Alumni Association aims to grow in the community

St. Marys Memorial High School graduates have had an Alumni Association since 2006, and Alumni Association President Bill Kellermeyer hopes to see its role in the community continue to grow.

“We have a few years underneath us. I feel like we’re still a new club, still growing, and looking for ideas to support our school system and our alumni,” said Kellermeyer.

When the Alumni Association formed, their initial purpose was to manage the Hall of Fame festivities each year, and to maintain the Hall of Fame.

“That is a big part of what we do every fall,” said Kellermeyer. Beyond the Hall of Fame the association supports academic programs, initiatives and at times construction projects for the St. Marys City Schools.

“Our second cornerstone is supporting all things St. Marys Schools. Being a source for our alumni, contact source, and a way to get word out to the classes,” said Kellermeyer. He said that when the association is out fundraising, they’re looking to support the Hall of Fame, their scholarship programs, and to support other programs as well.

“Our whole goal ultimately, with any money that we raise, is to put it back into anything that St. Marys Schools may come to us with that may fit our mission,” explained Kellermeyer.

The scholarships that the association offers fall in to three categories; a graduating student going to attend a two or four year college program, a student planning on attending a trade school, and an alum who is attending graduate school.

“We try to hit all sectors of St. Marys alums that are trying to further their education,” said Kellermeyer. He

explained that they try to stick to guidelines when awarding scholarships, but that that the need is great in the community. “We’ve found that we’ve awarded more than we intended, because our field of applicants is so large, that we want to try and help as many people as we can.”

Kellermeyer listed some of the projects that the Alumni Association has had a hand in.

“We have the inflatable on the football field, we just bought a new scorers table, and a new backdrop for the scholarship signings, as well as a table cover,” said Kellermeyer. He said that with the new football stadium they made a commitment there as well.

“We’re trying to finish off a flagpole we have there. We’re always looking for things we can support with the arts as well,” said Kellermeyer. He said they’ve also donated to the science programs at the school, and are supporting the eigth graders trip to Washington, D.C.

“We know that it helps those kids defray those expenses,” said Kellermeyer. The association also has upcoming events to support the softball program, possibly the band, and has supported the soccer program in the past. “We did a ball drop last year with soccer, which generated several thousand dollars for their programs.”

As for the future Kellermeyer said that the hall of fame is something he wants to continue to work on.

“We are continuing to build our scholarship program; the more that we can award the better off we are,” said Kellermeyer. Their recent ‘Rider Talk’, which was hosted by The Grand Opera House/St. Marys Theater, is something that saw a lot of success, and something that Kellermeyer wants to continue. “We think that ‘Rider Talk’ is something we can carry into the future.”

Kellermeyer said that he has one hope for the association, and that is that they aren’t misunderstood as being something they aren’t.

“The one thing I don’t want to do, is that we don’t want to be viewed as an organization that is just another athletic booster club, or tied to one thing,” said Kellermeyer before continuing. “We really want to try and spread the wealth, and support all things that affect all students of St. Marys City Schools.”