Annual Dinner 2016: 'Play the Ball Where It Lies'

Brunswick School welcomed nearly 870 parents and faculty — a record turnout — to its Annual Dinner on Thursday, Sept. 15.
 
Mike Bingle, Chair of the Committee on Trustees, began the evening by citing new and departing members of the Board of Trustees.
 
Christine Chao, Carlos Hernandez, Skip Pierce, Jeannie Rose, Bill Schneider ’72, and Scott Stuart all completed their terms of service — while Kim Augustine, Emily Burns, Dave Butler, Joe Delgado, Jimmy Ritman ’94, and Andre Saunders were welcomed to the Board. 
 
Chairman of the Board Greg Hartch ’88 highlighted the efforts of many in the Brunswick community in the last year, specifically paying tribute to the School’s faculty.
 
“At the core of a Brunswick education are our teachers and coaches, who interface with our boys every day, teaching them not only the foundations of learning but also preparing them to succeed in life,” Hartch said.
 
“As the School begins its 114th year, my hope is that our sons will attain wisdom for life here at Brunswick.”
 
With their eye on the future, Mike Troy and Tom O’Malley ’85 — co-chairs of the “Above All Else: Courage, Honor, Truth” Capital Campaign — thanked all who participated for completing the landmark effort and raising $106.5 million in only four years’ time.
 
“The work of making and keeping Brunswick great must go on,” O’Malley said. “We must always be ready to step up, compete, and excel — no matter what the challenge.
 
“We move ahead with confidence, knowing that the School is financially strong and continues to grow and get better every year.”
 
Headmaster Thomas W. Philip was the last to take center-stage, drawing on his personal experience — and musings on golf — to offer his best hopes for the year ahead.
 
Golf mirrors life in many ways, Philip noted, with each hole representing a fresh start; the game requiring heavy doses of practice and honor; and the golfer having to play the ball where it lies.
 
That last truth, most important, resides completely beyond the golfer’s control — and prompted Philp to connect the game to Brunswick and its boys.
 
“How can we best prepare our boys to play the ball as it lies: To face challenge, to overcome challenge, and to challenge themselves and others to be the best that they can be?” Philip asked.
 
Philip turned to the School’s motto — Courage, Honor, Truth — for his concluding message, asking parents and teachers to work together and to allow Brunswick boys to learn and to own the lessons that their lives put forth.
 
“In grappling with defeat and disappointment, our boys will become better and stronger in the best of ways, the ways that will change them deep inside and that we cannot initially see on the outside,” he said.
 
“As we look to the long term, it is my hope that they have the courage to face all they do with determination and the honor to face their occasional setbacks with persistence.”
 
“Above all else, may they always, with truth, learn from those disappointments so as to gain strength and depth for a better future.
 
“And, in so doing, may they learn how best to play the ball where it lies.”
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Brunswick School Greenwich, CT

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