President's Message Christmas 2021

President’s Message from Bob Sansone, LSAA President:

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and ….Wow!

Amazing what a year of forced separation yields! What a terrific reunion, but more importantly what a consequential effort we have embarked upon!

As I write this, we’re about to have the Thanksgiving holiday in a week, in which I hope in retrospect (with the distribution of this P&S in DEC) was enjoyable for all. 

Where to start when writing about the indescribable (nearly irresistible) pull that finds us back each year in the Berkshires to celebrate the shared experience of a school that has now been closed much longer than it was open!?!?! 

It is the “….mystique that eludes specific words….” that Mr. Southworth wrote of, that finds us in great numbers still connected (and reconnected) inexorably back to the campus and grounds of our youth because … well, as I indicate, whatever it is, it exists, but as Mr. Southworth wrote, it indeed eludes specific words.    

Let me start by thanking Shakespeare & Co for again being gracious hosts and affording us the use of their facilities. I can’t tell you how fortunate we are that they ended up with the majority of the campus. The location for the Friday night optional after golf dinner, the Sat morning business meeting and the Sat luncheon were all held at Shakespeare & Co’s Bernstein Theatre.  

It was a joy to welcome members and friends back and to see some alums that have not been back in a quite a while (or in some cases, back for the first time). To name just a few: Bob Kline ’48 alumnus and Master, Oliver “Cookie” Kempton ‘70 (who has been the rock we have relied upon to keep the master lists for contacting and connecting alums); Kimball Packard ‘70 who for years has been indispensible in maintaining the current LSAA website and posting our P&S and other documents/photos as they occur; Conrad Wiezbicki ’57, Mr. Rieffel (Master), Mr. Fawcett (Master), After the hymn sing (big thanks to Steve Lowry ’66 our organist!!), we assembled again for the evening dinner at the Lenox Club.

“When your dreams include service to others - accomplishing something that contributes to others - it also accelerates the accomplishment of that goal. People want to be part of something that contributes and makes a difference.” Jack Canfield

Perhaps most importantly, we took a monumental next step forward, having already established a fund repository with Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation {BTCF}, by launching the following:

 “The Lenox School Centennial Legacy Campaign” with a goal of raising $600,000 over the next five years and culminating with the centennial celebration of the School in 2026. 

I very strongly urge that you see the detailed articles in this P&S that describe the campaign, its purpose and the steps to take in supporting it. 

However, let me provide some distilled context as to why we established the BTCF fund; the objectives of the fund; and why we refer to this as the ‘centennial’ campaign.

    • Here’s the deal: we recognized some years ago that we wanted an enduring flow of funds to support our service efforts when we were no longer an active organization. To accomplish this, we established the fund with BTCF with the objective of allowing accumulated growth in the account to spin off the funds necessary to carry on our donation, scholarship, and grant efforts, while not depleting the principal. So how much did the principal need to be?

        ◦ A number of Lenox brothers from a variety of classes stepped forward and formed a committee to reach out to other alums to get their thoughts, perspective and support for how we could succeed at ensuring the history, legacy, lessons and story of Lenox School could be shared with others and sustained beyond the time when we’re no longer an active organization. Our belief is that what Lenox School stood for has enduring lessons that will inure to the benefit of others; and its story and legacy needs to be shared to a wider audience.   Of immediate importance - how much would be required to accomplish this? 

        ◦ In addition to sharing the history of Lenox School, its legacy and the lessons to be learned from its motto of service and the examples provided by the headmasters, masters and staff, the committee wanted to figure out how to also sustain and even grow our Lenox School donations, grants and scholarships to cement Lenox School’s enduring impact. 

        ◦ In short, how much did we need the fund to be to sustain this activity ad infinitum; and what platform was required to showcase this?

        ◦ After countless interactions, zoom calls, etc. the LSAA board fully endorsed the recommendations of the committee: raise $600K in the BTCF legacy by 2026 to support this initiative. We were a school of modest means at best, with alums and families of typically modest means as well. As such, we committed that we would do this the Lenox School way. No mass solicitations, no pressure, etc. Lenox Brothers reaching out to other Lenox Brothers with a belief in the goal to support the lessons and  mission that the school inculcated in us for a broader world that can benefit from this. 

    • This initiative includes not only support for continuing the donations, scholarships and grants, but just as critically, the establishment of a website that will tell the Lenox School story, capture the important documents, yearbooks, images, memorabilia, etc. via digitization; and be able to virtually share the history and lessons of Lenox School. 

    • The response thus far is nothing short of incredible: to date, we have reached ~50% of this $600K goal through donations and pledges. To those that have donated or pledged to date irrespective of amount, please accept our profound and deep gratitude for your generosity and faith in what this campaign represents.  

 

    • In 2026, we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Lenox School. Ergo, the “Lenox School Centennial Legacy Campaign”. By the way, for those that thought the reunions were going to stop with this latest one in 2021, we’re pleased to announce that we’ll be holding reunions every year until the 2026 centennial. 

The folks that were instrumental in bringing about this bold “Lenox School Centennial Legacy Campaign” initiative and the astounding surge of donations that we have received need to be acknowledged for their selfless service:

Ed Miller ’66, Ira Colby ’67, John Risley’67, Jeff Smith ’70, David Curry ’65, David Nathans ’68.

I also have to stipulate that without the sustained and incredible labor and contributions of Randy Harris through the past decade, we likely would not have been able to draw upon the necessary information and history to arrive at such a bold venture. 

I want to acknowledge something that was electrifyingly evident to everyone in the business meeting as Miss Hall’s School representatives Merritt Colaizzi (MHS’s Director of Advancement) and Matt Rutledge (Miss Halls history teacher and Master Rutledge’s son) provided their remarks about the impact of the support received from LSAA, and the similarities of our motto/mission of service with the outreach program of Miss Hall’s.

Matt spoke of the impression and impact that Lenox School made on him as a young boy growing up as a faculty family member at Lenox School. Suffice it to say, his from-the-heart comments emotionally connected with everyone in the room and served as an authentic reminder of how Lenox School’s enduring “mystique” positively resonates even to this day. 

“The past is your lesson. The present is your gift. The future is your motivation.” Anonymous

I have in the past referred to “working on our dash” which is in reference to what we do while on this earth, with the dash representing the interlude between our dates of birth and death. We now have a clear opportunity to establish something larger than ourselves with this campaign; something more meaningful and more enduring; recognizing that the dash we are all working on can carry forward in an impactful way we can be proud of. I urge you to join all of us in helping to achieve the 2026 Lenox School Centennial Legacy Campaign goal. 

The Past is where you learned the lesson, the Future is where you apply the lesson, don’t give up in the Middle.” Unknown

The middle: We still have to maintain an operating fund until 2026!!

While we drive toward 2026, we have to maintain our ability to function as an active organization through the next 5 years. That means we will still be funding scholarships, grants, donations and LSAA expenses (printing the P&S, mailing costs, running and subsidizing reunion costs, etc.) all out of operating funds. Our plans are to have the accumulated growth from the Lenox School Centennial Legacy Campaign Fund reinvested, thus allowing the fund to grow faster, along with the future contributions we will be receiving as we go forward to attain the $600K goal in 2026.

But perhaps the most elegant way for the LSAA operating fund to be maintained while the centennial legacy fund campaign is ongoing, is for the active alumni who either receive the P&S via the mail or receive an email notification that it has been posted on the LSAA website to all submit their yearly membership dues of $30. 

My estimate is that if all active alums would provide these dues, this alone would result in a yearly amount of ~$12,000 – $15,000; allowing us to carry on the donations, scholarships, reunions, P&S and other activities until 2026 without interruption or appeal for additional LSAA operating expense donations. This affords the focus to properly be on the Lenox School Centennial Legacy Fund campaign at BTCF, while we bridge the next 5 years as a still active organization. 

Ed  Miller’s treasurers report in this P&S helps advise as to you how you can continue to support our ongoing obligations in the LSAA administrative fund.

Speaking of which….

The future is always beginning now. Mark Strand

We are planning the next reunion for our traditional weekend following Columbus Day (OCT 15 2022). This will be an all class call, with legacies for 1967 (55th), 1962 (60th), 1957 (65th), 1952 (70th) and 1947 (75th). We are working with the Lenox Club to secure that date (10/15/2022), but we’ll advise as we move forward. Hold the date in the interim so you can be there and not be square!!