As parents descend on campus from around the country and world for Back to 乐播传媒, the annual weekend that welcomes both parents and 乐播传媒 alumni, the question they want answered (besides “How are your classes?) is this one: “What’s the weather going to be?”

Well, it’s going to be fair 鈥� and much warmer than a typical late-September Lewiston weekend.

The high on Friday will be 74, more typical for late August, and Saturday’s will be 80, which is what we’d expect in July. Sunday will be in the 80s! The normal late-September high is 67.

Overnight, the lows will be in the 50s.

Assuming the weekend forecast plays out, here’s what Friday’s and Saturday’s temps in Lewiston will feel like for our 乐播传媒 families:

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Oct. 31 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Oct. 10 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will be 8 degrees warmer than a typical day in your warmest month, July.

Saturday will feel very hot, especially given that Anchorage’s all-time record high is 87 degrees.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Oct. 6 back home.

Saturday will feel warm: Your July鈥揙ctober average highs never get above 75.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 22 back home.

Although the typical high temperature never gets to 80 in LA, Saturday will feel almost like a typical Sept. 1 (79 degrees) back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel 3 degrees warmer than a typical day in your warmest month, September.

Saturday will feel 12 degrees warmer than a typical September day.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Nov. 24 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Oct. 22 back home.

For the family coming from聽

Friday will feel like a typical Oct. 1 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Sept. 16 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical day in your coolest month, January.

Saturday will feel like a typical Nov. 21 back home.

For the family coming from

Welcome to Maine: Friday will feel 2 degrees cooler than a typical day in your coolest month, January.

Saturday will feel like a typical Nov. 28 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel about 6 degrees cooler than a typical day in your coolest month, January.

Saturday will feel like a typical Dec. 15 back home.

(Hint: Lewiston’s overnight low in the 50s will approximate record lows for various sea-level spots in Hawaii.)

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 1 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Aug. 16 back home.

(Hint: While Lewiston’s high is similar to Ketchum’s this time of year, our overnight low in the 50s will feel balmy compared to your near-freezing low.)

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 24 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Aug. 31 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Oct. 4 back home.

Saturday will feel just like a typical Sept. 20 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 13 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Aug. 19 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 10 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Aug. 20 home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 1 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Aug. 17 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 26 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Sept. 9 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Oct. 10 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Sept. 23 back home.

For the family coming from .

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 22 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Aug. 27 back home.

For the family coming from .

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 22 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Sept. 3 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Oct. 16 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Sept. 29 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Oct. 30 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Oct. 12 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Nov. 20 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Oct. 23 back home.

For the family coming from

Friday will feel like a typical Sept. 26 back home.

Saturday will feel like a typical Sept. 12 back home.

International

For the family coming from

Friday will be feel about 7 degrees cooler than your usual year-round high temperature of 82 to 84.

Saturday is going to feel just a couple degrees cooler than home.

(Hint: The nighttime temperature in Maine will be in the 50s, or 20 degrees cooler than Barbados’.)

For the family coming from

Lewiston will feel warm: Friday will be about 6 degrees warmer than a typical day in November, your warmest month.

Saturday will be 14 degrees warmer than a November day.

For the family coming from

Friday will be about the same as a typical mid-70s day in your warmest month, July.

Saturday will be 7 degrees warmer than a typical mid-70s day in your warmest month, July.

On a Tuesday night in the Marcy Plavin Dance Studio, students sweat as they study.

In anticipation of its , the 乐播传媒 Dance Company has stepped up its rehearsals to perform a piece titled Passing. It鈥檚 a work in progress by Rachel Boggia and Carol Dilley to celebrate the life and works of Marcy Plavin.

Esme Goldfinger '21 of Lexington, Mass., reacts to an embrace from Associate Professor of Dance Rachel Boggia during an evening rehearsal in the Marcy Plavin Dance Studios. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Boggia scrutinizes her students' work as they learn a piece titled "Passing."(Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Sofia Elbadawi '18 of Fayetteville, N.Y., and Goldfinger grip hands. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

Ellie Madwed '20 of Seattle, Emma Zulch '18 of Sherrill, N.Y., and Goldfinger react to directions. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

A digital approach to learning dance. (Theophil Syslo/乐播传媒 College)

鈥淏ack to 乐播传媒 is a real celebration of what 乐播传媒 embodies,鈥� says Rachel Boggia, associate professor of dance. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the few performances during the year that the whole dance community comes together and is in the same space at the same time.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a lot of time, effort, and focus for all the dancers and choreographers to cram into one two-week session,鈥� says Danielle Ward 鈥�20 of Atlantic Highlands, N.J. 鈥淚 think it takes cooperation from the whole group to be able to pull it off so quickly. So, it鈥檚 a lot of hard work but it pays off.鈥�

鈥淪ome of my best friends I鈥檝e found right here in the dance department,鈥� says Sofia Elbadawi 鈥�18 of Fayetteville, N.Y. 鈥淲hen I danced all through high school, middle school, and elementary school it was more about competition, and being better than the group. 乐播传媒 has really had an emphasis on creating community.鈥�

鈥淲e have dinner together after class every day,鈥� says Esme Goldfinger 鈥�21 of Lexington, Mass. 鈥淚鈥檓 slowly getting to know everyone and kind of becoming part of this community, which is great because not a lot of classes have that.鈥�

鈥淚 started my first year with two dance classes and I fell in love with it,鈥� says Christopher 鈥淭ofur鈥� Castaneda 鈥�20 of Los Angeles. 鈥淚 just found that the dance program allows me to kind of step back from all the hectic-ness of my STEM career here and really try to go after something that is a whole lot less stressful to me and a lot more about pushing yourself.鈥�

When the football team takes to Garcelon Field on Saturday vs. Williams, keep an eye on No. 48 when the Bobcats are on defense.

His name is Mark Upton ’17 of Winthrop, Mass., and he’s the reigning NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week after making a career-high 17 tackles vs. Tufts last week.

An All-New England selection in 2015, Upton is also a semifinalist for the聽National Football Foundation’s William V. Campbell Trophy for scholar-athletes.

But as we learned, Upton’s value to his team goes beyond statistics. “The essence of Mark is someone who honors his word and honors his commitment,” says teammate and friend Andrew Segal ’17 of Glencoe, Ill.

On Friday evening of Back to 乐播传媒, athletics director Kevin McHugh praised longtime ski coach Bob Flynn for being “the force, the spirit, and the iconic Bobcat zen” of 乐播传媒 athletics.

“Force, spirit, and zen” 鈥� let’s borrow those nouns to describe the family vibe we all felt at Back to 乐播传媒, a “new” weekend event for alumni, parents, and families, Oct. 2-4.

We say “new” because the name “Back to 乐播传媒” has a splendid and storied history, as it was the name of 乐播传媒’ alumni homecoming weekend for much of the 20th century.

Mothballed since the late 1990s, the name made a comeback this fall after 乐播传媒 decided to combine parents weekend and homecoming into one big, three-day bash.

Thanks Harry! Making a comeback this year, “Back to 乐播传媒” was long the name of the fall alumni weekend and was coined a century ago by the legendary Harry Rowe, Class of 1912, college editor, dean, and 乐播传媒 booster.

Big it was, more than doubling the campus population, from the usual 1,700 students to a giant Bobcat clowder of some 3700 alumni, parents, family members, students, and friends.

The Friday evening event honoring Bob Flynn celebrated the naming of donor-funded, renovated Alpine and Nordic ski rooms in Alumni Gym in his honor.

A legend in Maine skiing circles and beloved by his athletes, Flynn has been associated closely with 乐播传媒 skiing as a head coach or assistant coach since 1968.

Friday evening also typified just how much 乐播传媒 force, spirit, and zen there was to go around.

In the hour before the Flynn event, for example, was a panel discussion by the 乐播传媒 Africana Club; a dinner presentation on “Navigating Together” by young alumni and seniors about adjusting to 乐播传媒 life; Shabbat evening services and dinner; a 乐播传媒 Museum of Art reception for the exhibition “Black Maps and Other Dilemmas” by photographer David Maisel; and a men’s rugby game under the lights at Garcelon Field.

Whew!

Honoring contributors to the 乐播传媒 enterprise and to the betterment of the world at large.

And right after the event was the traditional concert by the college’s student a cappella groups, easily the best-attended student concert of the year.

Traditional alumni homecoming activities marked the weekend, including Saturday’s recognition event to honor alumni contributors to the 乐播传媒 enterprise and to the betterment of the world at large.

Alumni awards for volunteer contributions and achievement went to:

• Jennifer Guckel Porter 鈥�88, who received the Bruce Stangle 鈥�70 Award for Distinguished Service to the 乐播传媒 Community for her exemplary volunteer service and for sharing her expertise in leadership development and for coaching alumni on their careers.
• Wiley Todd ’08, Henry Mye ’08, and Jonathan Steuber ’08, who received the 乐播传媒 Alumni Community Service Award for establishing the Valpo Surf Project, a nonprofit that educates, motivates, and teaches life skills to underprivileged and at-risk children in Valpara铆so, Chile.

Earlier in the week, Lisa Genova ’92 received the Sesquicentennial Award, given to recognize academic, artistic, or scientific achievement, for her novel Still Alice, which “opened hearts and minds about an urgent matter of public health and public policy.”

Also at Back to 乐播传媒, the college presented 乐播传媒’ Best awards to several alumni and parents for their significant volunteer contributions to the college.The date for next year’s Back to 乐播传媒: Homecoming and Family Weekend, is Oct. 7鈥�9.

Combining homecoming and parents weekend programming into one dynamic event for everyone is the goal of Back to 乐播传媒: Homecoming & Family Weekend, Friday, Oct. 2, through Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015.

A scene from a 2014 rehearsal by the 乐播传媒 College Dance Company. (Sarah Crosby/乐播传媒 College)

The title may say “dance,” but theater, film and music are also key to performances of the “Back to 乐播传媒” Weekend Dance Concert at noon Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3鈥�4, in 乐播传媒 College’s Schaeffer Theatre, 329 College St.

Representing work by local community members as well as 乐播传媒 faculty, students and artists in residence, the performances are open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-6161.

Students in a 200-level repertory and performance class taught by Carol Dilley, professor of dance and chair of the theater and dance department, will perform two works: A modern partners piece by Dilley and a jazz dance by guest artist Cathy Young, director of the Dance Division at the Boston Conservatory.

Rachel Boggia, assistant professor of dance at 乐播传媒, has collaborated with first-year students to make a modern work set to live a cappella music sung by first-years.

“This year both of the 乐播传媒 faculty choreographers are making dance pieces with student musicians as well as student dancers,” says Dilley.

Ben Cuba, a senior from Worcester, Mass., “has been studying the composition of music for dance for a few semesters now and is creating the score for my piece,” she says. “Rachel is taking advantage of the wonderful crossover between dance and the lively a cappella community here at 乐播传媒.”

Dilley adds, “We’re also both using a choreographic approach in which the dancers share the creative process of generating movement material for the piece. It’s a real pleasure to get to work with such talented and dedicated student artists.”

Also on the program are works by student choreographers. Jorge Piccole, a sophomore from Middleton, Mass., and Bryana Newton, a senior from Granby, Conn., will present a hip hop duet.

A senior dance major, Mary Anne Bodnar of New York City, will present the first phases of her dance thesis research in a solo and in a duet with Kelsey Schober of Palmer, Ark.

A junior from Yarmouth, Maine, Laura Pietropaoli, will screen a film that she made this summer at the 乐播传媒 Dance Festival featuring Alexandra Freed, a senior from Magnolia, Mass. A sophomore from Sherrill, N.Y., Emma Zulch will perform a solo.

Finally, students in the cast of the forthcoming 乐播传媒 theater production of Marie and The Nutcracker will perform a scene from the play. The Nov. 5鈥�9 production will be the world premiere of a dramatic adaptation by Martin Andrucki, Charles A. Dana Professor of Theater at 乐播传媒, of the classic story by E.T.A. Hoffman.

The public dance performances take place under the aegis of “Back to 乐播传媒 Weekend,” an all-college event combining the traditional Parents & Family and Homecoming weekends.

Dance at 乐播传媒 returns Dec. 5鈥�7 with the Fall Dance Concert, featuring professional works set on the repertory and performance class students, Bodnar’s full thesis and a new collaboration between Boggia and Wesleyan University Artist-in-Residence Iddrisu Saaka.