Email Le Mars Alumni

Association history We’re 26 years old this year! The LCSD Alumni Association began in March, 1993 as a separate enitity from the LCS Foundation board. Basic membership began at $5/year, but many of the original alumni association members purchased life memberships for $100 to help the group become viable. The first Alumni Association newsletter was printed in spring 1993, in preparation for a membership drive over the Fourth of July that brought us 100 members. Today, membership levels are available at Basic, Kennel Kapers, Bark, Red & Black, Bulldog and Big Red Booster. The Alumni Association provides a centralized source of information and activities of interest to members. Our database currently holds 12,178 names, alumni from 1880 through the present plus a number of teachers and friends of the school district. This data is used for the membership mailing as well as being a source for class reunions. Publicity about the newly formed alumni association was spread through mass mailings, class reunions and word of mouth. Numbers steadily increased and we were able to begin awarding $250 scholarships to the graduating seniors by our second year. In June 1999, the Alumni Association became a part of the tech world with its own web site. The Alumni Association is governed by a board of 15 members. The executive officers are chairperson, vice chair, secretary, treasurer and publicity, all serving two-year terms. The membership director has no term limit. The board also includes nine members-at-large, all serving three-year terms. The year runs from Sept. 1 through Aug. 31. An annual meeting is held in August for all association members.

The 2018-2020 Board (Term expirations follow their name) Executive: Chairperson: Gerald Klemme (’62) - 2020 Vice-chair: Kerri Black Petersen (’78) - 2020 Secretary/Publicity: Julie Jones Beitelspacher ('73) - 2018 Treasurer: Karen Orban Fischer ('85) - 2018 Membership Director: Carolyn Swenson Vance ('69) - no term At large members: Bill Renken ('58) - 2019 Janice Tammen Renken ('62) - 2019 Sandy Frerichs Downing (’76) - 2019 Abby Ohm Philips (’99) - 2020 Kari Beitelspacher Kopperud (’99) - 2020 Deb DeYoung Pottebaum (’82)- 2020 Valerie Hamilton Smith (’71) - 2021 Joe Susemihl (’97) - 2021 Nancy Thoma (’73) - 2021