3 minute read
FORGING CONNECTIONS
Doing good while bonding in the great outdoors, Fins & Feathers events bring together alumni with a shared passion for fishing, hunting, and Norwich
After graduation, the founders of the Fins & Feathers alumni group kept close connections, like many Hill classmates, meeting up regularly to fish, hunt, and do other outdoorsy things. As a number of them began serving on the Board of Fellows and other Norwich committees, they saw the potential to use their outdoor get-togethers to do more for the school.
Advertisement
“It was really just a group of us hanging out and enjoying stuff we like to do,” says Vin McDermott ’90. “As Norwich was sort of evolving and changing, particularly with its new leadership, we were evolving also. And we thought, what can we do to help the school?”
Several years ago, the group of friends held its first Fins & Feathers fishing tournament, aided by NU Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations Liz Kennedy ’01 and colleagues. “Liz and her team have really supported us well and have done a terrific job,” says Hugh McLaughlin ’87.
That event has grown from a handful of anglers to the roughly 150 participants who gathered in June for the 4th Annual Offshore Fishing Battle in Provincetown, Mass. The group also hosts an annual pheasant hunt and skeet shooting event. Moreover, new Fins & Feathers chapters have launched in New Jersey and California. As more alumni get involved with the outdoor affinity group, they are adding additional events to the mix.
“We would love to grow this thing across the country,” McLaughlin says. “And it can be whatever you want it to be: You can take four guys and go bird hunting, and to me that’s a Fins & Feathers event. As long as you’re bringing Norwich alumni together, it’s good for the alumni, and it’s good for the school.”
To date, Fins & Feathers has raised more than $300,000 for Norwich through its events. Some of those dollars have gone into the President’s Fund, while others have been used to support various scholarships. The group has also donated to university projects with special meaning for Fins & Feathers members, such as the campaign for a new weight room for the men’s and women’s hockey programs. (Many group members either played hockey at Norwich or were fans of the team.) The alumni group’s latest endeavor is endowing a scholarship in honor of Debra Evans ’87, the late wife of Fins & Feathers committee member Dan Evans ’87.
“What I’ve learned through charity and fundraising is that there is no one charity that outweighs another,” says Donald F. O’Neill ’87, who ran a Nantucket fishing tournament for 18 years that’s raised more than $1 million for various causes. “It’s more about just getting involved and getting other people involved and helping out where needed.”
“The school benefits from our fundraising, and we benefit as individuals from the social aspect of gathering and planning the events,” McDermott says. “That helps us keep our connections strong, and it feels like a team environment. It’s a forum for us to do good, and we feel good about that.”
Fins & Feathers actively seeks to involve current students and younger alumni, asking them to help with social media and other tasks and encouraging them to invite their friends to attend events. Those efforts have led to networking opportunities for everyone involved in Fins & Feathers. Sometimes it leads to jobs or mentorship connections for young alums.
“We can connect the more senior alums to some of the junior alums,” McLaughlin says. “That part’s been very exciting.”
“These guys are making networks across 20 or 30 years of different classes,” says NU Maroon & Gold Athletic Association Associate Director Paul Morgan, who helps support the group. “It really is indicative of the bond that Norwich alums have with each other and are willing to make from any generation.”
For more information about Fins & Feathers, visit alumni.norwich.edu/finsandfeathers.
Photo by Ronny DiMasi
—VIN MCDERMOTT ’90
PARTING SHOT
