Alumni Connection
Spotlight on
the Lunch Bunch
Michael Murray ’01
;
Wayne Hergott ’57
I
t was 2009, and Wayne Hergott ’57 had been planning to gather his Johnnie contemporaries together for quite a while. He just hadn’t gotten around to it. Then, in October, classmate Jim Lehman ’56 died. Hergott got right on the phone to Don Coy ’54, Leroy Lilly ’55, Bill Sexton ’55 and Tom White ’57, and two weeks later they met for lunch. They decided to meet regularly, invite others, and the Lunch Bunch was born. Today, more than 30 Johnnies strong, the group meets monthly at the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park, Minn. There’s more than food on the bill of fare. A typical gathering also includes: • Self-introductions of new members • A brief spiritual message from Hergott, who, after retiring as a trial attorney, earned an MA in theology and “I love the gatherings of the Lunch worked at a Jesuit spirituality center Bunch because they are timely, alive, • A featured speaker
varied, and I get to hear how much
Hergott started the lunches to the stories have changed in 60 years— reconnect with Johnnies of his era whom he like the one about the cow on 3rd liked and respected, he says, but it’s Mary. Every Johnnie’s heard some gone beyond that now to include new version of it, but I know the real story. Johnnie friendships. I saw it!” —Don Coy ’54 He cites just one example of how meaningful it’s become. “After our group debated the question of how we might influence young people, one of our lunch regulars sent me this note: ‘After 75 plus years, I have learned it is best, for me anyway, to live my own life according to my values and beliefs, letting my actions, not my voice, speak for my beliefs, at least most of the time. I may be naïve and a bit presumptive, but I have great relationships with all of our children and grandchildren, even those who might disagree with me.’ I benefit by hanging around people like him, and I carry his email in my billfold,” says Hergott.
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Favorite Menu Item Featured speakers are a popular part of the Lunch Bunch gatherings. Past speakers have included John Coy ’80, Abbot John Klassen ’71, OSB, President Michael Hemesath ’81, head football coach Gary Fasching ’81, Professor Annette Atkins and MPR Editor-at-Large Gary Eichten ’69. Speakers on deck for the future include Larry McGough (whose construction company built the Abbey Church), Jesuit priest Fr. Larry Gillick, head hockey coach Doug Schuller, Fr. Tim Backous ’76, OSB, and Give Us this Day editor Mary Stommes. To learn more about joining the Lunch Bunch, email Wayne Hergott at hergiew@comcast.net.