Virtual Celebration to Honor the Life of Sherry Wagner-Henry

October 9, 2020

The Bolz Center Advisory Board will host a virtual celebration to honor the life of their former director, colleague, and dear friend Sherry Wagner-Henry, who passed away on May 30. The event will be hosted via livestream on Friday, Oct. 30, 12 p.m.-1 p.m. Central time. Please save the date. We will share a link to the event as the date draws closer. Anyone is welcome to participate, and no RSVP will be required.

The board has identified a group of individuals from Sherry's professional circle to share sentiments and remembrances about her work and life. Additionally, the board invites all of her colleagues, alumni, and friends to share a one minute pre-recorded video to be played throughout the livestream. Sample format includes:

  •     "Hello, my name is <first, last>, and my connection to Sherry was..." followed by sharing comments on one of the bullet points below:
  •     "My favorite Sherry story is..."
  •     "Sherry taught me....or influenced my career by..."
  •     "What I will remember most about Sherry is..."

Should you feel moved to participate (and we hope you will), we offer these suggestions for good video capture:  

  •     If you are using your phone to shoot your video, switch to the landscape or horizontal view.
  •     Take a look at your background and try to keep it simple and clean.
  •     Avoid standing in front of a strong backlight. Aim for at least one good light source, in front of you, slightly off-center. Natural light is best if possible.
  •     Try to set your camera or phone on a steady surface or tripod. Position the lens at eye level or slightly higher.
  •     Look at the lens, not at yourself on video.
  •     Shoot indoors for better sound.

You may submit your one minute video as an mp4, mov, wmv, or avi file to Dropbox. The deadline to submit your video is October 15, 11:59pm.  

We hope that you will gather with us on Oct.30 to take a moment to reflect upon Sherry's brilliant life, and to honor and celebrate her incredible spirit.  

Thank you and stay well, friends!

Becky Buckman, Sarah Marty, & John Surdyk, Co-Interim Directors
Russ Coff, Faculty Director
Pete Schmeling, Advisory Board Chair