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Man of the community
Doug Flanagan/Post-Register
Harvey Bryant, left, accepts a check for $15,000 on behalf of the Quincy Community Center from Intuit manager Bruce Eisele on Aug. 13.
Harvey Bryant has been involved with the Quincy Community Center board for the past five years, thanks to his membership with the Kiwanis service club.
It’s the job of Bryant, board president Debbie Graaff, Corallee Morgan and Scott Lybbert to work with community center manager Grace Kok to make decisions and ensure the center is running as smoothly as possible.
“We help to set the different rates the community center charges for the events that go on there, and we’re always working on new things here and there,” Bryant said. “Every time at a meeting, we say, ‘We need to do this,’ or, ‘We need to do that,’ and Grace takes what we say and uses that as a guide.”
The community center board’s latest project has been to procure funds for facility improvement. The building is several decades old and hasn’t undergone a lot of upgrades over the years.
“The roof needs to be redone,” Bryant said. “The parking lot also needs some work. We need to remodel the kitchen. We don’t even have a stove in there. The restrooms need to be redone. We do worry about the conditions. We do have money in reserve for possible improvements at all times, but it fluctuates. We’ll take anything we can get.”
To that end, it came as a shock to Bryant that computer software giant Intuit donated $15,000 to the community center for its improvements project at the Intuit data center’s grand opening ceremony on Aug. 13.
Bryant and Kok attended the proceedings and accepted a check from Intuit manager Bruce Eisele after a short presentation.
“It was a surprise because it was supposed to be $5,000,” Bryant said. “Right before the ceremony started, (Intuit employee) Holly Perez came up to me and said, ‘We’ve raised the total to $15,000. I thought I’d better warn you before you walk up there, see the check and say, ‘No, no, no, this isn’t the right amount.’ I was also surprised because we were singled out.”
Another proposed fund-raising project for the community center could involve an electronic readerboard being erected in front of the center that would display public service announcements and other messages related to Quincy tourism. The funds brought in from the sale of the messages would go directly into the community center improvement fund.
Lybbert passionately argued for the City of Quincy to donate funds for the construction of the readerboard at a council meeting earlier this month. A decision on the readerboard could come in September.
“He thought it was a good idea for a fund-raiser,” Bryant said. “We need to work out some details and get the backing we need, but I think it would work out. It would benefit tourists and the community.”
Bryant has been retired since 1995 and is enjoying a peaceful life in Quincy with his wife, Judy. Besides his involvement with the community center board and Kiwanis, he’s worked with Habitat For Humanity for several years.
So while he likes to avoid total stagnation in retirement, Bryant also enjoys the aspect of being able to do what he wants, when he wants, without a ton of obligations.
“Judy asked me a while back, ‘What are you going to do when you retire?’ I said, ‘I don’t know,’ ” Bryant said. “I guess I’ll do whatever I want. I’ve never had a lot of hobbies.”
Bryant grew up in Yakima and came to Quincy in 1962. From then until his retirement, with the exception of a two-year period in the mid-’60s when he taught in Venezuela, Bryant taught in the Quincy School District, either as an elementary teacher at Pioneer Elementary or history teacher at Quincy High School.
“I liked the interaction with the students,” Bryant said. “Some of them I had a good time with. I learned to roll with the punches. I always enjoyed teaching United States history because I liked to tell it like a story. But over time, things change, and maybe I got to be a dinosaur. I taught like I was taught. I was comfortable.”
Bryant also got to be comfortable during his 10-year stint as Quincy High School’s head baseball coach in the 1970s.
His best year came in 1978, when the Jackrabbits won 12 straight games to win a piece of the Caribou Trail League title. Bryant then guided the senior-laden squad into the state tournament.
