Letters to the Alumni Association –
Forever Friends 40+ Years

Dear UNC Alumni Association,

In the summer of 1966, a few covered wagons from the Midwest edged along the plains and landed in Greeley, Colorado. The travelers in those wagons, who unpacked their provisions and staked a claim in Harrison Hall on the campus of Colorado State College, were the families of Tom & Carmen Henderson, Neal & Joyce Johnson, and Jerry and Joannie Loynachan. All strangers, they soon developed common interests – in the classrooms in which the men found themselves, and with the young children the wives were soon chasing up and down the halls of Harrison.
 
The following summer of 1967 brought more immigrants to Greeley and increased the population at Harrison. Gene and Sally Baum, Jack and Shirley Micetich, Leon and Kathy Fox and their respective children joined in the "summer home" routine.  
 
Soon, the '66ers and the '67ers were pot lucking and picnicking on the weekends. Plans were  made to meet again the next summer and take up residency in the NEW Turner Hall dorm they watched take root and rise to the sky that summer of 1967.
 
The West Coast entourage made an entrance in the summer of 1968 when Bob and Nancy Van Galder and children arrived. They were lucky enough to be placed on the same floor in Turner Hall with the Midwesterners, who were, by now, close and good friends. Fortunately, for the California folks, the
friendliness of the Midwest group soon took in the newcomers and treated them as family.
 
With these beginnings, long, loving, and endearing friendships formed and have flourished for 40 plus years. Through the  years, the "original" 11 children increased to 20; 34 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren have subsequently arrived.  
 
Photos, phone calls, round-robin letters, emails, summer reunions in the Midwest and in California, and occasional trips together all have helped to keep the friendships intact. Sadly, a few years ago, the first of our closely knit group, Leon Fox, passed away.

In August of '08, through the generosity of our time share owners, those "pioneers" of the late 60's gathered for a week at beautiful Lake Tahoe to reminisce, laugh, look at old photos, and take new ones.  It was a wonderful reunion!  We reflected upon that special time which began in 1966 at Colorado State College and remembered rejoicing when the last of the men obtained, in 1970, their post-graduate degrees (6 Master's & 1 Ed.D.) at the University of Northern Colorado.   
 
It was a magical time – then, and now. Magical, indeed!

Bob Van Galder, Ed.D. '70

FRONT ROW:
L-R:   Jack (M.A.'69) and Shirley Micetich, Coal City, IL
          Tom (M.A.'68)& Carmen Henderson, Stillwater, MN
          Kathy Fox (widow of Leon Fox, M.A.'68) Perry, IA
          Sally Baum, Lake Carroll, IL
          Joanne Loynachan, Flagstaff, AZ
 
BACK  ROW:
L-R:    Bob Van Galder, (Ed.D.'70 ), Fresno, CA
           Gene Baum, (M.A.'70), Lake Carroll, IL
           Joyce & Neal Johnson, (M.A.'69) , Wahpeton, ND
           Jerry Loynachan,( M.A.'69,) Flagstaff, AZ
           Nancy Van Galder, Fresno, CA

Send letters to nothernvision@unco.edu