John McHugh, a 1980 graduate of Elmira, was an extraordinarily enthusiastic and engaged alum. One of his past times was composing songs for his classmates to sing during the annual reunion weekend. The lyrics to some of those songs are posted below.
John also began the absent friends boat tradition at the reunion. With John's untimely passing, the tradition is being continued by his alumni friends.
When this tradition started, our focus was fairly limited to EC ’78 alumni and those close to us. We did not anticipate the interest it would generate among other classes.
Unfortunately, there is limited space for shields on Da Boat, and we are running out of room. This year, we are adding Da Pier, which will allow us to include more names to our remembrance celebration.
Cindy Olson, Tim Pierce and Laurie Steenburg Weller coordinate Da Boat ceremony, including the preparation involved. We need to ask your help in making sure we can continue the tradition:
In addition to the person’s name to be added to the honor roll, we need to know their graduating class.
The honor roll is restricted to alumni who graduated between 1975 and 1981, or faculty and staff who had an impact during our time at EC.
Please provide the honoree's name, graduating class, and a brief bio (what makes the person special to you.
You must contact Cindy, Tim or Laurie at least 30 days prior to Reunion in order for the needed shields to be made.
The Class of ’78 will conduct its ceremony first, followed by other classes.
Someone from the class of the new honor roll member must be present at the observance to recognize them.
With your help, we hope we can continue the tradition for many years to come.