea has unofficially become part of the festivities surrounding Commencement. This year it was held at the home of Mrs. Christine Clower, whose daughter Katie Clower was part of the Medfield High School class of 2016.
Juliann Barbee, also a graduating senior, reflected on the tea as “a nice tradition. It’s fun to get together with all the girls” before they head in separate directions. Several other seniors echoed Juliann, speaking to how the tea was a classy event and not like the type of parties they had been invited to before.
“Being a part of that tradition is such an honor,” said Katie Eamer. “Having the Hannah Adams Women's Club coordinate an event like the Tea is a perfect way for the girls in the senior class to finish the year. It clearly takes so much thought and effort to put on such an incredible event.”
Claudette O’Brien from the Hannah Adams Women’s Club shared how the Graduation Tea has become a rite of passage for the young women. She pointed out that an important part of the experience is actually what comes before the Tea itself - the learning process of how to respond to formal invitations, as well as how to dress for and how to behave at this type of formal event.
Medfield High School Guidance Counselor Amanda Grillo said, “It is nice to see the senior girls in a casual setting (as opposed to school) and to see how excited they are.” Her guidance department colleague Kathy Mahoney pointed out how special it was to “show the girls a tradition in Medfield.”
The Hannah Adams Women’s Club began hosting the Graduation Tea in 1970. Nancy Dearness, who has been a member of the club since 1968, shared that the format and general experience has not changed since that original event. However, the number of females graduating has grown substantially. Classes in the 1970s tended to only have 50-80 female graduating seniors.
According to literature provided by the Hannah Adams Women’s Club, their organization was founded in 1894 and is the oldest continuously running women’s club in the United States. The group is named after Hannah Adams (1755-1831), a pioneer in American writing who was born and raised in Medfield. They hold monthly meets with topical programs and fundraise for scholarships.
