8 OregonStater.org SUPER FANS! Our story about Oregon State superfans inspired loads of school pride, and we had a great time celebrating the colorful fans featured in it, as well as OSU fandom in general, during Homecoming. The story has also brought more community members into the effort to keep the Dam Flag waving at College GameDay broadcasts. Sign up to help at bit.ly/dam-flag. And when we asked for OSU food memories, boy, did you deliver! We received recollections aplenty and recipes, too. Turn to page 45 to savor the nostalgia. Over two years ago, I randomly met Marvin [featured in “Super Fans!”] at a mall in Oahu, dressed head to toe in Beaver orange. I had to say something, so we chatted for a bit! To see him in the magazine was so fun! Go Beaver superfans! —ANDREA NITTA, VIA LINKEDIN I honestly think this issue with superfans of OSU was the best issue ever. Other schools cater only to multi-millionaire or billionaire alumni. That is totally wrong and against the mission of a public university. I thank OSU for being the people’s university. Much mahalo for highlighting the hardworking alums of OSU without a billion dollars to donate. Go Beavs! —MARVIN YONAMINE, ’87 Susan Mayer Schmidt [featured in “Super Fans!”] and I were girlhood friends in Lebanon, Oregon, living a few blocks from each other. Her Oregon connections go way back. Her mother was my high school typing teacher — providing me with a skill that furthered my career more than any other I learned in school. Her father was a Lebanon entrepreneur, high school class president (class of 1930), and my father’s best childhood friend. Susan’s grandparents and my grandparents were nextdoor neighbors. Susan’s grandfather Joel Mayer founded the first bank in Lebanon. Both our families lived on the Lebanon canal, and during summers we often dove in from Mayer’s back yard and floated down to our backyard, where we’d continue to play in the water for hours. I and many of our Lebanon friends are tickled to see Susan and her collection featured in the Oregon Stater. — WARRENE (BEYMER) GILL, ’65 Just wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed the Fall issue of the Stater! Loved Scholle McFarland’s piece on Beaver superfans! She nailed that one — great picks to feature! Kip Carlson’s piece on the transformation of college athletics in this NIL-portal world was also excellent. L E T T E R S
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