“Oh, it’s just like a school reunion!” laughed one woman, entering a room of happy chatter and people wearing name-tags.

It’s a good comparison – a former AGO volunteer, she was attending the inaugural gathering of the newly formed AGO Alumni Group, held May 15 in a Weston Family Learning Centre seminar room.

“We’ve always wanted to recognize our retired volunteers, but didn’t have the means to track them very effectively,” explained Shelagh Barrington, a Gallery Guide, a member of the Volunteer Executive and chair of the Alumni Group. “Now, with the new volunteer database, we’re finally able to make this dream a reality!”

Phyllis Couzin, president of the Volunteer Executive, and Shelagh (shown below) both spoke briefly to welcome participants, inviting them to enjoy the mid-afternoon refreshments and, later on, a tour of the David Milne Study Centre with Gallery Guide Steve Edson.

Then the happy chatter really began! Former colleagues rediscovered each other, met other alumni, and also reconnected with staff members with whom they had once worked so closely — Brenda Rix of Prints & Drawings and Jenny Rieger of The Grange, for example, as well as Deborah O’Leary, Diana Goliss, Oona Iverson and Anna Manuel of Staff and Volunteer Resources.

Old tales and new catch-up filled the air, as clusters of people formed and reformed, moving about the room. Here, former Volunteer Executive president Anne-Marie Smith (left) talks with another former VE member, Fran Hogg (back to the camera) and current president Phyllis Couzin.

Every participant was given two passes to visit the Gallery, and told they would be invited to the Volunteer Annual Gathering in the fall and kept informed via email of all Alumni Group developments.

“I am so glad I came,” said one woman as she set off with the others to tour the David Milne Study Centre. “I hoped to see old friends and reconnect with the AGO — and that’s what I’ve done. This is such a good idea.”

 

Can you help? If you know anyone eligible to join the AGO Alumni Group, please email contact and any other information to [email protected], and we’ll pass it on to Shelagh. Criterion: at least 5 years of volunteer service, prior to the Transformation.