Pinestock returns after 15- year hiatus

A beloved campus tradition will be given new life this week after a 15-year hiatus. The Entrepreneurship Club (E-Club) is hosting the first Pinestock Revival from 6-9 p.m. on May 1 at Milk and Honey Ciders, featuring three Minnesotan musical guests: Groovy Shoes, Matthew Smith and the Menagerie and If Nothing Else.

The original Pinestock was established in 1979 and ran until 2010 every spring semester at CSB+SJU. Musical Guests like Styx, Cake and Soul Asylum were among headliners for the festival that would attract students from across the MIAC. After 2010, the CSB+SJU Joint Events Council announced Pinestock would be changed in format. Other festivals like Pines — which included a performance by a musical guest alongside a range of campus activities — replaced the first iteration of Pinestock. Today, all versions of the massive annual end-of-year concert have fizzled out on campus — until now.

E-Club President and SJU junior Thomas Odenthal said that the concept for the event began last fall, when club members were brainstorming ways to break out of their usual event-planning formulas. He said recreating Pinestock wasn’t the original goal, but rather a branding choice that gave the club a new vision for the event.

“I’m a fourth-generation Johnnie, so I’ve been hearing about Pinestock forever. When this started, we just were brainstorming a concert event. Then we talked with professor Steve Schwartz at a club meeting, who suggested that it be called ‘Pinestock Revival’. That’s when it started to mold into reviving this old tradition,” Odenthal said.

The original Pinestock was held on Watab Island at SJU, but Milk and Honey Ciders is the venue for this year’s event. Odenthal said this choice was a no-brainer: The outdoor space was well-suited for their needs, alcoholic drinks can be served and regulated with Milk and Honey staff checking IDs and the location between both campuses makes it easily accessible for students and community members — and Odenthal said they’re preparing to host a lot of them.

“Right now we’re budgeting for 400 people, but I think it’s going to be more like 500 at least,” Odenthal said.

Students will attend Pinestock Revival for free, and tickets are $20 for CSB+SJU faculty and other community members. Buses will pick up at both Gorecki and Sexton to take students to the venue.

Dana’s Kitchen Food Truck and Catering and Jupiter Moon will be offering free food and ice cream while supplies last. E-Club also hired local radio host Kat from 104.7 KCLD to emcee the event.

Odenthal said organizing Pinestock Revival has taken months of meetings and planning sessions with administration.

“We met with Institutional Advancement to figure out which companies we could reach out to in order to ask for sponsorships or donations. [Admin] helped all the way through and were completely for the event. Because we’re doing this on Scholarship and Creativity Day, we also had to talk with Student Affairs to have an event on that day. There’s been a lot of moving parts,” he said.

When the E-Club approached the CSB+SJU Co-funding Board to organize funds for the event, they were recommended to find another club to collaborate with to split the cost. Odenthal said the Climate Justice Club is footing the bill for the majority of the food, while E-Club will fund the performances.

In addition to being co-sponsors of the event, the Climate Justice Club facilitated a collaborative art piece to be debuted at the festival. SJU senior and Climate Justice Club Central Focal Point (president) Nicholas Mertens said that he sees this partnership as a way to raise awareness for both clubs and contribute something artistic — musical and otherwise — to a wider audience.

“One of the most beautiful traditions of Pinestock is its celebration of musical artistry. Whether it’s big-name acts from the past or up-and-coming indie bands, there’s a real focus on creativity and community,” Mertens said via email. “[And] in this case, our Climate Justice Club’s vision of an art piece complemented the E-Club’s existing itinerary perfectly. Collaborations like this not only strengthen the event but also draw in a wider audience, students who might not have participated otherwise.”

Local sponsors rounded out funding for the festival: St. Cloud Toyota and Kensington Bank donated $2.500 and $500 respectively, which the club is using to fund a prize giveaway during the festival. Alongside E-Club and the Climate Justice Club, Bennies in Business is supporting the event, with volunteers from all three clubs helping to run the evening.

SJU senior and Vice President of the E-Club Joe Wedl worked with Odenthal on their joint venture through the E-scholars program — Unlaced Cleaning Co, a campus- based shoe cleaning company — before collaborating as club leaders on Pinestock Revival. Wedl’s main role through the planning process was organizing the musical talent, something he said he’s wanted to do since joining the E-club as an event coordinator.

“I think music has been a huge part of our history on campus, and I’ve always thought [a concert] would be a great way to do a fundraiser for the club,” Wedl said. “Now, we’ve really grown this past year with our capabilities and have set our sights on this bigger goal, which is Pinestock.”

Wedl said his search for musical guests allowed him to use personal and local connections to find these inaugural Revival performers. He chose Groovy Shoes on recommendation from Mary Bruno, founder of St. Joe’s Bruno Press. The two-man group made up of Dave Cofell and Tom Kuhn specializes in everything from 80s rock to country — and Kuhn is a CSB+SJU Link bus driver.

Matthew Smith of Matthew Smith and the Menagerie is Wedl’s cousin and the lead artist of a folk, funk and indie-rock influenced band playing out of the Twin Cities. Wedl saw the band open for his musical artist sister Brennan Wedl in Minneapolis this past March and decided to invite them for Pinestock Revival.

“I was really impressed by what they were doing when I saw them last month, so I’m excited for them to play here,” Wedl said. “Their vibe is a good middle ground between the two bands, and this will be their biggest concert yet.”

If Nothing Else, the headliner of the festival, is no stranger to St. Joe performances. They are frequent musical guests at the LaPlayette and other local stages, and the St. Cloud-based country/rock group is managed by Aaron Chalich, a Library Technical Support Specialist at Alcuin Library.

Chalich has worked at SJU for five years and has managed the band for a year and a half. Chalich handles the bookings, venue logistics and prep work that goes into every If Nothing Else performance. He said the band knew the significance of Pinestock on campus and beyond and immediately expressed interest in playing at the festival.

“[This event] marks the return of a historic music festival, one many thought was gone for good. Being part of its comeback is an honor and a chance to help bring that legacy back to life,” Chalich said via email. “This time, it’s not just about CSB and SJU, we’re bringing in the entire St. Joseph community.”

Odenthal and Wedl also emphasized that although the revival takes inspiration from the Pinestocks of the past, they see this as a fresh take that can stand on its own. In the coming years, they hope expanded sponsorships and strong community engagement will help the event grow into a local tradition in its own right.

“A lot of events try to exactly replicate things in the past, but I don’t know if that should always be the goal…we can praise Pinestock as a tradition and recognize the roots that got us here, but we see it as our job to launch it in a new light,” Wedl said. “Because of the potential for expansion, this is going to be the smallest Pinestock Revival ever. That’s the hope — to continue this thing into the future.”