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

Campus LETTERS Notes
Hinton family
congratulates
heroes and those
who featured them
Just wanted you and the staff at
Saint Mary’s to know how honored
we are that you selected Ryan for
one of the featured articles in the
latest edition of the Saint Mary’s
Magazine. Great or small, we all
want our stories told, life to matter
most, and in some way, make a
difference for the good of mankind.
Growing up, we often do not put
ourselves in the best light, so that
good things can happen to us. It is
easy for us to say that Ryan’s stay
at Saint Mary’s was the place he
found himself, in that good
nurturing light. His thoughts may
be that of his family at home, but
his heart truly is located
somewhere in hills of Winona, in
and around the campus of Saint
Mary’s. Great job on the magazine
as a whole, and congratulations to
all of the heroes featured and those
who have recognized them. Keep
up the good work!
— Patrick and Linda Hinton
Fond memories
of the Bubble
Just received my copy of Saint
Mary’s Magazine and had a big
laugh when I saw the pictures of
the bubble. Boy, I spent a great
deal of time in there! I was at SMC
from ’82-’86 and ran the ice
skating classes for the college and
hosted figure skating exhibitions.
There were many times that we
had poor ice due to leaks in the
bubble or the bubble was down
due to problems.
On one occasion in 1983, the
touring company of Ice Capades
was looking for some additional
time to work on their number, so
they came to the bubble to practice.
They were performing in La Crosse
that night and couldn’t get ice time
there for some reason. I acted on
the college’s behalf to be at the rink
to make sure everything went
smoothly. Well, first off, they
needed to practice with their Smurf
heads on, so — due to the large size
of the Smurf head — we could only
allow a few skaters into the bubble
at a time because the bubble would
lose so much air when the doors
were kept open for a long period of
time. We couldn’t use the revolving
doors because the head pieces were
so large. Of course, when you had
the doors open, there was a huge
rush of air, so it was very difficult
getting the Smurf heads through the
doors against this huge rush
of air! So …
once we got
everybody
in there, it
was quite a
sight to see all
of the Smurf
heads skating
around the ice,
as the skaters had
their regular street
clothes on the
lower half of their
bodies!
I have many
fond memories of the
bubble; figure skating
has been a huge part of
my life and I am very
grateful I had the opportunity to
skate while I
attended college. I
was able to
continue to train in
Rochester with
my coach and
practice in the
bubble. I was
able to pass
my
intermediate
freestyle test
while I was attending
SMC. So thanks to the bubble for
being there. It made my college
experience more enjoyable.
— Craig Bodoh ’86
We’re interested in your thoughts
We want to hear from you, the alumni, parents and friends of Saint
Mary’s University. You’re welcome to respond to something you read in
Saint Mary’s Magazine, or to comment on any subject that involves the
past, present or future of the university.
Send letters to Saint Mary’s Magazine Editor, Saint Mary’s University,
700 Terrace Heights #36, Winona, MN 55987-1399 or e-mail editor
Deb Nahrgang at dnahrgan@smumn.edu.
WWW.SMUMN.EDU/MAGAZINE 3