Earning a degree is one way to become part of the Colorado State University community. But it’s not the only way. Just ask Rayno and Patty Seaser, former owners of the Egg & I restaurants. For decades, they have cheered on the Rams at athletic events, hired students to work in their restaurant business, created scholarships, helped with fundraisers, and advised CSU leaders in academic and financial strategy.  

Since moving to Fort Collins in 1987, the Seasers have invested in the entire community, as entrepreneurial business owners and catalysts in the restaurant industry. They have taken on many volunteer roles including advisory roles at CSU and their care for CSU students, on the court and in the classroom, demonstrates their close connection to the institution. 

The Seasers created a scholarship in their name in CSU’s College of Health and Human Sciences and also helped to start a memorial scholarship after an alumna who was a part of their restaurant family passed away.  

Trails and sunshine 

Rayno was born and raised in Michigan, where he attended Catholic school in Dearborn and Wayne State University in Detroit. Majoring in psychology and biology, Rayno had medical aspirations. “It turns out you need good grades to be a doctor,” Rayno shared, tongue-in-cheek. “God had a different plan for me anyway.”  

That plan started with exploration. In 1971, after college, Rayno was sitting on a congested freeway in Detroit and thought, “There has to be something better out there.” He took some time and traveled to Florida and California. His next stop was Vail, Colorado, where his college friend, Randy, had lived for a year. Rayno recognized a healthier and happier Randy and thought, “I can have that brand of living.” So, he drove home to Detroit, packed his skis and belongings, and headed to Vail. When he got a job as a dishwasher in Vail’s premier restaurant, he called his parents with the news. He told them it was a great job: “I get to ski all day and they feed me at night.” They didn’t necessarily share his enthusiasm, but Rayno had found his calling in the restaurant industry.  

“That year, I worked for two great Austrian chefs at Vail’s Lord Gore,” Rayno recalled. “These chefs had a love, respect, and passion for their craft. And it started a fire inside of me.” He helped open Alfie Packer’s Wild Mountain Inn, a restaurant at the ski area’s base. There he learned the ropes and rose from dishwasher to server and eventually became a manager and partner. 

One ski season in the blossoming resort community turned into ten years. Rayno carved trails on the slopes, and crossed paths with Patty, who was a journalist for the local newspaper, The Vail Trail. A Colorado native, Patty was a graduate of what she now calls “that college in Boulder.” Together, the pair blazed a trail into multiple careers and a growing family. 

Patty left her journalism career and worked in property management and real estate. During the summers, when restaurant business was slower, Rayno helped the company with repairs and window washing. These tasks lit a new fire: Rayno earned his contractor’s license and began taking on larger real estate projects with his pal Randy. They called their business Sunshine Builders.  

Building a nest egg 

When Alfie Packer’s was sold to an investor, Rayno was asked to stay on as manager. He agreed, with the condition that he could buy a 10% stake in the business. This deal set a trajectory of entrepreneurial risk-taking paired with hard work that helped Rayno and Patty expand their horizons.  

In 1981, ready to deepen their shared passion for the restaurant industry, the Seasers moved to Phoenix, Arizona. What drew them to the desert was an opportunity to help expand The Backstage, a nightly dinner/live entertainment venue. “I loved the business,” Rayno reflected, “but I didn’t love the long shifts and late nights at the restaurant.” The business model was a challenge for a family with three very young children.  

“We began looking for a way to have it all,” said Patty, “We wanted a business model we loved and time for our precious family.” With good luck and timing, they met a man named John Sullivan, who was one of the founders of Le Peep restaurants. He had launched a take-off concept called First Watch in California. Sullivan opened their eyes to how the day part of serving breakfast and lunch only could align the Seasers’ priorities. So, with Sullivan and their Backstage partner, they ventured into the daytime focus with a Phoenix restaurant called The Good Egg. It was the beginning of a very long and happy story for the couple: a popular and successful business model that allowed time for their children and opportunity to engage more actively in their community. They expanded The Good Egg to three very successful locations before Colorado called them home.

‘Love affair with CSU’

In 1987, the Seasers returned to Colorado with the specific goal of opening an upscale breakfast restaurant. Patty’s brother lived in Fort Collins and it had other appealing attributes: its proximity to the Rockies; it was a college town; and the community seemed just perfect for raising a family. They secured a location on South College Avenue, revitalized the lease space, and named their venture The Egg & I (after a popular novel and movie from 1945). The restaurant quickly became a local favorite with its warm ambiance and tasty menu. Pleas to replicate the concept came from Greeley, Loveland, and Wyoming.

The Seasers jumped eagerly into the community. In 1988 they bought season tickets to the CSU men’s basketball games and connected with the CSU Restaurant and Resort Management program (now called Hospitality and Event Management). “From that point on, my love affair with CSU began,” Rayno shared with pride. He volunteered as a guest speaker in classes, and advised the faculty and College of Health and Human Sciences leadership about what the industry was looking for in graduates of the program.

Hatching a plan

The property, contracting, and management skills Rayno gained with Sunshine Builders in Vail came in handy as The Egg & I grew. They launched locations in Greeley, Loveland, Cheyenne, Boulder and Longmont. Rayno was general contractor on each project while Patty did the interior decorating.

“If you were happy with your breakfast, I was happy,” Rayno remembered of this time. “My bottom line was never money.” And yet, he and Patty remained open to ideas and expansion.

One day, while reading a comic book to his kids, Rayno saw an advertisement about how to franchise a business. He picked up the phone to learn more and found an attorney in Fort Collins who helped them delve into the next phase of expansion. Franchising allowed The Egg & I to grow a brood of restaurants across the country.

Giving students wings

As their business flourished, so did the Seasers’ engagement with CSU. The Egg & I consistently hired flocks of CSU students and graduates, whom they mentored in the business. In 2000, they extended their care for students by founding a scholarship with the CSU Foundation named for their restaurants and later renamed the Rayno and Patricia Seaser Scholarship. Twenty-three years later, 23 students have benefitted from scholarships totaling more than $30,000. In 2020, they launched the Rayno and Patty Seaser Athletics Scholarship to support Rams student-athletes. 

One student who stands out in Patty and Rayno’s memories is Jenn Mueller. While studying at CSU, she worked as a host and server at The Egg & I in Fort Collins, a natural who grew to know all aspects of the business under the couple’s mentorship. When her parents purchased an Egg & I franchise for her hometown of O’Fallon, Illinois, Jenn took what she’d learned, and her love of the restaurant, with her.  

When Mueller died of cancer in 2018, the Seasers were devastated and knew right away that her memory and her love of the foodservice business needed to live on. They approached Jenn’s family about starting a memorial scholarship for the CSU Hospitality and Event Management students in Jenn’s name. The Seasers were one of the first donors to the scholarship. Rayno and Patty met the 2023 recipient of the scholarship, Dakota Santo, at the recent College of Health and Human Sciences Gratitude Celebration. “Dakota reminds me a lot of Jenn,” Rayno remarked. “How happy we are that sparky Jenn is paying it forward in this way.”