Woman walks across campus

News & Events

Office of College Communications
Phone 757.455.3366
Fax 757.461.4944

 

7th Annual Alumni Auction and Party honors alumni and supports scholarship

Pam Gordon ’92 and Buddy Gordon
Pam Gordon '92 and Buddy Gordon on the Cavalier Deck.

The Virginia Wesleyan Alumni Association held its 7th Annual Alumni Auction and Party at the Cavalier Golf & Yacht Club on Wednesday, April 25. During the event, the Association recognized three alumni with awards.

The event, featuring a silent auction and a live auction in addition to heavy hors d'oeuvres, live music and a cash bar, raised $18,426, to date, to support the Alumni Association's Legacy Endowed Scholarship Fund.

A total of 148 guests attended the Alumni Auction. Those guests purchased a total 137 items from the both the silent and live auction combined. A list of the five highest bids/best deal items is listed below:

Bathroom Renovation Package-$2,000
Foursome of Golf with Taylor Franklin-$1,000
Two roundtrip tickets from Southwest Air-$900
Redskins Multi-Pack for Oct. 7 game against Detroit Lions-$850
*Included a mini helmet signed by Chris Cooley
One week rental at Nags Head house-$800

Six items from the Auction are still for sale. These items will be up for bid online after May 12. A complete list of items for sale and their description is listed below:

Make it a Sushi Night-$20 gift certificate to Soya in Newport News and a sushi dish set
A Wesleyan Tradition-a framed photo of the Bell Tower
A three month free membership to the Virginia Beach Tennis and Country Club-good for new members only
“Your” Personal Trainer Package-Certificate for one consult/assessment, two workouts and two cardio visits; water bottle included.  New clients only.
One Authorization Letter for a round trip ticket on JetBlue-Departing from Richmond and on a non-stop flight to either New York or Boston.
Autographed cookbook entitled “Entertaining with Sodexho Hors d’Oeuvres & Appetizers”-Autograph is from Virginia Wesleyan’s own Chef Eric Samuelson who is featured in the book)

For information about how to bid on these items, please contact Alumni Relations at 757.455.3298.

During the event, three alumni were also honored with awards. Elizabeth F. Middleton '91 and George A. Lyle '88 were recognized with Alumni Service Awards and Marcia G. Derrick, Ph.D. '82 was recognized with a Distinguished Alumnus Award. The Alumni Service Award recognizes alumni who have rendered outstanding continuing service to the College as a whole and/or meritorious public service on a local, state, national or international level. The Distinguished Alumnus Award recognizes an alumnus who has attained distinguished achievements in a professional capacity.

Elizabeth F. Middleton '91

George and Elizabeth Middleton
George Middleton, member of the VWC Board of Trustees,
and his wife, Elizabeth Middleton ’91 (Alumni Service Award Winner)

Middleton graduated from Virginia Wesleyan with a bachelor of arts in art. She serves as secretary/treasurer of E. G. Middleton, Inc., a leading electrical contractor in Hampton Roads. Middleton served as Chair of Virginia Wesleyan’s President’s Advisory Council for three years and remains on the Council. She has been active in the Women of Wesleyan (WOW) for 16 years, served as the WOW President for four years, and served as the Chair of the committee to establish the Barclay Sheaks Art Gallery in Virginia Wesleyan's Godwin Hall. Additionally, Middleton and her husband, George, have been recognized as members of the Virginia Wesleyan Heritage Society. In 2006, Middleton served as a member of the Key to the Future Campaign Kickoff Arrangements Committee. She is also an active member of the Hampton Roads community, serving on the board of the Children's Health Foundation, as a past president of the Bayside Junior Women's Club, as a treasurer for the Circle of Service, Norfolk City Union of the King's Daughters, as a Dreambuilder for CHKD, as a member of the Norfolk Society of Arts, Chrysler Museum and as a member of the Library Development Committee for Virginia Tech. Middleton is also a member of Bayside Presbyterian Church and the newsletter chair for the Little Neck Garden Club. George and Elizabeth have five children and eleven grandchildren. They have resided in the Hampton Roads area all their lives.

George A. Lyle '88

Alumni Award Winners
Alumni Awards Recipients –(L) Elizabeth
Middleton ’91, George Lyle ’88 and Gail Derrick ’82 .

Lyle graduated from Virginia Wesleyan with a bachelor of arts in English and from the University of Dayton School of Law in Ohio and has served as the County Attorney for Henry County, Va. since April 2003. In that capacity, he advises both the County Board of Supervisors and the County School Board on all civil legal matters relating to the county. Lyle currently serves as chairman of the Virginia Museum of Natural History Board of Trustees and as a Governor's appointee to the Board of the New College Institute. He served eight years as member and two years as chairman of the Blue Ridge Regional Library Board of Trustees and is the 2005 recipient of the Virginia Library Association Trustee of the Year Award and the Virginia Public Library Directors Outstanding Trustee Award. He is a past-president of both the Fieldale-Collinsville Rotary Club and the Martinsville Uptown Revitalization Association. He also serves as a Virginia Bar Association appointee to the Board of Directors of the Virginia Legal Aide Society. Prior to his service as County Attorney he was an attorney in private practice. He has also worked as a trust officer for a bank, as a legislative aide in the Virginia House of Delegates and as a writer and columnist for the Martinsville Bulletin, where he won two first place awards for column writing and spot news reporting from the Virginia Press Association. He was also a contributing writer for Virginia Business Magazine where he penned a number of cover stories and has written and published a wide variety of articles in such magazines as The State, Washington Golf Monthly, and several NASCAR racing publications. Lyle and his wife Lisa (who is admissions director and chief financial officer for Carlisle School) live in Henry County, Va. with their daughters Hanna, 12, Sally, 8, "Winnie" the beagle and "Sadie" the Boston Terrier.

Marcia G. Derrick, Ph.D. '82
Derrick graduated from Virginia Wesleyan with a bachelor of arts in secondary education with an endorsement in general science and pre-algebra. After leaving Virginia Wesleyan, she went on to earn a master of arts in education and human development with an endorsement in secondary administration from The George Washington University. In May 2001, Derrick received her doctor of education in higher education administration also from The George Washington University. Derrick, an associate professor in the School of Education at Regent University, teaches in the online doctor of education program. Previous to her employment at Regent, Derrick was an associate regional director for academic affairs for Troy State University, Atlantic Region; however, most of her career was with the Virginia Beach City Public Schools including positions as the administrative coordinator in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, science instructional coordinator for the middle school science program, and mathematics/science teacher at Independence Middle School. Derrick has served as an academic reviewer for the Virginia Department of Education for public schools accredited with warning since 1999, and as a freelance item writer for the development of assessments in the area of science for the Georgia State Standards for Measured Progress in Dover, New Hampshire. Derrick is also a senior associate for Human Resource Development Enterprises in Washington, D.C. She has served as chair of the education foundation for the American Association of University Women of Virginia and as member and past president for the Tidewater Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa (PDK). Derrick has published numerous papers and preseGail Kellington '95 and husband Joe Jenningsnted at many conferences and symposiums in the area of adult learning, motivation and self-efficacy. Derrick's husband is a retired military officer and she is grandmother of four wonderful children.



Bidding for the remaining Auction items will begin in mid-May. Information will be posted onlien at that time. For questions about the bidding process, please contact the Director of Alumni Relations at 757.455.2115 or e-mail alumni@vwc.edu.Gail Kellington '95, past Alumni Board member,
and her husband, Joe Jennings.

 

 

###