I wanted to forward several pictures I took this morning at the Prairie Aviation Museum.  The group of six freshmen students did a great job helping to clean the displays inside the museum.  We were able to save about 30 minutes to spend at the A-4 Skyhawk for some ‘show and tell’ time.

I am a 1970 Wesleyan alum and flew the A-4M Skyhawk during 1972 and 1973 with the Marines. Having the same type aircraft as part of our museum air park is a dream come true for me.  As you can see on the aircraft, I am honored to have my name and ‘call sign’ on side of the cockpit.
The boys each got to wear my helmet (issued to me 43 years ago in 1970 when I started flight training in Pensacola, FL.  It is painted in the colors of VMA-331 ‘Bumblebees’, my former A-4 squadron.

We have open cockpit days once a month (third Saturday) from May to September.  I think the Wesleyan group enjoyed their time at the museum today.  Hopefully, they will come back to visit and bring some of their friends.

Barbara and I hosted two freshmen international students last Sunday evening for dinner in our home.  One of them (Junru Zhao) was in the work crew this morning at the museum.  She is a young lady who will be double majoring in math and economics.  The other young lady in the group this morning was Haley Lower, niece of Bloomington councilman, Kevin Lower.

On July 17, over 2,500 alumni and friends made gifts to IWU totaling over $450,000. Unless otherwise specified by donors, all the money raised went to student scholarships and financial aid.  The “All in for Wesleyan” challenge began when Illinois Wesleyan Trustee John Horton ’82 and his wife, Joann, offered a gift of $100,000 if alumni and friends could raise $50,000 in one day.  When that challenge was met, several more challenges followed — and each was fulfilled.  Howard ’60 and Sharon ’60 Fricke offered a $10,000 gift if 600 donors participated.  Ed ’62 and Lin Phelps then offered $25,000 for 1,000 total donors.  Korey ’00 and Heidi Coon offered a $15,000 challenge for 1,200 donors.  Dr. Mike Sombeck ’83 offered $25,000 if we could reach 1,500.  Finally, at the end of the day, Dr. Randy ’73 & Jodie Reed offered $25,000 and Ed ’62 & Lin Phelps added $10,000 more to match every new gift, dollar for dollar…up to a total of $35,000 in gifts before midnight.

It was an exciting day to be a Titan.  The challenge became about so much more than numbers and dollars and donors.  It provided our alumni and friends with a chance to share their pride and explain how much IWU means to them.  If you weren’t following these conversations on social media, you can click here to read them now.  THANK YOU to all of our loyal alumni and friends who made July 17 an incredible day for our school and our students.