By Sarah Carlson, Arts Editor
If a category on ACU history ever appears on Jeopardy, Ron Hadfield and the team of workers in Creative Services could sweep it, daily doubles and all. As the production team worked on Dr. John’s perpetual calendar, which documents important events in ACU’s history, they joked about the idea of being on Jeopardy.
“None of us majored in history, but almost feel like we’ve now minored in it,” said Hadfield, director of Creative Services, in an e-mail.
The desktop perpetual calendar is one of the ideas generated by the Centennial’s Commissioned Items and Commemorative Works Task Force, of which Hadfield is chair. This past year, the group brainstormed and decided upon items to be sold that will bear the Centennial logo, “Called to Faith and Excellence,” including drink coasters, a keychain, an ink pen, an etched presidential mug, a notepad, note cards and envelopes, an ornament and a travel drink tumbler.
Ken Stewart, graphic designer for Creative Services, said Creative Services worked with outside vendors to create the merchandise, some of which were designed and some which were already made and had the logo placed on them.
The biggest piece is the Centennial rocking chair, which is handcrafted with a lacquer finish and gold accents and logo. Stewart said the idea behind the chair was to create a major item that people could keep in their homes. Prices for the items range from $3.49 to $25, while the rocking chair costs $250. Items can be purchased online at www.acu.edu or in The Campus Store.
Hadfield said sales of Centennial merchandise help finance the year-long Centennial Celebration.
“We have tried to create useful, thoughtful products that remind everyone who we are, what we’re celebrating and why,” Hadfield said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event and opportunity to be involved that we’ll never forget.”
Two merchandise pieces required research: The ACU Century, a 192-page hardcover book detailing ACU’s first century, and the perpetual calendar, worked on by Dr. John Stevens, chancellor emeritus, professor emeritus of history and former president of the university. Hadfield said his staff worked for months compiling images and information for The ACU Century and used much of the content gathered for the book for the calendar along with information from Steven’s book, No Ordinary University, library archives and the news archives in Creative Services’ offices.
“A calendar seemed like a good concept, but we fine-tuned the idea to what it is now a project to involve the university’s resident historian, Dr. Stevens, in a calendar that could be used over and over again, not tossed at the end of the year,” Hadfield said. “We also wanted to find a way to honor his work researching and documenting ACU’s history.”
Collecting information for the calendar proved a more daunting task than had been anticipated, Hadfield said, considering the team was going through archives looking for significant events that occurred on each day of the year. Hadfield said Stevens worked for months compiling research for the calendar, along with his wife, Ruth, and his knowledge of the university’s history was invaluable to the projects. Research, photo archiving, graphic design and page layout all played a role in the projects with various Creative Services staff and student workers pitching in, he said, not to mention at least a dozen proofreaders from across campus.
The ACU Century and Dr. John’s Perpetual Calendar complement each other well and are not repetitious, Hadfield said.
“They represent about as thorough a look back at the last 100 years as we could ever plan to do,” he said. “I think these two products will really put a ‘face’ on the Centennial and prove to be keepsakes looked at and use for years to come.”
Stewart said he enjoyed researching memorabilia for the projects and looking through photo archives, learning of the heritage of the university and choosing what should be represented in the book and calendar.
He said additional merchandise items are in the works, including a T-shirt, a button-down twill shirt with an embroidered logo and a coffee mug with a color logo, which should be available online in the next several weeks.
“I’m sure I’ll have some of it in my home some day,” Stewart said. “This is a landmark event. I’ve only been here two years, and I feel really fortunate to have been here at this time in ACU’s history.
“Hopefully, some day, people 50, 75 years from now will look at these items and maybe put them in a book.”
