'Passing' The Proclamation.

After traveling 51 miles for nearly nine hours, the guest of honor finally entered through the archway at Keene State College. The proclamation sealing April 15 as KSC Centennial Day was passed down Appian Way, to the stage and into President Helen Giles-Gee’s hands.  

The proclamation’s route began at the State House in Concord, N.H. where Governor John Lynch signed it. From there Senator Molly Kelly D-Keene handed off the document to KSC Provost Mel Netzhammer, kicking off the Centennial Relay.  

The route followed through Old Concord Road, Bradford Road and parts of Route 9. A series of stops along the way allowed the proclamation to be handed off to the next runner(s). The stopping points included Hopkinton Town Hall, Antrim Rest Area and Granite Gorge, among others.  

Netzhammer said the relay was “an important way to recognize the Keene community.”  

“It was actually an honor to be asked to be a runner, being a new member of the community,” he said.  

And being asked is how most of the runners and walkers came to participate in the relay.  

Chris Miles, a member of the Centennial Relay Committee, said many participants were nominated by others, while some nominated themselves. According to Miles, there were roughly 75 runners and walkers carrying the proclamation to its ultimate destination on the KSC campus.  

“For the most part they’ll be doing one or two miles, some will be doing three miles,” she said. “I think three miles is the longest, with the exception of the cross country team.”  

The dozens of runners and walkers made up a diverse group of participants. They consisted of current students, alumni, KSC faculty and staff and members of the Keene community, according to Basketball Coach Rob Colbert, who also serves on the Centennial Relay Committee.  

Members of student organizations participated as well, including Pamela Lawton, a senior in the Physical Education Club. Lawton said she thinks the Centennial is “a big deal” and wanted to take part in the relay because she will be graduating in May.  

Colbert said the idea for a relay was nothing more than a throwaway suggestion he offered in a meeting three years ago.  

“We started talking about the Centennial and I said wouldn’t it be neat if we did an Olympic torch kind of thing, kind of an off-the-cuff comment,” said Colbert who is also a member of the Centennial Relay Committee.  

But two and a half years later that off-the-cuff comment resurfaced, and Colbert was put on the committee that would plan the relay executed on Wednesday.  

Without the many runners and walkers willing to carry the proclamation to Keene, the relay would not have taken off. Sen. Kelly noted that the runners had an impact on the rest of the state. 

“Everybody in this state now knows about Keene State College,” she said.