​HISTORIC PRESERVATION ALUMNI CHAPTER UPDATES by Sandra Campbell
HPA Annual Banquet, Saturday, April 22, 2023, at the Wehking Alumni Center, SEMO
 
The HP Alumni Chapter was established in 2016 with the help of Dr. Hoffman, Dr. Nickell, and the SEMO Alumni Association staff - Jay Wolz, Director and Angie Grissom, Coordinator.   Today we collaborate with the new Director of the Alumni Association, George Gasser.
 
The mission was simple – we wanted to create a degree-specific Chapter of the Alumni Association to support current HP students.  We have been able to share our experiences and our networks as well as serve as an outlet for graduates to give back to the program that has served over 450 students since its inception by Dr. Mattingly and crew in 1981.   We think it worked out great!
 
We are proud of the work the Historic Preservation Association student organization continues to do to create camaraderie among the students and how they embrace the Alumni Chapter each spring at their annual banquet.  We look forward to our time here where we can network and establish personal and professional relationships. 
 
My goal tonight is to ask former alumni and our graduating seniors to:  DO – SHARE - GIVE. 
 
DO:  Join the HP Alumni Chapter – it is only $10 a year.  New graduates get their first year free!  Membership forms are on the table.  Please use your personal email address so we can contact you after you graduate. 
 
SHARE:  Your experiences with us as you move through the chapters of your life.  Keep in touch by email, Facebook, our website (semohpalunni.org) and, of course, Dr. Hoffman. 
 
GIVE:  Your time and talents to the Chapter by:
1.Attending the annual banquet,
2.Be a liaison for current students and graduates looking for an internship or job,
3.Talk about the HP program to your network of individuals and groups.
 
Lastly, I want to announce two initiatives the HP Alumni Chapter will be launching in the near future:
1.A Chapter Newsletter, and
2.The purchase of an 8 x 8 engraved Heritage Plaza Alumni Brick for the Alumni Chapter.  The proceeds of this purchase will support the Alumni Association and the upkeep of this beautiful facility we are enjoying tonight. 
 
Alumni and New Grads – please join your Chapter.  All here can donate to the brick campaign.  For more information on how to give, email [email protected] or see one of the Chapter representatives after the banquet.  They are – please stand as I call your name:  Jon Colburn, Melissa Gengler, and David Jackson. 
 
We really appreciate all the support George Gasser has given and continues to give the HP Alumni Chapter, so I want to recognize him again for his contributions to both the HPA and the Alumni Chapter.  

Welcome from the HP Alumni Chapter by Sandra Campbell
HPA BANQUET, APRIL 13, 2024.  Wehking Alumni Center
 
On behalf of the HP Alumni Chapter Board and its members, let me extend a warm welcome to all in attendance this evening.  It certainly has been an event-filled 150th anniversary at Southeast Missouri State! 

Gathering around the current HP students at their spring banquet and awards ceremony gives alumni the opportunity to reminisce and reconnect.  We have a chance to share goals, plans, dreams, and experiences. 

One such dream in 2016 was the creation of the HP Alumni Chapter.  One such goal in 2023 was the plan to purchase a Heritage Plaza Alumni Brick – a way to show the community that the HP Alumni are engaged and support the Foundation.  This purchase will come to fruition soon after this weekend.  If you have not voted for the message that will be engraved, please do so at the Alumni Information table before you leave this evening. 

I cannot begin to name all the people who have helped nurture our Chapter along since 2016, or tabulate the countless hours that have been spent – so let us take a moment to show our appreciation to those in attendance –

• Will the HP Chapter Board stand.
• Will the HP Alumni stand.
• Will all professors, community members, and friends of our Chapter stand.

Many of our friends here do not possess an official leadership title – rather they lead informally – doing what they can, with what they have, where they are.  And they are doing so from all over the United States.  Our Chapter Board hails from Pennsylvania to Nebraska, from Tennessee to Indiana, as well as Illinois and Missouri. 

What makes people valuable informal leaders are those that DO, SHARE, and GIVE.
To DO is to make the choice to get involved.  We do something we are enthusiastic about.  We go down that rabbit hole, unearth hidden stories, and just dig in!

With the technology we have today, we can easily SHARE.  How?  Think crowdsourcing projects, or research for local history organizations.  When we share our research and expertise, we foster a deeper appreciation and understanding of the past. 

To GIVE is to be available and be a friend.  Pay it forward and give back.  It is said that the best gift you can give someone is the gift of your time. 

Our HP Alumni Chapter is exploding with innovative ideas and new ways to get involved.  We need you!  Visit our Chapter website at semohpalumni.org to stay updated on our activities and events.  Much will be revealed soon.

Now I would like to take a minute to tell you about one of our graduates who exemplifies DO – SHARE- GIVE.    This person took his passion, unearthed stories, wrote them down, published a book, gives of his time at field schools, established a scholarship, and is known as an expert in his field. 

On April 23rd, Jesse Francis will receive the Rozier Award, recognizing significant work in Missouri preservation.  How so?  For the past 42 years he has offered consultation services.  For the past 30 years, he has ben a force and inspiration to the St. Louis County Faust Park.  Congratulations, Jesse! 

Please continue to DO – SHARE – and GIVE whatever you can, with what you have, where you are – and stay connected!  We want to hear YOUR stories!  

    Each Spring since the mid-1980s, SEMO’s Historic Preservation Association (HPA) has hosted an annual picnic and or banquet. This year, the HPA and the SEMO HP Alumni Chapter of the Alumni Foundation (chartered in 2016 as SEMO’s first…and still ONLY…degree-based alumni chapter) welcomed over 100 attendees to the HPA’s Annual Spring Banquet on Saturday evening, April 13. HP students and alumni enjoyed keynote speaker was Don Wildman, documentary host of TV’s Travel Channel’s Mysteries at the Museum and his podcast, American History Hit. It was a full weekend of networking and camaraderie that included a live, public concert on Friday night by Dennis Stroughmatt (1993 SEMO HP graduate; http://www.creolefiddle.com/) and his L’Espirit Creole ensemble that nearly filled the Wehking Alumni Center. Stroughmatt was surprised, too, as this year’s recipient of the HPA’s “Arthur H. Mattingly Lifetime Achievement Award in Historic Preservation.” On Saturday afternoon, conferees were afforded a behind-the-scenes tour of the Kellerman Foundation’s new building, Kellerman-Lorimier Hall, graciously hosted by Drs. Bert and Mary Ann Kellerman.

     The HP Program celebrated its 40th ruby anniversary in 2021. A published history, “Foresight is 2021: Southeast Missouri State University’s Historic Preservation Retrospective,” is available at Amazon.com. For the latest news, HP students and alumni each have respective Facebook pages, accessible through the alumni chapter’s website: https://www.semohpalumni.org/.
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    This year’s HP Program graduates join an alumni of nearly 400 who may be found in communities across the country, in professional or paraprofessional pursuits. As you travel near and far and enjoy historic sites, museums, historical societies, and the like, remember there are museum curators, archivists, architectural historians, and interpreters in history in your community. And, there just might be a professional SEMO HP graduate working hard there to advocate for grassroots preservation.

Good afternoon HP Alumni and Friends!  I am excited to be starting this HP Blog for our Chapter.  I plan on posting things about what folks are doing in their hometowns and with their work and volunteer projects, so there will be lots of opportunities for you to contribute.  I am counting on that! 

First, I want to say how much I appreciate the work that everyone has done and the support they have given to get the HP Alumni Chapter up and running over the past two to three years.  It takes a village of people to make projects like this work.   You are awesome! 

Second, I know Dr. and Mrs. Mattingly have something special in store for our group in April 2018.  It is not too early to start planning to attend, so save the dates - April 20 and 21 - in beautiful Cape Girardeau, Missouri for the HP Alumni event and the HPA banquet.  

What projects, programs, or research have you been working on? 
Need some assistance or have a volunteer opportunity? 
Do you want to have a meet up in your town? 
Come across some interesting facts you would like to write about?

You are welcome to post items on our Facebook page (search @semohpalumni) or send an email to [email protected].

I look forward to posting information and news that you all enjoy.  

Have a great December afternoon!