| June 2003
Dear Classmates of 1958,
Until the past few weeks, the best investment I’d made
in recent years was the exchange of dollars for Euros at an
ATM in Rome last September. Their value has grown from $0.98
to $1.18, as of this writing. I still have some Canadian dollars
that have also appreciated somewhat. An actuary friend who needed
some help asked me to do some work for him and I am, once again,
contributing to Social Security. So, in spite of stock market
setbacks, life is good.
CLASS CHALLENGE UPDATE
Our class total for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2003 was
$23,857.58 with 44.7% of our class members participating (136
out of 304). This compares with $19,938.34 and 42.1% last year.
The alumni group, as a whole, showed an increase from 27.6%
to 29.2%, although the total given dropped by about $500,000.
The drop is a concern, of course, and we hope for a turnaround
this year.
The C-400 structure and recognition will be changing. C-400
Project 16 was successfully completed April 30, 2003. Beginning
May 1, 2003, C-400 is an annual gift of $400 or more, given
during the fiscal year (May 1 – April 30) instead of pledges
over a period of years. A letter and brochure with a full explanation
of the changes will be mailed to you later this summer. If you
have questions, please call the Annual Giving Office at 299-3454
or 800-699-9020. My own C-400 story goes like this:
In about 1980, C-400 put on a dinner in St. Paul, with Tom Brokaw
as the speaker. As an aside, he said that anyone who enrolled
in C-400 with him listed as the enlister would receive an autographed
picture of Jane Pauley. I was one of about twelve who took the
bait. I did get the picture (still have it) and Tom Brokaw got
a President’s Medal for enlisting ten or more memberships.
In many cases, a person only needs to be asked!
CLASS NOTES
Arlen Hermodson retired after six years as Bishop of Northwestern
Minnesota and 40 years of ordained ministry. Since then he has
served as interim Pastor at Redeemer Lutheran in Thief River
Falls. He and Marilyn also spend time at their river cabin near
Thief River.
I have not received any other news about our classmates and
can only assume that we have one of the healthiest and non-newsmaking
classes. Actually, we are probably just modest folks. If you
do have any news, please let me know at 4825 10th Avenue South,
Minneapolis, MN 55417 or at JETEIS36@CS.COM.
HOMECOMING 2003 – OUR 45TH!
As always, we hope this Homecoming will be a memorable time
for you. We will have a class breakfast at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday,
October 4. At that time, you will have an opportunity to introduce
yourself and share a story about yourself that nobody (or almost
nobody) in the room knows about. This should not include your
wonderful children and grand-children, otherwise we’ll
miss the parade and football game. Also, if you have any memorabilia
from Concordia, clothing or other, this would be a good time
to share those items.
We will have space at the Speak Easy Restaurant beginning at
8:00 p.m. Saturday evening. Join us at 8:00 or following the
Homecoming Show. The dancers in our class will have to make
a tough choice since this will be in direct competition with
the Homecoming Ball in the Olson Forum. We may need to have
a cover charge and we are soliciting underwriters to help defray
the cost. If you are still among the ranks of the employed you
might consider chipping in. If you are retired, ditto. More
on that later. I hope you can all attend!
Sincerely,
John Teisberg
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