McCook Community Foundation Press Release

News Release

July 29, 2008

Class of ‘78 Gives Back

The reunion was like many other class reunions. Classmates gathered from Florida, California, Alaska, and all points in between. They reminisced about football games and parties. They teased each other about who dated whom and surviving the aging process intact. No one was particularly proud of their senior pictures. They came. They partied. They remembered. And then they returned to their everyday lives throughout the United States.

But the McCook High School graduating class of 1978 wanted to do something more. They wanted to give back to the community that gave them so much growing up. So they organized a class challenge to give to the McCook Community Foundation.

McCook Community Foundation is a “community savings account” of sorts. Business organizations and individuals can donate financial gifts to the foundation which will be used to support the community in the future. The foundation provides donors flexibility and tax advantages with their charitable contributions. The foundation provides professional management of the funds. Each year, the Board of Directors award gifts to a variety of organizations that benefit all sectors of the community. Leadership training for youth, mentoring programs, park and playground improvements, college scholarships, entrepreneurship programs, and promotion and marketing of the community are a few of the activities partially supported by McCook Community Foundation awards.

The class of 1978 is the first McCook High School graduating class to formally organize a gift to the McCook Community Foundation as part of their reunion. Reunion organizer Mara Lee (Weskamp) Ebert commented, “When planning the reunion, (co-organizer and 78 graduate Jay Harris) and I thought of a way of not only getting together, but getting together for a purpose. We researched the various organizations in our hometown and decided on the McCook Community Foundation. We asked our classmates for their help in being the first alumni class to create an endowment to this fine organization. Not only did they contribute $2,200 to this worthwhile project, they also donated nearly $1,500 towards the Fox Theater renovation project. I am so proud to be associated with such a fine group of caring and giving individuals. We now challenge other classes to do the same. I am honored to be able to help fund deserving projects in my hometown.”

According to MHS 1978 graduate Jay Harris, “It was a pleasure to help make something this productive happen for the McCook Community Foundation. The older I get and the more distant the memories of back in the day, the more meaningful it becomes to reflect on those memories, especially in the company of classmates.” So the challenge is on. In good-natured class rivalry, the Class of ’78 would like to see other classes give to the McCook Community Foundation as part of their class reunion. As Harris put it, “We are nothing without memories and our days as McCook Bison are some of the best. This town helped shape us. Giving something back is just the right thing to do.”

1978 Classmates who contributed to the McCook Community Foundation during their class reunion include, from left, Doug and Karen (Howell) Blunt, Fred and Mara Lee (Weskamp) Ebert, Steve Lytle, Joan (Malleck) Bass, Lorrie (Rose) Orman, Patty (Balius) Strunk, Jim and Louise Merritt, Tony Bennett, Diane Petsch, Pam (Hampton) Wallace, Kim (Wilson) Conroy, Mike Funk, Carol and Jay Harris, Mary (Yamamoto) Fidler, Allen Eisenach, Peggy Loescher, Jeanie (Warburton) Rodarmel, Rick Moskal, Mick Haney, Carl Stevenson, Kevin Kisker. Not pictured were Don Hiatt and Jason Brown.

Reprinted courtesy of McCook Daily Gazette