Beach Party 2007 Another Sunny Success

For the fourth year in a row, JMU alumni attending the Tidewater Chapter Beach Party enjoyed food, friends, and fun in the sun while raising $3,300 for the chapter's scholarship fund. Through a partnership with the Black Alumni Chapter, the June 9, 2007, party was a hit with alumni and future Dukes alike.

"I think there was a great mix of adult and family fun," alumni attendee Mark McKinney said. "My kids had a wonderful time too. Often alumni events don't have anything for young kids, but this year there were plenty of games and activities to keep them playing."

The beach party featured a cookout catered with hot dogs and hamburgers, a DJ, and a silent auction of items donated by local retailers. For future Dukes, bubbles, hula-hoops, dancing, and other children kept the fun going through the afternoon.

Fundraising at the event came in the form of "Purple and Gold" sponsors who donated $300 to the event, which raised $2,300. At the silent auction, donations such as jewelry, gift cards, and JMU football tickets helped raise $1,000. Attendees also had the option to turn in their coupon for three free alcoholic beverages in exchange for a donation to the scholarship, or could make outright donations to the fund.

"We want to provide a marquee annual alumni event in Tidewater," Tidewater Alumni Chapter past-president Kelly Stefanko said.  "It is intended as a family-friendly event, giving alums of all ages the chance to reunite with old friends, expand their professional network, or just simply have a good time."

The Tidewater Alumni Chapter Scholarship Fund, established in 2004, with the help of the JMU Office of Development. The goal of the fund is to attain an endowment of $25,000 to assist students from the Tidewater area who attend JMU.

"Our goal was to raise $5,000 annually to enable endowing the scholarship by 2008, JMU's centennial," Alison Cooper, president of the Tidewater chapter, said. "Without the help of the Madison Connection call center the last couple of years, we haven't met our annual goal, so it might take us a year or two longer to reach our overall goal."

The idea for a partnership with the Black Alumni Chapter is the brainchild of Vanessa Evans, president of the BAC. Her chapter holds an annual meeting for the geographically dispersed group as a social gathering, as opposed to the Tidewater chapter, which uses its beach party as its only annual fundraiser and gathering. The groups agreed to combine their meetings to use both the social and fundraising aspects in one event.

"The Black Alumni Chapter, as well as all of the chapters under the Alumni Association, partner together on many events," Evans said. "It is important that we continue to build the strong bond between chapters, as well the JMU bond and network we share with one another. We encourage cross participation as often as possible with our events."

"It was a real win-win," Stefanko said. "It saved the Black Alumni chapter from having to do all the planning and taking on the financial risk of throwing a big JMU-focused cookout, and it provided added exposure, promotion and increased attendance for the event for the Tidewater chapter."

--Carly LeDuc ('08)