Dear Classmate,

Thirty years. This fall will be our thirtieth-anniversary reunion, which creates another great opportunity to visit Luther and Decorah. Mark your calendars for Oct. 8-10, and make plans now to attend our 30-year reunion.

It’s been 25 years since I moved from Minneapolis to Decorah. It seems each year there have been changes on campus. Some years it’s small stuff like flowers and furniture; other years there are big changes, such as

• the new entrance to campus including stonework and plantings
• directional signage and maps
• Sampson Hoffland Laboratories and newly renovated Valders Hall of Science (what a monumental improvement)
• all new furniture in the library
• extensive upgrades to practice fields and ball diamonds (an enormous project)
• a re-surfaced outdoor track (a fascinating process with a lot more involved than you might think).

Luther’s campus has always been beautiful, but each year it gets better and better. Accommodations and dining options in Decorah have made equal advancement. You might say the Hotel Winneshiek has changed downtown Decorah by itself, and Kim Carlson Bonnet '02 and her husband Andy’s restaurant—Rubaiyat—and McCaffrey’s Dolcé Vita, owned and operated by Jim ’71 and Brenda McCaffrey―are impressive additions as well. The Trout Run Trail for bicyclists has made great progress—it now runs all the way from the Decorah Campground in a clockwise circle to near Middle Calmar Road―eight miles of dedicated recreational trail in all for now; when completed it will be an eleven-mile loop.

When I consider all that my adopted hometown has to offer, I feel very fortunate to have found a great place to live, next to Alma Mater. And I think many in our Class of 1980 feel fortunate that Luther has inspired us, along with other alumni, to give back to the college. Your participation and contributions have been great. I think other schools emulate our alumni loyalty. Many, many thanks for your gifts to Luther, and if you have not yet made your gift this year, please send in an envelope or give online at givenow.luther.edu.

Also, please share your individual or family updates by logging on to the Alumni Directory, emailing [email protected], or posting them in the comments section below.

Remember to mark your calendars for Homecoming 2010, and come visit Luther and Decorah, a home-place we share.

Thanks to all,

Chip Peterson
1980 Class Agent
[email protected]

Valerie J. Anderson Jones
1980 Class Agent
[email protected]

PS. Are you interested in serving as a co-agent? Val Anderson Jones would like to retire as co-agent. Contact Sue Drilling at 800-225-8664, 563-387-1100, or [email protected] if you’d like more information about the position.

PPS.  Thanks to the generous support of many alumni donors, Luther has benefited from the member-matching program—GivingPlus—with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.  Unfortunately, GivingPlus was eliminated by Thrivent at the end of 2009.  The "replacement" program—Thrivent Choice—will include a component called Choice Dollars, which some members will be eligible for. Members eligible for Thrivent Choice can still choose to direct their charitable support to Luther (which will be greatly appreciated, thank you!).  More information about the program (which is scheduled to begin sometime in April) is available at https://www.thrivent.com/thriventchoice/news/index.html.

Class Notes
DEBI (EFFERTZ) BURNS is music director at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Indianapolis.

JAMES LaBELLE works in arts management for LaBelle Consulting, LLC, in Mukwonago, Wis.

BARB (PERRY) LUTZ―director of line underwriting, life and health, for CUNA Mutual Insurance Society in Waverly, Iowa―received the 2009 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Academy of Life Underwriting. The award recognizes leadership, professionalism, and commitment to the underwriting profession and industry.

TOM MAAKESTAD’s exhibition “Landscape of Change” was on display at Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis last fall.

JULIE (MOE) OLSON is director of development at Audubon (Iowa) County Hospital Foundation.

TIM SCHWEIZER participated in the Energy and Environment Strategic Foresight Laboratory:  Turbulence and Systemic Vulnerabilities workshop at the University Club in Washington D.C. last spring.