Vesper Boat Club

About the Endowment Fund The Charles P. Colgan Vesper Endowment Fund was established by Vesper Boat Club in June 2000, with a bequest from his estate, plus memorial donations to Vesper Boat Club in his honor. The Fund is a perpetual fund, whose investment proceeds are used for the long-term benefit of Vesper Boat Club. The Fund’s Trustees are: Brian Colgan, Kevin Colgan, John B. Kelly III, and Stan Triester.

Committee Chair:
Tony Schneider

Fundraising

VESPER BRICK WALK
For as little as $350 a brick, you can become a permanent part of the Vesper tradition.

Make an everlasting contribution to the Vesper Boat Club and its Olympic Efforts by having your crew, your name or that of a beloved engraved on a brick on the Vesper Brick Walk.

Corporate and Crew sponsorships are also available – for details of the suggested donations, please see below.

Donations are 100% deductible.

Suggested Donations

Standard Gray Brick - $350
Your standard sized 4" x 8" brick will be used to pave the bicycle walk, right where our athletes park their bikes every day to come to the club.

Premium Gray Brick - $1000
Placed on the central walk from Kelly Drive to the door of the boathouse, your 4" x 8" bricks and your donation will be seen by every athlete and every visitor entering the Vesper Boat Club.

Diamond Sponsorship Plates - $10,000
These 12" x 12" dark marble plates can serve to commemorate your special donation – be it in the name of a crew of your choice or your company. They will be placed right in the middle of the central walk from Kelly Drive to the boathouse, surrounded by smaller bricks.

For more information, please contact vesperbrickproject@gmail.com

About Charles P Colgan
Former U.S. national champion rower, Olympic rowing referee, and 45 year rowing coach, he passed away in 1999. His passion, beginning in the 1950s, was to open rowing beyond the bounds of the then all-white, all-male Ivy League monopoly. He initiated the first inner-city rowing program for African-Americans, and ensured that Vesper Boat Club was the first all-male rowing club in Philadelphia to admit women. By 1983, he extended that to the first Special Olympics rowing program in the USA. From 1968 through 1994, he was an international referee or manager for 17 World Championship USA teams. During his lifetime, Chuck spent innumerable hours keeping Vesper in repair and ensuring that her crews had the best chance to win. It is fitting that the Endowment Fund that bears his name serves the same purpose.