Dear fellow Pumpkineers,<div>Well, it's that time of year again, when thoughts begin to turn toward fall goings-on, and my thoughts in particular turn toward the MIT Great Glass Pumpkin Patch. This year the Pumpkin Patch will be held in Kresge Oval during the first weekend in October, that is October 2-4. Friday will be the opening (5-7 PM), and Saturday the sale (10AM-3PM). Sunday will be the rain date. This coming patch will be our 9th (!) annual fundraiser for the Glass Lab, and thanks to a successful string of past pumpkin sales, the program is going strong. </div>
<div>In other news: late last year we kicked off the Glass Lab renovation/endowment initiative, and, despite a lousy economy, that is going well. Also, this spring a short documentary (with a fundraising slant) about the Glass Lab was made in collaboration with MIT students in the Comparative Media Studies Program. Soon, you should be able to view that by going to the Glass Lab website. And finally, I'm pleased to announce that our 2009 Page Hazlegrove Lecturer will be Venetian Glass Master Lino Tagliapietra. More on that later.</div>
<div>But to the task at hand: I would like to invite you to volunteer to help us with the sale, and I hope you can join us this year.</div><div>The times will be very much like last year: Friday 10/2 we will spend all day transporting pumpkins and setting up for the opening under the tent. Saturday, volunteers will congregate by 8:00 AM (many earlier), set up the sale, and at 10:00 the mayhem will begin. Things always work better if we have LOTS of volunteers. You can reply directly to this email.</div>
<div>So I hope your fall plans will include participating in the MIT Great Glass Pumpkin Patch. We always have a great group of volunteers, and I'm hoping many of you will return. Feel free to ask a friend, too!</div>
<div>Yours,</div><div>Peter<br><div><div><br>-- <br>Peter Houk<br>Director, Glass Lab<br>Department of Materials Science and Engineering<br>Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
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