It was both exciting and touching to be at the Crusader Legacy Courtyard dedication service on September 28, 2008. It was a sunny afternoon for the outdoor ceremony, held right outside the administration building and courtyard, where the beautiful fountain and special granite wall plaque for Dr. Benjamin Potloff and Mr. Bruce Colburn were dedicated. It was exciting because there was such a spectrum of those who have been associated with Salem Academy in one way or another from the very beginning, and through the years to the present. To see them all in one place, many who do not even know one another because of the many years represented, was just overwhelming.
It was touching because there was a recognition of thirty-nine godly, dedicated people who have served on the Salem Academy Board. These people were instrumental in keeping Salem Academy going--from its small beginning as a high school and 2-year Bible college, to the full K-12 it is today. A short autobiography of each was read by a member of each person’s family; if no family member was available, it was read by Superintendent Ken Friesen ’75. Many of these dear people gave sacrificially to help SAC financially through the most difficult years. We blinked back tears as we heard of the time, work, effort, and money they had been willing to invest in keeping a Christian school in Salem. And sometimes we laughed as we heard of their “creativity” in getting the job done. It is so fitting that they have been honored in this way. Those of us who benefited from what they did for Salem Academy will be forever grateful.
The courtyard fountain is in memory of these incredible SAC supporters, through whom God moved and performed what we can only perceive as miracles. Now the rest of us can have the privilege of purchasing a paving brick for the courtyard. I’ve already purchased one for my late husband, Emil Veer ’47, and one for myself, too. I can’t wait to see all those bricks; some with names of those I know, and some that I don’t know, but all supporters of God’s school—Salem Academy.
—Pat (Skaggs) Veer ’50