Helen Lu ’27

Most Loomis Chaffee students are aware of our rivalry against Kent and the anticipated Kent day every fall. But why are they our rivals? How did it start? And did someone mention a spoon?
Both Loomis and Kent opened in the early 1900s, around the same time as many other Founders League schools were opening. In late 1921, the two schools played for the first time in our very own Windsor.
“It was a close game, one in which Kent won. Loomis was going for the winning touchdown as time expired, but the Kent defense held,” Andrew Bartlett, mathematics faculty and past convocation speaker for the spoon, described. During this football game, Loomis was under the impression that they had scored the game-winning touchdown, but Kent was confident they had stopped it. Ultimately, the referees sided with Kent, deciding the fate of the game.
It would have been a forgotten contest if it wasn’t for the two teams meeting for a post-game tea at Mr. Batchelder’s house. “The entire Kent team was in the Head’s house having tea and eating scones or something like that,” Mr. Bartlett recalled. As one Kent player was stirring sugar into his tea, he also wanted a scone, but was unsure of what to do with the spoon. To hold it, he put the spoon, a fancy, silver, wedding one at that, into his pocket. It is unclear whether or not the theft was intentional, but he ended up with it as he returned home. To avoid getting in trouble, he hid it.
But back at Loomis, Mrs. Batchelder was quick to realize her missing belongings. She alerted Mr. Batchelder, who contacted the head of Kent at the time, Father Sill. Out of defense and honor for his team and school, he boldly denied that they were in possession of the spoon. Eventually, an argument between the two headmasters broke out and escalated to the point that Loomis and Kent refused to play with each other for the next few years. Thus, the stolen spoon remained at Kent. It became a tradition for it to be passed down from each dorm R.A. group, year by year.
In 1947, however, the new headmaster of Kent, Father Chalmers, put an end to this tradition when he discovered the spoon and immediately tried to return it to Mrs. Batchelder. But, surprisingly, she declined the offer, reasoning that because they had possessed it far longer than herself at this point, they deserved to keep it. After this, Father Chalmers had a large replica made to trade between the schools every year. The rivalry continued, with the winner of the famed football game holding onto the spoon for the following year.
And thus, the small, seemingly insignificant action of taking a spoon turned into the perpetuated Loomis-Kent Rivalry – the exchanging of the spoon providing a unique aspect and meaning to the competition. At face value, both Loomis and Kent are relatively similar in terms of academics, size, endowment, and prestige. So, this competition helps foster the rivalry and ensure a healthy competitive spirit. Instead of simply playing your rival, Loomis athletes are competing for something concrete, set in a long standing tradition that proves to carry on for many years to come.