Alumni/Friends
Chapter presidents busier than ever
By the time you receive this issue of Aggie Panorama the winds will be blowing again in southern New Mexico. How quickly time goes by—to quote my late grandmother, Lucy Lawrence ’46, “as I get older, time goes by faster.” I have a feeling 2003 is not going to be any slower, so I better quit thinking about how quickly the days pass and get on with it, as we have many activities to plan and attend. Membership Update Our membership campaign for 2002-03 is improving, thought still short of our goal of 4,800 dues payers. We mailed a reminder to alumni who had not renewed thus far, and I feel certain we will meet our goal. Aggies are good at stepping up—we just need to be reminded once in a while. Homecoming 2003 Homecoming dates have been set for Oct. 30 through Nov. 1. Several reunion groups have begun working on activities—the classes of 1953 and 1963, and the Conquistadors. We’ll have more information on the other groups and their plans in our next issue. Chapter Activities I want to thank all chapter presidents—these folks have done a great job of promoting events in their areas. I get calls regularly now about what they’d like to do next. In the old days I had to call and beg. Not anymore. Dona Ana Fall was very busy on the New Mexico State University campus. Before each home football game, the Dona Ana Chapter helped sponsor a tailgate on the grassy area outside the stadium. We also helped sponsor Parents’ Weekend on Nov. 2. Parents were invited to join their student for a tailgate party. Our largest group of parents came from Albuquerque. They thought the idea was great and want to be included next year. We look forward to their help in recruiting more great students. Lubbock, Texas We had a great pre-game in Lubbock on Dec. 21. Aggies from Amarillo, Las Cruces, Roswell, Hobbs and Portales were in town for the big game between Bobby Knight’s Red Raiders and our Aggies. The second half of the game made it worth the trip. I would love to have been in the Texas Tech locker room when the Aggies pulled to within one point after beginning the second quarter 18 points behind. Seattle, Washington Cynthia Wise ’96, Wayne Scheidel ’96, Andy Rivas ’92, and Peggy Morse ’81 were in attendance for our third commencement exercise in Seattle on Dec. 16. New Mexico State has a distance learning program with Boeing and each year we help sponsor commencement exercise for these graduates. NMSU Commencement More than 900 graduates walked on Dec. 14. Ermelinda Quintela ’86 ’88 ’94, Bill Connor ’84 ’00, Jack Ward ’40 and Nicole Pettenuzzo ’01 were on hand to give each graduate an alumni pin as they came off the stage. We couldn’t have done it without their help. Bataan Death March The Dona Ana Chapter will again help the ROTC cadets with a water station at this event on March 30. Over 3000 runners and walkers are served water and fruit from this station. Archie Beckett ’51 heads up this year’s crew and, being an engineer, he has several ideas for making things more efficient. North Texas Chapters The Arlington, Dallas and Ft. Worth chapters got together and sponsored a pre-game party in Denton before the Aggie football game on Nov. 21 and the basketball game on Feb. 1. We always have lots of Aggies cheering the teams on and have in years past made more noise than the UNT fans. My thanks to Ernest Wagley ’87 ’91, David Cooley ’78 and Gus Seligman ’57 for their continued support of Dallas-area activities. Denver/Colorado Springs Julie Hall ’82 and Bill Thompson ’69 have teamed up again for a pre-game for the Aggies, who were in Denver on Jan. 30 for their conference game. Another great cheering section. Upcoming events April: Plans are being finalized for events in Tucson, Arizona (24); Boulder, Colorado (25/26); and Santa Fe (13). If you will be in any of these cities in April, let us know and we’ll get the information to you. The Alamogordo Chapter will honor NMSUAlamogordo outstanding graduates at a luncheon. The outstanding graduates from the Dona Ana Branch will be honored at their annual Springs Awards Ceremony. May: The Grants Chapter is planning a luncheon to honor the outstanding students at NMSU-Grants on May 3. NMSU-Carlsbad will honor their outstanding graduates during their commencement ceremony on May 10. Music alumni in Texas are meeting at the TMEA conference in San Antonio, Texas, in Feb. A new item has been added to the agenda this year—the Alumni Association, along with the college of Arts and Sciences, is helping to organize a reunion on Feb. 14. We will have information on this in our next issue. Our thanks to Jennie Miller ’91 for coming up with the idea. Honors Nights Honors Nights started on Feb. 19. I hope you can join us in recognizing our New Mexico high school juniors. Dale Alexander ’60, among other star professors, will be entertaining these top students and their families. Honors Nights are scheduled for 7 p.m. on these dates: March: 10, Eddy County, NMSU Carlsbad; 11, Lea County, Hobbs Country Club; 12, Chaves County, Roswell Sally Port Inn; 20, San Juan County, Farmington Civic Center; 24, Harding/Union, Clayton HS; 25, Curry/DeBaca/Roosevelt counties, Clovis HS. April: 1 and 2, El Paso County, El Paso Airport Marriott; 3, Grant/Catron/Hidalgo counties, Silver City HS; 7, Rio Arriba/Taos counties, Espanola; 8, Santa Fe/ Los Alamos counties, Santa Fe Sweeney Auditorium; 9, San Miguel/Mora counties, Las Vegas Luna CC; 10, Colfax County, Raton HS; 14, McKinley County, Gallup Civic Center at Red Rock State Park; 15 and 16, Bernalillo/Valencia/Sandoval/Cibola/ Torrance counties, Albuquerque Marriott. News from the north
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Widger 
