Greetings Witt Nation! This is Ashley Petersen, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations and former 'roadie.' I am just meeting up with crew here in Jackson, WY., and it has been an amazing time already. We arrived in Jackson on Monday and have been soaking up every bit of the lifestyle that we can. Due to the limited alumni base in the area we stayed with a friend of mine from high school, Alex, and his roommate, Jedd. When we arrived Alex took us floating down a creek on inner tubes. The mini rapids combined with the view made floating just the right mix of exciting and relaxing (even if the water was freezing!). That night we took a dip in Alex’s hot tub, grabbed pizza and headed to bed. Yesterday we woke up and headed to our event at Betty Rock Café. We had the pleasure of meeting Lynda Ochs ’66, her husband Don, and Andy Tyson ’91. We quickly realized that Lynda was a Chi Omega just like Ashley and me. It was great talking to her about how different campus was back in the 60’s. Andy gave us some interesting info about Wyoming telling us a little about his company, Creative Energies, and the use of alternative energy sources. There is a big push among students and faculty at Wittenberg to become more environmentally aware. It was great to hear that Andy was so knowledgeable and willing to help out with efforts on campus. When we got back to Alex’s from lunch, he was packed and ready to take us on a hike in Grand Teton National Park. While we were a little nervous about hiking in “Death Canyon” and carrying bear repellent, we trusted our guide. Within five minutes of hiking, a moose and her calf were 30 feet from us on the trail (apparently this situation can be more dangerous than seeing a bear). We had to wait a while for the moose to get away from the path before we could pass and took a few pictures in the meantime. The view on the hike was like nothing I have ever seen. We hiked down to Phelps Lake and spent a few hours hanging out on “the rock,” listening to music and jumping off the 30-foot drop into the water. It was also freezing but the view made it totally worth it. Ben compared the scenery to something out of a Bob Ross painting, and we all agreed. After returning from the hike we took a tour of the Four Seasons Resort where Alex and Jedd work. It was incredibly impressive and definitely worth checking out if you are looking to vacation out West! As we drive out of Jackson through Yellowstone (or as Manson likes to call it, Jellystone) National Park, I can’t help but wonder how it gets much better than this.
Click this link to see the pictures from The Badlands to Jackson!
We woke up yesterday morning with a 9 hour drive ahead of us, the first "real" long stretch to our trip. The roads of Minnesota and South Dakota were calling our names as we started up the van early. We vowed that we would get the true road trip experience out of this 500 and something mile stretch... we would stop anywhere that sounded interesting. So, naturally, the Corn Palace was our first stop. Corn Palace... pretty self-explanatory, a palace made out of corn, but the architecture was truly fascinating. My favorite part of the corn palace had to be the picture (made out of corn of course) of Abraham Lincoln on the side of the palace, the detail was incredible. Next stop somewhere over 100 miles down the road... The Badlands. I have to admit we had no idea what the "Badlands" actually consisted of, but we knew we had to go there. We were pleasantly surprised by the incredible and breath-taking scenery. I was slightly disturbed by the "Watch for Rattlesnakes" signs and Ben's fetish wish seeing how close he could pose to the edge... but after my heart stopped beating 1000 mph I was able the enjoy and appreciate the Badlands... such a cool experience. Then just a few miles down the road is where we found our Last stop of the day. After the build up of about 300 road signs, we found ourselves at Wall Drug... land of the T-rex, 5 cent coffee, and $2 hats...a hot hit on the Fourth of July. All and all it was a great road trip day. Tomorrow we're stopping at Mount Rushmore and then starting our journey across the great state of Wyoming. Can't wait!!!
some of our fondest memories at Witt, and I had many volunteers tell their stories on camera, which was awesome! It was great to be able to engage with alumni from the Minneapolis area. It was easy to see how passionate this group is about Wittenberg. After the event last night, we were able to catch the fireworks from a bridge overlooking the Taste of Minnesota, which was a great way to start off the fourth of July weekend. We then hit up a few more of the local sights around the fun city of St. Paul. We would like to thank all of you for coming out last night! We were able to have engaging conversations in a smaller group setting. One of my favorite parts of the Witt Nation thus far is meeting alumni and hearing all their Wittenberg Stories. Every alumnus has a special story about how Wittenberg molded him or her into the people they are today. We would like to thank Dana Reamsnyder '09 and her family for hosting us at their beautiful home! Thanks also to Gina for moving my "grungy" laundry from the washer to the dryer! Be sure to check out the pictures and video stories from Minneapolis and all the other stops around the country!
Our trip from Chicago to Milwaukee was awesome! We began our journey with a stop at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI., to meet the Cruzin' with Carthage crew - a college road crew doing a road trip similar to ours. They took us to lunch in their central dinning room and showed us their beautiful campus. The campus is located right on Lake Michigan. It's an absolutely gorgeous view, I have to admit I'm slightly jealous. We enlightened them with some inside pointers (because Witt Nation is the original college road trip), wished them safe travels and hit the road. It really is incredible how so many colleges are adopting the Witt Nation idea. We are happy to share the Wittenberg Light, and feel honored to be able to get to meet with the crews to supply them with some road guidance.
out for their patient teachers. I believe I accomplished this by chasing them on the playground. Yesterday the crew had a chance to explore the windy city and spend time with friends and family. Our family friend Lisa and her two great daughters showed Ryan and I around the city and made great recommendations for food at the Taste of Chicago. We had everything from deep-dish pizza to chocolate covered bananas. It was such a nice way to sample Chicago's finest restaurants. Our event last night was very successful at the former IBM building. It was great capturing alumni profiles with the famous Chicago Theatre as a backdrop. After the event we got an invitation to Sushi Samba by the manager Adam Feichter (ATR), a 2003 graduate. We would like to thank him for his hospitality! After Sushi Samba we hit the Roof, another bar in downtown Chicago. Now were off to Carthage College on our way to Milwaukee!
The link to 
Hey What's up Tiger World!!!!!!!! Last night's event was a true blast at Victory Field in Indy. We had a an amazing turnout as several Witt alums gathered to take in great food, old friends and a great American pasttime, a night pro baseball game. I really enjoyed myself meeting old Tigers and hearing great stories from the past. We really lucked up it was Monday Dollar night at the game so it was dollar popcorn, hotdogs and cracker jacks!!!! Talk about stimulating the economy!!!!!! I even got to show some old Tigers the "Johnny Apple Seed" dance!!!! The game was really cool. It really allowed me think back to my days of playing baseball and what it could have been. But, oh well (That moment didn't last long). We're now headed to Chi-town home of Da Bears, Da Bulls, Da Cubs, 23 and Ditka!!!! Looking forward to our event at the Hull House, where we'll be conductiing our service event of our leg of the trip. There, we'll be working with and tutoring kids from the Chicago area. This should be fun, because you know Ryan love's the kids!!!!!!! Until Next time Tigers!!! Don't sleep, just take a nap!!!!!!!!!
Not only did alumni devour some delicious ice cream, but a good number of prospective students and families came out to join in the festivities at the Cincinnati Graeter's Witt Nation event. Who better to hear the Wittenberg story from than current students and alumnae? There were some tough choices to make as I approached the counter. I decided to ditch the safe route of strawberry for a scoop of black raspberry chocolate chip. It was the best decision of the day, besides meeting Todd Gailar ’96. By chance Todd had met with my dad about a week prior to the Witt Nation event, without knowing that I had attended Wittenberg. Todd had mentioned to my father that he was a Witt grad and immediately they had a twenty to thirty minute conversation about Todd’s experience with Wittenberg, and my father shared his thoughts on my experiences at Witt. Luckily, my dad exchanged our information and we were able to meet at the Cincinnati event. It just goes to show that there are great Witt grads AND families everywhere!
We are officially on the road and had a sweet start to our 33 day tour with Ice Cream in Cincinnati! Thanks to our sponsors Chip and Debbie Graeter, almost 100 attendee's enjoyed over 20 different flavors of ice cream at the West Chester Graeter's. Today's event was not only great, it was also fun and relaxing; the most stressful situation of the day was trying to decide between strawberry chip and cookies n' cream. I chose cookies n' cream but had a bite of the strawberry chip, both were equally delicious. Well, I have a story I think all of you Wittenberger's out there will enjoy. As we were setting up for the event a father and his three-year-old son were sitting at a table beside us. In the midst of small talk we discovered he was a Denison grad... Well, he walked up to the counter to order an ice cream, trustfully leaving his son in our presence. In a mere two minutes we slyly convinced the boy to say "Daddy, I want to go to Wittenberg!" As soon as his father returned, with only a small reminder, he very cutely regurgitated our line. His father responded with "Traitor!" Well, Wittenberg you should all know that we are starting to recruit early, after today we have a great class lined up for 2023 and also 2028. Wittenberg's future is looking bright. Thank you Cincinnati!
We have just a few days before we leave on the journey across the states. Ashley and I, and the rest of the crew are so excited to get going! We had a great test drive event in Pittsburgh following the successful Springfield event. These events made me even more prepared and excited for the tour! I've already met many fantastic alumni and have heard some hilarious stories, some of which are in the video clips on the site. We are wrapping up last minute tasks in the next few days (like remembering name tags) and I should probably start packing my bag.... Eh I'll wait until Saturday to do that (I thrive under pressure). The test drive gave me time to learn about some of Ashley's quirks like saying perfect after everything (even if things are far from perfect) and I think my habit of throwing Witt in front of everything--WittStore, WittEvent, WittHouse--is starting to catch on... It will spread across the WittNation! I hope everyone is ready for us to come to your city or a city near you, because we are officially on WittTurbo mode! See you soon!
After just one incredible weekend we have already engaged over 100 alumni, friends and students, gathered several stories, made wonderful friends, and in the mean time we only broke one tent and forgot the name tags for one city. One for one, so, I would say we are off to a great start! 
I am returning from the Witt Nation stop in Pittsburgh. We had a great time at the Liefeld’s meeting and reconnecting with alums. Breakfast at Nadine’s on the south side of Pittsburgh, featured on Food Network’s “Diners, Dives and Drive-ins”, was quite an experience. Good food and conversation with the York College Spartanation crew, running their pilot summer tour similar to Witt Nation. With permission, we left a Witt Nation sticker on the window of Nadine’s…..look for it if you are ever there. It has been a great time with Linda, Ashley, and Ben. I am sold on Witt Nation and will possibly be able to come to other events this summer. I am definitely a re-up for next summer. 
Ralph Lauren was a no show, however, on the beautiful grounds of the Polo Club, WittFREE managed to ignite the crowd as Witt Nation 2009 kicked off the tour with a TGIF party. During set-up, with the wind whipping (only lost 1 Ez-Up), and the weather questionable, the clouds cleared and the sun came out to welcome alumni, friends, and guests as they listened to the faculty band play and the Witt Nation crew discuss their plans to cross the country. The Witt Nation van was on display, corn hole bean bags were flying, videos were recorded, and the alumni were excited to be part of the best thing since Ezra Keller galloped off on his first fundraising quest to gather periodicals for the library.
