Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1531607
WAC Foundation Platinum Donor | Members in Motion | Reciprocal Club: Detroit 26 WAC Magazine | wac.net WAC Foundation Jubilee in pictures Members In Motion WAC Artifact Club Life E M I L I O H U E R TA S A room without books is like a body without a soul. —Cicero For WAC member omas Rogers, the words of Roman statesman Marcus Tul- lius Cicero ring true. omas donated $100,000 to the WAC Foundation as part of last year's Crystal Celebration. e gala honored the 50th anniversary of the Crystal Ballroom, but it is the Voogd Library on the lobby level of the Club that omas appreciates most. As a self-described bibliophile, om- as enjoys reading rooms and seeks them out at private clubs whenever he travels. "To me, the reading room of a city club- house is sacred territory," he says. omas joined the WAC in 2021. When he first saw the Voogd Library, an original 1930 room tucked in the north- east corner of the lobby level, he thought it could benefit from his support. Not because the classic space adorned with leaded windows and wood paneling is shabby, but instead because keeping reading rooms at their finest is of great interest to him. "I certainly don't want to change much of anything about it," he says. "I only thought it needed some fresh leath- er, a grandfather clock, and especially a globe." In addition to his Platinum-level donation, omas donated multiple crates of special books he's gathered as a lifelong reader. "I've already included a few gems, but we'll continue to upgrade the collec- tion," he says. omas encourages other book-lovers to contribute, too. "I think it would be nice if WAC members could donate good books, or if a library sci- Honoring a WAC Foundation Platinum Donor Thomas Rogers reinvigorates one of the Club's oldest spaces By Mae Folsom Jacobson