15-Year
Class of 1993
Reunion dates ― October3-4, 2008
Happy Holidays 2007
Hi all and welcome
to the holidays and winter!
For those of you,
who reside in the Midwest, it’s time to enjoy all that snow and cold has to
offer, snowmobiling, ice-fishing, that kind of stuff.
For those of us who
moved to warmer climates, it is a chance to have you visit. My name is Paul Schiminsky and I am guest-writing this letter from my home of
three years, Las Vegas, Nevada. I moved
to the warm weather states first in 1995 when I moved to Austin, Texas. I moved around a bit and lived in Los Angeles
for seven years before moving here.
Vegas has proved to be a great place to live and lots of fun. My family, who for the most part still live
in the Twin Cities, likes to visit. I
have also had the chance to see a number of you, when visiting for conferences,
meetings and vacations. What do I
do? I wish I could tell you I was a
blackjack dealer or something “Vegas-y,” but I work in the home furnishings
industry. I do live very close to the
Strip, though and can see the towers from our backyard. However, these days with the huge size of
these buildings, so can everyone in the Vegas Valley. It is a very exciting and dynamic place to
live.
About a year ago, I
offered to host the Gustie get-together at our home. It turns out there are about 40-50 Gusties
and friends of Gusties here. There are
even a couple of people from the class of ’93, Dawn Koenen-Soong, and Jessica
Rogich Deakin. Dawn and I, along
with a recent grad Alex Groth ’07 have been meeting informally and trying to
get the group together again. It has
been great finding the Gustie spirit here in Las Vegas.
Speaking of Gustie
spirit, I want to encourage everyone to think about attending the 15-year class
reunion held the weekend of October 3-4, 2008.
As we get farther away from our college years, it should be great to see
old friends and relive the simplicity of the good old days. Yes I said it, but I think with all the
instant communication that exists for students and all of us, there is
something kind of nice about being removed from the fray in St. Peter. One of my fondest memories is driving back to
school from the Cities on a Sunday night and feeling a million miles away when
I got back to the dorm.
As we look back on
the last 15 years, we can see where we achieved our goals, changed our goals
and missed them completely. I have kept
in touch with several friends from school and am continually impressed with the
achievements of our classmates. The
thing I am most impressed with is when you turn out to be great parents,
spouses and friends. The types of friends
who are great to hang out with, just as if we never left St. Peter, even when
the kids are running around your feet. I
think it says a lot about our school and the type of people who choose to go
there.
I think that the
best reason to attend the reunion is to reconnect with your former life. To be reminded of how you felt when you were
back at Gustavus. When your feelings and
whims were the most important thing and the “real” world rarely intruded on our
lives. I have been back a couple of times,
after the tornado to help clean up and to attend the Homecoming game at our
tenth anniversary. For me, it is
reassuring to find that although I have certainly ended up somewhere I would
have never imagined, I am still comfortable being myself with friends I have
known for close to 20 years.
Here is some
exciting news from 2007 to keep you up to date:
On the employment front:
Jeff Erickson is the assistant principal at
Chris Johnson became the chairman of the Forest Lake Area
Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Matthew Thompson is a manager in marketing and operations at
Sears Holding Corporation.
Kate Walker is a research associate at The Center for 4H and Community Youth
Development.
Births:
Ella Christina was
born to Chad and Brenda Jo (Bennett)
Weyhrauch.
Grant Donald Sammon
joins big sister, Grace, born to Sarah
Myers Sammon and husband, Brett.
Don’t forget to send
in your news to share in future class letters!
A group of 10 Gusties
were recently reunited at the wedding of Eric and Kristin Klungness
on 7/7/07 in Faribault, MN.
Pictured in the photo from L to R: Knute Nelson ’94, Kai Johnson, Pam Sletten ’90, Todd Hanson, Eric Klungness, Heather Broman Magowan ’91, William Magowan
’94, Wendy Wasmund Christenson ’76 and John Christenson ’75.
Important save the date info:
Reunion Planning
Meeting: February 23, 2008 – Mount
Olivet Church in
15-Year Reunion -
Tentative
plans: Friday night in Minneapolis for
the adults – Saturday on Campus for the family
If you are
interested in helping out with the reunion committee or just have some ideas
give one of us a call or email: