One of our favorite things at Badger Insider is hearing stories from our readers, and we’ve started to notice that most of our interactions with you contain a wish to return to Madison or a happy memory about a beloved place on campus. Get ready to feel the nostalgia … and to start planning your next trip to campus!
RE Wisconsin
Which place do you wish you could see again?
Your dorm room
As the first residents in Zoe Bayliss, the co-op dorm, we were required to paint the concrete block walls. I would love to see if the original coat of paint held up, and to check out the hallway to see if the phone is still on the wall where many misguided messages were received. The favorite one was, “Fred is on the phone for you,” and the caller would pretend to be E. B. Fred, the former president of the university. Yep, we always fell for it.
Gayle Williams Langer ’83
Madison
I have never been back to my old dorm room: 764 Sellery A Tower. I’d love to see it again. I suspect it is much smaller than I remember.
Marybeth Heydt ’86
Pasadena, California
The dorm was brand new at the time (1960), and I wonder what it looks like today, 57 years later.
Marlene Toebe Dramm ’64
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Your off-campus apartment
They were 4801 Sheboygan Avenue, 2302 Allied Drive, and 1025 W. Badger Road, as I recall. It’s been half a century, but the memories are surprisingly fresh. Aren’t neurons great?!
Diane de Harter ’68
Palm City, Florida
Many pivotal life moments and decisions happened in my first apartment — some of which I would love to revisit, and others I’d like to rewrite!
Christine Scholz Greger ’97
Madison
I would only go to see if the place was as small and cramped as it was when I lived there, and to see if the bathroom across the hall was still shared with another apartment!
Barbara Cieslewicz Kwasney ’75
Fort Myers, Florida
Your favorite lecture hall
Greek and Latin Roots of Medical Terms, taught by Professor Howe on Tuesday and Thursday at 7:45 a.m. in the [Sewell] Social Sciences building’s lecture hall. Dr. Howe inspired and taught me so much about vocabulary for my future career in nursing. I still have that textbook and recall fondly those mornings that I eagerly got up for his lectures. Thank you, Dr. Howe!
Dorinda Cartier ’72
Fremont, Wisconsin
The lecture halls in the old buildings such as Agriculture and Bascom Halls smelled like chalk. It takes me right back! I’m sure most have been replaced with whiteboards, but I’d sit in on any lecture that still utilized a chalkboard!
Kathryn Kellogg Basco ’83
Downers Grove, Illinois
Your favorite restaurant or bar
Jingles Stadium Bar! I was so sad to hear it was demolished! …We ate there, drank there, played cards there, threw darts there, and spent many hours just socializing. We spent so much time there that we were on a first-name basis with Jingles and his son, Mike. And if you spent enough time there, you knew you could ask for a frozen Snickers or for cherry flavoring in a pop if you wanted!
Susan Leuck Reyes ’85
Richardson, Texas
My parents, Albert and Mary Schiro, owned the Grotto Restaurant and Flamingo Bar for more than three decades. I worked my way through undergraduate school there; many friends, sorority sisters, and fraternity pals either waitressed or tended bar there, too. Today it is in its third local ownership as the City Bar. I love to stop by when I can. A picture of my parents still hangs on the wall after all these years.
Domenica Schiro ’72
Middleton, Wisconsin
Remember the Manor? That little downstairs bar in the Kennedy Manor at the top of Langdon Street was a wonderful spot for a gathering with friends. In fact, we had a mini sorority reunion in the seventies and met there to reminisce.
Su Hilty ’69
New York City
Your favorite library
Helen C. White Library. Where else can one sit in an overstuffed chair and read in a studious atmosphere next to a wall of glass opening to the incredible view of Lake Mendota? The color of ice boats in winter, sailboats in summer, sunsets, and storms. Nod off for a time. Reawaken refreshed, and read on.
Steven Rittenmeyer ’74
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
I always found myself most productive in the Memorial Library cages. It was my get-away hiding place when I needed to isolate myself from all the fun things Madison offered and get schoolwork done.
Ryan Zaloom ’15
Minneapolis
Other
I’d love to see the North Hall office of the gracious, caring Dean Grace Douma Shaw MA’50, who tactfully suggested at the end of my freshman year that I might be more successful at a smaller, less competitive campus. I gave her a couple of years to reconsider while I went on tour with Uncle Sam, then returned here to prove to her that I could cut it. That great woman changed my life. Grace, if you’re out there somewhere, thank you.
