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New alumni council members to be affirmed at banquet

The following alumni have agreed to serve on the Bethel College Alumni Association Council from 2008-2011. Their selection is to be affirmed at the association’s brief business meeting that is part of the Alumni Banquet in May.

  • Tonya (Keim) Bartel ’01, Hesston, currently works as a home visitor with Parents As Teachers of Marion County but will be a middle school Language Arts teacher in Goessel USD 411 this fall.
  • Karen Ross Epp ’68, Newton, is the author of "With Love Stan: A Soldier’s Letters from Vietnam to the World" and a retired secondary school educator.
  • Felice (Voth) Goering ’59, Moundridge, is retired.
  • Linda (Kauffman) Goering ’96, Moundridge, is a social worker with Hospice of Reno County.
  • Don Kingsley ’90, North Newton, is a sales representative for Berry Material Handling, Wichita. He is serving a second term.
  • Rick Krehbiel ’72, Moundridge, is managing director of Mid-Kansas Credit Union. He is serving a second term.
  • Kevin Neufeld ’94, North Newton, is owner of Neufeld Yard Service.
  • Morrie Scheffler ’97, Valley Center, is nurse manager with Hawker Beechcraft Corporation, Wichita.

Members serve three-year terms. Some fill vacancies on the current council. If interested in joining the council, contact Dave Linscheid, director of alumni relations, (316) 284-5252, dlin@bethelks.edu.

The Alumni Banquet is Saturday, May 24, at 6 p.m. in Memorial Hall. It will honor reunion classes, the graduating class of 2008 and recipients of this year’s alumni awards: Claudia Limbert ’78, Duane Goossen ’78 and Arlene (Peters) Hett ’69. The banquet will also feature historic and fun Bethel songs (and perhaps some cheers) performed by a group of alumni vocalists, plus an enjoyable look at Bethel pranks throughout the years.

Discount price is $16 per person if paying by May 9, $18 May 10-14. To make a reservation, visit or phone Thresher Bookstore in Schultz Student Center at (316) 284-5205. Payment or credit card information is required when the reservation is made.

Fun, fellowship are part of service trip to Hopi Mission school

For college students, spring break is about escaping the academic routine for sun, fun and -- house painting?

Twelve Bethel students opted for paintbrushes and got the sun and fun besides when they decided to spend their break in early April volunteering at Hopi Mission School on the high desert of northeastern Arizona.

History major keeps Bethel’s winning tradition going

A Bethel history-student tradition of writing award-winning papers continued into 2008 as Jordan Penner, senior history major from Reedley, Calif., became the 21st to take first place in a statewide history teacher-sponsored competition.

The Kansas History Teachers Association, now known as the Kansas Association of Historians, in 1971 began sponsoring prizes for the best undergraduate history papers written each year. There are two categories in the undergraduate division: Category I for papers produced in seminars or other semester-long courses in which a paper is the principle objective, and Category II for papers produced as one of several important activities that constitute a course.

Mccabe-Juhnke wins district forensics coaching award

Out of only six schools in the nation that have qualified for all 30 years of a national forensics tournament, one is right here in south central Kansas.

Five Bethel students, accompanied by a coach and assistant coach, traveled to Texas April 4-7 to compete in the 2008 American Forensic Association-National Individual Events Tournament (AFA-NIET) at the University of Texas-Austin.

Although the Bethel squad didn’t bring home any big trophies, senior Cory Buchta finished in the top 30 in After-Dinner Speaking. Put in perspective, "there were 126 in the event," said director of forensics John McCabe-Juhnke, professor of communication arts. "So out of the 126 best after-dinner speakers in the nation, Cory ranked between 26th and 28th."

McCabe-Juhnke himself came home with an award, the 2008 Carroll and Barbara Hickey Distinguished Service Award from District III of AFA.

Good for mind, body and spirit: Sand Creek Trail

Located in the Great Plains, Bethel College may not be the first place to come to mind when thinking of diverse natural habitat.

Yet someone with a good pitching arm could throw a hedge apple from the roof of Krehbiel Science Center and just about hit the trailhead for a unique piece of college property that not only offers students of biology and the environment a rich outdoor laboratory but also serves as an important resource for the wider community.

Adults invited to Kauffman Museum summer camp

For the first time in the history of Uncle Carl’s Camps, this summer’s lineup includes one for adults. Kauffman Museum began offering the camps in 1996.

Karen Kreider Yoder, Piedmont, Calif., will lead “Reeling in the Past: Kansas Pioneers and Silk” the afternoons of July 7-11. Participants will observe silkworms throughout the lifecycle, visit the site of the former Peabody Silk Station, and hand-reel silk from cocoons. Cost is $60 for museum members and $75 for non-members.

Alumni Association offering trip to China in 2009

Bethel College alumni and friends are invited to join experienced tour leaders Jim ’57 and Shirley (Suderman) ’57 Goering, North Newton, on a trip to China, Oct. 30-Nov. 17, 2009. The trip is sponsored by the Bethel College Alumni Association. International air travel will be arranged by MTS Travel, Newton.

The Goerings have visited China nearly every year since 1980 and lived there from 1985-1989. They have traveled widely throughout the country. Since 1991, Shirley has organized and led 17 tours to various parts of China, in close coordination with an experienced Chinese travel agent and guide in Beijing. In recent years, the two have spent seven summers (parts of June, July and August) teaching English to Chinese middle school teachers at various colleges and universities in the country.

The proposed itinerary includes Beijing and surroundings (the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square); Xian (the Museum of the Terra Cotta Warriors); a possible visit to Bai, Naxi or Tibetan minority areas in China’s Yunnan Province; a cruise on the Yangtze River, including a visit to the controversial Three Gorges Dam; a bus trip through central China; Wuhan (Hubei Provincial Museum); Shanghai and surroundings (ultramodern city that includes the world-class Shanghai Museum); and many additional features and side trips. The itinerary is open to change.

The trip is being offered on a first-come-first-served basis to 25 alumni and friends, with a minimum of 16 required to make it viable. Costs -- including lodging in 4- and 5-star hotels, all meals and two full weeks in China -- are difficult to determine at this time, but are likely to range from $5,000-$5,200. The deadline for an initial deposit will be Jan. 15, 2009.

Those interested in participating should contact Office of Alumni Relations, 300 East 27th Street, North Newton, KS 67117, (316) 284-5251, alumni@bethelks.edu, to indicate their interest in receiving more information in the future.