Groove at the Grove

Robert Little- San Francisco, CA

“And this ten room house, built in 1902, was put up for auction,” I beam at the 10 am tour group.  “Inside it features all antique furniture.  Pitzer students convinced the city of Claremont to put the house up for auction.  Students and a professor showed up to the auction, bid, and won the house.  Any guesses on how much we paid for it?” I ask with a grin.  “You bought it in the 1970s?” a parent asks.  “Probably $80,000?” “$5,000!” a student adds.  “Kind of close.  Well no, not really.  We bought it for a dollar.”  Reactions to the statement are always mixed – a combination of acute shock, collection of shrugs, and the occasional follow up question – “Well, how much did it cost to move the house to Pitzer?”

I refer to the grove house as a Pitzer student’s “home away from home.”  Complete with ten or so rooms, a fireplace, and the tastiest homemade cookies that keeps graduates coming back, a Pitzer student can spend their whole day at the Grove House, and consider it very well spent.  Aside from the story slams, the peculiar purple pickles, and occasional guitar player on the porch who knows more than four chords and is worth listening to, I find myself frequenting the Grove House after the sun has set.

One of the most enjoyable jobs I have at Pitzer is working as an Event Staff manager.  This line of work has me managing multi-thousand dollar soundboards, dancing backstage with band members, and of course, playing my favorite tunes in between sets (you can tell I have potential when my mini DJ set gets the crowd moving with “Dance Yrself Clean” better than a live band called “Merry Christmas").  Although I have the opportunity to work some of Pitzer’s biggest parties, like “Kohoutek” and “Earthquake,” I often opt for a more stressful, yet fulfilling bi-weekly Groove at the Grove.

First started in the Pitzer orange grove to celebrate the harvest season for fresh PZ oranges, Groove at the Grove is a regularly occurring party at the foot of the Grove House porch.  Artists run the gamut, from professional acoustic punk artists (check out the October 11^th Barry Johnson videos on YouTube, you might see me!) to first time student performances.  All Groove at the Grove events are always open to students from all five colleges in addition to the greater Claremont/ LA community. 

Groove at the Grove exemplifies what Pitzer is all about.  Students contact artists, or organize to feature student clubs or bands themselves.  They hire student Event Staff workers to manage the sound, employ New Resource Students to serve beer to students over 21, and celebrate aspects like the season for ripe oranges, which most communities would overlook.  Whether gathered for an intimate evening to support friends explore their creative side, or ready to celebrate the weekend and dance on the trash can that you tossed your food scraps into after lunch earlier that day, the Grove House and Groove at the Grove are undeniably and uniquely Pitzer. 

Campus-to-Coast

Robert Little- San Franciso, CA

When I arrived here in early August to prepare for the arrival of our new first years, Pitzer’s campus was eerie. “Pitzer is a shell without you students” was the go-to elevator speech administrators used in lieu of a simple “Welcome back!” I could see it, yeah, the school is a lonely place in the summer – no students clumsily slack-lining on the mounds, no barefoot Pitzer folk walking to class, and no Grove House sandwiches with home roasted turkey and balsamic parmesan spread for several months! 

 When I took a stroll through campus, however, I felt a loneliness that no one else had mentioned. NO BIKES. ANYWHERE. Whereas I occasionally had to resort to locking my pitzermobile (an orange single speed, so fresh) to handrails or my friends’ bikes, the sight of my bike all alone on the ribcage rack outside the residence halls caused me a tiny bit of anxiety. I felt like that dog owner who locks their pup up to a pole outside and walks away (HOW COULD YOU).

At the risk losing your attention by talking about bikes in all my posts, they’re kind of a huge deal here. Students, faculty, and staff ride everywhere – around the campuses, out to L.A.’s monthly Critical Mass, and of course bombing down Mt. Baldy before 8am class. 

One of the most ambitious rides is the first-year orientation trip Pedal to The Pacific – a trip where students bike from a starting point to a handful of beaches over several days. The title is deceiving, however – we don’t actually bike fromPitzer to the beach, but bus from campus to a park along the San Gabriel river and start from there.

Although I had participated on this orientation trip three times now, this Saturday was the first time that I actually pedaled to the pacific. As part of Pitzer’s 50th anniversary celebration, 50 students, faculty, staff, and Claremont community members set out for a casual 50-mile Campus to Coast ride. Starting from the lot adjacent from the Green Bike program, a diverse amalgamation of road bikes, cruisers, hybrids, and even one tandem set out for a pleasurable four hour, mostly down hill ride to seal beach. We toured through sunny Claremont and San Dimas before hitting the San Gabriel River trail, took a pit stop at Liberty Park for lunch, and planted tires in the sand just after one in the afternoon. I felt like a first year again, biking next to fellow Pitzer folks who I hadn’t met before and eagerly tried to get to know. At the beach, students swam and surfed (an awesome reward after a half-century ride!)

Aside from the fact that I can honestly say that yes, I’ve pedaled to the pacific, this ride incorporated so many aspects of why I love this school.  For one, yeah, there’s a collective effervescence when a large group of people hit the road on bikes.  This, of course, happens all over the place; what was unique about this ride was the diversity of participants.  Students from all four grades, graduates, faculty, professional staff, deans, and even two moms who “new some nice kids who went to the Claremont Colleges” came together and bonded over some exercise outside.  Some wore spandex suits.  Others wore flip-flops.  Everyone biked 50 miles; everyone pedaled to the pacific!