10-Year
Class of 1998
Reunion date ― October 4, 2008
November 2007
Greetings to the
Class of ’98!
My name is Nate Saul, and I’m writing on behalf of
our class’s 10-year reunion planning committee.
As many of you are
already aware, we are quickly approaching our 10-year reunion. This letter is the first step in our effort
to get as many people as possible involved in and exited about the upcoming
festivities! The reunion planning
committee has already met twice, and we’d like to let you know who we are, what
our reunion is going to look like, and what you can expect leading up to the
big event.
I’ll start off with
the most interesting part―the reunion itself. We have decided to do all of our activities on
campus, in one day, to encourage as many people as possible to
revisit the campus and see all the changes which have taken place since we
graduated.
As this entire event
is centered around all of us, our graduating class, we would like to ask you
for a number of things. First, we need
pictures and stories from your time at Gustavus. We would like to use these in future class
letters, for displays at the reunion events, and as parts of the after-dinner
program. Please send photos (scanned or
digital copies, please) and anecdotes you’d like to contribute to the Alumni
Office via email at alumni@gustavus.edu.
Second, we need
nominees for the First Decade Awards. There
will be one male and one female recipient of this award. The Alumni Board selects the recipients, but
we make all the nominations. If this award
sounds like it applies to someone you know from our class, please send your
nomination(s) to the Alumni Office at alumni@gustavus.edu.
In preparation for
this 10-year milestone, we are starting a concerted fundraising effort. We will give you much more information about
our efforts in the January letter. We
will be contacting all of you during the next few months to talk about
contributing to the Alumni Fund on behalf of the class of ’98. And if, by any chance, you are interested in
making some kind of donation right now, please look online at http://gustavus.edu/giving.
The 1998 Class
Karen Delgehausen – karendelg@hotmail.com
Gigi Wait Dobosenski – gdobosen@gustavus.edu
Angie Henrikson Fahl – angiefahl@yahoo.com
Erin Tripp Halverson – ehalverson@idealcc.com
Sara Huntley – shuntley98@hotmail.com
Kari Lipke – klipke@gustavus.edu
Keegan O’Brien Louis – scottandkeegan@gmail.com
Brad Peterson – bradleympeterson@yahoo.com
Julie Austrums Saul – julie13ann@hotmail.com
Nate Saul – nate_saul@hotmail.com
Alicia Sutphen Schimke – aschimke@gmail.com
Mike Strong – mstrong@uakron.edu
Jim Timmerman – jtimmerman@hotmail.com
We’re dedicated to be
providing a wonderful experience at our 10-year reunion, and we are always
interested in talking to anyone who wants to help in any way.
Hello, everyone! Kari
Lipke here, breaking into Nate’s letter briefly to give you the low-down on
our reunion-year giving and participation goals.
In the tenth year,
most of us have either finished paying off our student loans, or we're close. Hopefully we are also at a place in life to
recognize that our Gustavus education was an excellent investment. And not only in our work lives! We are family members, friends, volunteers in
our many communities, and citizens of this nation and the world. Gustavus was very likely a force, if we
reflect honestly, in helping shape how we learn, live and grow in these various
life arenas.
Gustavus is still a
place where students are rigorously (and sometimes personally) challenged, as
well as supported and encouraged. It is
a community that holds certain values―excellence, community, service,
justice and faith―above others. It
is a mission-driven place, fostering life-long learning, leadership and service
in our brother and sister students.
Our 1998 reunion
committee believes that a worthy goal, as we mark our tenth year, is to keep
these current sister and brother students at the center of our celebration.
So we propose to raise the equivalent of
one year’s tuition, room and fees as they exist for this present generation of
students. Our goal, therefore, is $35,310.00.
Of that, $28,125 is for tuition; $4,275
is for room; $2,500 is for board; and $410 is for student fees. There are 529 active alumni in our class. We are hoping to so convincingly engage 40%
of you this year (that's 212 people), that you will give a financial
contribution
Now, this is an
ambitious goal for our class! By way of
example, so far this year we’ve had about 18% of our class make a
gift. Last year, our total dollars
raised were less than $7,000.00. We are
aware that life circumstances are different for all of us―some of you can
afford to give more, some of you must give less, just like when we were here as
students! Our hope, though, is
that more of you will give what you can in this year of reflection and
celebration. Thanks!
Class News
Keith Carlson
Fredrick,
Bob Fossum,
Ben Haddorff,
Ryan Hagemeier,
Christine Nelson
Karki, Robbinsdale, is
curriculum manager for the Guthrie Theater.
Glenn Kranking completed a year of research in
Keegan O'Brien
Louis, Colorado Springs, CO
teaches kindergarten at Christa McAullife at
Rueben Nilsson,
Landon Pirius,
Jennifer Robe
Reiland,
Andrea Menge
Tysdal, Chanhassen, is vice
president and general manager for JEM Technical Marketing, Inc.
Annaliese
Hemberger Reid,
This wedding
photo was taken at Joe Wahlberg ’s
wedding to Katie Rykkeli on
We are looking
forward to an exciting year of planning, and we’ll keep you all up-to-date on
any new developments.
Thanks,
Nate
Saul
Class of ’98