We are departing from our tradition of separate messages this month in honor of our recent celebration of Charter Day which featured a conversation with me and Stacy, our first Executive Director who shared with us her vision for the future of the Ebell which aligns so perfectly with our needs and aspirations for the club at this time.
Charter Day was a great success thanks to all the members who braved the rain to join us for our first official event back on campus. A lot of us were wearing suits because it was chilly and raining, but it was purely coincidental that we both wore plaid suits! Another example of our alignment!
As many of you may know, the celebration of Charter Day in late October is called for in our founding documents. The purpose of the day is to reflect on our past and inspire some thought about our future. And we are so pleased to report that our future is very bright. We have had some wonderful programs in the past recounting our founding stories. But this year, at the suggestion of Vice President Laurie Schechter, who served as our program chair, we decided to focus on our decision to hire an executive director, what that means for the future and to spend some time getting to know Stacy, whose extensive non-profit leadership skills are just what we need to guide us to achieving our ambitious goals.
We also announced an ambitious campaign, the first if its kind focused on our building, to raise monies to fund the first phase of our Master Plan. The Master Plan will become a road map to guide improvements and the restoration of our historic campus. This is a first for us, and it signals a new direction in efforts to achieve long-term sustainability of our beloved nearly 100-year-old building. We are deeply grateful to have the stewardship of board member Christy McAvoy, in particular, who has helped us assemble a talented team of experts to guide us through the creation of this essential planning document. In addition, Christy has also made a generous gift, our very first, to the campaign.
We will be reaching out to each of you over the next several months to invite you to join us in this effort. Support from our members is vital to the success of our campaign. We have already raised a portion of the funding from our treasury as well as several grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. If you would like to donate today, please click here.
In 1927, upon opening the building, Mrs. William Read, then president, challenged the members to use this amazing building for the betterment of themselves and others.
“Ours is the pleasure of studying, listening, conversing in beautiful and comfortable rooms where others of like taste assemble. Ours is the privilege of making a social and educational center whose influence shall be immeasurable. Ours is the right to serve others as well as to advance ourselves; to become interested and helpful citizens who stand for a good government and high principles. We must live up to our home,” wrote Mrs. Read as she ushered in what she called a “period of dazzling enterprise.”
We are taking these bold steps to honor and live up to our home for the next 100 years. We are thankful to have you along with us on this exciting journey as we usher in another “period of dazzling enterprise.”
Patricia Lombard, President
Stacy Brightman, Executive Director
