SpartanPlates.com

Friends,
I have long believed that one should "go out on top"--- "end on a high note." So today I am announcing that 40 years of annual luncheons is PERFECT. It's time to say, "Job well done."
This comes as no easy--- or quick--- decision for me. Our first luncheon was in 1979. There were just seven of us back then. Today we have 611 members, and we're still growing.
Having Sparty at our 40th annual luncheon was THE BEST! Thanks again to the member (who asked to remain anonymous) for coming up with the idea, and for picking up the hefty tab for Sparty, and for our 40th-Year t-shirts. Thanks too to Dan Medrano for making the arrangements for the Breslin tour. And to David Himelhoch, one of the "original seven," who stayed with us for 40 years! You'd think he would have learned by now--- ha ha.
The Spartan Plates will continue to exist. This website will continue to grow with images of new members' plates. And we will remain connected through our email network. Nothing will change there.
We could not have done these luncheons for 40 years without you. Thank YOU!
All the best,
and GO GREEN.
- Bob Nelson
September 2018

40th year (2018) inside the Jack Breslin Student Events Center, home of MSU men's and women's basketball. We were joined by Sparty! (Can you find him in this photo?)

Our thanks to member Dan Medrano for arranging the tour of Breslin, and to a long-time member and true Spartan (who asked to remain anonymous) for generously providing the cool 40th-year t-shirts and making it possible for Sparty to join us!

39th year (2017) at MSU's Forest Akers Trust Field, directly south of Munn Ice Arena--- used by the MSU Marching Band to practice their intricate Spartan Stadium formations.

Our thanks to member Ryan Latourette for the excellent photo!

38th year (2016) at MSU's IM West outdoor pool.

Our thanks to the MSU Alumni Association for their generous financial support which helped provide tshirts and other door prizes.

37th year (2015) at the new Summer Circle Courtyard, behind the MSU Auditorium. We counted 89 Spartan fans... our largest group ever for lunch!

We were honored to have Dick Thelen join us as our guest speaker. Dick was a sailor aboard the WWII heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) when it was sunk by a Japanese submarine in July 1945, not long after it had delivered to Tinian Island the components of the atomic bomb "Little Boy." He and his shipmates were discovered and rescued 70 years ago today--- after four days of floating in the ocean without food or water. Of the 900 sailors who went into the water, only 317 survived. A remarkable story of courage and survival. (Dick and his son David are seated in the middle, holding our large Spartan Plates sign.)

Our thanks to the MSU Alumni Association for their generous financial support which helped provide tshirts and other door prizes. This year's tshirt featured MSU's four consecutive bowl championships of the 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 football seasons.

36th year (2014) near the Brody Complex cafeteria.

Special thanks to the MSU Alumni Association for their generous financial support which allowed us to make tshirts for today's luncheon... kiwi green with a "Pure Michigan" plate.

35th year (2013) at the Spartan Statue.

Special thanks to the MSU Alumni Association for their generous financial support which allowed us to make tshirts for today's luncheon. The state's new "Pure Michigan" license plate was modified for this year's tshirt.

34th year (2012) at Spartan Stadium. The new high-definition scoreboards at Spartan Stadium were still under construction. We captured history in our photo today! Note the spacing error between the words SPARTAN and STADIUM on the scoreboard. This would be corrected by workers within days of us taking this photo.

Special thanks to the MSU Alumni Association for their generous financial support which allowed us to make tshirts for today's luncheon. When Sparta's King Leonidas was told in 480 BC to lay down his weapons at the battle of Thermopylae, it is said he replied, "Molon Labe" (Greek for, "Come take them!"). This became MSU's unofficial motto in 2011 with much sports-related apparel labelled "Molon Labe."

33rd year (2011) on front steps of Morrill Hall. Morrill Hall is scheduled to be torn down in 2013. Women were first admitted to MSU (then called Michigan Agricultural College) in 1870. This building, originally called the Women's Building, opened in Fall 1900 with dormitory rooms for 120 female students, cooking and sewing laboratories, music rooms, a woodshop, a two-story gymnasium, and a dining room on the third floor. It was later named Morrill Hall in honor of Vermont Senator Justin Smith Morrill who had recently died. Morrill was most widely remembered for the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act that established federal start-up monies for US colleges (MAC was the first!). He was also one of the founders of the Republican Party.

Special thanks to the MSU Alumni Association for their generous financial support which allowed us to make tshirts for today's luncheon. You could flag down low-flying aircraft in these neon green tshirts!

32nd year (2010) at MSU's Skandalaris Football Center

31st year (2009) at MSU's McLane Baseball Stadium (Kobs Field). The new baseball stadium had just been built.

30th year (2008) at Spartan statue. This Spartan statue ("Sparty") is a new identical replica of the original statue that was moved indoors (see our 27th year). This new Sparty is made of more durable materials, expected to last much longer than the original would have had it been left outdoors.

29th year (2007) at MSU Administration Bldg

28th year (2006) at MSU Observatory

27th year (2005) in Spartan Stadium lobby. This is the original Spartan statue ("Sparty"). He had been moved indoors and cleaned to protect him from further damage by the weather.

26th year (2004) at Ralph Young Women's Field Hockey Complex. The new tower at Spartan Stadium was still under construction.

25th year (2003) at Spartan statue. This is the original Spartan statue ("Sparty"). See our 27th year.

24th year (2002) at Spartan Stadium

23rd year (2001) at Spartan statue. This is the original Spartan statue ("Sparty"). See our 27th year.

22nd year (2000) at Jack Breslin Student Events Center, home of MSU basketball

21st year (1999) at the MSU entrance at Shaw and Hagadorn Roads

20th year (1998) at Jack Breslin Student Events Center, home of MSU basketball

19th year (1997) at Beal Botantical Gardens. In anticipation of the Summer Olympics that were held in "the Land Down Under" (Australia), we held our plates upside down.

18th year (1996) at Union Building

17th year (1995) at Library

16th year (1994) at Beaumont Tower. Beaumont Tower was built very near the site of the first structure on campus, old College Hall. Built in 1856, the image of College Hall may still be seen today at the center of the official seal of the University. College Hall housed classrooms, laboratories, and offices. But when renovation work began in 1918, two of the exterior walls collapsed. The building was soon torn down. Ten years later, MAC graduate John W. Beaumont (1882) singlehandedly financed the construction of Beaumont Tower where College Hall once stood.

15th year (1993) at New Horticultural Gardens

14th year (1992) inside Spartan Stadium. Somewhere in there is someone's green car. This was the only time we have ever included someone's car in our group photo.