Imagine reconnecting with classmates after 50 years—rekindling memories, building new traditions, and leaving a legacy for future generations. That’s exactly what the Otterbein University Class of 1976 achieved, and in this episode, you’ll hear their step-by-step journey.
Unlock the secrets to a successful college reunion with firsthand stories from Otterbein’s 50th class committee leaders.
Hosts Carol Ventresca (Otterbein Class of 1976) and Brett Johnson sit down with reunion co-chairs Lizette Peter and Chuck Erickson to explore the behind-the-scenes work of organizing Otterbein University’s 50th Golden Reunion.
Discover honest insights about rallying classmates from all over the country, building energy in the group, managing logistics, choosing a meaningful class gift, and adapting traditions for today’s alumni and students.
Key Takeaways:
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What is the focus of the "Class of 1976" episode of Looking Forward Our Way?
The episode centers on the Otterbein University Class of 1976 as they prepare for their 50th reunion, featuring stories and experiences from committee co-chairs and discussions about the reunion planning process, campus changes, and the impact of alumni involvement. 00:16
What makes the Otterbein Class of 1976 reunion special?
The reunion emphasizes fun, reconnection with classmates, and the introduction of a meaningful class gift to support current students through the READY program, aiming to make a lasting impact on graduating seniors. 05:21 18:39
What advice do the co-chairs have for future reunion organizers?
They recommend including everyone, focusing on personal outreach, keeping the event affordable and fun, and maintaining beloved traditions like the Schneider’s donut run. 36:09 36:55
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Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants.
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Copyright 2026 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson
Mentioned in this episode:
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The views and opinions expressed by the experts interviewed on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the podcast hosts or any affiliated organizations. The information provided in these interviews is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with qualified professionals for specific advice or information related to their individual circumstances. The podcast host and producers do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information provided by the experts interviewed. Listener discretion is advised.
We are Looking Forward Our Way. Hi, this is Brett. Baby boomers
Speaker:are making milestones yearly. There is something magical about the number
Speaker:50. A 50th anniversary. Whether it's high school or college
Speaker:graduations or wedding anniversaries, those milestones are celebrated. Today
Speaker:we're going to explore the magic of 50 with members of the Otterbein University
Speaker:class of 1976 preparing for their own 50th
Speaker:reunion. Let's welcome this year's co chairs of the Otterbein Golden
Speaker:Reunion Committee, Lizette Peter, calling in from Austin,
Speaker:Texas. And Chuck Erickson, a retired lawyer, again
Speaker:residing in central Ohio. Thanks to both of you for joining
Speaker:us. You're welcome. Well, you're welcome. It's
Speaker:good to see both of you. And,
Speaker:you know, I'm always disclosing something to our audience.
Speaker:Needless to say, and it kills me to
Speaker:say I'm disclosing that I'm part of this milestone
Speaker:committee from Otterbein. This,
Speaker:I think at our first zoom meeting, we said we can't possibly
Speaker:be this old or something. You know, 50. 50 seems crazy,
Speaker:but so. But over the past few months, I've been
Speaker:describing our journey to Brett. He
Speaker:suggested so this is his fault that we document
Speaker:the work that we're doing and share our story as it's really
Speaker:special to so many people across the country who are also
Speaker:celebrating these milestones. But before we
Speaker:delve into the celebration, we first want to learn more
Speaker:about each of you. So, Chuck, why don't you begin the conversation
Speaker:telling us about your background, and then Lisette can tell us about her
Speaker:career journey. Well, I won't go back past
Speaker:50 years, so let's just start with. After
Speaker:graduating from Otterbein, I headed south to
Speaker:University of Arkansas for grad school. And
Speaker:except for marrying my Otterbein
Speaker:sweetheart, I had very little contact with
Speaker:Ohio. After I finished schooling,
Speaker:I started work with an international oil and gas company in
Speaker:Tulsa, Oklahoma. And after a year, they
Speaker:decided to transfer me to Houston, where I kind
Speaker:of rode the up and down cycle of the oil and gas industry for the
Speaker:next 30 years. And eventually, when it got
Speaker:time for the swan song, my
Speaker:wife decided that maybe it was time to come back to
Speaker:Ohio. So we ended up settling in a small college
Speaker:town called Westerville. And
Speaker:slowly but surely, I got involved a little bit in some
Speaker:Otterbein activities. They gotcha. They got you. They have your number.
Speaker:Lisette, tell us about your journey. I did a five year
Speaker:plan at Otterbein. I went back another year for the Equivalent of a home
Speaker:economics degree. I taught
Speaker:at a business college for a year, which was
Speaker:formative because I realized teaching was not my gift.
Speaker:And I started a master's program at Ohio State
Speaker:Textiles and Clothing with a spin towards history
Speaker:of textiles and fashion.
Speaker:And I was in retailing, and
Speaker:that's just a miserable career path.
Speaker:And so I had an opportunity to interview with a
Speaker:telecommunications company experiencing
Speaker:exponential growth, gte.
Speaker:And they were trying to diversify management ranks.
Speaker:So I flew down for an interview in Dallas.
Speaker:I got the offer, I took it. And There you go,
Speaker:1981. And I was with that company
Speaker:almost 20 years. Very cool. And it was
Speaker:very interesting. A shout out
Speaker:to Ohio State's textile program. They have an incredible, incredible
Speaker:costume collection which people don't realize. So that had to
Speaker:be a lot of fun, even if retail. Yeah, I had.
Speaker:I. I did the camp counselor route and realized
Speaker:quickly I could not be a teacher. Oh, yeah,
Speaker:12 year old girls. It was miserable. Yeah, no,
Speaker:it was. It's just not my gift. Yeah, no, not mine either.
Speaker:Well, although the Otterbein staff and philanthropy and alumni
Speaker:engagement are quite coordinating the overall program, your committee is deriving
Speaker:the essence of the reunion, including individual events, how
Speaker:to honor classmates, defining the class gift project, and get
Speaker:togethers. How do you sync together a diverse group of classmates that have
Speaker:not necessarily been together for 50 years, live across the
Speaker:country for time zones and still make mutual
Speaker:decisions. I'll throw this at Lisette. What techniques have you found to work
Speaker:well with this diverse group?
Speaker:Well, I think you have to focus on what matters.
Speaker:Randy Adams is responsible for program development and
Speaker:his. I completely embrace his
Speaker:desire for it to be fun. So the screen I use
Speaker:is. Is it fun? If it's fun, let's do it.
Speaker:Because then everything else falls into place and we
Speaker:can sell attending the reunion
Speaker:to people who may not have been back for 30 years on
Speaker:a walk down memory lane filled with fun.
Speaker:Lisette, I've been really amazed because the six
Speaker:of us on the committee, again, going from New York
Speaker:to California, you
Speaker:and Luann were close from sorority, but the rest of
Speaker:us, really, we didn't cross paths. Yeah, we haven't. We haven't
Speaker:crossed paths in 50 years. Right. Other than if we run into
Speaker:somebody at a homecoming. But it's. It's all.
Speaker:There really was no bump in the road. No, it.
Speaker:It's. It's been kind of
Speaker:seamless, even though it's been so many years.
Speaker:And it's. It's been actually
Speaker:quite fun and quite. I didn't I never expected it
Speaker:to be so easy or so fun. I mean, it's a lot.
Speaker:It's a lot of work. It's. It. This committee works for
Speaker:almost a year. I mean, we. They were kind of talking to us last
Speaker:year and we really got together December. We had our first
Speaker:Zoom meeting in December. And it's
Speaker:really a lot of time and effort, using our
Speaker:resources, ideas, talking to the Otterbein
Speaker:folks constantly. Chuck, you and Lisette are
Speaker:co chairs. What drove you to take on the leadership role
Speaker:and the effort that it takes to celebrating yourself
Speaker:and your classmates? Well, it wasn't
Speaker:something I was thinking about two years ago. I think
Speaker:the impetus was that I was invited to the class
Speaker:of 75 major get together at their
Speaker:reunion last year. And I realized how fun it was
Speaker:to see all these people I hadn't seen a long time and caught
Speaker:up, and I said that was a lot of fun. And
Speaker:then one of the committee members from the class of 75, our
Speaker:buddy Carl, suggested that I join
Speaker:a Zoom call to do a post mortem for the Class of
Speaker:75's reunion. I realized I was the only
Speaker:member of the class of 76 on that call.
Speaker:So all of a sudden there were calls the would you consider
Speaker:chairing? And I wasn't quite sure whether I wanted
Speaker:to do that. And then our friend Carl said, well,
Speaker:perhaps you and Lisette could do it. And
Speaker:Lisette and I didn't run in the same circles at Otterbein, but we
Speaker:called and had a conversation and thought, why not?
Speaker:So that's. That's how I ended up. Voluntold or
Speaker:volunteering? Yes, Voluntold. Have you
Speaker:pinpointed somebody for 77? I have been
Speaker:thinking of some people. I. I hope they will answer the
Speaker:invitation to come to our. We probably don't want to put their name or
Speaker:their. Say their name on the podcast so they don't get any
Speaker:advanced. Advanced degree. Wait a minute. I thought
Speaker:somebody had already volunteered to chair
Speaker:for 77. Oh, really? Well, so Mary Beth
Speaker:indicated on one of our
Speaker:monthly calls, good for them. I know
Speaker:nothing more than that. Well, you know, that's okay. We could. They can sit in
Speaker:on our final. Get our final zoom.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, Lizette, there are several committee members
Speaker:in this venture, both the main committee and. And lots of assistance
Speaker:moving the tasks along. What's driving them? I mean, how do you continue
Speaker:to build the energy, encourage the group, and create a successful event over
Speaker:such a long time period? Over a year, maybe. Well over a year,
Speaker:maybe. I'M working with some. One
Speaker:gal, Jan Conley, Mayville
Speaker:friend from undergrad from the days and
Speaker:she's in Westerville. And she's been
Speaker:so helpful planning local
Speaker:details and reaching out to people. Same with Deb
Speaker:Caso. People just like the idea of
Speaker:gathering together and having the
Speaker:opportunity to reminisce.
Speaker:I think what drives people too is that the
Speaker:response is. Is positive generally. And
Speaker:we're seeing more and more people saying, yeah, I'll consider coming. So it's.
Speaker:It's getting larger and larger. More people are
Speaker:being contacted and. And so it's. It seems like we're going
Speaker:to have a. Maybe a bigger group. Bigger group. Bigger group each month.
Speaker:Well, you know, one thing that they. They do with the registration, they post
Speaker:who's coming. And I think that does bring people in. Oh yeah,
Speaker:Randy's coming. So we want to. Our one
Speaker:Tony Award winner in our class. Everybody wants
Speaker:to see him. So I do think that that helps. But, you
Speaker:know, it seems like we're seeing
Speaker:a loyalty to the school that maybe we
Speaker:didn't realize was there and a loyalty to each other.
Speaker:That may be one motivation as to why committees like ours put
Speaker:are willing to put all this time and effort. I mean, I
Speaker:think most of us are retired. Well, not. No, half of us are
Speaker:retired on the committee. It's not. Several are still working full
Speaker:time. So it's not like. I think that's you, isn't it? No, no.
Speaker:Randy's the one who's working full time. I think
Speaker:Elaine's still working too. Yeah, Elaine works.
Speaker:Definitely those two. I'm busy. I'm not working, I'm
Speaker:busy. There's a difference. But
Speaker:Chuck, was there something about the Otterbein experience
Speaker:that stands out for you? Or is it what's most memorable
Speaker:that underscores your willingness to be involved in this?
Speaker:I suppose you can look back at different segments
Speaker:of your life and kind of compartmentalize those certain
Speaker:time spans that were influential in
Speaker:your life that you can really look back on. And my
Speaker:years at Otterbein were one of those errors. You know, here we
Speaker:are essentially away from you and Taylor Swift have an
Speaker:era. Oh, yeah, how about that? I'll go on tour.
Speaker:But Otterbein was really formative in that it really
Speaker:allowed me to figure out who I am, what
Speaker:I want to do. And I did that with a group of friends.
Speaker:And I think back to those experiences. And to the friends,
Speaker:not so much Otterbein itself. I mean, they provided the foundation
Speaker:for that, but it was the experience with the Friends. And
Speaker:at this point in my life, I'm trying to
Speaker:reminisce and recollect or make memories.
Speaker:And so it's the friendships that we experienced together and all
Speaker:the fun we had, and those are what is
Speaker:driving me to get back together with. With my friends
Speaker:that I hadn't seen in some. In 50 years. One
Speaker:of the things that, for the
Speaker:members of our audience who are from central Ohio, realize
Speaker:that what Westerville looks like today is nothing
Speaker:like what Westerville looked like in the 70s. There was
Speaker:literally nothing north of County Line Road but
Speaker:cornfield. And now I live
Speaker:about 12 or 14 miles north of County Line Road,
Speaker:and another 20 miles north of me is nonstop
Speaker:housing. So it's just a very different
Speaker:community. Which means that when we were in Westerville at
Speaker:Otterbein, the community around us was really
Speaker:small. So the people on campus were much
Speaker:more. Had a bigger role in our world
Speaker:than what they probably have today. Yeah, we didn't have cars. Right.
Speaker:You didn't have social media. So our whole life was on that campus.
Speaker:And most. Most students lived on campus, right? Yeah. So
Speaker:you really created quite a little community
Speaker:there and some very close friends. It kind of was
Speaker:a cocoon. But I always give Otterbein
Speaker:a lot of credit, and they still do this. To have a lot of
Speaker:programs, academically based programs, for students
Speaker:to work out off campus, to be
Speaker:learning off campus. And I think that made a difference. It made a huge
Speaker:difference for me. Or I think I could have gotten a little bored
Speaker:because it was such a small entity. Right? Yeah. Oh, yeah,
Speaker:sure. Well, Lizette, I've heard there are many moving parts to your
Speaker:reunion. We've actually kind of talked about that here too, already. What have you
Speaker:found to be essential in making all those pieces fall together? And really, more
Speaker:specifically, have you found it easy to appease everyone's wishes? I mean,
Speaker:everybody comes to this committee, I'm sure, with ideas, thoughts of, well,
Speaker:that's going to work. That'd be great. No, I don't want to do it that
Speaker:way. Or has it been fairly easy?
Speaker:Has everybody been kind of on board? I think
Speaker:everyone's been on board. And, you know, we've
Speaker:been out of college 50 years. Surely we should
Speaker:know by now we don't get everything we want.
Speaker:I do, but, you know,
Speaker:when you work with a group of people, you kind of
Speaker:defer to. It's gotta really matter if I'm. If I'm gonna
Speaker:disagree. It's gotta really matter. Are you gonna die? Are
Speaker:you gonna die on that hill just go along with it. Yeah, yeah. For
Speaker:me, personally. Well. And as you mentioned earlier, I mean,
Speaker:Randy kind of hit the theme, we're going to have fun.
Speaker:And how do you
Speaker:discourage having fun? By wanting your way.
Speaker:But we really. I don't know that we
Speaker:have a lot of decisions to make.
Speaker:No. And one of the way that we kind of did structure that,
Speaker:we were very fortunate to get people on the committee
Speaker:that had a certain skill set. We talk about Randy and
Speaker:his theater production. So he was in charge of
Speaker:programming, and we let him kind of run with that, and he
Speaker:kind of formed it and then came back and asked what kind of tweaks.
Speaker:You were very helpful in getting our class gift
Speaker:formulated. And you just kind of narrowed down choices and
Speaker:said, what do you think about these? So the committee wasn't
Speaker:doing everything on every topic. And so it was kind of easy to
Speaker:let those in charge of those certain areas
Speaker:refine it or define it and let the committee kind of refine it.
Speaker:I think that's what made it easy. I think, too.
Speaker:When we were talking about the class gift, Chuck and I had
Speaker:a lot of conversations and started out with a long list
Speaker:of. Of ideas. But as you said, we refined it
Speaker:down so the committee didn't have so
Speaker:many different issues to deal with. So it was much more pointed.
Speaker:Have you found that with the folks you're working with in the areas that you're
Speaker:kind of covering? Lisette?
Speaker:I think so. I want to speak to the class gift.
Speaker:You're right. A wide
Speaker:range of possibilities were presented.
Speaker:I'm very proud of the committee having
Speaker:honed in on a gift
Speaker:that so specifically benefits
Speaker:graduating students. Kudos
Speaker:to both you, Carol, and Chuck for
Speaker:getting something that's such a direct
Speaker:contribution. Well, I'm excited.
Speaker:And as of today, which is we're doing
Speaker:this taping in June, our class has already
Speaker:pledged $50,000 to our endowment.
Speaker:Our goal is 76,000 to go with our class of
Speaker:1976, but hopefully we'll get more.
Speaker:But when we were having those discussions, one of
Speaker:the. We had, like, there was a program that we talked about
Speaker:endowing a fund, but it was really an alumni program as opposed
Speaker:to a student program. And I was really proud. One of our classmates said,
Speaker:no, we really need to give back to the students. So
Speaker:I think we all were really on the
Speaker:same page. May have taken bits and pieces to get
Speaker:it together, but we hit the same page, right? Yeah.
Speaker:Okay. Yeah. Well, I. I'm
Speaker:pleased for what we're doing. It's going to
Speaker:be a great program. And kudos to Otterbein for
Speaker:creating this program called the Ready Program, which is a
Speaker:four year career exploration program. So
Speaker:to actually have something that the students after
Speaker:walk, instead of walking out with just student debt, they're going to walk out
Speaker:with being prime job candidates
Speaker:and likely having a job. So that, that was important.
Speaker:So. Because that is again, a resource we didn't have. Otterbein was a small
Speaker:campus and we didn't have a career services unit
Speaker:when we graduated, so. Well, but it was a
Speaker:different day too, Carol. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Speaker:You know what's been. This
Speaker:is probably tangential to your. Your series of questions,
Speaker:but it's been interesting to me to be
Speaker:on campus and participate in these activities
Speaker:and realize that the campus of
Speaker:the 70s
Speaker:doesn't exist the way we experienced it.
Speaker:You know, it's 50% students living
Speaker:off campus. Yeah. It's. It's a very different
Speaker:environment, preparing for a very different
Speaker:work experience. And
Speaker:it brought me up short. And I've raised three kids and put them all, gotten
Speaker:them all through college. And I'm like, gee, I don't know why I didn't realize
Speaker:what my kids were going through the way I think I do now looking at
Speaker:Otterbein 70s versus today. So
Speaker:I would agree with you. I wouldn't be that age for loving her
Speaker:money right now. It's much harder for
Speaker:these young folks today. Oh, well, I think they're just stepping
Speaker:into an environment. I would not. It
Speaker:would be a big learning curve for me to function in it. I think I
Speaker:could. But technically it would be a big learning curve, as
Speaker:you both know. So we've sort of
Speaker:talked through this notion of how the committee is on the same page.
Speaker:Chuck. Committee members are talking to classmates,
Speaker:encouraging people to come, talking about the events that we're going to have
Speaker:and the class gift and everything. What do you feel
Speaker:is most important that we achieve
Speaker:in making this event a success? You know, in your
Speaker:conversations with classmates, are they making suggestions on
Speaker:what's important to them as they visit campus? Or has anyone
Speaker:alluded to, you know, a particular thing they really like?
Speaker:A bonfire. Do they want a bonfire? Do they want to wear their
Speaker:beanies? What exactly? Well, I think
Speaker:one of the themes or suggestions
Speaker:that we've already tossed around was that
Speaker:success is having a good turnout and that it was
Speaker:fun. Yeah. Underlying fun and not so
Speaker:structured where you have a lot of people talking at you.
Speaker:It's just that the chance, time and space to
Speaker:reconnect. And I think the committee
Speaker:has tried to Be
Speaker:creative with that. Some good suggestions on how we can
Speaker:have forums to just have
Speaker:opportunities to visit. And
Speaker:in the realm of fun, we came up with the concept of
Speaker:making sure we have a donut run to Schneider's built into our
Speaker:program. So when I told a couple people that,
Speaker:they said, I'm in, I'm coming. We're able
Speaker:to bring the traditions up 50 years and still
Speaker:do that. There were many donut runs to Schneider's at 5 in the morning.
Speaker:So you're planning a 5am run. Oh, gotcha. No, they're taking
Speaker:care of us late at night. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.
Speaker:Bless their hearts. Yes. So
Speaker:it's been interesting to talk to classmates and hear their
Speaker:tales. One of the fun things about our meetings, Chuck
Speaker:comes up with a question that we have to we talk about before
Speaker:we start each zoom meeting. Okay. And so what was this?
Speaker:Past one was last one. If I was going to look for you in
Speaker:the library, what level would I find you on
Speaker:and what time of the day? Good question. Oh my gosh,
Speaker:that's great. Yeah. So we, we had. We have a good time even
Speaker:starting our meeting. Yeah. Yeah. Lizette Otterbein's
Speaker:not only receiving funding through your class gift, but also
Speaker:going to gain goodwill through it with alumni, hopefully leading to a greater future
Speaker:funding. Do you think donations are the most important advantage
Speaker:for the school and current students, or are there other factors that make
Speaker:an alumni reunion vital to a college campus?
Speaker:Well, I would lean into the camaraderie
Speaker:in some fun act re establish during the fun
Speaker:activities because it brings back
Speaker:memories. And then with the memories, you think, well,
Speaker:maybe maybe down the road or maybe as I
Speaker:look at what to do with this estate or these
Speaker:assets. But
Speaker:my priority is
Speaker:creating
Speaker:activities that allow people to
Speaker:reconvene. I'm really proud
Speaker:of our class legacy gift. But if people
Speaker:return and they're unable to contribute, all the
Speaker:more welcome. You know, the other thing that really
Speaker:the class gift kind of gives us entree to
Speaker:is that ready program is
Speaker:really looking for connections between alumni and students
Speaker:to help students in their career goals.
Speaker:So even though it's not part of our alumni weekend and our
Speaker:programming, they have a ready day two
Speaker:days before our reunion starts.
Speaker:And if alumni can come back a few days early, they'll have an
Speaker:opportunity to meet and talk to students across
Speaker:campus and help in, you know,
Speaker:what are the kinds of things you need to think about in your career today?
Speaker:How do you. Who does what? You know, so and
Speaker:so's a doctor. So and so's a Broadway producer. There are
Speaker:people out there that are alumni. Even though Otterbein was a small school,
Speaker:alumni that can really help. So that is kind of an added
Speaker:bonus for our gift. I think that that
Speaker:that's part of what Carl's hoping to
Speaker:talk to you about as well, Carol. Right, Right. Yeah. The class of
Speaker:75 is looking for some additional
Speaker:opportunities to support students, so hopefully we
Speaker:can make that work for them, too. That's a benefit. Absolutely. What comes
Speaker:about from these reunions? Well, yes, absolutely. And, you know, the other thing,
Speaker:too, in terms of our fundraising for the class gift.
Speaker:In the 70s, alumni relations and
Speaker:fundraising or development, whatever they call it, was very
Speaker:different, particularly on a small campus than it is today.
Speaker:I mean, alumni relations goes gangbusters
Speaker:after a new alum trying to keep people connected. Well,
Speaker:we walked away from Otterbein's campus and, you know,
Speaker:unless there was a particular reason or you went back for homecoming, nobody talked to
Speaker:you. The assumption was you didn't have any money, so they weren't going
Speaker:to bring you back. But it's a different ballgame.
Speaker:So us being able to bring our
Speaker:classmates back is opening doors for
Speaker:Otterbein to talk to people that they may not
Speaker:have heard from in 50 years. So that's huge.
Speaker:So both of you have kind of been engaged with Otterbein
Speaker:over the past years. And either sorority or fraternity events.
Speaker:How do you see your future connection to Otterbein and
Speaker:the students? You know, is this 50th reunion going to change that future
Speaker:relationship? Either of you? Well,
Speaker:I would say that before relocating back to
Speaker:Westerville after retirement,
Speaker:I was in Texas and working and
Speaker:wearing your cowboy hat. No. No hat.
Speaker:No cows. No hat. And raising kids. I'm not
Speaker:a gun. Sorry.
Speaker:And so we didn't come. There wasn't the
Speaker:opportunity to come back to Otterbein for
Speaker:homecomings or any other events. So I
Speaker:was kind of off the grid with regard to
Speaker:Otterbein. Got a little more involved when
Speaker:my daughter decided to go to Otterbein. So there
Speaker:was a couple trips there and reconnect with some friends
Speaker:and. But then went back and live my life in
Speaker:Texas. When I came back and ended up
Speaker:in Westerville, someone reached out to
Speaker:me from the alumni office and asked if I'd serve on the alumni council,
Speaker:which I did. Had a lot of fun there and got
Speaker:involved in some activities there. And then. So then
Speaker:a couple years later, there's the reunion committee.
Speaker:So I had a little reluctance, but
Speaker:it wasn't that bad. So. So all Those fraternity
Speaker:brothers were not on your radar screen. No. And if I thought
Speaker:about it, when we left,
Speaker:there were no cell phones. There was no social media for
Speaker:until the 90s. And so we
Speaker:just drifted apart. Except for one who just happened
Speaker:to have a daughter my daughter's age. And we met at
Speaker:the offer
Speaker:what you get when the kids first come to school. There's orientation.
Speaker:There you go. That's the word. And we met and had a good
Speaker:conversation and then swap phone numbers then. So
Speaker:kept in touch with him, but really
Speaker:didn't get too much involved with
Speaker:Otterbein until I got back. So as a result of the
Speaker:reunion, I've been contacted a couple times from
Speaker:different groups to see if I could help out in one thing or the
Speaker:other. And it. It's. It's not very painful.
Speaker:It's a lot of fun usually. So I think I'll continue
Speaker:to be available when. When they call.
Speaker:Well, it's always fun when somebody's actually listening to you, which they didn't do when
Speaker:we were students. So, Lisette, how much have you been doing
Speaker:since over the last 50 years with the sorority or any other
Speaker:groups I
Speaker:like. Chuck was rather off grid. Were it not for
Speaker:Marsha Harding neater, I probably never would have
Speaker:returned. And she was miss Otterbein? Oh,
Speaker:she was. We were in the same sorority, and she was just. She
Speaker:was just an avid Otter
Speaker:vinyl. And let's
Speaker:see, I came back to two or three homecomings,
Speaker:once with our. Our oldest
Speaker:child as an infant. And then Marcia called.
Speaker:It was going to be the hundredth anniversary of the
Speaker:founding of our sorority, and
Speaker:I wasn't going to come. And she's like, lizette, you have to come.
Speaker:Marcia. Why would I come? Lizette, this is a big deal. You have
Speaker:to. I mean, she badgered me and
Speaker:I returned. And
Speaker:I'm thankful for that. And
Speaker:so when Stephanie wrote and asked
Speaker:if I'd help with the reunion, I heard, marcia,
Speaker:Lizette, you really need to do this. So here I
Speaker:am on this committee, slowly re.
Speaker:Engaging with them. A college that I have wonderful
Speaker:memories of, but I've done nothing. Which is
Speaker:why I find it almost amusing that I'm helping with this reunion, because
Speaker:half the time I don't remember. I can't place faces with
Speaker:names. And I'm like, so. I feel
Speaker:like I'm cold calling. But I'm good at that. I can. I talk to people
Speaker:really easily. It works. It works. You know, I.
Speaker:The one thing that since I've
Speaker:always been in central Ohio, that
Speaker:I've Kept a lot of connections. And Dean Van Sant, bless
Speaker:her heart, would find you. If you lived in central
Speaker:Ohio and she needed help on something, she would find you. But she was an
Speaker:incredible mentor. But I think it is
Speaker:very different when you don't live close. But I
Speaker:have to say, one time I was looking at some statistics on
Speaker:Otterbein And I think 70% of
Speaker:alumni Otterbein alumni lived in Ohio.
Speaker:So there really is a huge gathering of
Speaker:people, not only Ohio, but central Ohio. Yeah, I mean, they're
Speaker:20 miles away. Right, Right. Yep. Absolutely.
Speaker:Isn't that interesting? It really is. There
Speaker:were some. I had some suggestions that they didn't listen
Speaker:to that were for alumni programming. But I'm
Speaker:like, you've got everybody here. I mean, Buckeye Nation for
Speaker:Ohio State is huge, but it also goes across the world.
Speaker:So they can have a very small percentage and still have a lot of people
Speaker:here in Ohio. But to think that a small school like Otterbein
Speaker:has so many people still in the state, I thought was really
Speaker:interesting. So. Yeah. Well, what do you both hope the
Speaker:Audubon community is going to understand about the class of
Speaker:1976 after this reunion? How do you think the campus will view
Speaker:your class 50 years from now? I'll start with Lisette.
Speaker:Oh, 50 years from now. I hope one year
Speaker:later they think it's got to be as much fun as this class of
Speaker:76 reunion weekend was. That's one
Speaker:50 years out. I hope that we'll have. That
Speaker:the class gift will have made a difference in
Speaker:graduating seniors lives and that it
Speaker:becomes a template for future
Speaker:career preparation
Speaker:as the world continues to evolve. Right. That was
Speaker:one I think too. One of the
Speaker:underlying ideas that the committee had when we
Speaker:chose the READY program as the gift was that
Speaker:my belief is you give money to a thing that you know the
Speaker:money is going to be spent on. And so this was a very
Speaker:specific project and it
Speaker:could be called anything. But a career
Speaker:enhancement for students is going to always be needed.
Speaker:And so, yeah, hopefully our legacy is that we were pivotal
Speaker:to that. That need. Well, and also
Speaker:that we, we can
Speaker:step up and support our alma mater. I think the,
Speaker:the broad brush that's been painted on the
Speaker:classes of the 70s was we were kind of the checked out generation.
Speaker:We don't have big numbers of. Of our
Speaker:classes supporting the annual fund or things like
Speaker:that. And so I'd like to think that maybe we could
Speaker:change our perception of being checked out and that we did
Speaker:step up and like Lisette said, make an impact on
Speaker:students and future students with our class gift. Good.
Speaker:That's wonderful. So for our listeners,
Speaker:I hope you kind of enjoyed this episode
Speaker:and it gives you motivation to be involved in any of
Speaker:your communities, in any events that may be
Speaker:coming around for you that whether it's an anniversary
Speaker:celebration for your school or organization or a family
Speaker:get together, that you know that social interacting can bring great
Speaker:joy and fun in your life too. We always ask
Speaker:our guests for their last words of advice.
Speaker:So my question to both of you is, you know, what would you advise the
Speaker:next class, the graduates of 77 or any
Speaker:future 50 year reunion group on
Speaker:creating a successful reunion and what's
Speaker:most important about that reunion? And how does a reunion
Speaker:enhance the lives of the current students and the
Speaker:school itself, but also for the classmates?
Speaker:I would say follow your heart. If you're thinking
Speaker:of gathering with people
Speaker:who you've shared wonderful experiences are with,
Speaker:follow your heart and
Speaker:try and include everybody.
Speaker:That's what I would say. Very, very good,
Speaker:very good advice. Thank you. I would suggest
Speaker:that you try to reach out as much as possible possible
Speaker:as far as personal contact with people on the
Speaker:list, even if it's cold calling, inviting them to
Speaker:come. Keep it inexpensive.
Speaker:Yes. Don't let money be a hurdle,
Speaker:make it fun and perhaps
Speaker:keep Schneider's in the donut run in your
Speaker:program. And what does a
Speaker:reunion do it, I think as far as the alumni just
Speaker:reconnect and rekindles friendships and lots of
Speaker:great memories and hopefully for the students, it's an avenue
Speaker:to provide additional support and services for them. Wonderful.
Speaker:Thank you so much, both of you. Yeah. Many thanks to our guest co
Speaker:chairs of the Otterbein 1976 Gold Reunion Committee,
Speaker:Lizette Peter and Chuck Erickson for joining us today.