I am touched.  I am reeling from the fact that I got a beautiful sweet-smelling large bouquet of flowers from my dentist yesterday (who does kids and adults and has the most awesomely kid-friendly practice I could ever have imagined - seriously).  This nice gesture literally stopped me in my tracks, made me take a huge deep breath and wipe a tear off my cheek (I even made a place for them on the dining room table -  no small feat!).  Thank you, and really, now I'm turning it into something more.

I am now embarking on a new quest to find the answers for our fair village and bring a smile to other faces who haven't felt one in a while.  I want to embrace the other alums like me who are dedicated in our hearts to memories of Shorewood Schools and want to do something, something that will be good, maybe ensure our legacy and make a difference, something that will pleasantly suprise people who live in the village who are dutifully but dubiously supporting the referendum on April 1st.  Am I talking endowment? Am I talking fundraising? I don't know what it looks like on paper, or in legal form. We have a serious committee for that with lawyers and accountants and things, and we're just in the planning stages.  The heart of what I'm talking about is being mindful of and appreciating alumni all over the world, including in Shorewood, Wisconsin, who really would like to be able to share their passion for the Shorewood education and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the good and loyal people of this village to support not only the sports field (and thank you D2D for initiating alumni giving) but the education and  physical schools of the district.  Right now, yours truly has volunteered (thanks to this grad program at UWM, Helen's nap schedule and Henry's new addiction to Cyberchase), to spearhead a Development Committee for the Shorewood Alumni Association.  I want to find out from everyone who knows or has an opinion what the best way to steward all these awesome alums - some famous, and some happily anonymous, in supporting their alma mater in a way that would be intensely personally satisfying and would also answer the real needs of the district.  The referendum will cover necessary immediate needs, and is hugely significant and relevant. I am concerned when I hear taxpayers say the enrollment is down anyway, why support it. This is a treasure we're sitting on, and I am eager to let the alumni help it thrive as well. This is the opposite of the coerced at-work giving, where one is pounded from above to cough up cash in order to wear pants to work, or is pressured into having money drawn out every paycheck for a worthy yet unchosen by the donor cause.  It's going to be great, it's going to make people happy, and it is going to help Shorewood to get back in touch with its roots and all the lives its touched in its long history.

I am just going to try to help get the school's ducks (and than-you notes) in a row, so if someone decides to bequest the school in a will, or endow the school's English Dept or Latin Dept (which there isn't one currently) Chair, the school, or the alumni assn, knows what to do.  Seriously, just trying to make the right biz and financial decisions now as part of the office support and 501(c)(3) tax exemption verifications so if you send us Aunt Izzie's check for a new sound mixing board (not covered under the referendum, say), we can communicate with you and make sure Izzie iz Acknowledged and that the money is properly handled.

If anyone has thoughts, feel free to email me. I'll be on vacation! Ha ha. Just kidding. As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm beholden to my email, and I encourage your feedback if you'd like to keep it off this blog.  I'll be driving to Omaha and KC next week, just me and the kids, but I'll be back.  This is a big deal, it makes my chest kind of tight thinking about the largesse, and I'm committed to maintaining a community of alumni that extends far beyond Shorewood, Wisconsin and comes to wherever you or yours may find yourselves these days.  How to do this with heart, and make sure it is thoughtful and clever and responsible?  Your comments are helpful, this is your school.

UPDATE: there is a blog you should read. It made me cry: http://www.helenegresser.com/2008/03/shorewood.html