We headed out of DC pretty early, sans coffee. That is always trouble for the two of us! We finally got some coffee at a pretty off-the-beaten-path gas station, along with breakfast biscuits (tasty but not so healthy; turns out they are made in Ohio!). Not a bad morning, in all – the sun was shining and we were ready for a twofer; lunch in Philly and nighttime cocktails in New York. Jill (the GPS unit) was fed our Philly location and we were off!
Except that we were clearly headed deep into the city; apparently there is a Valley Forge street in North Philly. Oops. Matt took over driving for a tired Ashley and we pointed north to the suburbs, where we arrived right at the scheduled time.
We had a really nice turnout of recent and older alums at Valley Forge pizza. Michael reconnected with Lindsey Short ’08, who will be back at Wittenberg in the fall to run a study in his lab – it is funny how these academic connections can last past the tenure of a student! We had lunch with Lamar Kilgore ‘55 and his partner Pat, who were delightful. Lamar told stories about being adopted by the class of ’56, about his design of Pat’s shoes (please see the video!), and about coming to a new life passion at the intersection of animal rights/welfare and peace studies.
The drive to New York was uneventful, but there was a lot of traffic. Ben steered us in the right direction, and we headed to unload at the apartment of Jon Stewart ’06. Michael’s former student Bekah Stewart ’08 was there and it was fun catching up.
The beginning of the New York event was two parties in one; Pier 66 was really full, we had no guaranteed seating, and we quickly split into two groups – one to meet people and redirect to a new location (Chelsea Brewing) and one to stay and meet people who were already in the large crowd. While we were still at Pier 66, Mike Falcone ’01 regaled us with stories, and told us about his brief appearance in an upcoming Tucker Max film.  Then we all came together at Chelsea.
What fun! Wittenberg graduates are strikingly easy to talk to, on such a variety of subjects. Michael spoke to James Horst ’99 quite a bit – he was really clear on how John Ritter’s classes shaped him.  Heather, Lauren, and Kelly Eggers ‘09 spent the better part of an hour knee-deep in conversation discussing the value of media analysis and interdisciplinary work!
We had to get to the airport for our plane trip home, so we gathered our stuff from Jon’s and cabbed it over to the LaGuardia area around 1:30 am.  A late night snack of, what else, Domino’s pizza, and then time for some much-needed rest.
Back home in Ohio, our garden is overgrown after only a few days away, and we’re missing WittNation already!

- Michael and Heather

Our last stop couldn't have gone any better! Although Ashley and I were exhausted from 33 days on the road, the alumni, family and friends energized us for the last stop on Witt Nation 2009! We had WittFREE rockin' the house down while over 100 alumni gathered in the upstairs bar. It was great to see so many familiar faces in my hometown! It was a great mix of younger and older alumni, each person with their own Wittenberg story. Everyone seemed willing to talk to the camera, and I was able to capture about 12 stories for the site! It's back to the real world for me as I rush to find a place to live in Springfield.

I'm really excited to start working full-time for the university giving back for the fantastic four years I had at Witt. I think I might sleep for a straight week as I spend time with my family on Lake Erie. I cannot express how great of an experience Witt Nation was for me. I feel like Ashley and I met so many great alumni and friends of the university. I can honestly say that every city we visited was an adventure and an absolute blast. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I will never forget. Thank you so much for all your support! Come back and visit soon. It would be great to see you!

Ben

Columbus Day 2!

After spending a couple days on, the relaxing, Jersey Shore, we headed down to Cleveland, our biggest Witt Nation event thus far. The Yacht Cub was a great place to have drinks, food, and meet up with the great Cleveland crowd. I set up my “studio” overlooking the boats and canal leading to the lake, which provided a great backdrop for all of the video profiles. I was able to film a group of alumni that made up most of the fraternities and sororities on campus. They recounted funny stories about pulling pranks on one another and still maintaining friendships despite living in separate houses.

I was able to interview three generations of the Uhle family and hear how Wittenberg has impacted each of their lives. It was great to see friends reconnect after many years of time apart. After conversing with and filming the rest of the profiles in Cleveland, we headed out with a few alumni to a local bar. It was there that I had the chance to talk to Paige and Ace, members of the class of ’95.

After an eventful night, we headed to the home of Matt ’09 and Liam ’12 McDonald. After getting some much needed rest, we made our way to the Akron event at the Barley House. It was a fun happy hour before the Akron Aeros’ game. It was great to hear from Ed Wittenberg ’78, who a year prior was interviewed by the Witt Nation crew. We caught up, and he kept the funny Wittenberg stories coming most of the night. It was nice to meet the Dyer family and reconnect with friends like Lindsay Smith ‘08.

After the Barley house, many alumni showed their support for the Aeros and in good timing too, just missing the three-hour rainfall. We, then, packed up after another great event and headed to the home of Anne Davies Davis ‘76. She opened her home to us and treated us to a hearty breakfast this morning. We're now on our way to Columbus, where we’ll connect with more alumni. See you there!

-Ben McCombs '09

Cleveland

 
Akron

We had been thinking about this trip since December, when Linda Beals first told us Wittnation II was in the works during a Christmas party. We were so excited to get started, and our excitement was well founded! How could we fail to have a great time?   

On Thursday morning we met up with Lauren Welch and Matt McDonald outside Bayley Alumni House – the four of us were a team of replacements headed to DC. Lauren and Matt were joining for the rest of the tour. When we heard that Matt was on his way to meet us via his longboard, we thought he would be light on luggage – as it turns out, he just has excellent balance!  Together with Ashley and Ben we would be a powerful force of six for three nights on the road.

Traveling was a breeze, musical tastes synched easily with much Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd played (insert the required “this generation is gonna be OK comment” here), and some veggies brought from our garden made for healthy snacks on the road.  Peggy Tighe ’81 was our host in D.C. We arrived amidst a lively party for Strategic Healthcare at the townhouse - an auspicious beginning! After a few hours settling in with Taylor, Matt, Lauren, Ashley and Ben (and Brad Folta ’10 and BreAnna Kimble ’10) we called it a night.

Friday night at the Hill location was the main event, and a wonderful evening ensued! Peggy wore the mascot suit and told hilarious stories! The townhouse was filled with Wittenbergers (alums, parents, current students, new students) and the party easily overflowed onto the lovely brick patio in the back. Rest assured the DC group bleeds Wittenberg red; we had incredibly stimulating conversations with so many people. Given the location and the expertise and experience of all the attendees, I’m sure we had potential solutions to many of the world’s challenges, but where are tape recorders when you need them? We reconnected with Stacy Raustaukus ’98, Ryan Nuss ‘07, Dan Foreman ‘08, Molly Knepper ‘07, and Leigh Hendrix ’08, and met many others for the first time, including Serge Thomas ’98, Hannah Hoffman ’13, and others, having some intense and illuminating conversations.  The evening didn’t wind down until after 1:30 am, and then only because we would be up bright and early to head for Philly!

If you view the videos, you can see that our graduates are involved in some serious work to improve the wider world. Dan, for example, is teaching English in a DC high school, introducing students to novels for the first time. He spoke compellingly of the serious challenges these students face, and very convincingly of his time at Witt in the English department and his love for Mac and Darcy’s classes. Also, Serge is working with the Central Union Mission in DC as a grant writer. The Political Science department was his home at Witt (as with many DC attendees!), and he loved the experience. Just as Witt gave so much to these folks, they are now in positions to pass it on, and they welcome your help at their respective institutions.

A quick night’s sleep later (and we mean really quick, as the night didn’t wear down until laaaaaate), we were on the road at 7:30 am, minus Taylor who drove the minivan back to Witt as we headed out.  Can one be exhausted and energized at the same time? Absolutely!

- Michael and Heather

An early departure from D.C. started what would be a very long but very fun day in WittNation history. We made a quick breakfast stop at a shady gas station, which we all came to the conclusion that every road trip must have a stop at one. The looks of the place didn’t deter us from the breakfast sandwiches, which were amazing. We made it to the Valley Forge Pizza Company about 11:30. About 30 alumni and friends were in attendance. The pizza was great and the conversation was better. This was also the event of pilots. I met two fellow aviators, Carl and Tom. Carl was a 1970 grad who flew privately and worked for British Airways. This was very exciting for me because I happen to be a pilot myself.
After saying our goodbyes to the Philadelphia Crew we were off to New York City, where we were greeted by Hosts Jon '06 and Bekah '08 Stewart, a brother and sister duo who are but two out of six of their family members who have graduated from Wittenberg University. They were very welcoming as we rushed to get things ready for our event at Pier 66.
Upon arriving at Pier 66, we were ready and set to start greeting Alum when we were caught off guard by the crowded, shoulder-to-shoulder location. Thanks to some teamwork and a couple of phone calls, we moved the event down the street to the beautiful Chelsea Pier on Pier 51 off the Hudson River. Alumni were very pleased with the location, and the night turned out better than it could have elsewhere, thanks to the great food and the open space allowing everyone to get acquainted and have a couple of laughs over some drinks.
As the night finished, many of us found ourselves on the deck of Chelsea Pier overlooking the amazing New Jersey Skyline talking about crazy times in the Hollow and our favorite professors. It was defiantly a night to remember.

-Matt McDonald and Lauren Welch

Click here to see the photos and videos from the Philidelphia event! 

Click here to see the photos and videos from the New York event!

The Witt Nation Washington, D.C., event was a success, thanks everyone who participated in the event. One of the moments that stood out most to me was after introductions, I found myself asking Alum, “So when’s the last time you’ve visited Ol’ Witt?” One, to get understanding of what they know and don’t know of our ever-changing campus, and two, out of my own curiosity for how long it’s been since they’ve been able to re-live some old Wittenberg memories and perhaps, create some new ones, as well. Surprising, but not uncommon, for some it’s been years since their return to campus.

I found myself chatting with hostess Peggy Tighe ’88, who, though she had not been back at Witt for some years, expressed her love for her undergraduate days and times as Ezra the Tiger, with such excitement and passion. It was as if she had just paraded around football games as our beloved mascot yesterday. One of the greatest things about Witt Nation is that it brings Wittenberg to the Alum in circumstances where the Alum, for whatever reason, have not been able to make it back to their alma mater.

I am very fortunate to have met the D.C. Alums! In the exciting and lively city of Washington, D.C., our Wittenberg Alums certainly gave the city a run for its money, keeping the stories and laughs coming all night!

Lauren R. Welch

Click this link to see pictures and videos from the D.C. event!

Greetings friends! We are on the way to Kansas City where will stay for the evening before continuing our journey eastward to St. Louis. We all had a great time in Denver getting to see and do a lot during the day and half we were there. 

The first night we met up with Bob and had a late night dinner and a few drinks at a couple spots close to our hotel. We were all really exhausted from the long drive so we crashed as soon as we got back to the hotel. Bob and I got some early morning footage of the Moonlight Classic setup then went to explore the city. I was very impressed with all the public transportation and the use of bikes throughout the city. It really cuts down on traffic and of course is beneficial to the environment. 

Linda picked up Professor Tammy Proctor from the airport, and she will join Ashley and I for a few days until we hit St. Louis. Then a friend of ours, Taylor Hafley, will join us followed by Miguel Martinez-Saenz. We had a great night for the event at the Uptown Tavern. We met some fun alumni and had burgers and dogs as I collected video stories. 

After the Uptown Tavern, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Moonlight Classic bike ride through the city. The bike ride was directed by Scott Olmsted an '04 Witt alumni. We had a blast riding through the streets of Denver! It was a great way to benefit Seniors Inc., and 5,000 bikers rode this year! Scott gave us a shout-out before the race and we went crazy. The 10-mile bike ride went all around the city and we really enjoyed the experience. By the time we got back it was already around 1:30 in the morning, and we were once again exhausted. 

We hit the hay and woke up early this morning to take back our rented bikes. We are now getting close to Kansas City, which will be a nice stopping point before we head to St. Louis in the morning. Thanks to everyone who came out to the happy hour and to Scott for organizing such a great bike event! It was certainly an experience I will never forget. That's it for now. See you in St. Louis!

Ben

Click this link to see the photos and videos from the event!

Click the pictures to see media from the events!

The past few days have been going by really fast. We had a great time in Sonoma at the Williamson's beautiful house before heading to San Francisco for a quick tour of the city. I decided it would be a good idea to longboard across the Golden Gate Bridge, which turned out to be a great decision. After cruising to the other side and getting a quick snapshot of the Witt Nation van we headed into the city. We did manage to find the Full House house, which is NOT by popular belief across from the square.  After getting some quick chowdah' at the wharf, we hopped back in the ride and cruised over to the beautiful home of board member Debbie Miller and her partner Carol Nast. They hosted a really fun event, and I interviewed and met many great alumni from the area. We mingled and had a few drinks and listened to how baffled Debbie was over getting rain the day prior. Sounds like the consistent weather in Ohio...Ok maybe not. After most of the guests left we had a great conversation about the right path for Wittenberg down the road. After trying to get some late night grub, we found the only place open was a frozen yogurt shop. This was definitely the best frozen yogurt I've had! Then the Ashleys decided they needed Taco Bell, so we drove for what seemed like 200 miles to the closest Taco Bell. I was exhausted so I just crashed in the car (I surprisingly for once did not partake in the eating). After returning to the crib we were careful not to let Debbie and Carol's cats out of the house. Debbie was concerned when she didn't see the cats after a few minutes and starting calling for them. We then had a WittCrisis on our hands, as the black cats were nowhere to be found. Young Ashley noticed the window and screen were both open in the kitchen, and Debbie and Carol went on an extreme cat search outside. The crew all sat together hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Luckily after yelling Leia and Luke in a cat-friendly voice for a few minutes, the black cats were found. The WittCrisis was resolved, and we could all sleep soundly. Well we just arrived in San Diego so I best be going. Peace!

Ben

Greetings friends! We're on the road to Portland after a great event in Seattle. Thank you to Paul and Sharon Sausville for letting the road crew stay at your beautiful condo! We got a great taste of the city first starting at the Seattle Storm game. We were honored to have head coach alumni Brian Agler from the class of 1980 speak to us after the game. The attendance at the event was fantastic! We had nearly 50 people show up to the game. After meeting alumni and digging in to the chicken wings and hot dogs, I was able to film 9 alumni profiles. After meeting with Brian, some of our young alumni got a group to grab drinks at a bar near the stadium. We had a blast exchanging Witt memories, and we would like to thank you for coming out with us on a Thursday night!  I know I've said this before, but capturing alumni stories is one of my favorite parts on the Witt Nation tour. I’ve heard hundreds of unique Wittenberg perceptions, and the one common bond they share is the love and passion our alumni have about Witt. It’s refreshing to see the excitement in the eyes of our alumni as they tell their stories.  The goal for the Witt Nation journey is to engage our alumni. I can say without any hesitation that our alumni are excited to get involved. We already have heard groups in several cities talking about getting together in the near future to talk about ways they can help the university. Thanks again for coming to the event. It was great meeting everyone!

Click this link to see the pictures and videos from the event!