{"id":2422,"date":"2016-06-06T14:07:24","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T18:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/ebuckhor\/?page_id=2422"},"modified":"2016-06-06T14:07:24","modified_gmt":"2016-06-06T18:07:24","slug":"michael-wallace","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring-2016\/profiles\/michael-wallace\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Wallace ’57"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Michael<\/a>

Michael Wallace<\/p><\/div>\n

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Andrew J. Concatelli<\/em><\/p>\n

Completing a history major may not have led directly to his long career as a retailer and manufacturer of apparel, but Michael Wallace \u201957 believes that his strong liberal arts education continues to fuel his never-ending quest for knowledge. \u201cIt helped me learn how to learn,\u201d Wallace says of his time at Trinity. \u201cI enjoyed it very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lifelong passion for learning, Wallace says, is what unites Trinity alumni of any age, in any location. As the founder of the Trinity Club of Southwest Florida in Naples, Wallace has scheduled guest lecturers at the club\u2019s Monthly Speaker Series each winter for the past 15 years. \u201cOur alumni don\u2019t just want to be entertained; they want to be educated. They enjoy learning about the community and topics like human trafficking, immigration, and government,\u201d Wallace says. \u201cTrinity education is about giving back, so in addition to giving back to the College, our members are exposed to all of these local things and have become involved by giving to migrant workers, to the need for fresh water, and to charities that we care about after they\u2019re presented to us.\u201d Speakers have included representatives from the Florida Wildlife Federation, a local children\u2019s museum, the League of Women Voters, the Naples Historical Society, and experts on topics such as elder law, autism spectrum disorders, and Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

Originally from Illinois, Wallace followed one of his three older brothers to Trinity. \u201cMy sophomore year I had to drop out because I didn\u2019t have enough money, but I came back the next year,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause I was from the Middle West, I wanted to go back there after I graduated, and I found that my Trinity education was of value.\u201d He eventually became the founder and sole shareholder of The Acorn Shops, which operated 55 retail stores in nine states, before selling the company in 1990. He then became the founder and sole shareholder of Bellepointe Sportswear Co., a designer and manufacturer of ladies\u2019 apparel, which he sold in 2001. Wallace now spends his summers in Pentwater, Michigan, and his winters in Naples.<\/p>\n

The Trinity Club of Southwest Florida began in 2001, when Wallace asked a fellow alumnus to join him for lunch. More Bantams began to join the gatherings, and now the group regularly includes 20 to 25 alumni and their spouses. In addition to alumni, the lunch meetings are open to anyone who seeks to build a connection with other members of the Trinity community. Wallace says he regularly welcomes current students, former trustees, and retired members of the Trinity faculty and administration. \u201cWe customarily meet the second Wednesday of every month, January through April, at The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club,\u201d Wallace says. \u201cWe have our luncheon right on the water, on the Gulf of Mexico. It\u2019s very casual. We have no budgets, no dues, and no honorariums. It\u2019s all Dutch treat.\u201d<\/p>\n

To add more variety to the club\u2019s programming, Wallace organizes field trips to places such as a migrant workers\u2019 center, botanical gardens, and a Holocaust museum. Next season will feature a tour of Fenway South, the winter home of the Boston Red Sox.<\/p>\n

The increased sense of school pride and camaraderie is one of the clear benefits of the club\u2019s gatherings. \u201cAlumni discover each other, and then the friendships build up,\u201d Wallace says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of spirit involved.\u201d Trinity\u2019s Office of Alumni Relations provides Wallace with favors to distribute at meetings and mails postcards about the speaker series to local alumni. But Wallace himself follows up by making around 50 phone calls each month to help encourage attendance, and the response has been very encouraging. \u201cI\u2019ve had three other organizations from other colleges contact me to find out how we do it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael works the phone lines to generate enthusiasm and participation in ways few alumni do,\u201d says Steve Donovan, Trinity\u2019s director of alumni relations. \u201cHe\u2019s extremely warm and charming and knows so many Trinity alumni. Our alumni in Southwest Florida look to Mike for current news from the College as they know he is so tuned in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallace is pleased that his efforts have had such a positive impact. \u201cIt\u2019s really about communication, friendship, and building the College\u2019s name up,\u201d Wallace says. \u201cI must say, it\u2019s work, but I\u2019m glad to do it because it\u2019s made people happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT By Andrew J. Concatelli Completing a history major may not have led directly to his long career as a retailer and manufacturer of apparel, but Michael Wallace \u201957 believes that his strong liberal arts education continues to fuel his never-ending quest for knowledge. \u201cIt helped me learn how to learn,\u201d Wallace says of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"parent":1468,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2422"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2422\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring-2016\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}