The Order of the Knoll, Iowa State’s most prestigious giving club, met this weekend for what was called a “family reunion” during the presentation of four annual awards.

The Campanile, Cardinal and Gold, Young Alumni and Corporate/Foundation awards were presented Friday night to alumni who have given their time and resources to Iowa State.

The recipients were Babette and C. Robert Brenton, O. Robert and Barbara Eddy, Gage Kent and Cargill, Inc., respectively.

“The awards are given based on support in terms of time, work with the Alumni Association and Iowa State Foundation and financial support,” said Barb Boose, communications manager for the ISU Foundation.

The Order of the Knoll is a giving club that recognizes donors who give $15,000 or more to Iowa State through the Foundation, Boose said.

Arend Sandbulte, chairman of the ISU Foundation Board of Directors and 1959 graduate, presented the awards. He said the Campanile Award, first presented in 1993, is “given for loyalty and commitment to Iowa State’s future.”

The Campanile Award winners, the Brentons of Des Moines, have contributed to the agriculture and family and consumer sciences colleges and to the Athletic Department. Babette and Robert graduated from Iowa State in 1953, and they also are involved in ISU Foundation fund-raising efforts.

At the reception, Robert Brenton said his family’s involvement with the university’s fund-raising arm began when his father helped create the ISU Foundation.

“They just put the plow in the ground and didn’t take it out,” he said.

Sandbulte presented the Cardinal and Gold award to the Eddys of Des Moines, who both graduated in 1940. The Cardinal and Gold Award was first bestowed in 1997 to recognize “long-term service to Iowa State and the Foundation.”

The Eddys serve on several committees and have held numerous positions within the Foundation, the Alumni Association and Athletic Council.

“I absolutely love Iowa State,” Barbara Eddy said. “We do this so our children, our grandchildren and all of yours have the opportunity to receive the quality of education and experience that we did.”

Barbara Eddy encouraged the members of the Order of the Knoll to “volunteer whenever you can and keep loving Iowa State.”

The Young Alumni Award, first given in 1983, was presented to Gage Kent of Muscatine, who graduated in 1983.

Kent is president of Grain Processing Corporation in Muscatine, which has contributed more than $2 million to Iowa State.

“What better way for me to spend my time . than to help make Iowa State the best land-grant university in the country?” Kent said. “I’m proud to give back to others some of the advantages that I had as a student.”

David Raisbeck, a 1971 ISU graduate, accepted the Corporate/Foundation award for Cargill, Inc. in Minneapolis

“For me, there is certainly an element of pride,” said Raisbeck, vice chairman of Cargill. “Pride in two institutions . that have the same value system.”

The first Corporate/Foundation award was presented in 1993.

Raisbeck said the award means a lot to Cargill, which hires more graduates from Iowa State than from any other university in the country.

“What this is about is over 40 years of teamwork, partnering, good ideas and programs between Cargill and Iowa State,” Raisbeck said.

“It’s a recognition of a long-term partnership.”

Robert Brenton related the evening to the attacks three weeks ago and the recent state budget cuts.

“Iowa State will do well in these troubled times,” he said. “When you wake up in the morning, after you’ve sung `God Bless America,’ sing the Iowa State fight song.”