Volunteering
Culver to the Max
Thursday, July 21st, Culver had their evaluation from the various state agencies on their Stellar Communities application. I have been involved with this project from the beginning and on Thursday I not only served as a golf cart driver, but also as a presenter at a couple of the sites. For those of you that might be interested I thought I might give my impressions of the day and a brief synopsis of what happened.
Thursday was the culmination a lot of work but it all came together at 9:00 at the Depot in the park. Twenty representatives from OCRA, IHCDA, IAC, INDOT, Serve IN, IOTD, ISDH, and DNR arrived at the Depot along with many of our local regional partners. Representatives from Marshall County, City of Plymouth, Argos, Bourbon, MCEDC and many others showed up to show how important this was not just to Culver but to our surrounding area. Blueprints on each of the seven projects were given to the attendees. These were the boiled down bullet points from the overall investment plan that was submitted last month. Mark Damore Jr. then made introductions and briefly warmed up the crowd before introducing the Town Council President, Ginny Munroe, who gave a speech on what Culver to the Max meant, how it evolved, and a bit of her personal story on coming back to Culver. That was followed by Jonathan Leist giving a very brief synopsis of the projects.
Murphy Certificate
It was very fitting that I received this certificate recognizing my Grandfather’s Military Service over Memorial Day Weekend. He served in the Navy in World War II. The military funeral service for him last year was very moving.
Thank you Grandpa and all of the other veterans, past and present, that have served our country.
Buxton Farewell
Saturday night Becky and I attended a farewell party for John and Pam Buxton at John and Carol Zeglis’s home. John Buxton is leaving his position as Head of Schools at the Culver Academies and they will be moving to the east coast. John and Carol honored them by asking representatives of the various charitable and service boards and committees they served on over their tenure at Culver to come and say a few words about their service to the community. I am sure I will miss some, but there were representatives there from the Marshall County Community Foundation, Leadership Marshall County, LIFT, Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council, Lake Maxinkuckee Gift of Warmth (Film Festival), Culver Boys & Girls Club, Culver Lions Club, St. Joe Regional Medical Center and the Town of Culver.
There were 30 guests in attendance and as John Zeglis said, there was as much overlap between those in attendance as there was between the various groups and the Buxtons. I know I have had interactions with all of these groups and served on several of their boards and subcommittees.
Both of the Buxtons have been very involved in our community. While most of my direct involvement was with Pam, I witnessed John’s influence in many other areas. To paraphrase one of John’s comments, “When you are guiding the 900 pound gorilla through a community you don’t always get to participate in some of the hands on things which interest you.” While that’s true, their influence was felt and their presence will be missed.