event is when we start the transition from being a student to being an alum. I have told the kids that the Principal’s Office has them for 4 years, but Institutional Advancement has them for the rest of their lives.
Speaking of graduations, our Golden Grads from the Class of 1960 will be joining us this year at the Merrill Auditorium. Additional details are available on this website.
Jack Dawson has been busy with admissions for next year’s freshman class, the Class of 2014.
I announced a while back that Cheverus had received an estate planning gift from Leonard Ahern, Class of 1940. Recently, we awarded the first Ahern scholarship in the amount of $40,000 ($10,000 per year for four years) to Tom Yates. The first recipient of the Ahern Scholarship is Cheverus senior Thomas K. Yates of West Baldwin, Maine. Yates is the son of Mr. Kenneth Yates and Ms. Yeong-Rae An, also of West Baldwin.
Yates plans to continue his studies at either Stonehill or Bentley Colleges and plans a career in Business. Yates is an Eagle Scout, a Senior Class officer, and Co-President of the Student Council. He is a regular volunteer at a local soup kitchen and is very active within the Cheverus community. He was awarded the St. Michael’s College Book Award for Scholarship and Service in 2009.
Well rounded, Yates is also fluent in Korean, is a talented musician and a valued trumpeter in the school’s award-winning Jazz Band. He is a strong athlete and member of the school’s soccer team; as a thrower for the indoor and outdoor track teams he qualified in the State Championships. He is the founder and Treasurer of the Cheverus International Club, Co-president of the School’s Executive Board and has served as Stanley the Stag, our school mascot, at many sporting events.
Yates is a member of the school’s Spanish Club, the Haiti Solidarity Club and was inducted into the National Honor Society. All of this, while also working at various positions working in a sushi bar and teaching private sparring lessons in Taekwondo.
While on the subject of Planned Giving, it is very easy to include Cheverus in your estate planning. Please give us a call and we can walk you through the process. What a great and lasting tribute such a simple act can do for your school.
We continue to work diligently on improving our data base by updating all of our records. Please keep us informed of address changes, including e-mail as well as with what is happening in your lives. Your classmates are always anxious to hear about you.
We have established Cheverus sites on Facebook and LinkedIn as a way to reach out to you. If you are looking for updates on fellow Cheverians or seeking new employment opportunities or hiring, keep these sites in mind.
We have been blessed by your generosity this year through contributions to Cheverus Fund, our annual giving campaign. We jump started the campaign with a front loading pledge effort that was very successful. We were at nearly 80% of our annual budget by January the 1st. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to close out that campaign within the first six months of each fiscal year so we can concentrate on the other important events for Cheverus?
We have many exciting events over the next several months, some of which are listed on the side. I hope as many of you as possible can join us for Homecoming in the fall. I will put up the date as soon as the football schedule is released. Our football team had a great season this past fall, losing 7-6 in the Western Maine Finals.
Our boys and girls cross country teams won state championships. Emily Durgin also won the New England cross country championship. Our girl’s ice hockey team went 21-0 following last season’s 17-3 record. They, too, won the state championship. Finally, our boy’s basketball team also won the state championship by beating Edward Little last March at the Civic Center. Kyle Randall was named to the state All-Academic team and also won the state free throw shooting championship, “netting” 48 out of 50 shots. Indiana Faithfull was named the Vinall Trophy winner for the Western Maine Class A tourney and later he was awarded Maine’s Mr. Basketball title.
All in all what a great athletic season this year has been for Cheverus and we still have the spring to look forward to.
Father Campbell and I will be in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. this spring to visit with alums. Kevin Concannon, Class of 1959, and an Under Secretary at the Department of Agriculture, graciously hosted the DC event for us. If you have access to a facility or location and want to have an alumni gathering, please give me a call.
Our spring auction, “Under the Big Top”, is set for Saturday night, May the 1st. Please call Mary Ellen Fitzpatrick of my staff if you would like to join us. This is truly one great Cheverus evening.
Our alumni golf tourney is scheduled for Sunday, August the 22nd. We are still looking for volunteers so please call if you are interested.
This fall, we will again be having our student Stag Stampede event. This is the only student fund raising event we have. It involves a walk around the boulevard and a post-walk cookout of our back fields. We would like to extend an invitation to our alumni to join with us this year and walk with the students. So please start lining up those pledges from relatives and neighbors for you to walk with us. Our goal is for every walker to raise $100 in pledges for our student financial aid program.
As I look forward to the coming year, I would be remiss if I did not thank once again all of our many benefactors for their generous financial support of Cheverus this year.
I look forward to seeing you at a future event,
Brian L. Dudley
Vice President/ Institutional Advancement
