A hope for the future

New years is all about celebrations, perhaps a libation or two, and a leaving last year behind. One tradition my family and friends have is at midnight we burn the past year's calendar. As the ashes waft away we let go of the worries, appointments, angst and bad mojo from the past year. It's also a chance to chuckle over the annual Dad's camping trip, summer vacation in Door County with dear, dear friends and remind my husband this year we will be married 21 years. It is our way of making a new start each year.

The new building for the School of Human Ecology is in many ways a new and fresh start. Rooms are clean, carpets are new and the tile is polished to a bright sheen. There are no marks to cover, no leaking ceilings in the Textile Collection and no stains to clean. A new crop of freshmen will start this fall and their experience will only be in the new building.

Tucked quietly away in a secret location is a lucky talisman - the shovel given to Dean Douthitt by the board of visitors in 2004 to mark the Centennial and start the public phase of the building campaign. For more than seven years Robin has been toting this shovel to meetings and events, gathering signatures from donors, friends and allies. It reads like a "who's who." The initial thought was the shovel should be used at groundbreaking but there were more friends who had to sign it with inspiring wishes - it was hard to stop the momentum.

The shovel has been sealed up somewhere in the building and when the School is ready for another expansion, perhaps this artifact will be discovered.

There are only two people who know where it lives - Eric Plumer of JP Cullen (our contractor who personally placed it) and me. Eric is solid as a rock - he'll never tell. And there aren't enough cosmos in the world to make me talk.

But please, if anyone wants to try just give me a call -

Cheers!