Alpha Tau Omega - University of North Dakota

INDELIBLE MEMORIES Mae's Cookies and Character 6 UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA T he pale and drawn lady waved toward me when I walked into the living room at the ATW house early in the fall of my junior year. It was Homecoming. ere were several people in that esteemed chamber—members, parents, alumni, visitors—most waiting to stroll across campus to the football game's kickoff within an hour. I didn't know her. She was seated across the room in a print dress on the tan, leather sofa that placed along the walls that faced the fireplace. Next to her was our housemother, Mom Broderick, ever stylish in a trim suit, chatting amiably with young men tending over her. Her neighbor waved again. She was smiling. It had to be me. I was standing alone. I walked toward the fireplace. "My God, it's Mae Blomquist!" But another Mae Blomquist, I'm afraid. Mae was in our lives for only two years, 1961 and 1962, but the impression she made on those members who sat down to her roast beef and mashed potatoes before chapter meetings every Monday night was everlasting. Tall and ample of frame, she was unfailingly pleasant and always engaging and attentive. Mae's lunches and dinners were the reasons no ATW ever became homesick because of food served at 3000 University Avenue. e essence of her character went beyond the kitchen, and sometime along the way, owing at least partly to chats with Mae and watching her with others, I realized that the broad influences of college weren't totally in the sphere of professors, coaches and classmates. She and husband Adolf moved from Wisconsin to farm near the Pembina County community of Hamilton in the 1940s. ey had a daughter, Georgia, and moved to Grand Forks in 1954 to buy the Hiway 81 Motel on South Washington Street. Adolf died of cancer in 1961 and Mae was diagnosed with breast cancer before she took over the ATW kitchen, never letting the disease interfere with her work or attachment to the members. "She loved it!" Georgia recently said. "During Hell Week, she hid cookies for the scums so they could have secret treats." Her caramel rolls were held as unparalleled by members, and she oen baked pizza for ATW visitors at her home in Grand Forks. Almost daily, members paused in the kitchen for talk and coffee with Mae. Jay Rickford '61, one of Mae's busboys, recalled that Mae acknowledged their salty yarns with a head shake and a muted chuckle. Only one member irked Mae, recalled those with keen memories. Apparently, a fellow whose academic major wasn't personal hygiene frequently emerged from a basement room next to the kitchen to poke around the fridge and pantry while wearing a filthy yellow bathrobe. Mae, despite uncommon patience, didn't disguise her displeasure. ough Mae was more a cookie maker, she was a matchmaker, too. One of her busboys was the late John Resell '59, who ever more frequently showed up at the Blomquist doorstep on weekends for cookies and coffee, presumably to chat with Mae. Well, perhaps, perhaps not. He and Georgia were married in January 1963. Mae died that spring. She was 57. I was embarrassed and humbled that I didn't recognize Mae that Homecoming day in 1962, not yet familiar with the toll of such illnesses. I had to scrape and shuffle to make amends. Mae was munificent, of course. We chatted until game time. It is one of those moments that is with me forever. Fraternally, Richard Johnson '62 Dakota Student Newspaper: April 30, 1965 Headline: Fraternity Elects 1965-66 Officers Caption: Alpha Tau Omega elected Terry Bradford '64, President; Dick Crockett '63, chaplain; Hank Bodmer '64, Keeper of the Exchequer; Ken Kostka '66, Keeper of the Annals; Neil Jacobson '64, Scribe; Richard Heit '64, Usher; David Iverson '65, Sentinal; Jim Ouradnik '66, Public Relations; and John Isaksen '63, Social Chairman. Note: Many recall that Isaksen's election was unanimous. Under Campus Notes Tom Pierce '64 was shown as having been recently elected as secretary of Golden Feather and the Dave Brubeck '64 Quartet (active from 1951-2012) was listed to perform at the University Center Ballroom on May 19. e Down the Avenue column predicted that someone would start a Butch Belk '61 Fan Club. Oh, and in that same issue, an advertisement by East Side Dairy Queen Former house cook Mae Blomquist with Butch "Spanky" Belk '61 and Larry "Farm" Hanson '60. Read All About Clippings from the April 30, Newspaper and the November

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