Class of 1959 Newsletter: August 2008

From the Class of 1959 Newsletter: August 2008

Greetings to all in the Class of 1959!

Our Homecoming – 2009 is now only ten months away. It is scheduled for June 19-21st. So make a note and plan to attend our Golden Anniversary Reunion.

In my last Class of 1959 Newsletter I mentioned that festivities are already being planned to make our 50th a truly memorable event.
Read more...Some of the planning includes:

Distinctive “On Campus” Room Accommodations
Attendees from the Class of 1959 will be housed together in a residence hall, which has a comfortable lounge for us to gather in an informal setting to reconnect and amplify our memories of fifty years ago. We will have many things to catch up on with those we haven’t seen for a good part of our lives. Of course, there are many off campus inns available in the Winona area too.

Special Dinner Honoring our Class of 1959
On Friday of Homecoming Weekend we will be invited to a private 50th anniversary dinner put on by the university and held on campus. This will give us a great opportunity to launch our reunion. It will begin with a social at 5:30pm, followed by a greeting presentation by our university president, and a nice dinner. I am sure that we will all enjoy this special event, which will only be the start of our weekend together.

Other Events and Gatherings (still being planned)
- Memorial service for your deceased classmates
- Tours of old dorms/buildings
- Golf outing at Bridges Golf Club (formerly Winona Country Club)
- Bluff Tours
- Family Picnic with music on Max Molock Field
- Class Pictures
- Homecoming Dinner
- Dancing after dinner and a Piano Sing Along
- Alumni Mass

Remember, this is your reunion! If you have other activities or events/gatherings that you might want to include during our Homecoming weekend during our return to St. Mary’s, please join in and get it organized. For example, a short presentation after our dinner on Friday night would be encouraged. We have a “once in a lifetime” experience ahead of us.

I took the time to go through our 1959 Redman Year Book, (yes, I still have my copy) and listed all of those pictured on a spreadsheet. It was easy to identify the Scholastics, which are listed by their Brother names; however, I had to guess at some of the seminarians. Then I merged my spreadsheet list of classmates pictured in our Year Book with an address list I got from St. Mary’s, which included additional members from our class. There probably is some duplication here because I am not able to match current names of x-Brothers with their Scholastic names. Also, I am aware that the combined list does not include everyone from our class (some of the classmates I remember are not included) but it is the best I could come up with.

There were forty-two Brothers pictured in our Class Year Book. This list identifies eight who are still Brothers (Bold Br. in title column) and twenty-one who are x-Brothers. The names of these x-Brothers and current Brothers are most likely also listed as Brothers from our Year Book and these entries should be eliminated from the list and the Brother names shown in the notes column after their current name. I need some help from someone knowledgeable to assist me in making these corrections. Also, I would appreciate any other corrections to improve the list. (I hope I got the deceased accurately)

I have a similar problem when identifying seminarians from our Class Of 1959. Some I remember from our competition in the handball courts or across the chess board during Olympic Days; however, I cannot be sure I have identified all the seminarians correctly just from their name and picture in the Year Book. Please help me here too.

Why am I going through this effort? Well I feel it would be fantastic to witness a huge Homecoming next June on the St. Mary’s campus. We were all there in the late 1950’s. It was our home and we developed friendships and lasting memories. Yes, some are no longer physically with us and our numbers are sure to diminish as we age. So I appeal to each of you, call your classmates; encourage them to make plans to attend our 50th.

Please continue to send me items to include in subsequent Class of 1959 Newsletters. Other classmates are interested in you and want to hear about you. As identified in the above Class List I have included forty-seven classmates in previous Newsletters. Many of you have yet to submit a short paragraph to me. Let me hear from you. Also, if you have some ideas about making this Newsletter better I would appreciate your suggestions.


Harry Plotke (new email address) HAPLOTKE@comcast.net

CLASS NEWS

Terry Hebig – Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Terry is still working and not sure when he will retire. He says he may make that decision in 2009. Part of his job is to go to the various work related golf outings, so why retire. In March, he stayed with Jerry Orth and Sarah for a weekend in Sun City Palm Desert and had a round of golf with Jerry. He also had dinner with Ken Ortman, Harry Bock and their wives.

He definitely has plans to attend Homecoming in 2009.