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To the Class of ‘73
Over this past year, an exciting project has
developed with the Class of 1962. Bill “Chief” Plage has been working
with the Class of ’62 as their art director in creating murals for the new
library reading room in Waesche Hall. (For those of you who don’t
remember, we moved books in our final month at CGA from Hamilton Hall to
Waesche.) These murals are a continuation of the murals that inspired us
in the old library. Those in Hamilton Hall represented the Coast Guard
prior to World War II, while the new murals will trace Coast Guard history
from the Second World War to the present.
The ’73 Endowment Committee – Tom Haas, Mike Wensman,
Lou Orsini, Tom Donlon and Steve Bellona – as charged, have been
discussing the question of how we might be able to support the Corps of
Cadets through the use of our Class Fund. To date we have $15,000 in the
fund and 50 percent of that total will automatically be placed in the
Class Endowment. After reviewing the literature from the Class of 1962
and getting some great feedback from Chief, the Endowment Committee voted
to support the funding of one mural. A copy of the resolution is being
placed on the Class website.
This is exciting. I, for one, spent more than a few
hours gazing at the murals in Hamilton Hall. They connected me to those
who had gone before us, and even today, evoke strong emotions each time I
walk into that room. I believe that each one of us had some connection
with those images, and this is a wonderful opportunity to carry on that
tradition with the continuation of these murals in Waesche Hall.
Having got the emotional piece out of the way, here
are the facts. The cost of a mural is $30,000. The Endowment Committee
voted a resolution to seed the project with $7,500 from our Class Fund on
1 January 2005. We have pledges for an additional $7,500 from three of
the Class to date. With this, we have reached 50% of our goal for the
project. There are three murals remaining to be funded of the 14 being
developed. You can view these murals on the Class website (http://www.barkerville.net/cga73/index.html).
The Endowment Committee would like to hear from you on which one of the
three you would like to see supported by the Class of ’73. Please send
your vote to
sbellona@hamilton.edu. If you have any questions, comments,
suggestions, etc., please give anyone of us a call or for that matter,
drop Chief a note to get the inside scoop.
We have set up a fund with the Alumni Association
called the “Class of 1973 Mural Fund”. When you send in your donation,
please make sure this is written on your check. The Association has
recently sent out its notice for the 2004 Annual Fund Drive, and you can
use this envelope to do the same thing. Just check the “Other” box, and
write in the Class of 1973 Mural Fund.
Thank you for all that you have done thus far and for
what we are about to do.
Steve Bellona
Click
HERE to see the
class resolution in PDF format.
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