By Max Loos

Champagne, camping, service, a riverboat cruise and nostalgia: this will be Senior Week 2009. This year’s Senior Week, planned by a student committee for the week between May 11 and Commencement on May 16, will be a chance for seniors to rehash memories, say goodbye to Macalester, and ultimately have a good time before they graduate.

There will also be plenty of alcohol, though not often for free.

The week will begin with a final Macalester lecture for seniors, followed by the presentation of the class gift and a champagne toast to the senior class. The champagne will be on Macalester.

Returning to this year’s Senior Week will be the famous riverboat cruise, which planning committee chair Margaret Nigro ’09 described as “tradition.”

For $25, seniors will receive one drink and an evening on the Mississippi with their classmates. The Senior Week website reminds seniors to bring their ID’s to the event.

In years past, there has been a canoe trip on the St. Croix River, but this year it has been expanded to include fifty spots as well as a separate bonfire and overnight camping event at the Lake Elmo Reserve Park.

In another change from past Senior Weeks, the Senior Class Social will be held at Stella’s Fish Café in Uptown. It had previously been held at Rosen’s on 1st Avenue in Minneapolis, but suggestions from last year’s seniors prompted the planning committee to change the venue.

Not all of the events are recreational, though. There will also be a Mississippi River cleanup project, described on the Senior Week website as “one last opportunity for Mac seniors to give back to the community.”

Seniors will also have a chance to share what is being called their Last Supper at Café Mac.

The Senior Week Committee has been planning this year’s events since early November, according to Nigro. “Part of me is nervous,” she said, but added that, “As a senior, who gets to attend the events, I’m excited.”

Signup for Senior Week events ends today. Volunteers to work the Senior Week event are also still needed. Students interested in volunteering should contact Margaret Nigro, Senior Week Committee Advisor Laura Klunder, or any other committee members.