Donors in Action

From time to time, special projects are created that have exceeded the funds available to the SAE Foundation.  Generous donors have become aware of these needs and have taken action to fufil these funding needs through capital gifts to the SAE Foundation.  Their generosity and initiative benefit the entire Realm by enhancing the visitor experience and have preserved artifacts in the Levere Memorial Temple. 

Origional Tiffany Window Illustrations

Before each of the elaborate stained glass windows in the Peace Chapel could be installed, the design had to first be created on paper.  Judge Alfred Nippert worked closely with Charles Nussbaum, the head of Tiffany Studio's ecclesiastical department, to create and finalize the images that would be created in glass and installed at the Temple.  The illustrations, or "cartoons," show Nippert's edits and changes that are reflected in the finished product.  The cartoons have been housed at the Temple for over 75 years.  Years of exposure to air, moisture and heat, as well as the original storage conditions (each drawing was rolled up) threatened their existence.  While the images themselves, including the pigments, were still quite vibrant, the paper is brittle and cartoons were not stored properly. 

With this in mind, and with the 75th anniversary of the temple approaching, the Foundation had conservation work done on the cartoons.  This highly specialized and labor intensive process included humidifying the paper to flatten it, cleaning the sketches and repairing tears and creases.  The final stage provides archival storage and display devices for each sketch.  Protective custom display cases were constructed to house several of the total of 70 cartoons at a time.  The restored cartoons are now on exhibit in the Library due to the generous support of Shawn Crouch (Evansville 1987), Donald Douglass (New Mexico 1956), Robert Kirk (Purdue 1952), Aubrey McClendon (Duke 1981), and Stan C. Strom (Arizona State 1982).

Peace Chapel Sound System Upgrade

While attending a wedding over the summer of 2005 and attending the 75^th anniversary of the Levere Memorial Temple, Duke Marshall (Salisbury 1988) and Dan Gladding (Salisbury 1978) realized the need for an updated sound system so that stereo sound could be clearly heard throughout the Peace Chapel. Each pledged $5,000 towards the cost of a new sound system. The new sound system contains four new stereo speakers and wired/wireless microphones and fills the Chapel with crystal clear sound and music.  The old system dated from the 1990s with speakers from the 1970s.  At the sound system's dedication on March 25, 2007, Gladding stated that he felt contributing toward the new sound system represented him well, and that this was the appropriate legacy for him to leave to SAE and the Levere Memorial Temple.