It’s why they call me “Johnnie Tats”!
This Saturday is the 2008 edition of Homecoming for SJU and its unrivaled Nation! For many Johnnies this weekend’s events mark a reunion year and therefore an even greater reason to make the trip to our beloved Collegeville. It’s time to celebrate being a Johnnie and remember all of those great times you had while at SJU and the even greater people one met while at SJU. Or you can be as amazed as I am that is has been this many years since we graduated from SJU and were “forced” to leave Collegeville! Because let’s be honest…who wouldn’t want to turn back the hands of time and be back at SJU and enjoy all that it has to offer?
For me and my Johnnie buddies, 2008 marks our 20th reunion from the place that we consider Heaven on Earth. We will gather to share the stories, trials, tribulations, and other life events that have taken place in the two decades since our graduation in May of 1988. And you know what, after 10–15 minutes all of the years will melt away and we will easily fall back into using the same nicknames and such with each other; we will reminisce about the “crazy” ideas and things we did some 20 years ago (which at the time seemed to make sense but with hindsight now seem to be not bright at all); we will remember when many of us met our spouses (The LA, Sal’s, the Library, and so on); we will recall how classes and homework seemed to always get in the way of our social calendars; and of course we will recall, once we have set foot in the 56321 zip code once again, why we are so pleased that we made the choice to come to SJU and become not only a student and then Alumni, but to become once and forever a JOHNNIE!
In addition this Saturday the 27th is also very special to me as it marks my daughter Erin’s 11th birthday. Yes, my Erin was born on a Saturday in 1997 (which was the last time the Tommies beat the Johnnies) and thus the countdown to her first day at CSB started in the Hacker Family. And while this day will always be one that I never forget, like all who are parents, my daughter knows that NOTHING—and I mean NOTHING—comes between her Dad, Opa and all that is SJU! So, this weekend while Erin enjoys her special day (at her dance line competition practice, running errands, texting her friends, and her family B-day dinner event) she knows that her dad will be at the one place on this Earth that he and her grandfather consider the most sacred of grounds. And of course I will be calling her with updates during the game in case she missed some of it on the radio feed that we listen to when we cannot make it to Collegeville. When these conflicting dates were discovered my future Bennie said; “Daddy, even though it’s my birthday I know how special St. John’s and St. Ben’s are and you should really go to your reunion”. Now, is that a true Johnnie/Bennie offspring or what?
So, I say to all in a Nation that is unrivaled in its passion, dedication, appreciation and love of this place we call Collegeville: Enjoy Homecoming 2008. Let’s be loud and proud in our support of the Johnnies as they battle the Gusties. Take a moment or two and simply absorb the sights, smells and sounds of an Autumn Football Saturday at St. John’s.
To my fellow Johnnie/Bennie classmates of 1988 I say thank you for making the four years we spent at CSB/SJU simply the best years of my life.
And to my ever so special and only child I say…Erin, Happy 11th birthday, sweetheart! Your Mother, Father and Opa (Col. Retired H.F. Hacker SJU ’62) are so proud of you and we love you so much young lady we will cherish the day when you make your way to St. Ben’s and continue our Family tradition at CSB/SJU!
HOMECOMING 2008…ITS TIME TO JOHNNIE UP ONE AND ALL!
