by Rachel Schlegel
“A View from Everywhere” will be the theme for A Hesston College Homecoming 2010. The event will be Sept. 24 to 26 and include a science and math symposium featuring successful alumni experts in these areas as well as other events, such as Hesston Larks sports contests and a tailgate picnic dinner and family festival.
All Hesston alumni and friends are invited to the weekend celebration. Special class reunions will be for years ending in 0 and 5. Registration is $15 for adults between Sept. 2 and Sept. 17. A complete schedule and registration information are available online at www.hesston.edu/homecoming.
“We’ve designed ‘A View from Everywhere’ Homecoming Weekend with activities and sports events for young alumni and those young at heart,” said Dallas Stutzman, director of Alumni and Church Relations. “We’re especially excited to showcase our science and math alumni experts to all our alumni and the local area.”
Keynote speakers for the weekend include: Dale Kempf, a 1975 graduate of Hesston College and senior chemist at Abbott Laboratories in Abbott Park, Ill.; Gene Zaid, a 1971 Hesston alumnus and president/CEO of JACAM Chemical Company, Inc., in Sterling, Kan.; and Glenn Smucker, a 1966 graduate of Hesston College and a senior consultant for the U.S. State Department with Smucker Consulting in Milwaukee, Wis.
Kempf and Zaid will keynote the science and math symposium while Smucker will speak at the annual Alumni and Friends Banquet at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25. Kempf will speak on “Finding Faith in Pharmaceuticals” at 11 a.m. chapel Sept. 24 and on “Antiretroviral Therapies for AIDS: From Lab Bench to Bedside” at 2 p.m. that afternoon in Hesston Mennonite Church’s community center. Zaid will focus on “Life Experiences, Chemistry and JACAM” at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 25, also in the community center. Reservations are required for Smucker’s presentation “What are the Prospects for Haiti?”
Other alumni speakers for the science and math symposium include: Chris Alliman, Kansas City, Mo., a family practitioner at Southwest Blvd. Family Health Care; Janelle Yutzie Blubaugh, Wellington, Kan., a general surgeon at Sumner Regional Medical Center; Quiet Ncube, Torrance, Calif., physicist/Radiology at University of California Los Angeles; Jean Polynice, Maryland Heights, Mo., president of PolyUltra-Haiti; Ron Kilmer, Glendale, Ariz., director of Chief Engineers for Aerospace Electronics, Honeywell, Inc.; Lynn Newcomer, Salina, Kan., former Hesston faculty and president of Plains Environmental Services; Matt Sears, Tiskilwa, Ill., president of Stewardship Energy LLC; Brian Nebel, Hesston, director of Engineering at Excel Industries, Inc.; Ron Umble, Lancaster, Pa., former Hesston faculty and math professor at Millersville (Pa.) University; and Gary Yoder, Berea, Ky., physics professor at Eastern Kentucky University.
Alumni and friends with high-school age children interested in pursuing science and math in college are invited to bring their students along and allow them to interact with successful individuals in their field who got their start at Hesston College. The Hesston College Concert Band also will host a special event for prospective students where interested high school musicians may rehearse with the ensemble and join in a late-night concert at 10 p.m. Sept. 25. Interested families should call 800-99-LARKS to sign up their student for the Concert Band and other activities.
In addition to the special science and math symposium, A Hesston College Homecoming will include children’s activities; a Partner Appreciation Breakfast; an Alumni and Friends Luncheon; Campus Community Worship Service with Hesston Mennonite Church; Hesston College volleyball matches and men’s and women’s soccer games; a coffeehouse targeted to young alumni; the Golden Gables Luncheon for persons celebrating 50-year and greater anniversaries; a Tailgate Picnic Dinner and Festival for the entire family with a magic show and meet-and-greet with fall Larks athletes; an Alumni and Friends Banquet; the traditional complimentary coffee and cinnamon roll breakfast, and more.
For more information or to register, contact Hesston College Alumni Relations at 866-437-7866 or 620-327-8109 locally.