FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2007
CONTACT: Molly Dannenmaier
Director of Marketing and Public Relations,
409-765-7834
molly.dannenmaier@galvestonhistory.org

Lewis New GHF Board President

Galveston: Foundation Honors Volunteers, Announces New Strategic Plan at Dwayne Jones’ First GHF Annual Meeting as Executive Director

The Galveston Historical Foundation (GHF) membership on Thursday approved the selection of Raymond Lewis as board president for 2007-2008.

Associate dean for admissions and student affairs with the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Allied Health Sciences, and an active member of GHF for many years, Lewis, this past fiscal year, successfully spearheaded negotiations with developers Judy and John Saracco that led to the donation of the historic African-American Rosewood Cemetery to Galveston Historical Foundation. Lewis succeeds Elizabeth ‘Bets’ Anderson, who remains one of the board’s five officers as immediate past president.

Joining Lewis as vice president is Tom Schwenk, formerly an at-large GHF board member who has worked closely with GHF’s new executive director Dwayne Jones over the past six months to develop a new strategic plan for GHF as well as a GHF marketing task force report. Schwenk is a resident of Galveston and the co-owner of Seminars by Design, which offers training to designers and architects across the U.S.

At GHF’s annual meeting at the Garten Verein pavilion, outgoing board president Anderson gave a farewell speech outlining a year of organizational reassessment, realignment, and new strategic planning for the future. She highlighted preservation projects, island celebrations, educational programs and outreach efforts GHF continues to spearhead, including Dickens on The Strand, Galveston Historic Homes Tour, African American Heritage activities and programs, a new Storytelling Series at the Samuel May Williams House, the Art on the Spot contest at the Texas Seaport Museum, the BP science teacher training initiative in partnership with GHF’s Galveston Harbor Tours, the Plankowner’s Party at the Texas Seaport Museum, the ELISSA “official tall ship of Texas” meeting and escorting of the submarine U.S.S. Texas for its Galveston commissioning, the Sacred Places Tour, the Discovery Day Camp for Kids, the Steel Oleander Award program, the recent donation and dedication of the Rosewood Cemetery, the extensive preservation grant programs for low-income Galveston homeowners, and the successful launch of GHF’s new Web site in partnership with Galveston.com (www.galvestonhistory.org).

Executive Director Jones spoke about the new plans for making the organization stronger in the areas of education, innovative museum programming, development, marketing and resource management. He praised the board and staff for their professionalism during the past six months of transition, during which many programs, departments, and board positions have been redefined and streamlined.

“As we launch our new year, we will continue to develop our community educational programs for lifelong learning about the island’s history and historic buildings,” said Jones. This includes work with the ELISSA and the seaport as well as our historical museums. We also expect to begin an expansion of our preservation services to homeowners and neighborhoods for the first time in consideration of our living on a recoverable and sustainable island.”

“ The new strategic plan for GHF is challenging and visionary. You will see us in the next few years move into a dynamic visible position statewide that will offer more opportunities to grow the organization and enhance Galveston Island,” said Jones

“GHF remains one of the largest non-profit preservation organizations in the country with some of the strongest programs and most effective results for our local community and economy,” said Jones.

The new board officers are Ray Lewis, president; Tom Schwenk, vice president; Dwayne Jones, secretary; David Bowers, treasurer and Bets Anderson, immediate past president.

The other members elected to the 2007-2008 board are Alice Gatson, Angie Brown, Amy Ferguson, Merri Edwards; Cheryl Vaiani; Carrington Weems; Robert Zahn; Tommie Boudreaux, Claudia Maveety; Lee Doherty; Ben Coleman; Larry Wygant; Mike Doherty; Jacob Deegan, Rodney Seiler, Paulie Gaido, Bill Leopold, Judith Price, Maggie Williams, Jamie Grady; Joyce Fant, Joan Mertens, and Lauren Scott.

Sidebar: GHF Awards

The Spirit of GHF Award, the organization’s top volunteer honor, was presented to Dr. E. Burke Evans for his longstanding commitment to and patronage of the foundation’s efforts.

The President’s Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service went to Bill and Pat Broussard, patrons of a new maritime art focus at the Texas Seaport Museum and co-founders of the new ELISSA Maritime Society. Danna Sparks, longtime GHF committee member and recently retiring as chair of the GHF advisory board, was also awarded a President’s Award, as was Michael Wonio, a member of the ELISSA crew who has logged more than one thousand volunteer hours in the two years since he began volunteering at the Texas Seaport Museum.

Tom Schwenk, GHF's newly elected board vice president, was also given a President's award for the contributions he has made during the organization's transition period to develop both a new strategic plan and a marketing task force.

Beverly Davis was named Outstanding Historic Homes Tour Volunteer and Ed Jamison was named outstanding Dickens on The Strand Volunteer.

A Special Recognition Award was given to Beth Shriner, GHF’s director of historic properties, who served as interim director during the executive search process. Elizabeth ‘Bets’ Anderson, outgoing board president, also received a Special Recognition Award.