Vol. 20, No. 2 - Spring 2004

Linking up with emeriti faculty at Pearson’s in Edina

Every three months for the past six years a group of emeriti faculty meets at Pearson’s restaurant in Edina to reconnect: Donovan Johnson, 93, retired in 1973 as a professor of math education; Frank Braun, 76, retired in 1991 as an associate professor in curriculum and instruction and coordinator of placement of graduates; Eugene Anderson, 67, retired in 1998 as associate professor in curriculum and instruction and coordinator of field experiences in the educational career development office; Charles Glotzbach, 83, retired in 1986 as a professor of educational psychology; William Edson, 89, retired in 1983 as a professor and director of the educational career development office; and Warren Meyer, 94, retired in 1976 as a professor of marketing education.

The first order of business is to ask “what have you heard from the college?” At the meetings, “We reminisce about our good times at the college. We had a fantastic time. It was a very casual, warm relationship we had with people—when anybody got an award, it was everybody celebrating with them,” Johnson says.

The group has fond memories of a college with a strong central community, where college personnel and their families got together and sang at events like the holiday party, and got together for the “piscatorial practicum,” a spring retreat in Brainerd with fishing, cards, gourmet food, and plenty of banter.

That banter continues to thrive at Pearson’s. The lunches are an opportunity not only to stay connected with the college but to catch up on their lives in retirement. “It helps us recapture the good feeling of past associations,” Anderson says. Braun adds, “I like the formality. We still carry our pocket calendars with us and schedule the next event when we meet, so we know we’re getting together again.”