 "Photo: Jensen Power/Manitou Messenger")
If you could not recognize the start of the holiday season on the Hill from the debut of Norwegian sweaters, lutefisk in the Caf and the four days of Christmas Fest, then the decorations in the crossroads of Buntrock Commons probably clued you in.
Buntrock Commons has been decorated for Christmas “probably since the building opened, which is 10 years now,” said Tim Schroer, associate dean of students and the director of Buntrock Commons.
“[The decorations] almost all tie into Christmas Fest, because it’s such a natural kickoff into holidays at Olaf,” Schroer said.
According to Schroer, the main woman to thank for the school’s decorations is St. Olaf’s self-described “Christmas Fest Queen,” Jean Callister-Benson, the school’s director of conferences and special events.
After a recommendation from Michael Kyle, vice president and dean of enrollment, Callister-Benson hired two designers, Liz Bastian and Heidi Skoog, to handle the Christmas decorations in Buntrock Commons.
“They just do really, really unusual, funky decorations. Even just a bowl of tulips [Bastian and Skoog put together] all monochromatic, can just be stunning,” she said.
The trees and greens come from Switzer’s Nursery in Northfield, while Forget-Me-Not Florist (another local business) decorates the Kings Dining room. “I’ve kind of spread the joy,” Callister-Benson said of using multiple decorators.
Co-owners of the Urban Flower Studio based in Minneapolis, Bastian and Skoog have been partners in business since 1997, and according to their website www.bastianskoog.com, they cater to an array of clients including Macy’s, Target, Coca-Cola, Caribou Coffee, Vogue Magazine and Abercrombie and Fitch. In their sixth year of decorating St. Olaf for the Christmas season, Bastian jokes, “We’re starting to feel like honorary Oles!”
In the week leading up to Christmas Fest, Bastian and Skoog had their hands full. This year, their decorating job included adorning the Administration Office, the Christiansen Hall of Music and a tree in the Heritage Room, as well as their main project: the three trees in the Crossroads and the fireplace next to the trees.
While Callister-Benson says the Christmas Fest decorating budget is usually less than $10,000, a relatively small amount of money for the job compared to some of their other clients, it is spent as wisely as possible.
“We try to recycle from previous years,” Bastian said, indicating a stack of plastic boxes filled with colorful, sparkly ornaments, as she worked on the trees in Crossroads on Dec. 1. Skoog adds that she and Bastian have decorated the trees at St. Olaf the past four years, a change from their first two years working with the school in which their involvement only extended to smaller-scale decorating projects.
Some students, however, do not see the $10,000 spent on decorations as a small amount.
“I’m kind of speechless,” Samrina Sabri ‘12 said. “[The decorations are] so pretty, but I didn’t know they were 10,000 dollars pretty.”
Anne Brooker ‘13 said, “During these difficult economic times, shouldn’t we be more concerned about families who can’t afford food, let alone elaborate Christmas decorations?”
Ethan Duwell ‘13, on the other hand, believes the cost is well worth the result. “The Christmas decorations may be extravagant, but that’s part of the allure of Christmas at St. Olaf. Thousands of people come to St. Olaf for Christmas Fest and spend money here because they’re drawn to such extravagances.”
Playing holiday songs from a boombox as they worked, Bastian and Skoog had many onlookers throughout the week as Oles paused to take in the festive sight.
“It’s fun, we like doing this,” Skoog said. “We get that warm, glowy feeling. It’s a good way to start our Christmas season, business-wise.”
Bastian says she and Skoog appreciate the positive feedback they get from students.
“It’s really interesting, some of the comments they get,” Callister-Benson said. “They will have people come up to them and say, ‘I don’t like it, I don’t like the colors, I don’t like this, that, or [people say] awesome, awesome, awesome. They get reviews.”
Callister-Benson said that she trusts the team completely, and gives them free reign. The duo, who control both the selection of colors and the style of the decorations each year, uncannily happened to line things up especially well with this year’s Christmas Fest. Callister-Benson said, “Liz said [to me], ‘I think we’re going to go icy blues and whites [this year], and I said ‘are you kidding me? The set and all our materials for Christmas Fest this year are those colors!”
For Schroer, the verdict on Bastian and Skoog’s decorations in Crossroads – the most visible example of their work – is positive.
“I’m really picky about Christmas trees but I like them this year. Some years they’re really full of decorations. I really liked one year when they had birds, [but] the birds walked away because the students liked them too. [Another] year, they had Norwegian flags all over them,” Schroer said. “It’s not overdone, there’s just enough for the building.”
Student feedback on the trees in Crossroads is affirmative as well.
“I think they’re beautiful and I love them. I plan to take pictures in front of them with my friends at the Yule Ball,” Emily Rosenberg ’12 said.
“I think they bring a Christmas spirit to Saint Olaf,” Scott Woodside ’13 said. “They kind of brighten your day. It’s very festive.”
casale@stolaf.edu
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