My mother, Jean Swenson Grimes ’50, laughingly passed down this story to her family. Mom entered St. Olaf in 1946, just after the end of World War II. She was a first-year student alongside her older brother, Glen Russell Swenson ’50, who had served for four years in the Army Air Corps. My uncle Glen encouraged my mom to try out for the St. Olaf Choir, telling her they needed all kinds of voices, not just solo-quality ones. (Mom had a terrible singing voice). So my mom did just that. She went to the choir tryout and sang a few measures. In her retelling, she said St. Olaf Choir Conductor F. Melius Christiansen “stated just one word.”

What was that one word?

“Next.”

😆