MECC Foundation Gala to Honor Rosenbalm

This year's Mountain Empire Community College Foundation Gala will pay tribute to the late Kyle P. Rosenbalm, student advocate, champion of education, and beloved basketball coach in Lee County.  Rosenbalm worked in the Lee County school system for 37 years as a teacher, a principal, an assistant superintendent, and a superintendent of schools.

In addition, he was a girls and boys basketball coach for 26 years. Students were always of foremost concern to him, so it is fitting that gala proceeds will establish the Kyle P. Rosenbalm Emergency Financial Assistance Endowment.  The endowment will provide emergency assistance to students in a financial crisis and enable them to remain in college instead of dropping out.

The gala will be held on Saturday, April 22 in the Goodloe Center on the MECC campus. The theme is Sweet Harmony, and the entertainment will be a concert by the Appalachian Express Chorus, a group of about 30 men who sing four-part harmony, a cappella.  The reception, featuring cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, will begin at 6 p.m., and a full-course buffet dinner will be served at 6:45 p.m. A short recognition program will follow dinner and precede the evening entertainment. 

Tickets to the gala are $75 each, with $50 being a tax-deductible gift to the Kyle P. Rosenbalm Emergency Financial Assistance Endowment. Call Jeri Bledsoe in the MECC Foundation office at (276) 523-7466 to order tickets.  Gifts to the Kyle P. Rosenbalm Emergency Financial Assistance Endowment may be sent to the MECC Foundation, 3441 Mountain Empire Road, Big Stone Gap, Virginia 24219.

The 2006 MECC Foundation Gala will honor the late Kyle P. Rosenbalm.  The gala will be held on Saturday, April 22 at 6 p.m. in the Goodloe Center on campus.