Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette

Jeanne Meyers, the treasurer of the Houghton High School Alumni Association, presents a $6,500 check to Houghton-Portage Township Schools Athletic Director Rob Fay before the start of Thursday’s varsity volleyball game against Hancock. This year’s check went to buy a new 10-foot scorers table with an LCD display, which can be seen in the background. Formed in 1969, the group built its membership funds into an endowment now managed by the Keweenaw Community Foundation totaling around $70,000. The alumni group uses funds from its endowment each year to buy something school officials tell them is needed. Past gifts have included a public-address system, clocks, announcement boards, community gardens and piano repairs. The group is returning to the practice after a layoff due to the pandemic; this year’s gift represents triple the usual amount of $2,000.