Heritage Club Dinner a Success!

Montgomery County Family YMCA Press Release (Red Oak, Iowa)
October, 2015

L-R: Mark Jackson, Ann Carder, Tom Carder, Evonne Williams, and Bill Williams. Mark Jackson and Ann Carder were the 2015 Inductees to the Montgomery County Family YMCA’s “Heritage Club Endowment Hall of Fame”, Tom Carder and the late Catherine Carder began the annual Heritage Club Dinner and underwrite it, and Bill & Evonne Williams were the guest speakers.

The Montgomery County Family YMCA hosted their annual Heritage Club Dinner at the Red Coach Inn & Restaurant on Monday, October 5, with a record attendance of 135.

The Heritage Club Dinner is made possible by the financial support of Tom Carder and his late wife, Catherine, of Red Oak. The Carder’s purpose is to have the dinner to recognize the YMCA’s endowment donors on an annual basis. Tom and Catherine also played a major role for the YMCA’s Carder Indoor Tennis Center to be one of only sixty indoor tennis centers located in YMCA’s in the United States.

The 2015 Inductees to the YMCA’s “Heritage Club Endowment Hall of Fame” were Ann Carder & Mark Jackson.  Both are past YMCA Board of Directors Chairpersons, with Ann serving as co-chair of the YMCA’s Capital Campaign that raised $6.6 million to construct the 70,000 sq. ft. facility that serves the health/wellness needs of people of all ages.  Ann, along with other volunteer campaigners, also rose the funding to establish the YMCA’s endowment fund program. The efforts by Ann, along with the countless dedicated volunteers and donors, have established a strong foundation for the Montgomery County Family YMCA.

Mark served on the capital campaign and facility planning committees. He currently serves on the YMCA’s facility committee. Ann and Mark served on the facility planning committee for the YMCA from 1997-2001. They continue to be members of the YMCA and participants in various programs. They have also served on local, state, regional and national tennis committees in addition to various community volunteer roles.

This year’s dinner featured keynote speakers Bill & Evonne Williams from Omaha, NE. Bill is a 1969 graduate of Red Oak Community High School. Bill & Evonne are not veterans, but honoring those who are veterans has been a highlight of their lives. They are the co-organizers of the Honor Flights in Nebraska, and thanks to many generous Nebraskans, donations reached $2,000,000, making it possible to take 1500 Nebraska WWII Veterans and 600 Korean War Veterans on nine flights to Washington D.C. They have received numerous awards including, 2013 Midlanders of the Year by the Omaha World-Herald, 2014 Knights of Aksarben Court of Honor and the 2015 Reflection Award by the Midlands Community Foundation.

The Williamses are now focused on honoring our country’s Fallen from The War on Terror – those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq or Afghanistan while wearing our country’s uniform. The Williamses are also working on the Gold Star Kids Honor Flight. This flight is for the young widows and children of the fallen from Nebraska in Iraq and Afghanistan. They will fly from Omaha to Lincoln on Saturday, November 7th to attend the Nebraska vs Michigan State game.

Prior to organizing the Honor Flights in Nebraska, Bill was involved with sales and Evonne in non-profit management (Make-A-Wish and Strategic Air & Space Museum).

The Williamses have four sons:
Ben – Army Captain, JAG Corps, has had three tours to Iraq.
Tom – Marine Captain with a tour to Afghanistan in 2013.
Sam – Army Captain, stationed at Fort Sill.
Max- Marine Sergeant, now a civilian air traffic controller in Japan.

The photo memorial that the Williamses have coordinated titled:  “Remembering Our Fallen” has a goal now to create one display for each state.

The Iowa “Remembering Our Fallen” exhibit was displayed at the dinner and is currently being displayed at the Montgomery County History Center located at 2700 N 4th Street, Red Oak, Iowa during their operational hours, 11am to 4pm, from Tuesday, October 6th, 2015 – Sunday, October 11th, 2015. Be sure to see this amazing display to honor our Iowa fallen that have served our country. To find out more information about the “Remembering Our Fallen” exhibit and the Honor Flights please visit: www.rememberingourfallen.org. 

For more information on the Heritage Club on how you can become a member by donating to the YMCA’s endowment program, please contact Nick Zimmer, YMCA Executive Director at 712-623-2161 or stop by the YMCA located at 101 East Cherry Street, Red Oak, Iowa or email at execdir@mcymca.com.