Le Mars Alumni Association

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About Us
 

Mission Statement: It is the purpose of the Alumni Association to gather and coordinate support from alumni, teachers, and other individuals interested in renewing and enjoying LeMars Community School district experiences and associations.

This is the 19th year of existence, having begun in March, 1993.  Our newsletter The Doggone News is published quarterly. It is filled with reminisces, alumni life stories, letters, current school information, tidbits of what’s happening with alumni—just to name of few of the features.



Association history
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. 

Alumni Association Scholarships
The Association began giving Scholarships to graduating Le Mars seniors in 1995. To date (2011) we have given 80 Alumni Association scholarships, 5 Memorial, 11 Decades of Excellence, and 8 Barbara Kock Powell Endowment scholarships totaling $45,755. The Decades of Excellence scholarship was first given in 2001 following the 2000 Decades of Excellence All-School Reunion.
Applications from seniors are available from March to May 1 at the high school guidance counselors office or through the alumni office.

The 2011 - 2012 Board

(Term expirations follow their name)

 

Executive:

Chairperson: Sandy Frerichs Downing ('76) - 2013

Vice-chair:  - 2013

Secretary/Publicity:Julie Jones Beitelspacher ('73) - 2012

Treasurer: Karen Orban Fischer ('85) - 2012

Membership Director: Carolyn Swenson Vance ('69) - no term

 

At large members:

Kari Beitelspacher Kopperud ('99) - 2012

Margaret Dempster Norton ('47) - 2012

Ed Utesch ('53) - 2012

Bill Renken ('58) - 2013

Jane Callfas Vander Well ('54) - 2013

Bud Vander Well - 2013

Margie Hammen Pigg ('70) - 2014

Janice Tammen Renken ('62) - 2014

Pat McFarland Pratt ('52) - 2014

 

We are currently without a Vice-Chair, whose term would run until 2013 at which time they would become Chairperson.