12 Seniors Inducted into the Prestigious IV Club

Twelve members of the Class of 2W1 were inducted into the prestigious I.V. Club during the 26th Annual Induction Ceremony in the Clara Schrenk Memorial Chapel on March 25. The event was live streamed with only a few people in the chapel.

The inductees are: Joshua Baldinger, machine tool technology; John “Jack” Becker, power plant technology; Avery Frank, machine tool technology; Charles Harris, construction technology-carpentry; Anthony Marascio, power plant technology; James McGarrigle, construction technology-masonry; Christopher Moran, construction technology-carpentry; Michael O’Brien, power plant technology; Giuseppe Pollino, horticulture; Kyrie Stone, construction technology-masonry; Colin Suter, construction technology-masonry; and Kevin Tran, horticulture.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Michelle Williams, vice president of academic affairs/CAO, said “You young men have exhibited great skill, talent, leadership, and our core values in all the areas of your lives. Your acceptance to join the I.V. Club is an honor, but it is also a call to action. This evening, you will pledge to protect and preserve the deed of trust. As members of the club, you will be active in the great work that our founder Isaiah V. Williamson started and you will help to ensure that this legacy continues on.”

Chaplain Mark Specht 7W7 then read the poem “The Man in the Glass.” He also gave the invocation and benediction.

In his remarks on “The Past” Board Chairman William Bonenberger 7W9 said, “The school has given you guidance in the form of the core values. They actually form the best how to manual you will ever see. But the choice of how you do things is up to you. The good news is that you guys have a pretty good track record when it comes to your choices of how you do things.”

He said that each Williamson student came to the school from different places. “Maybe you were an underachiever in high school and never applied yourself and thought the hands-on learning at Williamson will help you turn over a new leaf. Maybe you were only here because your parents wanted you here and you were willing to give Williamson a shot. That’s the camp I came from. The past is a funny thing. Although you are united tonight to be inducted into this prestigious club, your paths were invariably different.”

While a masonry student, Bonenberger said he learned to work really hard and to take pride in the things he made. After graduation, he applied the core values to all aspects of his life as he worked five years for a top construction company and then founded his own home building company with his wife, Janet.

“This year we are celebrating 35 years of business. We have 50 full-time employees and build 150 homes a year. My values and my company’s values were learned here at Williamson through the same lessons you have learned over the last three years. If you hold onto these values you will have the confidence to accomplish anything you set your mind to.”

Speaking on “The Present,” Phil Bachetti 9W9, masonry instructor, said “Here you are just a few weeks before graduation. You are going to be faced with some of the most significant choices of your life. Your most important question is how? How am I going to work? How am I going to be a good husband? Your time at Williamson should have been answering your questions. Your instructors tell you which project to do. How do I do this is up to you.

“The school has given you guidance in the form of the core values. But the choice of how you do things is up to you. The good news is that you guys have a pretty good track record when it comes to your choices of how you do things.”

In “The Charge for the Future,” President Michael Rounds said “In being invited to this induction ceremony you are not so much receiving a reward but receiving a calling to take up a challenge. You have been singled out to receive a special charge that I am giving you right now. You have determined to accept this charge. The I.V. Club is intended to establish a cadre of men to protect and preserve Williamson College of the Trades. Mr. Williamson established this school with the idea that men across time would preserve it into the future to ensure that Williamson remain true to the enduring elements of its past into an unknown future.”

After the speeches, Williams and Bachetti presented each inductee with an I.V. Club pin, a certificate, the deed of trust, and a letter and framed “Man in the Glass” poem from Trustee Michael Piotrowicz,

The evening closed with the Artisans, under the direction of Sherre Gaertner, leading the singing of the alma mater.