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June 2003
Classmates of 1998:
One year ago I found my class letter in my mailbox, just like you have today. It’s kind of exciting to see if you know any of the names, and find out what people are doing. And as I turned to the last page, it was hard not to jump ahead to see “Searle Swedlund” in bold print. I read through the paragraph carefully, and that is how I learned I was the new Class Agent. Rachel McDougall has agreed to write this letter in the future. This year, we will be writing the letter together.
Believe it or not, this fall marks our Five-Year Reunion! Mark your calendars. Here are some of the highlights for the Homecoming Weekend (October 3-5, 2003):
Friday night: A new event, the First Decade Reunion invites graduates from the last ten years to the Plains Art Museum. The Plains is a trendy warehouse space in downtown Fargo, across from the courthouse. This event will allow Cobbers from a variety of classes to reconnect. The party begins at 9:00pm and tickets are $11.00 each (includes appetizers, but beverages will be extra). Tickets will be available for online purchase beginning in July at www.ConcordiaCollege.edu/alumni or by calling the Homecoming Hotline at 800.699.9020.
Saturday morning: Every five years we have a Reunion Breakfast. They are really informal, and a nice start to the day. We gather together, mingle, have a muffin, some coffee and juice, and talk. Our breakfast will be at 9:00am and the location will be announced during Homecoming weekend. The rumor is that the Alumni Office has a “special gift” they will be giving to the attendees of the breakfast, so make sure you don’t miss it! This will be a good way for us to connect before wandering over to 8th Street to take in the parade.
Saturday: Check out the schedule – parade, football game, and other festivities.
Saturday night: We would like to get all of our classmates together in one place to hang out
and catch up in a casual setting. Saturday night, from 9:00pm until whenever, we will gather at
Coaches (the old Trader and Trapper). There is no cost, and nothing formal – just a chance
to connect with old friends. Spread the word! We hope to see you there.
Sunday: There are several great events organized by the college, including a worship service and
concert in the afternoon. Take a look at the schedule for more info.
CAMPUS NEWS
Some of you may have heard that President Thomas Thomsen resigned as Concordia's ninth president. An interim president will be brought into place as the college begins a new search for a leader. New construction has begun on two new student housing buildings that will include two 4-bedroom townhouses, four 3-bedroom apartments and eight 2-bedroom apartments. The new buildings will be located just east of Hallett Hall.
Three professors will retire from Concordia College this year; Dr. Carroll Engelhardt in the History Department (33 years), Armin Pipho in the Physical Education and Health Department (27 years), and Willard Hiebert in the German Department.
CLASS NOTES
Several of our classmates were married during the past year:
Elisabeth Peterson to Matthew Cole, Owatonna, Minnesota.
Chris Ohm to Melissa Pederson, Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Jeannette Hoerner to Jeff Gray, Emmett, Idaho.
Angela Crawford to Jeremy Sizer, Ramsey, Minnesota.
Cathy Pray to Jeremy Oliver, Eagan, Minnesota.
Claire Webster to David Richards, West Des Moines, Iowa.
Mike Tuchscherer to Kelly Bies, St. Paul, Minnesota.
The following classmates had babies:
A daughter, Isabella, to Mark and Carrie (Larsen) Ostman, Rochester, Minnesota.
A son, Jack, to Michael and Angelique (Goulet) Newcomb, Moorhead, Minnesota.
A son, Benjamin, to Brandon and Theresa (Schultz) Turner, Charleston, South Carolina.
A daughter, Alayna, to Shawn and Andrea (Simmons) Cyphers, Bainbridge Island, Washington.
A son, Alexander, to John and Marisa (Anderson) Lerum, Crystal, Minnesota.
Other News:
Katie O’Brien is a fist year medical student at University of North Dakota as was elected in the fall of 2002 to the National Office in Organization of Student Representatives.
Kaaryn (Melgaard) Altobelli completed her Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Minnesota State University, Moorhead.
Julie (Ronning) Bacon works in Seattle at Chiron Corporation as a Clinical Data Coordinator. She married Wayne Bacon from Auckland, New Zealand in November of 2002.
Searle Swedlund began working for Concordia College in October 2002 as the Associate Director of Annual Giving.
Joan Overton is the Human Resource Manager for Smurfit-Stone Container in Fargo.
Katherine Reilly is working with the Pacific Architects and Engineers at the US Embassy in Moscow, Russia.
Shana Heinricy graduated with honors from San Diego State University in May of 2002. She was awarded the California State University Summer Research Grant. She begins her work on a Ph.D. in Communication and Culture at Indiana University in August. She is working as an Associate Instructor at IU.
LOST ALUMNI
According to the college database, the following alums no longer have accurate addresses and phone numbers. If you recognize any of these people, and know where they are, let them know they can update their records by calling 800.699.9020 and asking to be transferred to Lissa.
But, more important, tell them we are all getting together 9:00pm, Saturday, October 4th at Coaches.
* Alexander Bjork
* Jill Carlin
* Noah Caron
* Daniel Crary
* Timothy Czichotzki
* Julie Enquist
* Peter Hamilton
* Craig Hanson
* Amimul Hasan
* Jon Jasken
* Amy Johansen
* Joni Johnston
* Juanita Lagred
* Jorn Lavoll
* Misty Lowe
* Kirstin Maanum
* Shannon McMohon
* Cory Polzine
* Anne Pris
* Heather Sandberg
* Mindi Christensen
* Patricia Stegman
* Elizabeth Weixel
CLASS CHALLENGE
Each year, every class is measured on participation and total dollars given. Last year Angelique reported a bad year for our class, but this year was much better. Classmates gave $5020; which brought our participation to 16.8%. For the analytical minds, we measured in the middle of the pack as compared with other graduating classes of the 1990s.
Many of us still are working on paying off Senior Gift Project payments. To bring you up to speed, that project reached $20,027 (about $3000 is interest earned) and the endowment will start paying a gift in 2004-05 to enhance service learning at Concordia. If you still have a pledge, Homecoming might be a good date to shoot for in order to get it paid off.
For those who don’t have a pledge, just give what you can: $20, $10, even $5. It’s important for us to continue the tradition of giving that others provided while we were students at Concordia. It would say a lot about our class if we could move our class participation up from 16.8% to 25%.
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.
We are both very excited to see you all this fall! Lots of planning is going into this gathering, and it’s going to be fun. We hope you can join us for a weekend of reminiscing and catching up with old friends. See you October 3!
Sincerely,
Searle Swedlund ’98 Rachel McDougall ’98
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