Post by Ray Higgins on Feb 1, 2011 16:14:22 GMT -6
Eddie G. Robinson Museum Wins Hospitality Award
RUSTON, LA (February 1, 2011) — The Ruston Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau is proud to announce that the Eddie G. Robinson Museum will be the recipient of the 2011 Lincoln Parish Hospitality Award. The award was presented at the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce annual gala Feb. 1.
“It’s an honor to see our museum receive this prestigious award,” said Secretary of the State Tom Schedler. “The Eddie G. Robinson museum is a crowning achievement of our museums system-we’ve overseen this project from the beginning. I am proud of the way our staff and the museum commission worked with the University and community to see this project through to what you see today-an award-winning institution befitting Louisiana’s rich culture and history.”
The movement to create the Eddie G. Robinson Museum started in 1999 when the Louisiana Legislature, under Senate Bill No. 919, recognized the importance of creating a museum that would reflect the history of the life and coaching legacy of Robinson.
Following the passage of the legislation, it would be another two years before the museum commission would meet for the first time. As Robinson’s health was in decline, those involved were motivated to push the project along in the hopes of completing it before the end of Robinson’s life.
“There were so many people involved in getting this going,” said President of the Friends of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum Wilbert Ellis. “We just kept pushing, working and having faith.”
Sadly, Robinson passed away in 2007 before he could see the museum built in his honor. However, according to Ellis, Robinson’s death added fuel to the fire to get the museum completed.
It was after Robinson’s death that museum found a home on Grambling State University in the old women’s gym, a place where Robinson himself had coached earlier in his career. With a location secured, a project that had been in the making for over 10 years was closer to completion.
“Having a location for the museum was an important piece to the puzzle,” said John Belton, who is the chairman of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum Commission. “Coach Robinson believed in team work. The completion of the museum was a lot of people working together.”
Belton said the project was supported by many donors locally and nationally. He also said that having the support from the various Secretaries of States, then Gov. Kathleen Blanco, as well as Rep. Rick Gallot, Rep. Hollis Down and Sen. Bob Kostelka made a world of difference in getting the project from an idea to reality.
“All of the people statewide and many people in the community were committed to making this happen,” said Belton.
The years of work and struggle culminating with the museum hosting its grand opening February 12-13, 2010, the same weekend as Robinson’s birthday. The weekend-long celebration started with a VIP reception and banquet on Friday night. The banquet saw the return of many of Robinson’s former players who he helped to propel into the National Football League over his 56-year tenure as the football coach of the Grambling State Tigers. The event also drew some of today’s most recognizable sports figures in Pittsburgh Steelers Head Football Coach Mike Tomlin and Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelley. Tomlin spoke during Friday’s night’s banquet. Kelley was the keynote speaker for Saturday’s grand opening and dedication ceremony.
Following the grand opening weekend, the museum closed and officially opened to the general public in March to allow time to put the finishing touches on all the exhibits showcased in the museum.
It was important to all those involved to do the grand opening and dedication ceremony on what would have been Coach Robinson’s 91st birthday,” said Museum Director Ray Higgins. We needed to close down at that point to make sure everything was just right before we opened to the general public.”
Exhibits in the 18,000-square-foot facility, located on the Grambling State University campus, includes a timeline of Robinson’s life, a theater that shows an 8-10 minute documentary film on Robinson’s life, and NFL room highlighting the more than 200 players who played professional football after playing for Robinson. The museum also includes a gift shop where visitors can purchase GSU and Robinson merchandise. Open for only 201 days in 2010, the museum has welcomed over 11,000 visitors.
“I think the museum has been so successful thus far because of peoples love and admiration for who Coach Robinson was and what he represented throughout his life,” said Higgins.
“The CVB is proud to be a partner with the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and to have played a small role financially with the completion of the construction phase. Coach Rob was not only a terrific coach, but a wonderful teacher, an outstanding man, and a great American hero,” said Kyle Edmiston, President/CEO of the bureau. “There is no group more deserving of this honor than the volunteers and staff of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum.”
-RLCVB-
RUSTON, LA (February 1, 2011) — The Ruston Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau is proud to announce that the Eddie G. Robinson Museum will be the recipient of the 2011 Lincoln Parish Hospitality Award. The award was presented at the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce annual gala Feb. 1.
“It’s an honor to see our museum receive this prestigious award,” said Secretary of the State Tom Schedler. “The Eddie G. Robinson museum is a crowning achievement of our museums system-we’ve overseen this project from the beginning. I am proud of the way our staff and the museum commission worked with the University and community to see this project through to what you see today-an award-winning institution befitting Louisiana’s rich culture and history.”
The movement to create the Eddie G. Robinson Museum started in 1999 when the Louisiana Legislature, under Senate Bill No. 919, recognized the importance of creating a museum that would reflect the history of the life and coaching legacy of Robinson.
Following the passage of the legislation, it would be another two years before the museum commission would meet for the first time. As Robinson’s health was in decline, those involved were motivated to push the project along in the hopes of completing it before the end of Robinson’s life.
“There were so many people involved in getting this going,” said President of the Friends of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum Wilbert Ellis. “We just kept pushing, working and having faith.”
Sadly, Robinson passed away in 2007 before he could see the museum built in his honor. However, according to Ellis, Robinson’s death added fuel to the fire to get the museum completed.
It was after Robinson’s death that museum found a home on Grambling State University in the old women’s gym, a place where Robinson himself had coached earlier in his career. With a location secured, a project that had been in the making for over 10 years was closer to completion.
“Having a location for the museum was an important piece to the puzzle,” said John Belton, who is the chairman of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum Commission. “Coach Robinson believed in team work. The completion of the museum was a lot of people working together.”
Belton said the project was supported by many donors locally and nationally. He also said that having the support from the various Secretaries of States, then Gov. Kathleen Blanco, as well as Rep. Rick Gallot, Rep. Hollis Down and Sen. Bob Kostelka made a world of difference in getting the project from an idea to reality.
“All of the people statewide and many people in the community were committed to making this happen,” said Belton.
The years of work and struggle culminating with the museum hosting its grand opening February 12-13, 2010, the same weekend as Robinson’s birthday. The weekend-long celebration started with a VIP reception and banquet on Friday night. The banquet saw the return of many of Robinson’s former players who he helped to propel into the National Football League over his 56-year tenure as the football coach of the Grambling State Tigers. The event also drew some of today’s most recognizable sports figures in Pittsburgh Steelers Head Football Coach Mike Tomlin and Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelley. Tomlin spoke during Friday’s night’s banquet. Kelley was the keynote speaker for Saturday’s grand opening and dedication ceremony.
Following the grand opening weekend, the museum closed and officially opened to the general public in March to allow time to put the finishing touches on all the exhibits showcased in the museum.
It was important to all those involved to do the grand opening and dedication ceremony on what would have been Coach Robinson’s 91st birthday,” said Museum Director Ray Higgins. We needed to close down at that point to make sure everything was just right before we opened to the general public.”
Exhibits in the 18,000-square-foot facility, located on the Grambling State University campus, includes a timeline of Robinson’s life, a theater that shows an 8-10 minute documentary film on Robinson’s life, and NFL room highlighting the more than 200 players who played professional football after playing for Robinson. The museum also includes a gift shop where visitors can purchase GSU and Robinson merchandise. Open for only 201 days in 2010, the museum has welcomed over 11,000 visitors.
“I think the museum has been so successful thus far because of peoples love and admiration for who Coach Robinson was and what he represented throughout his life,” said Higgins.
“The CVB is proud to be a partner with the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and to have played a small role financially with the completion of the construction phase. Coach Rob was not only a terrific coach, but a wonderful teacher, an outstanding man, and a great American hero,” said Kyle Edmiston, President/CEO of the bureau. “There is no group more deserving of this honor than the volunteers and staff of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum.”
-RLCVB-