(Editor's note: This letter was originally sent to Bill Spencer, president of The Men's Association, and is being printed below at the author's request.)

It is with deepest appreciation that I write this letter to you on behalf of all the members of the Trojan Club. I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your hard work and dedication in donating the new concession stand that will be used for sporting events at Garden City High School.

This is my seventh year as the advisor to the Trojan Club; our primary goal is to foster school spirit. Our club has presented many items to the school for our students to enjoy, such as the TV and surround sound system in the weight room. We also have underwritten cultural events and provide financial help to many other extracurricular activities. We have organized all homecoming parades, pep rallies, Spirit Week, hallway decorating competitions leading up to homecoming, and sponsor many breakfasts for student volunteers and various contest winners.

In order to pay for all of these wonderful events, we have relied upon proceeds from refreshment sales at the football games. In the past, we had to cook food in the cafeteria and carry dangerously heavy hot pots of chocolate and coffee across the field. In addition, we had to endure dealing with having only one functional electric outlet, which meant making decisions as to keeping either the hot dogs or coffee hot and fresh. Plugging in more than one appliance at a time meant tripping a circuit breaker, leaving us with cold hot dogs and coffee. Such difficulties decreased our profits because we then had to dispose of food products that could not be sold to the public. At the end of each game, whatever could be saved for the next event required transporting all of these salvageable items to my house, due to lack of refrigerated storage in the high school, and then transporting them back to the school for the next game. Whatever cooked items were left over had to be thrown out at the end of each game or given away.

As you can see from the tremendous amount of work we all had to do to make a small profit to benefit our Garden City High School community, the new concession stand means the world to me and all the student members of the Trojan Club. Future profits will be dedicated to further improvements in our building, such as upgraded computers, a television studio and air conditioning where it is most needed, among other projects.

With sincere gratitude, all the members of the Trojan Club and I thank Mr. John Appelt for spearheading the arrangements for our new concession stand, which includes a stove, refrigerator, freezer, steamer, sink, sliding windows, cabinets and ample storage space. Mr. Appelt also coordinated the concession stand's installation. Additional thanks go to Mr. Doug Donnelly of Mineola Jericho Auto Body Collision, whose technicians prepared, painted and detailed the concession stand. Our gratitude extends to Dr. Robert Feirsen for locating the trailer, which has been transformed into our new concession stand. May I also express appreciation to Mr. Frank Russo for preparing the site and installing the necessary electrical wiring. We cannot forget Mr. Pete Mendoza, Mr. Ed Beska and crew for setting up the trailer at the new site and making sure everything was in perfect order.

Again, thank you, Men's Association, for your generosity.

Kathleen Abrams

Faculty Advisor to the Trojan Club