Ooney Gagen strikes again!

Team Durham members are Ray Olson, George Murdock, Bob and Nancy Haack. Bob Ferguson, Terry Durham, Tim Marsh and Pete Dengenis. Providing vital assistance to the team are Debbie Harmon Ferry (Linfield title below) and Dave Ostrander (Linfield Institutional Advancement VP).

Photos with this posting show Ray Olson and a silhouette of Ooney Gagen.

Message on June 29, 2015, to Team Durham ... from Debbie Harmon Ferry (Linfield Class of 1990), Director of Alumni and Parent Relations, Office of Institutional Advancement, Linfield College.

Her message:

I arrived back from vacation today to the most wonderful surprise! Ooney Gagen has made yet another terrific gift to the Paul Durham Endowed Fund.

Ooney asked me to pass along his message:

"I am pleased to contribute $15,000 to the Paul Durham Endowment Fund in recognition of the Alumni Service Award to Ray Olson and of our mentor, Coach Durham. Based on what I understand to be the current market value of the fund (appx. $170,000,) this should bring the fund very close to Ray Olson's goal of $200,000. I am confident that Team Durham will use this gift as an inspiration to help raise the fund prior to Homecoming this September.”

Please share this news with anyone who you think would like to receive it. Looking forward to celebrating with all of you at Homecoming, September 11-12, 2015.

.................................

Team Durham member Ray Olson (Linfield Class of 1954) message:

I know it won’t be easy for most of us, since we all reached deep into our pocket for the Coach Durham Statue project but Ooney is challenging us to “reach into our gut bags” and donate some more. Most likely some don’t know that the Bob and Janet Harrison Estate contributed quite a large amount of money to the Paul Durham Endowment Fund which brought the fund to over $170.000, a point where the goal of $200,000 is now indeed reachable. That is when I thought wow! two hundred thousand is within our reach. Then along comes Ooney, bless his soul, who is calling for us to make another donation before this fall’s Homecoming so the fund reaches this new goal.

Team Durham is sending this request to all who have donated to the Durham Statue.

For making a donation, Team Durham member Ray Olson will send you one, two or all three of the following DVDs he produced. Donors need to let Ray know by email (brolson@pacifier.com) which of these DVDs they want for their personal collections:

• APPLES DON'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE: The Legacy of Linfield's Paul Durham, 82 minutes DVD.

• LINFIELD’S PAUL DURHAM: Highlights and Interviews of his Students, Athletes and Friends, 71 minutes DVD. (Note: This is similar, but not identical to "Apples Don't Fall Far from the Tree.")

• FOUR SPECIAL MOMENTS IN LINFIELD SPORTS HISTORY: In 1998,  Ad Rutschman enshrined in College Football Hall of Fame, Scott Brosius named World Series MVP, Linfield beats Willamette and passes Notre Dame and Harvard for consecutive football winning seasons, and Linfield establishes its Athletic Hall of Fame and enshrines its first "class" -- Coaches Henry Lever, Paul Durham, Roy Helser, Ted Wilson, Ad Rutschman and Hal Smith, DVD.

And, if a donor played on a Paul Durham-coached Linfield football team or teams, they'll get copies of photos from an album his son, Terry Durham, recently discovered.

Thanks for your gifts to Paul Durham’s Endowment and statue.

If we can find Ooney’s address we will gladly send this to him!