An Open Letter to the Lafayette Community
14 years have passed since we graduated from high school. And life changes have abounded since our days are no longer defined by school bells and passing periods, by homework and Homecoming, by Friday night football victories and early morning group meetings.
But however our paths have diverged in these last few years, we all are bonded in the memory of the four years we spent together at Lafayette High School, and through the memory of those classmates who are no longer with us today: Ryan Trigg, Eric Gabel, Bobby Maessen, and David Meyers.
I was away at Mizzou, about to have dinner with some friends one early November night during my junior year of college, when I got the call that Ryan had died. I still get chills thinking about it. I also remember the moments I learned Eric, Bobby, and David had passed away; I'm sure many of you do as well. For these boys not only were our classmates, they also were our friends.
As Rich and I were helping to plan the five year reunion during the summer of 2007, an idea came up for a scholarship fund as a way to honor the memory of our friends. We took this idea and moved full steam ahead, involving the families of Ryan, Eric, Bobby and now David in our plans. We reached out to Dr. Tim Jones, Lafayette's senior class principal, and worked with him and other Lafayette faculty to promote the scholarships to graduating Lafayette seniors.
In the years that have passed, enabled by the generosity of this community, our group has awarded 31 $500 scholarships to LHS seniors. These students' stories compel us each spring, and we are so thrilled, especially during this time of economic uncertainty, to help support their scholastic ambitions. We see in their actions to date and dreams for the future a connection with who Ryan, Eric, Bobby, and David were and what they had planned for their lives.
It is that mission, of honoring the memory of our friends and reaching back to Lafayette to recognize current students, that led us to the creation of this website. We wanted a place to exist where you could see how all the pieces of this fund fit together: from who the boys were to photos of events past to our vision for the scholarship fund's growth. We're also excited to share news from other Class of 2002 members via our blog Thirtysomething; we invite you to stay in touch with us and with each other through this forum.
Thank you as always for your continued support.
Jill McDonnell and Rich Finneran