October 11 — Alumni association looking for new leadership

Sumner Spartan Alumni Association in need of younger board members to fuel new fundraising ideas, lead members

Roxanne Cooke / of the Herald

The Sumner Spartan Alumni Association wants younger blood for its leadership, come its yearly election this November.

“Most of us are over 50 years out of school and we need some younger ones, because we’re not going to be around much longer,” said Vice President Gail Turner.

It’s important to get new perspectives, said Lionel Haywood, the president of the association.

“People that are on the board are mainly alumni from the 50s and 60s,” Haywood said. “We need to get everybody’s point of view.”

The association has a president, vice president, treasurer and two secretaries up for election. Haywood, who has been president for two years now, is an alumnus from 1951. He said he’s had his term and it’s time for someone with fresh ideas to join.

He originally became president for the same reason many others do – giving back.

“I think everybody there on the board got involved because they wanted to give something back to their school,” Haywood said.

The group has increased its membership recently, reaching almost 300 members, Turner said. It’s not necessary to be a graduate of the school, but most are.

Half of the proceeds from membership fees go toward funding three $1,000 scholarships for Sumner High students. The other half goes toward the group’s newsletter.

“Our mission is basically to provide scholarships,” Haywood said.

Currently, the association is selling corsages for the upcoming Homecoming dance to raise money for the scholarships. Referred to as “football mums,” the corsages have yellow Chrysanthemums with a purple ‘S’ imprinted on them.

The mums stem from a tradition dating back to Haywood’s high school days, when high school girls wore the same type of corsage.

“We kind of wanted to revive an old custom,” Haywood said.

The mums are available at home games and can also be bought from Turner.

Support from Sumner High has helped the group and its fundraising efforts remain successful, Haywood said, with principal Bill Gaines and the district’s communications director Ann Cook providing a great amount of support and cooperation.

“Recently, we’ve had some very great support from Sumner High School,” Haywood said. “I’m hoping that we can maintain our high level of cooperation with Sumner High School.”