Closing Remarks:
In Memory of Joseph LeConte: Another 100 Years of Service
Dr. Bonnie Gisel
Curator, LeConte Memorial Lodge
Remarks at the LeConte Memorial Lodge Rededication Ceremony,
July 3, 2004
We stand here today in remembrance on this hundredth anniversary of the dedication
of LeConte Memorial Lodge, a building that pays tribute to Dr. LeConte’s
life’s work, his adoration of Yosemite Valley and the High Sierra, and
his commitment to family, friends, and community. This memorial serves
as a reminder of his spirit among us. And it serves as the spiritual
home of the Sierra Club where each season we welcome travelers from across
America and around the world who arrive in Yosemite National Park to pay
homage to the spirit of wilderness that resides in each of us.
Upon the occasion of the dedication of LeConte Memorial Lodge, Mr. Alexander
Eells (Youells), President of the Alumni Association at the University of California,
noted that Dr. LeConte came to Yosemite, as one comes home, for cheer and for
aid, for here in these sublime surroundings we are attuned to noble deeds. Let
us rededicate this simple memorial to the good work of environmental thoughtfulness. May
we gain not only from the sermons in these stones, but still more from the
higher, more quickening inspiration of a life—that of Dr. LeConte’s—true
to itself and in touch with Nature.
Dr. Joseph LeConte lifted his heart in humble worship to the great God of
Nature and by grace, in the midst of the overwhelming grandeur of Nature wanted
never to forget the gift of wilderness. Let us then rededicate LeConte
Memorial Lodge to the next hundred years of service. May this small building
- that rose from the convictions and faith of our ancestors who believed that
in wilderness is health and repose, that in nature we find ourselves connected
to all other living things, that through education is the foundation for the
preservation of wilderness, and that in wildness lies the hope of the world
- may LeConte Memorial Lodge continue to encourage us to explore, enjoy,
and protect wilderness
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<--Previous
Rededication Ceremony
Centennial Schedule
Centennial Day Photo Album
Rededication Photo Album
Re-Dedication of LeConte Memorial
Lodge
(Photo Album)
Michael Reynolds, National Park Service, Yosemite National
Park
Bernie Zaleha, Vice-President, Sierra Club
Bruce Hamilton, Conservation Director, Sierra Club
Bonnie Gisel, Curator, LeConte Memorial Lodge
Harold Wood, Chair, Sierra Club LeConte Memorial Lodge Committee
Learn more about the LeConte Lodge Centennial.
Would you like to hear news about the LeConte Memorial Lodge? Sign up for our LeConte Lodge Forum e-mail list.
Information and Donations
For more information, during the summer contact Sierra Club LeConte Memorial Lodge
Curator, P.O. Box 755, Yosemite, CA 95389, 1-209-372-4542; e-mail:
leconte.curator@sierraclub.org.
During the winter, contact LeConte Lodge Committee Chair, Harold Wood, P.O. Box 3543,
Visalia, CA 93278; phone: (559) 697-3525; e-mail: harold.wood@sierraclub.org
Tax deductible donations to support the new exhibits and renovation efforts of the
LeConte Memorial can be made to "Sierra Club Foundation," marked for the "LeConte Lodge Fund."
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