Halloween Fun Night is Oct. 28

Elementary and preschool children from the Winona area are invited to attend the 13th annual Saint Mary’s University Halloween Fun Night from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28.

Participants should stop at the guard booth at the main entrance of the Winona campus for directions on where to park. 

Young trick-or-treaters should start out the evening at the Hall of Fame Room, located in the Toner Student Center, where tattoos and stickers, a coloring station, and other fun games will be offered, and the Cardinal mascot will greet pint-sized ghosts and goblins.

From there, SMU students will lead groups of trick-or-treaters through the residence halls of the university, where they can go door to door for candy.

Last year more than 750 youth participated in this free, safe and fun event, sponsored by the Office of Residence Life.

Get set to scream at annual Saint Mary’s Walk of Horror

This year’s Walk of Horror is again guaranteed to give you goosebumps. New scares are planned around every corner.

The 17th annual hair-raising fundraiser for the SMU Cardinal fastpitch softball team will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 25-26 and 30-31 in the SMU bluffs. Walkers are asked to meet on the lighted path between the SMU baseball and softball fields, where the haunted walk will begin.

Groups are then escorted through the dark bluffs surrounding the SMU campus for approximately 20 minutes.
The cost is $5 for adults, $4 for students with ID, and $4 for children 12 and younger. Tickets are available at the gate.

Proceeds from this event will be used for the softball team’s travel expenses.

SMU head fastpitch softball coach Jen Miller said the event is fun for all ages. The scare level is toned down for younger children and turned up for groups bold enough to face their fears. Last year more than 1,100 brave souls took SMU’s Walk of Horror.

For more information, contact Miller at Ext. 6923.

SMU hosts Caravan du Nord Minnesota musicians Oct. 18

Night Moves

Saint Mary’s Off the Page Series will host an impressive lineup of talented Minnesota musicians as part of the “Caravan du Nord 2013” concert series today, Friday, Oct. 18.

In its third year, the Caravan du Nord concert tour starts Oct. 11 in Austin, with stops in Winona, St. Cloud and Detroit Lakes before ending in Red Wing on Nov. 16. Each event features live performances by artists in a wide range of genres.

The Winona lineup includes some of the most talked about up-and-coming artists — Night Moves, Southwire and Mike Munson — converging on the SMU Page Theatre stage, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Night Moves is based out of Minneapolis and has been receiving airtime on MPR’s The Current; they have been described by Spin magazine as “cosmically expansive and yet twangily intimate.” Southwire, from Duluth, has been praised by City Pages as providing “haunting melodies that sound like they have been carried on the winds of the past.” Winona’s own Mike Munson was recently on the nationally broadcast WPR show “Whad' Ya Know” and is regularly heard around town performing his blues-influenced solo guitar.

Tickets are $12 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and are available at www.pagetheatre.org or at the SMU Box Office, Ext. 1715, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The SMU Student Activity Committee is co-hosting this event.

Members of Night Moves and Minnesota’s top music industry professionals will provide insider insight about marketing, songwriting and more at a workshop Friday, Oct. 18, from noon to 3 p.m. at Sum Some Studios, 168 E. 3rd St. The event is free and open to the public.

‘Make a Difference Day’ and ‘Lasallian Day of Service’ are Oct. 26

Make a Difference Day

In recognition of national “Make a Difference Day,” Saint Mary’s Volunteer Mentors group is inviting Winona residents and nonprofit agencies to submit requests for service.

The university hopes to get as many students as possible out into the community between 1 and 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26. Students are willing to help individuals and organizations with anything from painting to yard work.

“Make a Difference Day” is a national day of helping others, a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors. Created by USA WEEKEND magazine, this annual event takes place on the fourth Saturday of every October. For the sixth year, SMU is proud to join the millions of people throughout the nation who are participating.

Lasallian Day of Service

Also on Oct. 26, alumni are invited to participate in the fifth annual Lasallian Day of Service. This is a day that allows alumni to come together in the spirit of the Lasallian mission in service to others. 

The alumni association has established a volunteer site for the Winona area at the CSTea House, 357 Gould St.

The CSTea House is the home of the College of Saint Teresa Alumnae Association. It is located next to Lourdes Hall and adjacent to the Chapel of the Angels and the Alverna Center. Fifteen volunteers are needed from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to organize and clean the basement.

Sites have also been confirmed in the Chicago, Twin Cities, Saint Louis and Denver, Colo., areas. Alumni who reside outside these locations have been encouraged to arrange their own service project(s).  A record number of 150 alumni volunteers have already registered.

For more information go to:  www.mysmumn.org/LDOS13.

Alumnus returns to SMU for exhibit titled ‘Excessibility’

Las Vegas artist and 1994 Saint Mary’s alumnus Todd VonBastiaans — along with friend and colleague Bryan McCarthy — are curating the Saint Mary’s University exhibit, “Excessibility.”

The show, which depicts luxury and celebrity accessibility is subtitled, “Access 2 Excess” and features works from 1939 to 2013, including Banksy, Ed Ruscha, Sol Lewitt and Andy Warhol. VonBastiaans and McCarthy are also displaying their new pancake pillows.

“Excessibility” will run through Nov. 10 in the Lillian Davis Hogan Galleries, located in the Toner Student Center.

Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, and the show is free and open to the public.

Witness for Peace speaker on campus Oct. 22

A Witness for Peace speaker, Francisco Cerezo, will speak about “Lessons from the Mexican Human Rights Organization Comité Cerezo” 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, in the Common Room. The departments involved in hosting the event are Modern/Classical Languages, the First- Generation Initiative, the Political Science Department, and the Peace and Justice Club.

Francisco Cerezo will travel from Mexico City, where he has 11 years of experience fighting for the freedom of political prisoners. He is a founding member of Comité Cerezo.

Hear how U.S. drug war policies, gun laws and military aid are connected to increased violence, militarization, and political repression in Mexico over the last decade and what we can do to support sustainable peace and justice in Mexico.

Special Halloween ‘Boo-fet’ and costume contest is Oct. 31

The 2009 winners followed the yellow brick road!

Start planning your spooktacular Halloween costume now; get your office or department together and vie for the highly coveted traveling Halloween contest trophy. The last costume contest winners, the Business Office, aren’t going to give it up easily!

This is the SMU Volunteer Committee’s first “Let’s Do Lunch” potluck/fundraiser.

This year’s winner will be able to direct their $500 winnings to their choice of the following worthy causes: Winona Food Shelf, scholarships at SMU, SMU in Jamaica, Habitat for Humanity, the First-Generation Initiative or the Red Cross.

The lunch, hosted by the Student Success Center and I.T., will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, in the Common Room. All faculty and staff are welcome!

It’ll be a frightfully good time; ghoul be glad you came!

Blue Angel is Nov. 1-2

The Brothers of Phi Mu Alpha cordially invite members of the faculty and staff to Blue Angel    2013. This year’s performances are Friday, Nov. 1, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 2 at 7 and 10 p.m. You may receive a complimentary ticket to the show of your choice by contacting Bob Fisher at Ext. 6658 or rfisher@smumn.edu.

Flu shots available Tuesday

In coordination with Health Partners and Homeland Health Specialists, Saint Mary's University will again be offering a flu shot clinic on campus from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Oct. 22 in Saint Mary’s Room 115.

Lawing to display work in Decorah, Winona

“Elegant Decay,”new work by Preston Lawing of the Art and Design Department, is on display at the ArtHaus Gallery in Decorah, Iowa. This exhibition moves to Winona with an opening reception Nov. 5 at the Lyon Smith Gallery, 199 E. 3rd St.

SMU ‘In the News’

Here are some ways Saint Mary’s is making the news this week:

• Thursday’s Winona Daily News featured a story titled, “Winona colleges above the curve when it comes to loan defaults” — http://bit.ly/19Miojh

• Thursday’s Winona Daily News also ran a story titled, “Caravan of performers to stop in Winona on Friday” — http://bit.ly/17vSMF3

• The Winona Post, on Oct. 13, ran a release titled, “Saint Mary’s and U of M offer dual degree programs in chemistry, physics and engineering."

• Thursday’s Winona Daily News featured an article about Jamison Rusthoven, men’s basketball coach, in “Creating a Culture” — http://bit.ly/1cTI8zb

Conservatory, Marine Art Museum partner for jazz

The Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts is hosting a special music division event in partnership with the Minnesota Marine Art Museum at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23.

Enjoy an evening of jazz inspired by artwork on display at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Dr. Walk through the museum and enjoy the various pieces of art from various time periods before listening to the Jazz Combos’ interpretations of them.

Michener publishes pieces

Christian Michener’s (English and Lasallian Honors) short story, “Ordinary Ghosts,” recently appeared in the literary magazine Image: Art, Faith, Mystery, and his essay on Caribbean poet Derek Walcott, “Uncertainty and Artistry: The Word and Words in Derek Walcott's Midsummer,” appears in The Midwest Quarterly. Michener’s poem, “The First Chapter in the Book of Squares,” was one of 20 works by local writers chosen to be given to artists as a way to inspire original works of painting or sculpture.  The artworks and their accompanying poems will be on display through the fall in La Crosse.

DeNotto publishes article

Mike DeNotto, instructional services librarian, had an article titled “QSL Cards: Archival Instruction with Radio Station Records at Denison University” published in The Ohio Archivist. The article is based on his work from his previous position at Denison University. The article discusses his digitization of radio- related archival material, archival instruction, the curricular impact of archives, and utilizing social media to enhance discoverability and interactivity with archival holdings. The article can be found at http://bit.ly/1fFYpIW.

Taste of Saudi Arabia is today

The Saint Mary’s community is invited to enjoy a “Taste of Saudi Arabia” from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. today, Friday, Oct. 18, in the Heights.

Arabic food, entertainment, music, and much  more is planned.

A freewill donation to help rebuild the Winona mosque that was destroyed by fire will be greatly appreciated.

Special events designed to help guide students

A Majors Fair, led by students for students, is planned for 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, in the Toner Student Center Lounge. This event is geared toward students who are not happy about their majors, are undecided majors, are trying to choose a minor or are just first-year students looking for information.
 
An Undeclared Majors Retreat is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at Hillside Hall. There is no cost to attend, and a free lunch will be provided. This event will help students wondering what they are being called to do, those who are not sure they’re in the right major or those who wonder what major to declare. Students are asked to register by Oct. 31 to student success@smumn.edu, in person at 70 Griffin Hall or by calling Ext. 8737.

Both of these events are part of iPath, a series for the undecided, hosted by the Student Success Center.

Sympathy to Sullivan, Flanagan families

Daniel Sullivan, father and father-in-law of  Kate and Michael Flanagan, died on Friday, Oct. 11. Kate and Mike are retired faculty members, and Kate currently teaches part-­­­time. Also, Daniel’s grandson, Michael Sullivan ’14 currently attends SMU, and alum Karen Sullivan, formerly in admissions, is Daniel's daughter-in-law.

The Saint Mary’s community extends its sympathy to the Sullivan and Flanagan families.