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A Message From President Rounds
Spring Semester Sees Many Wonderful Events!
Greetings from Williamson!
Spring semester at Williamson Col-
lege of the Trades saw many wonderful
things take place that helped us further
our mission. We also endured the pass-
ing of two people who have meant a
lot to the Williamson family for many
years.
Our dear friend, Dorrance Hamilton,
passed away on April 18. Mrs. Hamilton
was a great benefactor to our Horticul-
ture, Landscaping, and Turf Manage-
ment Program and did much to make
our exhibits in the Philadelphia Flower
Show possible. Her support was so ben-
eficial the Dorrance Hamilton Horticul-
ture Center was named in her honor.
Carmen Martella, our director of
machine tool technology since 1986,
passed away on June 2 after a long battle
with illness. Carmen was very devoted
to teaching his trade and helped several
hundred young men get their start in
the machining industry. He will cer-
tainly be missed.
We also lost a new friend, Phil Brown
9W9, who was killed while riding his
motorcycle to work on March 1. Phil
was an operations team supervisor at
Hines and Tiger Bay Energy Complexes
at Duke Energy in Florida and had ap-
plied for the position of Williamson’s
director of power plant technology.
His wife held a memorial 5K run in
his honor and very graciously had the
proceeds go to Williamson. This was an
outstanding testament to the role Wil-
liamson played in Phil’s life.
On a happier note, quite a few very
positive events happened.
The Power Plant Technology Pro-
gram was named the Lee Rowan School
of Power Plant Technology and a very
attractive sign with the program’s new
name is now up near the Power Plant.
It was built by our masonry students
and landscaped by our horticulture stu-
dents. The sign was designed by Black-
ney Hayes Architects, the architectural
firm of Kevin Blackney 7W6. The sign
is a testament to the skill of our students
and alumni. The next time you are on
campus, I encourage you to see it.
In the middle of May, we held our
second annual Service Week, send-
ing about 300 students, staff, faculty,
trustees, alumni, and Auxiliary mem-
bers out into the community to help
30 nonprofits. The work included some
painting, landscaping, basic carpentry,
and generally making places look nicer
than before we were there. We offered
assistance to nonprofits that are under-
manned and don’t have the resources to
hire helpers to do the work that needs
to be done. The feedback we heard from
the places we helped is very gratifying.
They truly appreciate our efforts.
Also during Service Week, we sent a
group back to the small town of Para-
iso in the Dominican Republic where
we spent 16 years constructing a badly
needed hospital. Now seeing thousands
of patients each year, the building got
some refurbishing from our group.
We also sent a group of student leaders
out into the “wilderness” on the annual
Student Leadership Trip. Accompanied
by two staffers, Tom Moffitt and Ross
Deitrich, as well as several members of
the Coalition for Christian Outreach,
the students took turns being the leader
for the day on this camping and canoe-
ing adventure.
The members of our board of trust-
ees have always impressed me with their
talent and dedication, and this group
got even better with the addition of two
well accomplished new members.
James Obermeier, the president and
CEO of CYMA Builders and Construc-
tion Managers of Blue Bell, Pa., is bring-
ing an impressive amount of construc-
tion experience to our board. His goal is
to make a difference in the lives of our
students.
An alumnus who served on our board
several years ago has returned. Tom
Goeke, a 1980 graduate, is the president
and CEO of Milacron LLC, a leading
industrial technology company serving
the plastics processing industry. I saw
Tom speak at one of our General As-
semblies and his ability to stimulate the
students to do better was inspiring.
Todd Zachary joined our staff as the
new senior vice president and chief of
staff. Todd is a retired Air Force colonel
with vast educational experience. Todd
hit the ground running, and has been
doing a lot to make things operate ef-
ficiently.
We have come to expect a lot of posi-
tive things from our students and they
did not let us down.
Our exhibit in the Philadelphia Flower
Show, “The Other Side of Holland,” re-
ceived two prestigious awards — a silver
medal from the Pennsylvania Horticul-
tural Society and a Special Achievement
Award of the Garden Club Federation
of Pennsylvania, awarded to an exhibit
of unusual excellence. Thousands of
people saw the exhibit in Philadelphia
and witnessed firsthand the skill of our
horticulture students.
At the SkillsUSA national competi-
tion in Louisville, KY, Ronald Vann ’17
represented Williamson well, earning a
silver medal.
The winter Career Fair in the Restall
Sports Center was immensely impres-
sive, as usual, with representatives of 88
companies from 14 states, four colleges
and universities, and three branches of
the military there with the goal of hiring
our 72 seniors.
We heard a very educational talk
by Thomas Connelly, the retired chief
executive of Connelly Container Inc.
and a trustee of the Connelly Founda-
tion, who is also an expert on the his-
tory of the American flag. At the end of
his talk, Connelly presented our school
with a flag from 1888, the year William-
son was founded. What a wonderful ar-
tifact to have in our possession.
Williamson also received great praise
for its unique mission in a recently pub-
lished book by Robert Carr, Working
Class to College, The Promise and Peril
Facing Blue-Collar America. The book
examines the struggles of low-income
young people as they deal with the high
costs of college.
Mary Nell and I hope you all are hav-
ing an enjoyable summer. May God
continue to bless you and your families.
For Williamson!
Michael J. Rounds, President
Obermeier And Goeke ’80 Join Williamson’s Board Of Trustees
James J. Obermeier, president and
CEO of CYMA Builders and Construc-
tion Managers, of Blue Bell, PA, has
joined Williamson’s board of tr