1984 – Spring ’21 Class Letter
1984 – Spring 2021 Class Letter
Greetings, Class of 1984!
I (VICKI VICHA ERICKSON ’84) hope that all is well with you and yours. Sending you all wishes of health and happiness as we try to put 2020 in our rearview mirrors. It’s been an interesting year of change and I’m hoping that there has been a balance of positives as well as challenges for all of you.
Over the years of writing and reading our Class Letters, I’ve learned our class is quite private. I am grateful to those of you who have shared some of their story with me either via email or by phone. Whether or not we were close in school, it is always a pleasure to catch up.
Class Notes:
KAREN MCCOY TACK ’84 of Riverside, Connecticut, is a freelance food stylist living in the NY area. Her positive memory of the past year will be spending time with her sons, Erik (25) and Liam (22).
DESIREE SWANSON STROM ’84 of Rochester, Minnesota, was one of those ‘fortunate’ parents to have a son graduating from high school and starting college during 2021.
SUSANNE SHEPHERD ’84 of Maple Shade, New Jersey, is currently a Warranty Claims Analyst at Subaru of America, Inc. She also recently became a grandma. Congratulations, Sue!
DAVE SHOGREN ’84 of Maplewood, Missouri, has been named as an outside trade advisor to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a four-year term on the Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Processed Foods. Dave writes, “This is volunteer work for me, but it should be a good networking and learning opportunity. I’ll have an opportunity to represent the voice of small/medium exporters in developing and sending international trade policy recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture.”
I had an opportunity to join SUSANNE SHEPHERD ’84, CINDY BEHNKE ’85, and BARB WILLIAMS CLAY ’83 for a Zoom spa evening hosted by MARY GERO GRONHOLZ ’84. We had fun getting caught up, sipping wine, and testing products.
While I’m not a big Facebook user, I enjoy the photos from BRET JAEGER ’84, ERIC LUSTY ’84, KEVIN DOHERTY ’84, LINDA ANDERSON ’84, JEFF SOLINSKI ’84, SHELLY ANDERSON BYRNES ’84, MIKE MULFORD ’84, and ANNIE WILLIAMS LUNDBERG ’84 share. With some of those food posts, we may need to have everyone bring a dish to pass at our next Reunion!
Good news regarding this year’s Alumni Weekend. Alumni Weekend 2021 will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen with two distinct summer weekends of Ripon alumni programming for us. No matter how you’d like to connect, virtually or in person, the Office of Constituent Engagement is developing a variety of activities to continue to follow CDC, Fond du Lac County and College guidelines in both June and August. Full schedules, lodging, and programming details will be posted soon to www.ripon.edu/alumni-weekend.
JUNE 2021
- In honor of our June Alumni Weekend traditions, virtual alumni programming will be held Tuesday, June 22 through Saturday, June 26, and will include: an alumni town hall, R Connections webinars, affinity socials, a summer book club, and special recognition of the 2020 and 2021 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees.
- The only in-person event, the Doc Weiske ’50 Memorial Golf Scramble, will be held off-campus on Friday, June 25.
AUGUST 2021
A combination of virtual and in-person Alumni Weekend programming will be held the first week of August. We will continue to evaluate the state of COVID-19. If circumstances change at the local and national level and we need to cancel in-person programming, that decision will be made and communicated by July 1, 2021.
- Virtual programming will be held Tuesday, August 3 through Saturday, August 7 and will include: a reunion-focused alumni town hall that also previews the new academic year, additional R Connections webinars, the summer book club capstone, and the traditional “That Was Then” storytelling session.
- In-person, on-campus programming will be held Friday, August 6 through Sunday, August 8, and will focus on alumni awards recognition, 2020 and 2021 reunion celebrations, and other outdoor events such as Rally Run and prairie walk.
- Additionally, the Class of 2020 will officially be welcomed to our alumni community with a special commencement ceremony.
Don’t be a stranger – I’d love to hear from you. My phone number is (224) 656-3442 and email is [email protected].
Stay healthy & be safe,
VICKI VICHA ERICKSON ’84
(224) 656-3442 / [email protected]
CONNIE MOSER ’84
(847) 372-5410 / [email protected]
Your 1984 Class Agents