Galion Alumni Association

2011 - Accomplishments

The Galion Alumni Association, along with the rest of the world, has entered the year 2012 with mixed expectations.  As an organization we have continued to contribute to the Galion Community through the Galion City School System.  Each year brings successes and disappointments in the expectations of fulfilling the goals of our organizational mission.  This update will cover a few of the upsides and downsides of 2011.

On the upside were the donations to several projects and the participation of the Galion Alumni Association in the Galion Connects Weekend.  In 2011 we were able to provide $1000.00 to the Galion City Schools Campus Wear fund.  This fund is used to provide assistance to those who might not otherwise be able to afford the clothing required by the dress code.  A $700.00 donation was made to the band instrument repair fund.  A strong effort is being made to introduce musical instruments in the lower grades to rebuild the music program participation to levels seen in the Jack Arlen era.  The Association picked up the $75.00 licensing fee for the movie shown during testing week.  Additional funds were used to pay Association expenses.  This included fees to the State of Ohio to maintain our tax free status and change of Statutory Agent. We maintained our membership in the Galion Area Chamber of Commerce and covered P.O. Box and mailing expenses.  Promotional ads were purchased in the Drama Department program and an ad in the Connections Weekend publication.  

The Hall of Fame event was held Saturday evening at the Galion Middle School.  This event, organized by members of the Galion Alumni Association, recognizes the achievements of former graduates and educators of Galion City Schools.  The event consists of dinner, entertainment and the presentation of awards to the inductees and was again well attended this year. 

All of the events mentioned above are the result of the cooperation of a number of civic organizations and the Galion City School System joined together in a group known as the Synergy Committee.  Each of the organizations involved provides both financial and volunteer time in putting these events together.  One of the projects under consideration by this group is the development of a plan to build a Performing Arts Center (auditorium+) at the Galion City School Campus without incurring additional cost to the tax payers of Galion.  Knowing that this project is extremely costly and will require an enormous amount of funds, the Committee is exploring the route to be taken to accomplish this endeavor or if it is even possible to achieve.  This will include total amount needed, fund raising efforts needed and a timeline.  The Board of Galion Alumni Association fully supports this effort and encourages our membership to offer their support.  Because of the size and scope of this project, we encourage questions, comments and suggestions be sent to us through this website.

One of the disappointing aspects of the year gone by has been the lack of participation by alumni and citizens of the community to be active members of the board of directors.  We have lost several members of the board due to changes in employment which required moving out of state.  Sadly there has been no one to step up and fill the void.  Board membership is limited to fifteen individuals who are willing to meet once per month and accept participation in Association projects when needed.  If you are willing to become a member of the board, please contact us through this website or one of the current Board Members listed at the end of this article.

Our dues paying membership has remained stagnant with little or no growth.  The life blood of any organization is the money raised through dues.  Fortunately, we have been blessed with a number of loyal members who have maintained their annual memberships or have become Life Members.  Several have provided donations in addition to paying their dues. To those we offer our gratitude and to others who have not become members, we encourage you to consider doing so.  We currently have 54 Life Members and 98 Annual members for a total of 152 dues paying members.  In recognition of purchasing a Life Membership we have listed their names and classes under About Us/ Life Members on this website.

Our website has been mentioned several times in this article.  We encourage all Galion Alumni and Galion School Staff to become registered users of the site.  There are currently 580 registered users ranging from the class of 1941 to the class of 2010.  We acknowledge that we are not a social or blog type website, but through the registered users profiles, Email contact can be made with other registered users.  The information that you provide will not be sold to third parties and important contact information is not revealed in your profile.  If you are a registered user and have changed your location or Email address, please take the time to update your profile.  If nothing else, register again.  We monitor the profiles for duplication and only publish the most current.

Thanks to all for another memorable year.

Galion Alumni Association Board

Brian Treisch                        President

Joe Kleiknecht                     Vice President

Steve Melchior                      Treasurer

Sue Jarvis   Secretary

Bill Durtschi    Secretary

Brenda Treisch

Doug Schilling

Crystina Waller

Julie Boles