Stiftungsfestivities
Their own team: SJU’s tailgaters
About the ‘fest
Stiftungsfestivities is the unofficial tailgate party of St. John’s University alumni and fans. The first Stiftunfestivities were held in 2001 and the gathering has grown steadily ever since.
Stiftungsfestivities are the brainchild of Johnnie alumni Mike Fahey, a 1975 grad of SJU. You may also know Mike simply as “Johnnie Red”—as football fans around the nation refer to him. He has taken his traveling tailgate party to stadiums across the MIAC as well as such exotic locations as Pella, Iowa; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and the granddaddy of them all—Salem, Virginia.
The origins of the difficult-to-pronounce name come from a celebration in Mike’s boyhood hometown of Norwood-Young America. The Stiftungsfest, which is the oldest celebration in Minnesota, dates to 1861. At this celebration there is a specially seasoned ground beef patty. Mike has an arrangement with a local meat market, Mackenthun & Wischnack Meats, to supply him with burgers made with this secret recipe to serve at the tailgate party.
Mike is a very warm and inviting person who loves to give back to the St. John’s community. Many people may feel that it would be intrusive to join this party without a personal invitation. All that is asked of you is to donate a food item to share—in a potluck church basement sense of community—or to donate monetarily to help pay for the burgers. Also, please provide your own beverages. Another prerequisite is to be respectful of property and to other guests in attendance. Mike always has an open invitation to fans from visiting schools to join the tailgate party. This is also a very family-friendly tailgate party with a wide range of children joining the Johnnie Nation.
The St. John’s alumni association in 2007 has donated a much larger grill for use, as well as a porta-potty to the gathering place, which is located in the Science Center parking lot above the scoreboard in the south end zone of Clemens Stadium.
The tailgate party usually begins around 10:00am on game day and wraps up about 12:45am, so we can all get to our seats in time for kickoff.
Learn more
For more information about the Stiftungsfestivities, visit the [terribly outdated, but slated for improvement] website at stiftungsfestivities.com or read this article from the College Sporting News.
