I agree that the thanks should still be going her way. In this day and age where everything moves so fast and time is at a premium, it seems as if many family get-togethers and traditions are getting left by the wayside. What the Engelstad's have created is a place where traditions are at the forefront and families continue to forge bonds by attending games together and even by enjoying them on TV simultaneously from different locations. Before the new arena most of my family didn't have tickets; now members of my family travel over 100 miles from opposite directions for a game weekend. It gives us the reason to get together that we otherwise probably would have missed in favor of other commitments. We talk to other friends and more distant family at games that we otherwise see rarely. A couple of years ago my sister and I walked into the Ralph after a rough summer and it surprised me when she looked at me and echoed what I was feeling, "It feels like coming home!"
Thank you Ralph and Betty Engelstad, for not only helping to deepen our love of Sioux sports but for giving us a place that we make the time to go to together -- a place that not only honors Sioux traditions but, just by being, encourages us to form new family traditions as well. The surface beauty is just a bonus!