{"id":718,"date":"2014-10-29T10:50:22","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T15:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/?p=718"},"modified":"2015-05-20T15:49:10","modified_gmt":"2015-05-20T20:49:10","slug":"homecoming-immersion-by-suan-guess-hanson-64","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/2014\/10\/29\/homecoming-immersion-by-suan-guess-hanson-64\/","title":{"rendered":"Homecoming Immersion by Suan Guess-Hanson ’64"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Homecoming Immersion,\u2019 is it the disease d\u2019jour?\u00a0 No sick humor is intended especially in this time of Ebola and MRSA.\u00a0 Rather, this is a reminiscence of\u00a0\u00a0 weekend activities of IWU 50th<\/sup> Reunion, Class of 1964.\u00a0 This Reunion truly lived up to its theme, \u201cOff the Charts.\u201d\u00a0 A big thank you is due everyone who worked so hard to pull together such a special activity-rich weekend.<\/p>\n

It was a thrill to attend this spectacular event!\u00a0 \u00a0After 50 years there are many reasons that classmates do not attend their reunions \u2013 lack of interest, health problems, mobility issues, time constraints, financial difficulties as well as other plans such as a trip to Thailand (Roger & Carol).\u00a0 This Homecoming was especially memorable and event-rich because it coincided with the celebration of the School of Music\u2019s 150th<\/sup> Anniversary.\u00a0 While many classmates returned to campus by car or plane, I was able to drive across town to attend three days of events.\u00a0 I felt more invested in this event because Kay Gebhardt Ackerman called and asked me to help on the Reunion Committee. Over the summer we had several conference calls aided by the Alumni Relations Office to plan the details of our class events.\u00a0 Committee members contacted classmates by email, phone or snail mail.<\/p>\n

There were so many events planned concurrently that I had to pick and choose carefully.\u00a0 My weekend began with picking up registration materials at Memorial Center Friday afternoon before attending three Back to College classes by Robert Bray, Kyle Pfortmiller & William Jaeckle.\u00a0 Then I attended the President\u2019s Reception for reunion classes and saw Bill Roberts and several classmates.\u00a0 I drove over to our Reunion Kickoff at the Doubletree Hotel to see more classmates briefly, but left in order to attend the School of Music\u2019s 150th<\/sup> Anniversary Green Carpet Gala Concert & Reception at Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n

Saturday morning I participated in the Captain Ryan A. Beaupre \u201995 Memorial Scholarship 5K Run with the course through the campus. \u00a0The kids had a fun run around the Tucci Stadium Track first.\u00a0 Ryan\u2019s family was in attendance.\u00a0 His Economic Professor talked about Ryan\u2019s time at IWU.\u00a0 \u00a0The ROTC from ISU did drills and two recipients of the Scholarship were recognized.\u00a0 The American Legion conducted their ceremony while an IWU student sang the Star Spangled Banner and another student played taps.\u00a0 It was a moving ceremony.\u00a0 While I am not a fast runner, I did complete the course without seeing any classmates.\u00a0 (Lanny Lobdell and his wife Annette are runners but chose to run in Washington IL instead.)<\/p>\n

After going home for a shower, I returned to visit with some of my AOII sisters in the Cartwright Room at Memorial Center before attending another Back to College class:\u00a0 Robert Delvin\u2019s presentation on 150 Years of Music at IWU.\u00a0 Then on to the Alumni Awards Lunch in the Shirk Center prior to the football game.\u00a0 It was a chilly time watching Augustana win 7-2, but I did see a \u2018safety\u2019 live instead of on TV, and the Titan Band kept fans energized.\u00a0 I stayed to the bitter end and was sufficiently chilled that I decided to forgo the School of Art Reception in the Galleries.<\/p>\n

The next event that evening was our 50-Year Class Reunion, a Heavy Hors D\u2019Oeuvres Reception at Bloomington Country Club.\u00a0 (Not being familiar with the term \u2018heavy,\u2019 I wasn\u2019t sure what to expect\u2014but we had plenty of delicious meats, vegetables, fruits and desserts plus drinks which we enjoyed while we visited with classmates.)\u00a0 An attentive wait staff kept our glasses full and removed our plates as we enjoyed ourselves.\u00a0 President Dick Wilson and his wife Pat plus the Advancement\/Alumni Office Personnel and the President of the IWU Board attended.\u00a0 Bill Roberts along with Kay Ackerman co-anchored a low-key remembrance of our college years 1960-1964 along with a slide show of photos from our days on campus.\u00a0 Congratulations to Bill for writing a fine script weaving the events of the time along with our college experiences.\u00a0 Our spouses who did not attend IWU could certainly relate to events Bill mentioned.\u00a0 We remembered our younger selves and the significant role IWU played in the shaping of our lives. Many of us have not forgotten the fateful day we took the Graduate Record Exams at Memorial Center when JFK died.\u00a0 I don\u2019t recall ever hearing the results of that exam.\u00a0 After lunch the exam proctor said something like, \u201cPresident Kennedy died at 1 pm in Dallas.\u00a0 We will now turn to page __ and continue the exam.\u201d\u00a0 There was disbelief on our faces, tears in our eyes and audible crying in the room.\u00a0 So much promise we had felt with our young President had been snuffed out as we spent the weekend glued to the newscasts on TV as the nation and the world mourned.<\/p>\n

Here 50 years later we have gained the perspective to see such events in a new light.\u00a0 Seeing classmates that I had not seen for so many years made me wonder if I would recognize them.\u00a0 The Alumni Office helped immensely by making nametags that included our senior photos from the yearbook as well as assembling a Reunion Book that included photos, Commencement Program, Tuition costs, University Catalogue and Faculty and Administrative Officers, our yearbook photos and Biographical updates of those who responded to requests for information.\u00a0 Then there was the list of our classmates who are no longer with us.<\/p>\n

I appreciated the updates that classmates provided and hope to reconnect with some who were unable to attend.<\/p>\n

Back to the Sunday activities, I attended the All-Campus Service in Evelyn Chapel and was pleased to see many classmates there.\u00a0 Our own Schuyler Robinson, organist played the Bach Postlude.\u00a0 (It was nice to remember that Schuyler played\u00a0 \u00a0another Bach Prelude at our graduation ceremony.)\u00a0 His wife Linda (King) sang in the Collegiate Choir (with returning Alumni).\u00a0 A School of Music Brunch followed on the Quad.\u00a0 Then there was the final concert by the Camerata Orchestra and Chamber Music Reunion Concert in Presser Hall Westbrook Auditorium.\u00a0 At the end of this concert Vadim Mazo dedicated the final orchestral work in memory of former President Minor Myers.\u00a0 I saw Mario Pelusi, Head of the School of Music as I left campus and told him that I would call Ellen Myers, Minor\u2019s widow to tell her that IWU remembered her husband Minor during the School of Music\u2019s event.\u00a0 She appreciated the call and was touched that Minor was remembered since he loved music so much and attended many of the recitals and concerts.<\/p>\n

Whew, what a weekend!\u00a0 \u00a0I must admit that I was tired, yet I was energized by the activities, by the alums and students I talked with and shared experiences. Indeed it was a very special and memorable weekend that was truly \u201cOff the Charts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Homecoming Immersion,\u2019 is it the disease d\u2019jour?\u00a0 No sick humor is intended especially in this time of Ebola and MRSA.\u00a0 Rather, this is a reminiscence of\u00a0\u00a0 weekend activities of IWU 50th Reunion, Class of 1964.\u00a0 This Reunion truly lived up … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":296,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homecoming","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/296"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":719,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions\/719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/1960sclassnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}