WINTER 2004-05
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President and First Lady Peter and Becky Mitchell congratulate this year’s Homecoming royalty, seniors Katie Brewer and Mike Kopec.
Quarterback Steve Wasil looks for his receiver during the Homecoming football contest vs. Wisconsin Lutheran. Wasil racked up 330 yards passing and threw for four touchdowns during the Britons’ 41-7 win over the Warriors. (Right) It was Carolyn Aishton Day on Saturday of Homecoming Weekend. The 1964 alumna, who co-chaired her class reunion during the weekend, was recognized for her many contributions to the College. Currently chair of the Board of Trustees’ Enrollment Management Committee, Aishton is also a member of the Liberal Arts at Work Campaign Leadership Committee, and she previously served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors and chaired the National Leadership Conference. She recently spearheaded the College’s development of new marketing and graphic identity programs and the online alumni auction (see story below). (Aishton is pictured with Ben Hancock, vice president for institutional advancement.)
Sold! Online auction yields $50,000 By Jake Weber A research physicist, Wilbur Hurst, ’61, realized right away he’d never fit 65 British Eighth marchers into his Damascus, Md., backyard. As he saw it, this left him with only one real desire in this fall’s Albion Alumni Auction: Barb Stowell’s “to-die-for” cherry pie, which Hurst eventually won for $400. (Stowell is recovering from the shock.) “A steal is not the idea—you want to do something outrageous, have some fun,” laughs Hurst, answering the obvious question. “I was going to go another hundred bucks higher if I had to.” Fun was definitely a value added to the offerings in the successful online Albion Alumni Auction—“A3”—which raised over $50,000 for the College’s science complex renovation and expansion project. More than 300 bidders battled over everything from homemade cookies to a week in Paris, a complete lawn makeover and an honorary spot on the Briton football coaching staff. The auction was the brainchild of Carolyn Aishton, ’64, who saw her idea for a unique fundraiser for the Class of 1964 reunion at Homecoming quickly grow to encompass the entire campus community. The Class of 1954 also took it on as a reunion project, and the Alumni/Parent Relations Office served as the operational headquarters, developing the structure of the auction as well as hosting the Web site with help from the College’s Web manager. Items in the auction reflected not only the generosity, but the wide range of interests, talents and creativity of alumni, parents, faculty, staff and friends. Nearly half of the funds raised came from trips, some of which included the use of private residences in such places as Paris, Sint Maarten, Nassau and seven states. Original artwork, jewelry, collectibles, unique services and more ensured that the auction contained “something for everyone.” Not surprisingly, Albion College-related items were popular, with three of the top five bidding wars focusing on a private riding lesson with Held Equestrian Center director George Halkett, a dinner party with President Peter Mitchell, and an Albion College Bookstore ad photo shoot. “For the amount of money we spend at the bookstore, it made sense for us to bid on that one,” says Cindy Courtright, who beat out 12 other bidders for the Bookstore shoot. Her kids (Elissa, ’07, and Stephen, ’04) and her husband, she says, “don’t think being in the bookstore ad is jump-up-and-down cool–but I’m looking forward to getting some new stuff.” And despite the bidding wars and “outrageous” items, the auction boasted many great deals, too. James Carr, ’81, was excited to win the customized Web site for his wife, Diane Sentkeresty Carr, ’81, and her small law firm. “We’ve priced that type of service,
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(Above) Frank Machek, professor emeritus of art, traces his development as an artist, during an impromptu tour of a retrospective exhibit of his work at Bobbitt Visual Arts Center. A highly regarded portraitist, Machek retired last spring after 37 years on the faculty.
and this was a great value,” he says. “I’m not as sure what I’m going to do with the British Eighth uniform I won, but there are always uses for those types of things, too.” While the big-ticket items were the foundation of the auction’s financial success, smaller items contributed heart and humor to the event. “I didn’t have any trip to offer, but thought that some smaller items would be good,” notes Barb Carne Riehl, ’54, who donated two pairs of hand-knitted socks to the auction, one of which earned a blue ribbon at the Kalkaska County (Mich.) Fair. “It was lots of fun to find that people were bidding on the socks,” Riehl concludes. “That purple yarn was very difficult to find, and it cost $17, so I was glad the socks made more than that.” “I’ve heard nothing but good things about the auction,” says Carolyn Aishton. “Everyone got into the spirit of it—faculty, staff, administration, parents, alums and students. That’s what made it so rewarding. It was quite labor-intensive for the alumni office, but they did a fabulous job. With so many people working on it, it couldn’t help but be a positive experience.” And what is Hurst going to do with his $400 pie? “I haven’t told my wife that I spent $400 on a pie, so I don’t think I can tell her I need to spend $200 to air ship it out here,” he admits. “My father and twin brother and I all have science degrees from Albion, so I’m really just S. MARKIN PHOTO excited about the science building, and I wanted to support that. I think I’ll have to give the pie to an Albion family with young kids.”
Albion’s Kellogg Center became “auction central” during Homecoming Weekend. Auction “kiosks,” with laptop computers supporting online bidding, were set up both in the Kellogg Center and at the football stadium so alumni and friends could keep track of their bids while enjoying the other Homecoming activities. The online auction to benefit the fund drive for science facility improvements at the College raised $50,000.