Cheers!
Owen Sammelson
1958 Co-class Agent
1958
Class of 1958
June 2008
Dear ’58ers,
I find this a difficult letter to do because I am not a good enough writer to describe our 50th anniversary reunion for those of you who were unable to attend, and also to capture the emotions of those of you who did attend.
Let me speak to the former group first. You were missed! Many times I heard classmates asking about
you and whether or not I knew if you had planned to attend. I was able to relate the emails I had
received in May from ED GUTZMANN,
who had fallen on the ice on his driveway in February, was diagnosed with a
severe traumatic brain injury and is now well on the road to recovery; from KAREN MATTSON BRUNING, just out of
hospital and recovering, but wanting very much to come to the reunion, from MYRTICE JOSTAD HANEY, needing to give
special attention to their ranch; from MARILYN
CARLSON SHERMAN in Washington, who had just been in Minnesota in April (and
also planning a trip to London this summer); from SUSAN
The 1958 Golden Anniversary booklet for the class of 1958 was mailed to you a week ago. I hope you enjoy the photos by ANDERS BJORLING and the reflection pieces by twenty-seven of your classmates. We will have another reunion!
There were 93 of you who did attend. WOW! Even your old, sometimes cynical, class agent felt overwhelmed at times with the joy of seeing old friends, beginning new conversations, remembering old times, laughing at old jokes and staying up late. And you know, we look pretty good!
I am sure each of us has our own special memories of the
reunion. I think of the special memorial
service planned by MARK WIBERG and
his committee, with HERBERT ANDERSON
giving the homily, music by MARTHA
TELLEEN PETERSON and
A great evening in the Dive and a fun dinner and program
with CAROLYN
We had a great committee working on planning the reunion and
I thank them again! We met all of our
goals, contacting every member of the class by phone or email. Eighty percent (yes, 80%) of the class made
an anniversary gift to Gustavus and an amazing 75% of those who contributed
increased their gift from the previous year or their last year of giving. Thanks to the following who made a
contribution since the last class letter:
DONNA JONES KIEWATT, JERRY HESSER, ROLLIE HIRMAN, RON JOHANSON,
BOB ORTLOFF, CAROLYN EISGRAU SEIDNER, LOREN
ECKBERG, BARBARA JOHNSON MORRIS,
Thanks forever to CAROLYN CLOGSTON ENGQUIST and PAT TRENCH ROSENBERG for their ideas to provide accessibility to all parts of the Chapel and to do so as a memorial to BARBARA ANDREWS. It will happen!
Our final goal was to raise 2 million dollars. Through the great generosity of many classmates, including several bequests, we raised $2.4 million in gifts, pledges, bequests and annuities. The class of 1958 has now given, or has pledged to give, Gustavus $5 million since we graduated. You are the greatest class! I don’t know if any other class has reached that amount!
How about some news? Thanks to classmates JOHN JOHNSON, MARCIA (AMUNDSON) and CHET JANASZ, Ione (Hultander ’59) and DALE OLSON, and Pat (McLane ’59) and RICHARD OLSON for recommending their grandchildren to Gustavus.
You can send those names to me or directly to the Admission
Office. We also thank those with
grandchildren enrolled, STEVE and
Arlene HILDING,
Class News
Congratulations to NOEL
BEHNE for being inducted into the Silver Horizon’s Hall of Fame for
community involvement in
MARTHA TELLEEN
PETERSON works as a travel consultant and just returned from a trip to the
Yes, class letters will continue as long as you provide the news. I really enjoyed the paragraphs you sent this year and hope you will continue to do so. Perhaps some of you will write about the reunion.
Campus News
On
The alumni area of the Gustavus website will have a whole new look and new features this month. Each alum will receive a unique username and password by mail. This will provide alumni secured access to features such as an online alumni directory, enhanced job and resume postings, and the ability to post class news and photos. Get ready to explore an exciting new way to connect with Gusties.
The Gustavus Board of Trustees has unanimously approved a strategic plan for the College. The plan lays out the College’s higher-level values and goals, while affirming its identity as an undergraduate, liberal arts, residential, Swedish, Lutheran college. The five strategic goals within the strategic plan are as follows: Educate for Leadership and Service, Engage Education at the Intersections, Engage with the World to Make a Difference, Engage Faith to Inspire Understanding and Lives of Leadership and Service, Engage in Responsible and Ethical Stewardship.
Over the winter the prairie restoration company was selected, a planting scheme has been designed, and species list has been generated that will produce an ecologically diverse prairie. The 70-acre site for the Coneflower Prairie restoration is just west of the current Linnaeus Arboretum and will be planted in soybeans this summer and seeded with prairie seeds in October 2008. Recently the Siberian elms were removed from the west end of the Linnaeus Arboretum. These invasive tree species will be replaced with large native bur oaks to create a savanna community on the edge of Coneflower Prairie. An exciting example of the community’s involvement in the Coneflower Prairie is the book buy-back program sponsored by the Book Mark and Gustavus students. This program has generated the funds to buy the bur oaks for this savanna community!
Join the Friends of the Linnaeus Arboretum for a garden tour
on Sunday, Jun 22 from
The June Twin Cities Breakfast will feature Professor of Chemistry Larry Potts who retired June 1 after 36 years at Gustavus. Potts will reflect on his 36 years of teaching and talk about undergraduate science research. Join other Minneapolis/St. Paul area Gusties for a morning cup of coffee and breakfast while getting an update on Gustavus. The group meets the third Wednesday of each month.
Doubletree Hotel,
Wednesday, June 18
Cost is $10 per person
Reserve a spot by calling Don Swanson '55 at 763-533-9083.
Gusties Gather! - September 28
Homecoming/Family Weekend - October 3-5
Striking New News!
CARLOLYN
Carolyn Lund Sandvig
612-866-4845
Own Sammelson
618 West
St. Peter MN 56082
507-924-4790
Cheers!
Owen Sammelson
1958 Co-class Agent
1958
Beverly
Duncan Anderson
Gloria
Anderson
Herbert
Anderson
Vahan
Y. Assadourian
Bob
Baugh
Norene
Heine Becker
Noel
D. Behne
Bill
Binger
Anders
Bjorling
Bud
Boberg
Ellen
Maus Boler
Paul
Borg
Carole
Lambert Cameron
Alan
Carlson
Dorothy
Palm Chilkott
Robert
E. Christenson
Barbara
Bennett Christopherson
Martha
Banke Curtis
John
C. Dahl
Mike
Dale
Heather
Peterson Davis-
Loren
D. Eckberg
Jim
R. Edman
Dick
A. Eklund
Don
Elvestrom
Carolyn
Clogston Engquist
Dennis
Erickson
Margo
Pettersen Fohs
Mary
Brink Fowler
Lois
Swenson Gantrris
Janet
Olson Green
Loren
Herbst
Jerry
Hesser
Stephen
R. Hilding
Rollie
Hirman
Chet
Janasz
Marcia
Amundson Janasz
John
L. Johnson
Lloyd
Johnson
Wanda
Heuer Johnson
Lois
Walfrid Johnson
Marlys
Johnson Johnson
Shirley
Lundgren Kanne
Marge
Lund Kinney
Darlene
Thompson Kriewall
Emily Hildebrandt Kulenkamp
Jody Springer Lange
Stan Larson
Roberta Walker Loreno
Herbert Lundeen
Joyce Strand Marvel
Claudette Anderson McCollar
James M. McPherson
Ronald W. Michelson
Ruth Raarup Mitchell
Aaron N. Moen
Barbara Johnson Morris
LeRoy E. Mueller
Alexander Nadesan
Bonnie Cook Nordby
Jan Tomerdahl Northfield
Miriam Anderson Olsen
Barbara Jensen Olson
Dale Olson
Don R. Olson
Jeanine Lundahl Olson
Richard Olson
Robert Ortloff
C. Kent Peterson
Martha Telleen Peterson
Nancy Johnson Peterson
Bob Peterson
Douglas Pritchard
Robbie Robinson
Pat Trench
Owen Sammelson
Carolyn Lund Sandvig
Carolyn Eisgrau Seidner
Ade L. Sponberg
Donna Elvestrom Sponberg
John Sternaman
Lynn Strand
Janice Carlson
Duane N. Talus
Sonya Harbo Talus
Morna Pell Traffas
Judith Hanson Turnlund
Charlene Bukkila Westrum
Mark P. Wiberg
Joyce Bebensee Young
Mary Ellen Young
For the Class of 1958 . . . Steve Waldhauser ’70
From your 1958 annual—“Our World . . . Our Minnesota . . . Our Gustavus”:
“Nineteen
hundred and fifty-eight on this circling sphere of mud
is
a year of whirling Sputniks . . .
of
the return of the chemise . . .
of
off-year election speculation . . .
of
Picasso and Bernstein and Cozzens . . .
of
tension in the
of
swept-wing automobiles . . .
of
further ecumenical searching and striving . . .
of
chaos and scorn and bitterness and shame and despair . . .
and
love and beauty and tenderness and . . .
hope.
For
two-and-one-half million parka-clad, pheasant-hunting,
butter-eating,
water-loving, corn-growing, coffee-drinking, Gopher-boosting,
inhabitants
of a bumpy-boundaried midwestern entity,
1958
is a special year.”
I invite you to look at that special time from the perspective of fifty years later: it was your senior year, the fall of 1957 and the spring of 1958. What was happening in the world as you were experiencing your final year at good ol’ Gustavus?
Just a few weeks before you returned to St. Peter to begin your final year, American Bandstand debuted on network television . . . On Aug. 29 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, leading to a crisis just a few days later when Arkansas governor Orville Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent nine black students from entering Central High School in Little Rock, in turn prompting President Eisenhower to send in Federal troops . . . On Sept. 4, Ford introduced the 1958 Edsel—mistake . . . A month later, the space age began in earnest as the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik . . . On Dec. 20, Elvis was drafted . . . Toyotas and Datsuns were first imported . . . On Jan. 8, 1958, at the age of 14, Bobby Fisher won the U.S. Chess Championship for the first time . . . It was Minnesota’s Centennial . . . In the worst recession since World War II, 5.5 million people were out of work . . . On March 27, Nikita Khrushchev became premier of the Soviet Union . . . The Hula Hoop was introduced and, in its first six months, sold 20 million units . . . China announced its “Great Leap Forward” in May . . . And, a month after you graduated, Alaska was admitted to the Union as the 49th state.
In 1958, as you were poised to spring into the “real” world:
Milk was $1.01 a gallon; bread was 19¢ a loaf.
A first-class stamp was 4¢—it had just been raised from 3¢, the rate for 26 previous years.
A gallon of gasoline was—are you ready for this?—about 25¢.
Average life expectancy for Americans born in the mid-’30s was about 58.5 years
(So, if you’re sitting here today, you’ve already beaten the odds!).
The minimum wage had been raised to $1.00 per hour two years before—in March 1956
(It was raised to $5.85 last July, will jump to $6.55 this July and will be $7.25 by July 2009, but buying power is actually about the same).
Average yearly income was about $4,650.
A new full-sized car averaged about $2,000—and $3,500 for a luxury model
(but prices of cars were starting to skyrocket in the late ’50s).
Average cost of a house was about $12,750, and average monthly rent was $92
(today a trailer home in
The world’s population was 2.9 billion
(today it’s more than 6.7 billion).
The U.S.
(today it’s more that $14 trillion—about 30 times larger, but only roughly 5 times as large in today’s dollars).
The Federal debt was $297.7 billion
(today it’s about $9.4 trillion —again, more than 30 times larger!).
Tuition at Gustavus when most of you arrived in 1954 was $225 per semester (or $450 annually), with total costs averaging about $1,100 per year. Tuition at Harvard, by the way, was $1,250 per year (for the coming year, tuition at Gustavus will be $29,990, and when you add $4,710 for room, $2,750 for board, and $410 in fees, it’s nearly $38,000!).
Total enrollment at Gustavus in the fall of your senior year was about 1,075
(the College enrolls more than 2,500 these days).
Some 588 seniors will graduate tomorrow as the Class of 2008. A smaller number (183) graduated in the spring of ’58—89 with bachelor of arts degrees, 4 with bachelor’s degrees in music or music ed., and 90 with one of a number of bachelor of science degrees then offered. Another 33 or so we consider part of the class although they didn’t quite finish here. The most popular majors, in order, were business administration, English, elementary education, biology, and physical education (with history, chemistry, and social work close behind). In the years since, some of you have practiced law; several of you work or worked in the medical/dental profession, as doctors, nurses, med. techs, etc.; about a dozen of you have served churches or seminaries. And, at least 45 of you went on to teach at some point in the years following your graduation, most in elementary and secondary schools, but also some in colleges and universities.
What was happening in the wide world of sports? In the fall of 1957, the upstart Milwaukee
Braves topped the New York Yankees in the World Series 4 games to 3. In those pre-Super Bowl days, the Detroit
Lions overwhelmed the Cleveland Browns in late fall of 1957 for the NFL title.
Here on the hill, Coach Hollingsworth’s football team was conference champion in your freshman and sophomore years, as was the basketball team. Both teams finished second in your senior year and Vic Gustafson’s swim team won its fourth of what would be six consecutive conference titles.
1958 classmates Wayne Peterson and Chet Janasz were named all-conference in football—Peterson in 1956 and Janasz in 1957. Ade Sponberg won four individual weight-class championships during his four-year collegiate wrestling career.
And two of you were named to the College’s Athletics Hall of Fame in the intervening years: Ade Sponberg in 1985 for wrestling and football, and Wayne Peterson in 1986 for baseball, football, basketball, and hockey.
Significant things were happening in science and technology
in 1957–58. It was International
Geophysical Year. On Sept. 19 eight
engineers who had recently left Shockley Semiconductor signed papers to form
Fairchild Semiconductor, which is credited with building the bridge from the
transistor to the integrated circuit. In
November,
Meanwhile, in Old Main, which housed all the sciences then, you were carrying on experiments as well, under the watchful eyes of Doc Glass (1950–1986), or Arne Langsjoen (1948–1985), or Chet Johnson (1940–1978), who are still around today to give succeeding generations a hard time!
Others who taught you and still make occasional appearances on campus these days include Milt Brostrom, Bernhard Erling, Vic Gustafson, Phil Knautz, Jim Malmquist, Ellery Peterson, Bill Robertz, Whitey Skoog, and Brad Thompson. And you undoubtedly have favorite professors—legends who define a Gustavus education—whom you will remember vividly even though they are no longer with us. . . .
On
And what did you
watch? Westerns, game shows, and variety
shows, mostly—Wagon Train, Have Gun Will Travel, and Maverick
debuted in Fall 1957, Gunsmoke was already #1, also: The Rifleman, The Lawman, Cheyenne; The
Price Is Right, I’ve Got a Secret, Name That Tune, The $64,000 Question;
variety shows hosted by Ford, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Ed Sullivan, Jackie
Gleason, and Perry Como.
Variety shows ruled on campus too, but you also were involved in theatre—Chekhov’s The Seagull and Thornton Wilder’s Our Town were staged during your senior year, as well as the annual children’s play, which was Jack and the Beanstalk.
Leonard Bernstein’s
new musical, West Side Story, opened in
And, speaking of music, 1958 witnessed the last of the 78s and the first stereo records, which were introduced in March. As rock-and-roll music took over the pop charts, radio stations adopted a new format, “Top 40.” The RIAA certified its first gold record in March of ’58: “Catch a Falling Star,” by Perry Como. “That’ll Be the Day,” by Buddy Holly, #1 on Sept. 23, 1957, led a parade of popular music you listened to in your senior year: “Honeycomb,” “Tammy,” “Wake Up, Little Suzie,” “You Send Me,” “At the Hop,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “All the Way,” “Sugartime,” Tequila,” “Lollipop,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” and even “Purple People Eater.” But curiously, while rock dominated 45 rpm singles and Top-40 radio, the top albums were the Around the World in 80 Days soundtrack and Nat King Cole’s Love Is the Thing.
Meanwhile, on campus, you sang in the Gustavus Choir, or the Gustavus Singers or the Male Chorus, or the official College quartet or the girls’ trio, you played in the Gustavus Band, or the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra, or in pep bands . . .
On the literary front, Albert Camus was awarded the Nobel
Prize in 1957. Viking Press published
Jack Kerouac’s On the Road on Sept.
5. In April 1958 the late Jame Agee’s
novel A Death in the Family won the
Pulitzer Prize for fiction. You were also
reading Art Linkletter’s Kids Say the
Darnedest Things, Bernard Malamud’s The
Assistant, Grace Metallious’s Peyton
Place, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged,
and James Gould Cozzens’s By Love
Possessed.
You weren’t yet writing any books, but a couple of you soon would. Lois Walfrid Johnson turned her attention in that direction after one of her short stories won the Dwight L. Moody Award for Excellence in Christian Literature in 1969; since then she has published more than 25 books for children and adults and nearly 200 shorter pieces. And Jim McPherson, author of more than 15 books—most of them on the Civil War—won a Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era.
We loved our traditions and pageants—a good beauty pageant
was a big deal and thousands watched on TV in January 1958 as Miss
Meanwhile, you crowned Carolyn Lund (Sandvig) your 1957 homecoming queen. Heather Peterson (now Davis-Peabody) had reigned as Frost Week queen the year before, and Nancy Jo Johnson (now Peterson) was the Lucia Queen in your sophomore year.
Two
Among the grads (and those “x’s” who left St. Peter before
finishing or received their degrees elsewhere but nevertheless gather over the
years with the rest as the Class of 1958), 43 are no longer with us. Of the 184 living and located, you tended to
stay in the area, as 117 of you reside in
Most of you (i.e., around 210) married, around 50 to other Gusties (at least the first time!), including 14 who married classmates. You had anywhere from zero to seven kids; 67 of you sent at least one back to Gustavus, and I’ve been privileged to meet some of them here. More than 90 of you have returned for at least one of the events this weekend to renew acquaintances with each other—50 years later.