1984 – Fall ’19 Class Letter
Virginia Vicha Erickson
847-546-2775 / [email protected]
Connie Herbon Moser
847-372-5410/ [email protected]
Wow, our 35th college reunion has come and gone. What a weekend! So many highlights to mention. Many started the weekend playing in the Doc Weiske Charity Golf Scramble. Highlights of the golf scramble: a) JAYNE RASMUSSEN EMORY ’84, KEVIN KING ’82 and their golf partners won first place. b) KEVIN and LORI JONES KING ’84 hosted the after-party. THANKS Kevin and Lori. c) CONNIE HERBON MOSER ’84 won the Yeti cooler. And d) all of us mortal golfers came in somewhere south of Jayne and Kevin but had an awesome time! Other golfers included SUE SHEPHERD ’84, LINDA ANDERSON ’84, CINDY BEHNKE ’85, DONNA REARDON GOLDBERG ’84, VICKI VICHA ERICKSON ’84, MIKE FRANCOLUCCI ’84, GREG HALVORSON ’84, MARK SPRAGUE ’84, SCOTT MILLER ’85, MIKE ALBERTSON ’84, JAY HYUCK ’84, and GEORGE POULETTE ’84. The golf tournament raised more than $40,000 and including more than 250 golfers!
Between the golf tournament and the Blues & BBQ party on Saturday night, many groups caught up, talked about college memories and enjoyed each other’s company; most frequented old haunts like the Goose Blind (sorry we missed you BRIAN BAXTER ’84), Norton’s and new restaurants like Thunderboss in Green Lake; many were in awe of the new Willmore health and wellness facility; some ran/walked in the 5k (alright 2.6 miles, but who’s counting … ); some attended the awards ceremony where the class of 1984 were represented well with more than $67k in donations for the reunion year and more than $300k in the last five years (THANK YOU for supporting Ripon College); some boated and thoroughly enjoyed the tour of Green Lake with Todd Anderson ’84; some took in the lacrosse game; some saw the amazing renovations of first floor of Lane Library that is being transformed into collaborative space); and some joined us at the many festivities the College had to offer.
We capped off the reunion Saturday night at the Blues & BBQ dinner where Dave Shogren ’84 and his band entertained us and invited Kurt Dietrich, Ripon’s big band jazz director, Greg Halvorsen ’84 and Mike Kennedy to join them. THANK YOU to Dave and the band for wonderful music and camaraderie. Also, Paul Schoofs, recently retired economics professor, stopped by to catch up and relax with the Class of 1984. Paul, thank you for all that you have done and given to the College over the years, and we wish you the best in retirement.
Finally, while at the BBQ, we asked the attendees to write down their favorite memories or most fun part of the 35th reunion. Here are their responses:
- Gooseblind in Green Lake
- Golfing at Lawsonia
- 35 years of catching up with friends
- Reconnecting with all
- I don’t remember (of course we had to put this comment in there MIKE GALVAN ’84)
- Touring Willmore
- Tray ball behind the Phi Delta lounge
- Ripon fans rolling half barrels down the hill at the baseball field during the game with Lawrence
- Experiencing a perfect Wisconsin weekend
- Old “war stories”
- Playing music with my former big band jazz director – DAVE SHOGREN ’84
The most frequent comment/question of all was “how do we motivate more people to attend the reunion weekends”? Now, some reached out but could not attend for various family reasons; TOM HORVATH ’84, MIKE SCHULTZ ’84, ANNE WILLIAMS LUNDBERG ’84, MIKE ’84 and KI ’83 MULFORD, ERIC LUSTY ’84 and BRIDGET ROWLEY SARNO ’84. We would like to hear what would bring you back to Ripon for a reunion. We already are planning for our 40th, so we encourage you to go online and update your info. We will reach out in the coming years to hear your thoughts around our 40th reunion. In the meantime, be well.
DAVE SHOGREN ’84 of Maplewood, Missouri, a Trustee of Ripon College, has been appointed to a two-year term on the U.S. Trade Finance Advisory Council by the U.S. Commerce Department. The council is the principal advisory body to the Secretary of Commerce on finance options for U.S. exporters. Shogren is president of U.S. International Foods LLC.
KAREN JOHNSON WILKEN ’84 and DIRK WILKIN ’81 moved from Brookfield to Delafield last year, “so we’ve been spending a lot of our spare time figuring out which household project to tackle next! Dirk celebrated 26 years at Harley-Davidson this summer with plans to hang on for a few more years before retiring. Seems like we have a culling of senior employees on an annual basis, so nothing is guaranteed.” Karen is still working at a charitable foundation, a job she’s had since 2002. Both their girls are out of school and out of state. Their older daughter lives in Indianapolis and their younger one lives in Durham, North Carolina. Both are gainfully employed and mostly liking their jobs. No news of romantic entanglements yet.