Hesston College’s Centennial Thanksgiving Family Celebration starts with Thanksgiving dinner Thursday evening — a full dinner with turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pasta salad, cottage cheese, cranberry gelatin, seven layer salad, green beans, corn, rice, pumpkin pie and pecan pie, served by the college’s Food Service.
The dinner is a decades-old Hesston College tradition and a way for the college to welcome families of current students as well as prospective students and their families to campus for a weekend filled with activities and events, a weekend which is quiet on most college campuses.
“Thanksgiving is a wonderful time on our campus,” President Howard Keim said. “It’s a time to connect with families and friends, to thank God for the many blessings we experience every day, and to celebrate our students many talents that we can experience through performances in the concert hall or theater and on the basketball court, too.”
The weekend’s signature event takes place after dinner when the college’s Chorale and Bel Canto Singers and faculty soloists join with community singers and an orchestra to present a Centennial Masterworks Concert. Music faculty member Bradley Kauffman will direct Mendellsohn’s Lauda Sion and works by Howells and Mulholland. The 8 p.m. concert in Hesston Mennonite Church is free and open to the public. An offering will be taken to support the college's student emergency fund.
Later that evening, campus guests will return to Hesston Mennonite Church for the college’s annual talent show.
Nov. 27 begins with a breakfast for parents of current and prospective students hosted by the college's Student Life department followed by the 18th annual Hesston College Thanksgiving Run — the Howard Hustle 2-mile run/walk — 100 years and still running.
Planned by students in the college’s Recreation Leadership class, the run takes participants on a scenic tour through and around campus. Race day registration is from 9 to 10:45 a.m. on the lawn near Bontrager Student Center for the 11 a.m. race.
The weekend includes a variety of events for prospective students.
Those interested in studying music or theatre will participate in scholarship auditions the morning of Nov. 27. The college will offer a mini college — several instructors will present lectures the afternoon of Nov. 27 so students can experience Hesston College courses even though courses are not in session. Hesston College coaches have planned practices, tournaments, or scrimmages for prospective men’s and women’s soccer players, softball players and volleyball players.
