June Black Tie Work Do

One of the most fun things about living in Oxford and working for the University is that we get to dress up and attend posh dinners!

On Saturday 12 June, I had a work event in London - the Oxford Business Alumni London annual Ball. It was held at a great venue called Middle Temple Hall (Middle Temple is where the British law society is housed in London). The event included; drinks reception in the garden, 3-course dinner, live band, casino tables and a huge chocolate fountain. Since it was the same evening of the US vs England world cup game, a huge screen TV was also on for the fans.

I didn't get a chance for any pictures of myself, but one of me on the dancefloor with some new friends can be found here.

GAC Alumni Award Ceremony & Reunion Banquet

Last weekend was a blast - Brian and I were home in Minnesota to see family and celebrate Brian's receipt of the Gustavus male Alumni Decade Award. I am a very proud wife!

We arrived on Thursday evening and spent a relaxing night with Brian's dad Tom and Karen in Ellesworth, WI. It was beautiful weather and we were excited to grill out and sit out on the back porch. The jet lag was hitting fast though, so we couldn't stay up too late! It was great to see how well Tom is doing after his car accident.

Friday we drove into St Peter so we could have some time to meet up with the physics profs, check in with the alumni office, and have a little down time to ourselves. We stayed on campus in the Guest House, and it's a lovely home with 7 guest rooms and a shared living area and kitchen, all decorated in a Swedish style. We hit our our old favorite watering hole, Patrick's and enjoyed in the bar's culinary delights - burger basket for Kelly and chicken strips for Brian! Yum!

Saturday is when the excitement began. We were still waking up early, so we went down to Oodles cafe for a good 'ol American greasy spoon breakfast and it was heaven. Then Kelly checked out the Swedish Kontur shop (fabulous!) while Brian went to the coffee shop to finish writing up his speech. Well lo and behold we run into cousin Ben and brother Charlie! John and Marcy were not too far behind and we all went for lunch back up on the hill in the caf. A couple more hours to get ready, and check into the hotel in Mankato.

Afternoon tea began at 2:30 and family and physics professors began to roll in. It was a hot day, so everyone thought we were a bit crazy for serving hot tea and coffee! I was just thrilled to have the tray of Gustavus bars to snack on! It was fun to have some group pics taken with all of our families in attendance. And especially the photo of our big family of Gustie alumni!

Then on to the banquet in the President's Dining Room at 5pm. Our group took up 5 tables and were close to the front for Brian. They served a GAC meal I can remember - chicken breast with cream of mushroom, wild rice and veggies. So Minnesotan/Scandinavian! I loved it . . .

We were celebrating the alumni reunions of classes of 1960, 1955, 1950, and further out. We were also recognizing 5 alumni award winners (2 Decade Award winners, 2 Alumni Achievement winners, and the Greater Gustavus award). It was a great event of Gustavus pride!

Brian's Gustavus Physics Advisor, Paul Saulnier, gave a great introduction to Brian for his award. They had a great relationship when Brian was Paul's student, and they've maintained a friendship throughout Brian's career.

You can watch the video of both Paul's and Brian's speeches here.

And you can see more photos from this weekend here.

After the banquet dinner, the award winners and guests were kindly invited to the President's home for a drinks reception. President Ohle and his wife Kris, have a beautiful home on the ring road of campus. It was a nice chance to visit with Gustavus administrators and take some more fun pics!

Then our party could finally put our hair down and relax at Patrick's for some local brews and  visit with our Gustie buddies that came to see us, Laura, Jacob (well a Johnny) and Meghan.

The night was not complete without late night pizza's from our fave pizza joint in Mankato - Pagliai's - which we enjoyed at the Best Western in Mankato, where many of us stayed for the one night.

Still waking up early due to jet lag and excitement, Kelly went down to the pool area of the hotel to visit with cousins Patty/Scott and their girlie girls. Aunt & Uncle Cal & Dorothy were down as well as Grandma Pat and Grandpa Dick. So was nice to visit with them all before things got busy again!

We all headed back to St Peter for brunch at Whiskey River and were able to be joined by some family members whom couldn't make Saturday night. So it was a great chance to catch up with Colvin's and Schlauderaff's!

Brunch was the official end of the celebrating excitement - a mere 24 hours of fun!

Sunday afternoon was spent with a little more shopping with John, Marcy and Charlie, and then to Mapleton with just Al & Jackie, Gram, Marit and Tom. The weather cooled a bit, but we still had a fab BBQ and a good night's sleep! Monday was sunny again and we just enjoyed Memorial Day lounging around relaxing.

The weekend went by quickly, but it's amazing how much we can pack in, in four days! We flew out Monday night and were so so thankful for such a great time, such a great family and such a great alma mater!