Class of 1963

February 2007

Dear ’63ers:

Greetings from the frozen waste lands of the north! I have been remiss in getting news out to you. I kept waiting for a few more notes from you along with your Gustavus Fund contributions, but the news hasn’t been forthcoming. Thanks to all of you for your continued support of Gustavus through the Gustavus Fund.

CAMPUS NEWS

Alumni Starring in The Cherry Orchard

The Department of Theatre and Dance is celebrating 75 years of theatre at Gustavus this year with two featured events: A gala performance of The Cherry Orchard and cast party that was held on February 10 and a theatre reunion to be held on May 11‑12. The Cherry Orchard was Professor Rob Gardner’s final directing work before retirement. A cast of professional theatre alumni joined the student actors for this very special production. The alumni cast included: Peter Breitmayer ’87, Karen Esbjornson ’80, Alisa Pritchett ’85, Kevin Kling ’79, Scott Novotny ’75, and Michael Glenn (Waldhauser) ’97. It was a sold‑out performance for this unique celebration.

Gustie Pages

Looking for a dentist, doctor, lawyer, pastor, Realtor, or other professional? Make it a Gustie! Look in the Gustie Pages, an online database of Gusties who have submitted information about their profession. Use the Gustavus network to meet your needs, or submit your professional information if you would like other Gusties to become your customers. Go to the Gustie Pages at the alumni website at: <gustavus.edu/alumni>.

Give Every Year to Gustavus?

Do you give to Gustavus every year and plan to give every year in the future? Then you should become a member of the Cec Eckhoff Society. Members of the Cec Eckhoff Society simply make the public commitment that they plan to give financially to Gustavus every year. It does not matter how much you give and this is not a formal pledge for a certain amount of money. Cec Eckhoff ’56 led the alumni office from 1963‑1994. Cec believed that part of being an alum of Gustavus was to give monetarily each year to the College. To become a member of the Cec Eckhoff Society, please call The Gustavus Fund office toll‑free at 866/487‑3863 or e‑mail <gustavusfund@gustavus.edu>. Thank you for your support of Gustavus!

Music Tours

This year nearly 300 students participated in music tours as members of the Gustavus Wind Orchestra, Gustavus Choir, Gustavus String Orchestra, Gustavus Jazz Lab Band, and Choir of Christ Chapel. The Gustavus Choir toured in Spain and Portugal January 11‑30. Performances were held in Lisbon, Seville, Malaga, Grenada, and Madrid. The Wind Orchestra toured in Minnesota, Madison and Milwaukee, WI and Chicago. The String Orchestra was in Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota.

Upcoming Alumni Events

Naples/Marco Island Gustie Gathering – February 17

Tucson Gustie Gathering – March 16 (Class Agent Tilly will be in attendance)

Phoenix Gustie Gathering – March 17 (Class Agent Tilly will be in attendance)

Sun City Gustie Gathering – March 18 (Class Agent Tilly will be in attendance)

Celebrating 75 years of the Gustavus Choir – May 4‑6

Celebrating 75 years of Theatre Reunion – May 11‑12

Gustavus Library Associates Royal Affair 2007 “Razzle Dazzle!”

Plan now to attend this splendid event on October 27, 2007. The Gustavus Library Associates have worked diligently over the years and have raised over $2M for an endowment for the library. Held every other year, this is one of the largest gala events in the Twin Cities. Held at the Sheraton Bloomington (formerly the Radisson South) the event attracts about 1300 to a grand celebration. The Steele Family Singers will be the main entertainment. Thousands of items are found on the silent auction including vacation properties around the country. A live auction often features a trip to Sweden, a Granlund sculpture, and a dog or two!!! It is a great event. And if you have an item to offer for the auction, just let me know.

CLASS NEWS

JUDY MAGNUSON PETERSON and Oke ’60 have both retired and continue to live in Menominee, MI. They had a new granddaughter arrive in 2005. SUSAN CARLSON OLSON died on January 14, 2007. MARK DAVIS was named to the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame. Mark is the CEO of Davisco in Le Sueur which has also branched out into countertops, etc. manufactured by CAMBRIA. If you have ever visited the Target Center, there is a hospitality suite featuring the CAMBRIA product. LEE MILLER sent a very newsy Christmas letter from Denmark. “The theme for this year was TRAVEL. Our travels were not part of vacations, but of a professional nature. Lee’s field trips had to do with whales. In Iceland some of these smelled pretty bad. You can often smell a minke whale before you see it, even up‑wind. Talk about bad breath! Actually we went to catch white‑beaked dolphins and test their hearing among other things. The second trip was nearly whale‑free although they were the prime reason for sailing 10,000 km across the Indian Ocean from Cape Town to Broome, Australia as part of the Danish Galathea 3 Expedition. We got out to two fin whales in the middle of the Indian Ocean with our recording gear, but no sounds were heard; only the sound of Her Majesty’s good ship Vaedderen.” Lee and Mette have three grandchildren. Daughter Gitte has started her own consulting business. Martin is nearly finished with his Ph.D. in bioinformatics (finding out what parts of genes codes are for what proteins. Lee continues in his letter: “Our summer house is now completely remodeled and expanded. So, to keep the money outflow going we decided to make some home improvements; a covered porch, a shed for wood, a utility table, garden tools and the like. No sense in saving when you can live happier!”

JOHN and MARILYNN (LAWSON ’64) TAMMI enjoyed a sabbatical from John’s teaching at Hope College. They started off in New York City visiting museums and going to the theatre. In February they traveled to Helsinki and Stockholm. While Marilynn thawed out in Cabo San Lucas, John suffered for his profession back in New York. In March they flew to England and John spent time in London. In April they were in Minneapolis for the 75th anniversary of the University of Minnesota Theatre from where John received his graduate degree. In May, John took a group of students to Ireland for his annual “May Term in Ireland.” Then, to cap off the year, they went back to Finland and celebrated midsummer by renting an old distillery building on Gullögård, a 500‑year estate on an island just off the southern tip of the country, near the town of Tammisaari. They followed up with two weeks exploring that part of Finland and frolicking with the trolls (plus several deer and a moose or two) in the forests. After all of that family‑time, John and Marilynn went up to ?ngermanland in northern Sweden to visit the woman who was John’s foster mother during WW II. They had a wonderful tour of the “high coast” of Sweden led by John’s foster brothers. They concluded their stay in Finland with a long weekend at a lakeside home in the lake district of Finland where saunas were hot and lake refreshing. At this point John was thinking “sabbatical‑schmabbatical!” A quick trip to Minnesota featured friends, golf, and myriad cultural and artistic things! One last trip in fall focused on theatre in Toronto and Stratford where they did six plays in three days. Soooo, after all of that, John is contemplating the possibility of continuing to teach long enough for one more sabbatical. Go John!!!!!

CLASS OF 1963 SCHOLARSHIP FUND

You may remember that the Class of 1963 started a scholarship fund as part of our 40th Anniversary celebration. Gifts continue to be directed to the Fund. As part of our 45th and 50th Anniversary celebrations we will strive to attract more gifts to this fund. The balance of the fund as of May 31, 2006 was $43,616. Based on the College’s spending policy, $1,643 was available for distribution to students this year.

That’s all the news for now. Please keep those cards and letters coming. The Gustavus Fund closes on May 31. You can make your gift on‑line at gustavus.edu and follow the directions! Thanks for your continued friendship and support.

Paul F. Tillquist

1963 Class Agent

ptillqui@gustavus.edu