Saturday morning of the reunion several of us got up and headed to
Truman State University to take a tour with Daddy. It was a time to tell stories and reminisce - as several of us either attended Truman and/or have been employed by Truman, there were lots of stories to tell. This was another time when we especially missed Aunt Carolyn. She had been so anxious to go on this tour and remember her own days as a student at the college. We (among us all) did videotape the entire tour and I will be working on getting that video put together to send to Aunt Carolyn so she can enjoy it, too.
We began in Julie's office where she has a lot of historical memorabilia - both family history and Truman history. One of my favorite things she has is a photo of the entire college student body from the summer of 1930 which includes our Aunt Dora Mae front and center. She also has framed copies of the house and senate bills that designated both the mission change of the university and the name change from Northeast Missouri State to Truman. Daddy had a LOT of great stories to tell about the adventures surrounding that last one! Good thing we got it all on videotape. :)
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| That long photo in the middle is one with Aunt Dora Mae, summer of 1930. |
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| Julie and Joe |
Then we headed over to Magruder Hall, the science facility on campus. It has been completely renovated from the time when Daddy taught/was division head there and when we were all students there. In some ways it seems strange to walk in, but of course, it wasn't called Magruder Hall back then, either! We all still remember the tunnel under the middle of the old building and I enjoy seeing the incorporation of the exterior of the old building in the new renovation. A nice connection to the past. One memory I forgot to mention the day of the tour (that I will share here 'for the record') is of the hologram that was installed in the basement of science hall. That was back in the late 70's, I believe and I can remember being so awed by it! What incredible technology that was! You would walk down the hall (it was the most fun if you turned out the lights first) and a lady would appear in the hologram box and blow you a kiss while turning her body to 'follow' you as you walked by. Creepy but fascinating! That was so futuristic back then! Of course, I also remember visiting the 'computer room' in the early 70's. It was an entire room and was climate controlled (code for COLD!). We would walk in and gaze in awe at the HUGE machines making their humming and clicking noises. A computer! Who could imagine! :) Since I am on a roll here, I also distinctly remember the night Daddy brought home a personal calculator made by Texas Instruments. We gathered around him in amazement that he could hold a machine
in his hand that could accurately do all kinds of scientific mathematical calculations. Now simple calculators come as a free accessory in a billfold. Goodness. I think I am beginning to sound a bit aged, aren't I? :D
Back to the tour...
Anna, who spends a lot of her class time in Magruder Hall as a nursing major, told us about her work with
GlobeMed, an organization dedicated to improving the health and living conditions of people all around the world. I'm sure proud of this girl. :)
We spent some time sitting in a quiet area just listening to lots of Daddy's stories - what a precious time and truly, I AM glad we got them on video. Treasures.
Then we went out to the courtyard to point out various named bricks. This is a tradition whenever we gather at Truman. Somehow we just have to find our own brick, and think about all the people represented there. Funny story about Anna's brick... or should I say bricks. She is the only one (besides Mama and Daddy, I suppose) who has more than one brick. The first brick was laid with the name Anna Jewell Magruder. It was okayed by all of us when we checked the list prior to be sure names were all correct. We all completely missed the error. It wasn't until the bricks were laid that we realized her name isn't Magruder!! It's Lochbaum!! :D Ha! I guess that was a freudian slip of a royal nature! Anna said she liked that brick and didn't want to change it. But, Daddy did get her another brick with her actual name on it. You might remember which brick she chose to have her
senior photo taken with. :)
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| David and Becky - with the Towne Bell Tower behind them. |
We got a group photo with a few of us and we all smiled as Dr. Towne's bell tower pealed just as the photo was taken. She has a long history of making her presence known. :)
Then it was on to Kirk Memorial.
Charlie and I slipped away to go take a look at the Jack Bowen Memorial Garden at this point. Jack was such a dear and wonderful man and the garden is a lovely tribute to him. Charlie wasn't able to make it back for Jack's funeral but had been told about the garden. Especially touching was the inscription on the bench placed facing LaPlata, his hometown. How very nice.
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| The Jack Bowen Memorial Garden in front of Pershing Building |
We then rejoined the group to finish up the tour. Anna, Hannah, Jennifer and Arayna went on down to check out Anna's dorm for next year as well as the new health sciences facility, but the rest of us wimped out in the 106 degree temps and went home. :)
Some of the kids enjoyed time at the pond fishing, going on the pedal boat and swimming in the pool.
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| Hannah and Susanna on the pedal boat |
Saturday night we had dinner, catered by
Western's, at our house. By this time Charlotte and Issa had made it into town - we were glad to see them and get an update on Carolyn. I was running the air conditioner as hard as it would go, but between the large number of people in the house and the extreme heat outside, I don't think we got below 80 the whole night. :( Luckily, people took it in stride. We had a lovely evening of story telling, photo viewing and sharing of memories.
At the end of the evening we packed everyone together in our foyer and managed to get a great group photo. Jackson arranged us all and I was so impressed that every face is visible and everyone looks terrific! Great job, Jackson!
The kids played games late into the evening... spoons and PIT were at the top of their list. It sure reminded us older cousins of all those years ago, crammed around Mama and Daddy's dining table, doing the very same thing. :) Tradition. :)
Here is a link to an entire album of photos of the day.
Below is a video with snippets from our day on Saturday. :)
Magruder Reunion 2012 - Saturday from
Laura M. on
Vimeo.
