Maranatha's 40th Anniversary Celebration begins in about 24 hours, and the best news of the day so far Wednesday is that Crystal Staller still has all her fingers.
The junior from Watertown spent much of her day using a manual paper cutter to slice more than 400 rectangular name tags from their original sheets, then inserted them into plastic protectors. Staller is a student worker in Alumni Services, where the estimated guest count for this weekend has soared to 440.
Abby Bruno, administrative assistant for alumni services, said 350 alumni and family members are scheduled to attend the Friday night reception. Bruno and Stollard were also separating meal tickets into packets that wil be given to alumni when they arrive on campus and register.
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The technical rehearsal Tuesday revealed that "To The Praise of His Glory" was both intriguing and a bit on the long side. Jeremy Vegter, who created the program, devoted most of his day Wednesday to cutting passages from the original script. The rest of the fine arts crew wasn't taking a day of rest, either. Dr. David Brown charged through the Old Main Lobby on Wednesday morning, clearing his path by hollering, "I'm headed for the coffee!"
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Karen Greer, Naomi Ledgerwood and Esther Calvino of the Communications Department spent Monday morning setting up "A Walk Down Memory Lane" in the Dining Complex. The display of Maranatha memorabilia includes what is believed to be the typewriter used by Louise (Sincock) Budahl, Dr. Cedarholm's first secretary, drama costumes (including Vegter's green Puck outfit) and the "Chat and Nibble Inne" sign that used to hang in the snack shop.
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Dr. Dwayne Morris solved The Mystery of the Monastics while looking at the Memory Lane display. The black and white photograph, taken in the library, showed several young men gathered around tables with basketballs and a sign that reads "Monastics 1986." Dr. Morris said the Monastics was actually an intraumural basketball team made up of seminary students. The team was allowed to play in the college's intramural league--and won.
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Any talk around campus that did not center around the 40th Anniversary seemed to concern the annoucement that Pillsbury Baptist Bible College will close Dec. 31. President Dr. Charles Phelps sent out an email at 1:34 p.m., indicating the administration plans to be "gracious" to Pillsbury students who may consider transferring to Maranatha. Pillsbury graduates on the faculty include registrar David Hershberger, Applied Sciences chair Dr. Curtis Malmanger, science professor Randy Montgomery, Church Ministries professor Dr. Terry Price, fine arts tutor Dr. Dean Kurtz, and adjunct Missions professor Dr. Fred Moritz.
--By Andrew Call, 10-22-08