Spring 2019

Dear 49ers—

As I author my Spring 2019 spring class agent letter, it is a very cold February night, below zero.  This past fall and through most of January, we really did not have true winter weather. However, the past three weeks we HAVE HAD winter.

Marilyn and I did attend Christmas at Luther again. It is a great evening of music with some 550 student performers. The five or so choirs move around the CFL, all levels, very often, very swiftly, and in silence.  If you have not attended this special program, put it on your bucket list for next December, “our clocks” are ticking at a very fast pace.

The fall sports season was poor. The winter sports receive my similar evaluation. After some seventy-five years, the Iowa Intercollegiate Conference no longer exists. With Nebraska Wesleyan entering the conference a couple years ago, the new conference is now the American Rivers Conference.

There are a lot of interesting opportunities available in a college community. One of these at Luther is called Life Long Learning. Each school year, three or four subjects are offered, one in October, one in November, one in March, and perhaps one in April. The classroom is in the old food service building. Class begins at 9:00 a.m. with coffee. At about 10:30 a.m., it is coffee break time and at noon class ends with a wonderful lunch. The same procedure is followed for each of the other offerings. Marilyn and I have enrolled the past three Octobers because the topic happened to be of interest to us.

In my fall letter, I mentioned that I had heard from a former 49er. My information was not complete. The following is a more correct version of what should have been.

Mary Louise Ramsland attended Luther College from 1945-1947 and married Henry Sordel, Jr. in 1948. Hank was a renowned athlete, Class of 1948. Ms. Ramsland completed her four year B.Ed.at National College of Education in Evanston, Ill. and also completed her M.A.  She was accepted as a PHE candidate at Northern Illinois University and completed 30 hours. She later married Col. Wally Moe, Class of 1947 and resided in California. She is now living at Cordia Senior Residence in Westmont, Ill. She has a son in Washington State and a daughter in North Riverside, Ill. She also has four granddaughters and seven great-grandchildren. Mary taught for 20 years in the Riverside Public Schools. She has been a contributor to Luther College for many years.