More than 30 years ago, Betsy Hessel ’72 threw an impromptu UW Homecoming party for her visiting nephew, Dave Hussa ’86, and a handful of his college buddies. Actually, she describes it as a “crashing” of her “tiny bungalow,” with one of her visitors resorting to sleeping under the dinner table. Thus began a three-decades-long tradition of celebrating Homecoming at the Hessel household.
With each year, the parties have grown bigger and better, and more Badgers have been brought on board. This includes Betsy’s old college friend and now husband, Craig Hessel ’73, whom she married in 2002, after her family vetted him at one of her bashes.
Now, these WAA lifetime members share their Hessel-party hallmarks for celebrating Homecoming like a pro:
- Badgers: If nothing else, get some Badgers together! That first group of five visitors has now grown into a guest list of more than 100 Badgers and Badger fans.
- Squirrels: After a flying squirrel snuck into the 1998 shindig and caused a ruckus, squirrel décor reminds revelers of that bushy-tailed party-crasher.
- A cardinal-red-and-white dress code: Are you really at a UW Homecoming party if guests aren’t sporting red-and-white-striped bibs?
- Live music: The Trophy Husbands — a local band featuring Badgers Scott Staedter ’05, Patrick Kenney-Brown ’11, and Nate Gerlach MM’16 — gets the party started with a pregame set. The Hessels also work with the UW Alumni Band to welcome members (including their nephew Dave) to the party.
- Football: Every Homecoming party needs a game plan, of course. Some guests stay and watch on TV while others head to Camp Randall.
- Lasagna: For this year’s party, Betsy pulled together a four-person crew to prep a dozen trays of lasagna, featuring fresh pasta.
- Bucky: An eight-foot-tall inflatable Bucky makes a great stand-in for the real deal, but in 2002, guests were lucky enough to party with the official Bucky Badger mascot.
- Bartenders: The Hessels didn’t specify their go-to drinks, but might we suggest a Badger Club?
