Friday, May 29, 2009
Blacksburg park rededicated in dean's memory
Talbot Park, a pocket park of the Huckleberry Trail, was named for Dick Talbot, the founding vet school dean.
Photos courtesy of Jeffrey Douglas
The new stone introduced at the rededication ceremony of Talbot Park in honor of Dr. Richard "Dick" Talbot is angled to the ground, preventing feet and bikes from wearing it down.
From left: former Virginia Tech President William Lavery, former Gov. John Dalton and former vet school Dean Richard Talbot participate in the groundbreaking ceremony on April 16, 1979, on the grounds of the current Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.
Talbot was president of the club from 1993-94 and founding dean of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.
On Sept. 8, 1994, shortly after stepping down from his position at the club, Talbot was killed in a plane crash outside of Pittsburgh.
After his death, plans were discussed on how to honor Talbot and his many accomplishments in the community, as well as on the Virginia Tech campus.
Talbot Park, a "pocket park" of the Huckleberry Trail, was dedicated in 1999 in memory of Talbot.
A joint collaboration between the Town of Blacksburg, the rotary club and Virginia Tech made the project possible.
Bill Ellenbogen, rotary member and longtime friend of Talbot, was a major influence on the planning of the park and the creation of a stone in his memory.
"The first Hokie stone laid in the ground was hard to read," Ellenbogen explained. "People would walk on it, probably because they weren't even aware that it was there."
So the club decided to rededicate the park.
At the rededication ceremony Thursday, a new and improved stone was unveiled, displaying the same inscription as the previous stone -- but built to endure. It was funded and donated by Talbot's son, Lee, and wife, Jane.
Jeffrey Douglas, communications director of the vet school, was hired by Talbot in 1983 and witnessed Talbot's passion and drive for the college's success.
"Dick was a man of vision and resolve ... he would set his mind to something and could not be deterred," Douglas said. "He played a giant role in the founding of the school."
Plans for building a veterinary school in Virginia reach back as far as the 1930s. It wasn't until the early 1970s that the plan was put into action.
Talbot was hired by Virginia Tech from the University of Georgia, and in 1974 he was named dean of the new veterinary college with only one hitch -- the school had yet to be constructed.
Virginia Tech needed $18 million to fund the school, but only $8 million had been acquired.
Talbot spent three years raising the rest of the money and was part of the school's groundbreaking on April 16, 1979.
Franklyn Moreno, a member and past president of the rotary club, remembers Talbot's strength and guidance as president of the rotary.
"Dick exemplified our motto: Service above self," Moreno explained. "He was really a directive force in the rotary, helping us keep focused on the tasks at hand."
Today, the vet school covers 500,000 square feet in three locations: Leesburg, College Park, Md., and Blacksburg.
The school has trained more than 200 DVMs and has treated more than 1 million animals. Construction of three new buildings are in the works.
"Dick would be eminently proud to see the college become all that he dreamed it would be," Douglas said at the rededication ceremony. "He would be honored to see us all gathered today in his memory."
