Blizzard Cancels Jazz Brunch
Recent winter storms have caused both class and school cancellations, as well as prevented a number of events from proceeding, but perhaps the most upsetting loss to students and faculty alike is this year’s Jazz Brunch. Due to the magnitude of the recent winter storm Neptune, dining services was forced to cancel the annual event.
Dining services had originally scheduled this year’s Jazz Brunch to be on Feb. 15, 2015 around a month earlier than last year’s, which took place on Mar. 23, 2014. The reason behind the change of date was to accommodate the students as a stress reliever in the winter. Unfortunately, because around 8,000 dollars were already expended and cannot be recouped because of this cancellation, a rescheduling of this event is very unlikely, according to director of dining services, Ward Ganger.
“I think it was a wise and compassionate decision. It is unfair to ask dining hall staff and musicians to drive to school from off campus and put a lot of effort to an event that many people will probably stay away from because of the snow.”
On Friday, Feb. 13, the dining hall services department of the Academy, having kept track of the weather forecasts and the prediction that a large storm would be impacting New Hampshire from Saturday evening to Sunday, declared that it was the right decision to cancel Jazz Brunch. Because Jazz Brunch is an event requiring extensive preparation by a vast amount of dining hall staff, as Dean of Residential Life AJ Cosgrove said in his school-wide email, it was extremely difficult to organize such an event considering the tough driving conditions for most of the dining hall staff.
While many faculty expressed their disappointment with the cancellation of Jazz Brunch, they also recognized that it would have been irresponsible to have required the dining services to host the event in such an aggressive storm. “[The cancellation] seems to be a very judicious decision not to require dining hall staff to be on campus and to find it likely impossible to return safely home after their shift,” modern languages instructor Mark Trafton said.
Cary Wendell, technical director of theatre and dance, shared a similar view to Trafton. “I think it was a wise and compassionate decision,” he said. “It is unfair to ask dining hall staff and musicians to drive to school from off campus and put a lot of effort to an event that many people will probably stay away from because of the snow.”
Agreeing with faculty, students also believed the cancellation to be the proper decision.
“While I think that it's very unfortunate, I understand why they had to do it considering that the staff’s safety is of the utmost importance,” lower Brianna Ko said.
Despite the consensus regarding the logic behind the cancellation, there were disagreements among the Exeter community about whether to reschedule it or not.
Mathematics instructor Timothy Whittemore said that the event should be rescheduled for the weeks to come, possibly in the spring. “I’d like the event to the rescheduled for the near future. Winter is a nice time to host this event, but we’re running out of weeks,” he said. “Early in the spring term would be nice as well.”
Lower Hillary Aristotle emphasized the importance of rescheduling Jazz Brunch because it serves as one of the key events in the winter in order to make the winter more manageable. “I was really looking forward to this year’s. When I got the email, I half-expected Jazz Brunch to be ‘rescheduled’ and not ‘canceled.’ Jazz Brunch is one of the things that brings up the mood in the winter, and we need it this winter more than ever.”
Ko agreed with Aristotle; however, she doubted the possibilities of the event being rescheduled. “I hope that they can make it up in some way, but given the amount of resources, time and effort that it would take, I can see why it wouldn't happen,” she said.
Some members of the community believed that Jazz Brunch should not be rescheduled. Science instructor Tatiana Waterman, who was not in favor of having Jazz Brunch in the first place, was glad that dining services cancelled the event. “I am definitely NOT a fan of the extravagant food, or the expense,” she said. “For years I have been advocating for good music, a plainer-than-usual Sunday meal, resulting in a monetary donation to NH food pantries, which are overtaxed in these recessionary times.”
On Waterman’s side was lower Thomas Carlock, who believed that a good portion of the treats and snacks seemed to have already been used in Sunday’s normal brunch. “I don’t think that rescheduling the [Jazz] Brunch would be logical, and if we would need to hire a new group to perform, I don’t think that would happen,” he said.
While there are conflicting feelings regarding whether or not it is justifiable that Jazz Brunch has officially been cancelled, the overall consensus among the majority of students and faculty is that most are upset with the loss of a de-stresser during the draining winter term. Despite this, most simultaneously understand that it was necessary for the event to be cancelled due to winter storm Neptune which has just recently swept through the East coast.
Instead of Jazz Brunch, the dining service staff continued the regular brunch hours this past Sunday. Leonard expressed her thankfulness towards the understanding of the Exeter community during this unusually snowy New England winter season. “Dining Services is very appreciative of the support and extends our thanks the Exeter community for their understanding in our decisions to consolidate to Elm Street during these recent storms,” she said.