Keith Clarke and his wife Margot hosted a potluck buffet as an end of year holiday celebration for the Geography Department at their “merry” Westside home on Friday, December 10. The weather was nice, and at least 60 guests congregated in the Clarke family’s stylish living room, kitchen, and backyard for the feast.
The unanimous description of the food was “great!” Staffer Nancy Ponce chipped in a home-baked ham and a turkey, along with mashed potatoes and gravy, just in case Professor Dar Roberts’ turkey and Professor Dan Montello’s ham weren’t enough. Staffer Jose Saleta donated his famous frittatas and raved about the tiramisu that grad student Gargi Chaudhuri brought. The husband of our Executive Officer, Mo Lovegreen, went back for three helpings of Margot Clarke’s potatoes, and grad student Pam Dalal made a homemade pecan pie that got rave reviews. Keith gave Dr. Ting Lei top honors for the most exotic salad – jellyfish with green peppers – and grad student Rodrigo Bombardi got a special mention for his homemade cheese bread (a Brazilian specialty made with tapioca flour). Needless to say, there was also an abundance of good wine (rumor has it that Mo was put in charge of opening the bottles but had to have help because she didn’t know how to use a corkscrew).
All in all, it was a great team effort by and for friends of Geography. Special thanks are in order to grad student Eliza Bradley (and her fiancé) for helping to set up the event, as well as to Tina Rider, one of the Clarke’s good neighbors, and grad student Kitty Currier for helping clean up afterwards.
The tradition of faculty hosting year-end dinner parties goes back to the 1990s when the Clarke family opened the doors of their (then) Goleta home to Geography personnel on several occasions. The dinners became an annual event during Keith’s reign as Chair from 2001 to 2006, and they then moved to Oliver Chadwick’s abode during his stint as Chair of the Department. As with our departmental barbecues, these occasions serve to bring the Department together by providing a sort of social glue for our multidisciplinary and multi-cultural personnel. As they say, “A family that plays together stays together.” (Of course, they also say that “Families are like fudge – mostly sweet, with a few nuts.”)
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