Gala planned to honor Senator Chuck Colgan on Sept. 25

Virginia Senator Charles “Chuck” Colgan will be honored with a Gala Tribute on Friday evening, September 25, 2015, at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on George Mason University’s Science and Technology Campus.  The event coincides with the Senator’s 89^th birthday.  Individual tickets and Sponsorships are available to the community.     

The festive evening will kick off with a reception at 6:30pm in the Hylton Center’s Didlake Grand Foyer and Gregory Family Theatre.  A “This is Your Life” themed program will begin at 7:30pm in Merchant Hall, where a variety of elected officials and private individuals will pay tribute to Senator Colgan and his storied career in both aviation and public service.

U.S. Senator Timothy Kaine will be participating and looks forward to the opportunity stating, “There are few Virginians who have contributed as much to our Commonwealth as Chuck Colgan.  A lifelong public servant whose leadership in the General Assembly and the business community has been an inspiration to me and so many others, Chuck raised the bar in a way that will be greatly missed in Richmond.”

Every living Virginia Governor and Lt. Governor since Senator Colgan’s election in 1975 are serving as Honorary Chairs for the Gala and many are planning to participate in the celebration.  Dignitaries include: Governor Terence McAuliffe, Lt. Governor Ralph S. Northam, Attorney General Mark Herring, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Timothy M. Kaine, Congressmen Gerald E. Connolly and Donald S. Beyer, Jr., Governors Robert F. McDonnell, James S. Gilmore, III, George F. Allen, L. Douglas Wilder, Gerald L. Baliles, and Charles S. Robb, and Lt. Governors William T. Bolling and John Hager.

The Gala Tribute Committee, composed of business, community, and civic leaders from across the region, is excited about the regional community coming together to celebrate the Senator’s public and personal lifetime achievements.  Committee Co-Chairmen David Brickley, Jimmy Hazel, and Mike Carlin are leading a team of enthusiastic volunteers who are planning the event as a public expression of gratitude to the Senator.

Former Virginia Governor George Allen notes that, “Sen. Chuck Colgan is a gentleman I trusted to act with integrity in the best interests of the people. When I served as Governor, Virginians were grateful to Sen. Colgan providing us with needed bipartisan support to enact Truth in Sentencing with the abolition of the dishonest parole system; pro-family, pro-work Welfare reform; freezing college tuition and investing in higher education; and making sure the world knew that ‘Virginia is Open for Business!’ Specifically, Sen. Colgan was an absolutely essential legislative leader for the Performance Grant legislation supporting our recruitment of IBM/Toshiba’s Dominion (now Micron) Semiconductor to invest billions in the Manassas/Prince William area creating thousands of jobs. Our initial funding of the Prince William campus of GMU and the Rt. 234 Bypass are other tangible examples of our working together on key initiatives. In so many ways, Chuck Colgan was a legislative MVP who has made Virginia a safer and more prosperous place to live, learn, work and raise our families. As am I, the people of Manassas, Manassas Park, and Prince William County are forever grateful for Chuck Colgan (and his compadre Del. Harry Parrish) for his extraordinary lifetime of public service to his constituents, the Commonwealth and the United States of America. If there was a Virginia Hall of Fame, Chuck Colgan would a first ballot inductee.”