May 6, 2020
“Just because we couldn’t gather at Mayville State as we have in the past, didn’t mean we couldn’t carry on the tradition, right?”
Cheryl Angen, Mayville, N.D., has been a table designer for the annual Mayville State University Tables du Jour event for years. She has used this opportunity to get members of her family together for a morning of fun each year. Cheryl’s sister, Audrey Myklebust, wasn’t about to let the COVID-19 pandemic sideline their annual gathering, so they held their own family Tables du Jour event via Zoom technology on Saturday, April 25.
Mayville State’s Tables du Jour features elaborately decorated tables, each with its own special theme. Décor ranges from fun and cute, to whimsical, to very elegant. Volunteer table designers are encouraged to think “outside the box” and to create with wild abandonment, and that is exactly what they do.
Volunteer table designers are asked to come up with a theme and to decorate a table. They provide everything from the table linens, dishes, and silverware, to the many “extras” that will make each table special. Table designers also sell admission tickets to those who will attend the event and have brunch at their tables.
The event includes a time for viewing tables, a silent auction, brunch, entertainment, and more. The purpose is to raise funds for Mayville State University and its students.
This year’s event, the 16th annual, had been scheduled for Saturday, April 25, but had to be canceled due to guidelines related to the COVID-19 pandemic set forth by the Centers for Disease Control. Organizers wrestled with what to do about the much-anticipated event and considered rescheduling, but with the uncertainty of the situation, chose to cancel this year and work toward a better-than-ever event in 2021.
Angen and her family members look forward to getting together at the table Cheryl designs for the event at Mayville State. Since they couldn’t be together in person, they chose the virtual option and centered their gathering around the theme “Mom’s the Word.”
Cheryl’s sisters, sister-in-law, and a few nieces were in attendance, as were Cheryl and her daughter, Mallory. Each of the virtual guests brought things they had received from their mothers or grandmothers to their tables.
Angen said, “The chatty family that we are made it somewhat of a struggle to remain quiet when others were talking.”
Everyone had something interesting to add to the stories told by others. They agreed that was another “gift” from Mom.
“All in all, it was a great 45 minutes of remembering our mothers and grandmothers,” said Cheryl..” This will be one more ‘pandemic’ memory to tuck inside our hearts, and of course, relive again and again!”
Photo captions
Top: Cheryl Angen and her daughter, Mallory, enjoyed visiting and reminiscing about “Mom” with family members via Zoom on April 25.
Bottom: All of the participants in the virtual Tables du Jour event attended by Cheryl Angen and her family members decorated a table with items that were either given to them by their moms and grandmas or that reminded them of these special women in their lives.