Saint Mary's Magazine Fall 2004 - Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

NEWS AND VIEWS
The Saint Mary’s community got involved
with Winona’s Grand Excursion celebration.
BOTTOM LEFT: Cindy Kronebusch of Student
Services volunteered with children’s games
and crafts. TOP RIGHT: Cindy Marek, vice
president for financial affairs, and Ann
Merchlewitz, vice president and general
counsel, served as judges for the SMUsponsored
celebrity pie-eating contest.
MIDDLE RIGHT and BOTTOM RIGHT: Area
celebrities including Cynthya Porter of the
Winona Post and Tony Piscitiello ’69, vice
president for admission, dove face-first into
the pies.
Saint Mary’s active
in Grand Excursion
Saint Mary’s University was caught
up in a Grand Excursion
extravaganza this summer. The
event was a historic reenactment of
the first Grand Excursion of 1854,
which brought nationwide attention
to the upper Mississippi River
region and helped expand what was
then the Wild West.
Nearly 50 volunteers from the
Winona campus came out to greet
passengers and volunteer with the
daylong local celebration June 30
in Winona. On campus, it was
Grand Excursion Day and all SMU
employees who were able were
encouraged to take the day off and
volunteer.
SMU performers included
dancers from the Minnesota
Conservatory for the Arts, Eric
Heukeshoven and John Paulson of
the John Paulson Quartet, and the
percussion ensemble, Batucada
Nossa Senhora, led by Denny
McGuire. Heukeshoven also played
the steam calliope, which welcomed
early morning attendees.
Additionally, Jason Underferth,
Performance Center production
manager, and the Phi Mu Alpha
volunteers helped with sound.
To help spread the news of this
event (which traveled from the
Quad Cities to the Twin Cities),
SMU and W&C Printing Company
Inc. produced an informational
brochure that went out in all the
kindergarten through sixth-grade
classrooms in Winona’s public and
parochial schools. The brochure
told children about Winona’s
history as a river town, what Grand
Excursion did to expand the West,
and the fun activities planned for
June 30. It also detailed how
students could make a poster
depicting “What the River Means to
Me.” The winner, chosen by
random drawing, received tickets
on the Julia Belle Swain Steamboat;
another 70 students went home
with free Happy Meals® from
McDonald’s. Posters were displayed
in downtown storefront windows
throughout June.
A historic photo display, titled
“Group Portrait: Remembering
Winona County’s Old Settlers,” at
the Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries
coincided with and complemented
the Grand Excursion.
To cap off the evening, an
SMU-sponsored pie-eating contest
featuring local celebrities was won
by Maggie Modjeski, president of
the Winona Community
Foundation. She emerged champion
of the nine contestants by eating
one pound of pie in the fastest time;
Tony Piscitiello ’69, SMU vice
president for admission, came in
second.
GeoSpatial Services
evolves, expands
GeoSpatial Services at Saint Mary’s
University was recently restructured
to support rapid growth in
geographic information systems
(GIS) consulting.
GeoSpatial Services Inc. has
been incorporated in the State of
Minnesota, and the first board of
10 SAINT MARY’S MAGAZINE FALL 2004