(Seguin) – After 50 plus years, the Seguin High School Class of 1966 is still growing strong by giving back to its community. The group of former Matadors recently donated a pair of benches to the Edmund Kuempel Meditation Courtyard at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center. Among those leading the class effort was Gary Elley.
Elley says the benches were a welcomed addition to the tranquil space found inside of the hospital.
“We had our 50th reunion celebration and after all that was over and said and done, we had funds left over so we decided to use those to benefit the community to kind of give back and we wanted to do something that everybody could use at one time or another and so we came up with the idea of the hospital because I was over there and my wife was having a procedure done one day and the Edmund Kuempel Meditation Courtyard is right inside the Patient Tower there and I went out there and looked around and I saw one bench there at the time and then I got the idea, and I said ‘hey this is the perfect place,’ “ said Elley.
Elley says the benches were carefully planned and commissioned to a Mennonite community in Indiana.
“They are built out of composite material. That’s actually recycled plastic which helps the environment and those are rated to last over 40 years. They need no upkeep, no painting, nothing like that so it’s perfect and it should last a long time and be there for many years for everybody to enjoy,” said Elley.
Elley says the group of former students is excited about this contribution and believes it will serve a number of patients and their families for many years to come.
“People come and they want to kind of relax and get out of the rooms if they are visiting someone and sit out there and enjoy the outside air so with only one bench there, I said that’s the perfect project to put a bench out there and that’s what we did,” said Elley. “I contacted the hospital staff, and they really loved it.”
Others helping to facilitate this project include classmates Linda Lange Ebest and Sandi Hanna Jackson.