Marques Colston a Saint off the field, too

Marques Colston: NFL player, art patron (Photo: Jeffrey Beall, wikicommons)

New Orleans is a city that appreciates art, history, and the Saints. This week I learned that where I come from isn’t much different.

For the past 43 years, the Susquehanna Township High School (the Hanna) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been the stage for hundreds of talented young artists to display their work and depict their moments in history. The hallways are lined with murals that represent the culture of each graduating class: the Vietnam War, 9/11, The Wu-Tang Clan, and our beloved superintendent who passed away days before my graduation (2001).

When the School Board approved the installation of a new HVAC system that would compromise the murals earlier this week, former students were called to action. With only two weeks to raise the $189,000 necessary to reroute the work to the second floor (leaving the murals intact), it seemed it would take a miracle to stop this demolition … and when you need a miracle, you need a Saint.

And when you need a Saint, you need Marques Colston (STHS alumni, class of 2001).

Who dat say they gonna save our murals? Colston will be donating proceeds from the next three Harrisburg Stampede games (the semi-pro football team he owns) and matching that donation with a personal one. In conjunction with his generosity, the contractor has decided to lower the installation costs to $100,000 and is giving the school district a year to appropriate the additional funds.

With so many of his NFL cohorts being reflected negatively in the press, it is refreshing to see that No. 12 is living up to the team name on his jersey. Hanna Dat.