Jan. 30, 2008

Pocatello, ID -- On Wednesday afternoon, Idaho State University hosted a press conference to announce the largest single gift to ISU athletics in school history as Sylvia Papenberg gifted 40 acres of land in the Teton Valley that is listed for $1.6 million. The following are various quotes from the press conference.

Dr. Arthur C. Vailas, President of Idaho State University
"Indeed, this is a very historic day for Idaho State University and for our region. Something like this represents excellence and commitment, and the ultimate of giving back."

"Today we honor Sylvia and the late Don Papenberg for the wonderful they have made throughout their lives at the university and especially in athletics, Don being a former Bengal, always, ISU was in his heart, and Sylvia's as well."

"This gift as you know, will have a huge impact for lifetimes beyond our time in promoting excellence for our student-athletes, for our community, and for our university, and it is this kind of thing that makes the whole thing work, regarding higher education."

"On behalf of Idaho State University, Sylvia, we are very grateful for this wonderful gift.

Sylvia Papenberg
"I'm not sure I can do this. I was born in Jackson, Wyoming and the first nine years of my life was spent on a ranch north of Wilson. In 1951, my parents bought a ranch in Teton Valley (Miller Ranch) in Idaho, and when I was in high school, I enjoyed playing sports but I also loved growing up on the ranch."

"Our basketball and volleyball team was always invited to a sports play day at Idaho State the was sponsored by the women's physical education department ... it was something they did for all the surrounding schools. I remember coming here and thinking `Wow, Reed Gym is really neat', being from a little school, I thought this was impressive."

"In the `70s, my parents were selling off the ranch, and they gave acreage to both of my brothers and myself to keep. Pappy (her late husband Don) and I thought we might retire there one day, build a little log cabin on the creek that ran through the property, but as we got older, our plans changed, and we ended up retiring here in Pocatello."

"This fall we decided we should give our 40 acres to Idaho State to help build their Bengal Village. Subdivisions are sprouting up, or at least plans are sprouting up all around our 40 acres in the Teton Valley, and the valley is changing a lot. It's not like it was when I lived there."

"So the first of December I just finally decided, even though it was really hard to let go of the family ties to my ranch, it was time. After signing the papers, I went home and Pappy asked me if I felt good about what I had just done. I said yeah I do feel good, and he said `then you did the right thing'. Thank you."

Paul A. Bubb, Director of Athletics
"Sylvia, your thoughtful, kind, and generous support will be felt by so many, including the young ladies that are here today that will play at Miller Ranch Stadium."

"You referred to it as "the Ranch", and we were talking about this earlier, but Frank Mercogliano mentioned the fact that this is really going to be neat. He goes you know, they are going to refer to it as `The Ranch'. They'll talk about coming to `The Ranch'. They'll talk about being at `The Ranch' and seeing someone hit a grand slam and a walk-off home run."

"Sylvia has been a great fan since she has moved back here but I want to talk about 2003 when I first got here and early in 2004 ... Roger Roe, Rick Eskelson, and Ted Flandro talked to me about a guy that we needed to get involved on the Bengal Foundation Board of Directors, and that was Pappy. I'm glad he was involved before he got here, I'm glad he was involved while he was here, and he will continue to be involved as he lives on with us."

"Bengal Village was a vision, and now it is starting to become a reality."