DC Club: The Annual Walter Behr '39 Ice Cream Social

The Annual Walter Behr '39 Ice Cream Social...This Year Featuring Gelato!

A Gathering of the DC Oberlin Community and a Welcome to the Class of 2030

Time to celebrate our Oberlin family and welcome local members of the incoming Class of 2030! Visit and enjoy gelato, including a vegan option! If you’re coming, please register to help us prepare. If you can help at the event, please sign up. In addition, to reduce our footprint on the environment, please bring a container with your own water.

The event is named in memory of Walter Behr ’39, the longtime Mayor of Somerset who for many years welcomed us to the Town Hall. We are grateful to Maya Weil ’86 who is our event sponsor, and to Suzanne Ludlow ’81 who coordinated arrangements for the gelato.

Schedule of Events
1:30 Check-in
2:30-4:00 p.m. Gelato
3:15 p.m. Program
4:30 Close

This year, the Club honors Nathalie Ryan ’97 with our annual award that recognizes a local alum who has been a friend to Oberlin and to the DC Oberlin community. Since 2020, Nathalie has generously conducted tours at the National Gallery of Art for Obies and friends. The subject of tours has ranged from European art, textiles, modern art from Haiti, Black artists of the American South, etc. Nathalie is a Senior Educator at the National Gallery of Art. She is an educational advocate, author, mindfulness meditation instructor, harpist, and maker of hand-made books. Her first museum job was at the Allen Art Museum in the Print Study Room. She was an Art History major at Oberlin and earned graduate degrees from Harvard and the University of Texas at Austin. Julian Cross ’25, for the second consecutive year, will create an award based on a campus location that has special meaning to Nathalie. Come and see what Julian has created!

Previous Recipients of the Oberlin Club Honors
1991 Erwin Griswold ’25
1992 Walter Anderson ’37
1993 Michael Dirda ’70
1994 Sally Epstein ’48
1995 Bill Perlik ’48
1996 Ted Gest ’68
1997 Carl Rowan ’47 and Julie Mueller ’78
1999 Bill Robinson ’63
2000 Chuck Spitulnik ’73
2001 Carl Gerber ’58
2002 Stephen Ackert ’67
2003 Ted and Molly Raphael ’67
2004 Clyde Owan ’79
2005 Karen Florini ’79
2006 Dot Avery ’55
2007 Nan Aron ’70
2008 Amy Alipio ’91
2009 Kev O’Connor ’51
2010 Mike Doyle ’78
2011 John Charles ’87
2012 Patrick Clawson ’73
2013 Tiffanie Luckett ’99
2014 Alan Wurtzel ’55
2015 Chip Hauss ’69
2016 Dixie Sommers ’70
2017 Mark Gross ’79
2018 Cris Smith ’68
2019 Hiu Newcomb ’58
2025 Barbara Wolanin ’66