Craftsmanship at its best describes the replica of Napoleon’s coach that now is on display at the Heritage House.

On June 12, the finely detailed coach in a 2 foot by 1 foot wooden and glass case returned to Commerce. This special gift is the handiwork of alumnus Emmett Day of Seattle, Wash.

Day, who grew up in Commerce, constructed the coach in 1931 at age 15. The Commerce public school student built the model in a national contest sponsored by the Fisher Body Craftsmanship Guild.

Day was the Texas winner in the junior division for youth ages 12 to 15.

GIFT TO UNIVERSITY — Emmett Day, a 1936 graduate of A&M-Commerce, has given the Napoleonic coach (pictured) to the University for display in the Heritage House. As a 15-year-old youth attending Commerce public schools, Day made the coach for the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild Contest.

A retired mechanical engineering faculty member at the University of Washington, Day built the case for the coach in an industrial arts class he attended as an A&M-Commerce student in 1935. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University in ’36 and then did graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Day presented the coach to A&M-Commerce at the June 12 luncheon. Attending the luncheon were Day’s wife, Roxie, and daughter, Elaine Day LaTourelle, both of Seattle; granddaughter, Alyce Day LaTourelle of Los Angeles, Calif.; grandson, Adrian Whistler LaTourelle of New York; and several other relatives.

In discussing the coach, Emmett Day said, "Since this came from Commerce and this case came from the University, it just seemed fitting that it should come back home. It is with great pleasure and a real honor that they were accepted by A&M-Commerce."

Day told A&M-Commerce President Keith McFarland, "I entrust it to your care. It’s your baby."

With this, the luncheon audience of Day family, University personnel, and Commerce friends of the Days responded with smiles and laughter.

"I’m glad it’s coming back home because you are a part of this University," McFarland responded.

"We are very proud of you," the president told Day adding that A&M-Commerce students receive an education and then as graduates are productive employees and good citizens.

At the Heritage House, visitors from throughout the region and other states stop by to tour the facility and look at its historical mementos of the University. In the coming years, many will admire the coach which will be on display at the Heritage House.

Others present at the luncheon included several of Day’s former classmates from Commerce schools, Commerce Superintendent Loretta Kibler and Bob and Sally Grove. Bob Grove is the son of former A&M-Commerce industrial arts department head J.G. Grove.

Emmett Day is the son of former longtime Commerce Superintendent A.L. Day. A former Commerce elementary school is named in memory of A.L. Day.

In her remarks, Kibler said that Emmett Day regularly attended the reunions held for former Commerce students. She praised A.L. Day as a "fantastic leader and very much a business person."

Bob Grove of Commerce said he grew up in the woodworking shop at the University where his father taught and Emmett Day constructed the wooden case for the coach. Admiring the coach, Grove said, "What I see is initiative and creativity and these things are carried out in your life."

In thanking Emmett Day for his gift, McFarland presented him a copy of the book, Professor Mayo’s College: A History of East Texas State University. Grove and his wife, Sally, gave Day a framed poem, The Foot Path to Peace, by Henry Van Dyke, a copy of which was in Professor Grove’s office.