Judge William G. Workman Class of 1981

Kalee Dionne Class of 2005

Jean Brown Gossett Class of 1947

Kirby Rodgers Honorary Alumnus

Lincoln College celebration continues with Alumni Reunion Weekend
Special events planned for Sesquicentennial year

[April 15, 2015]  LINCOLN - Lincoln College’s 2015 Alumni Reunion will be held on the Lincoln campus April 24-25. All Lincoln College alumni and friends are welcome and encouraged to return for reunion, as the College celebrates the 25th, 50th, 70th and 75th anniversary years for the classes of 1990, 1965, 1945 and 1940. Three alumni and one local friend of Lincoln College will be honored at this year’s Awards program which will be held in the Jack D. Nutt Arena in the Lincoln Center on Saturday, April 25. The evening’s activities begin with a cocktail reception at 5 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. The Awards program will follow, concluding around 9 p.m. This event is open to the public and the cost for the reception and dinner is $30; call the Alumni Office at [phone] or e-mail [e-mail] to make reservations. The deadline for reservations is Friday, April 17.

The 2015 Alumni Award recipients are: Judge William G. Workman, class of 1981, Alumni Achievement Award in Public Service; Kalee Dionne, class of 2005, Young Alumni Achievement Award; Jean Brown Gossett, class of 1947, LaVeta Zurkammer Alumni Award; and Kirby Rodgers, Honorary Alumnus Award.

Several other events are planned. All events are open to the public and free unless otherwise indicated:

Wine & Brew Reception, featuring Kickapoo Creek Winery (Edwards, Ill.) and Rolling Meadows Brewery (Cantrall, Ill.), on Friday, April 24, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. in the Lincoln Center. This event is open to all alumni and friends of the College. Tickets are $10 and include light appetizers and tickets for three complimentary wine tastings.

“A Night at the Speakeasy” is the theme for the Lincoln College Jazz Ensemble concert at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 24 on the main stage of the Johnston Center for the Performing Arts. A silent auction will also be held in the Johnston Center lobby; proceeds from the auction support the jazz studies program. Admission is free for Lincoln College alumni. General admission tickets are $3. The Lincoln College Chorale and Chamber Choir’s spring vocal concert will take place Saturday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Johnston Center; general admission is $2.

At 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, Dr. Dennis Campbell will lead a tour of Creekside, the College’s Outdoor Center for Environmental Education located north of Lincoln along Sugar Creek. The tour will depart from the parking area in front of the Davidson-Sheffer Gymnasium. The tour lasts about an hour and is free and open to the public; guests are welcome to ride the College bus or drive themselves. (Weather permitting; boots or tennis shoes are recommended.)

The Lincoln Heritage Museum will celebrate its first anniversary in its new location with extended hours on Saturday, April 25. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the first and second floor galleries will be open for free walk-through tours. Visitors will be able to view the two special exhibits, “Lincoln College, Embracing our Past, Empowering our Future,” which celebrates the 150th anniversary of the founding of Lincoln College, and “Now He Belongs to the Ages,” which commemorates the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

At 1 p.m., Lincoln College senior Theatre major Alexa Maxey will present a living history performance of “Louisa Hawes’s Story: How Logan County Mourned a President and Friend,” a dramatic portrayal related to the Lincoln assassination and funeral. Admission to the living history presentation is free. From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Museum will offer full tours (including the 90-minute audio-video tour of the second floor gallery) at the regular admission price of $5.

In keeping with its sesquicentennial theme “Embracing the Past, Empowering the Future,” the College will host the Railsplitter Antique Auto Club and electric vehicle (EV) owners at a Cruise In (weather permitting). The event will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Lincoln Center parking lot, just a half-mile south of Lincoln Parkway, aka the historic Route 66 bypass. All area car clubs and Lincoln College alumni and friends with vintage cars or EVs are welcome to participate.

Lincoln College Professor Emeritus Paul Beaver ’56 and architect John Bishop ’90 will team up for a special Sesquicentennial presentation on Lincoln College’s flagship building, University Hall (UH). UH was built between 1865 and 1866, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 24, 1973. Beaver will share more about its history, and Bishop will talk about its future, including upcoming restoration plans. The presentation will take place at 2 p.m. on the main floor of University Hall. In honor of the Sesquicentennial, all floors (including the basement and attic) of UH will be open following the program for anyone willing and able to climb the stairs.

The Lincoln College Baseball and Softball teams will be playing at home on Saturday, April 25. The baseball team will play a double header against Heartland Community College starting at 1 p.m. The softball team will play against Lewis & Clark Community College starting at 1 p.m. (Game time subject to change; check the Lincoln College on-line events calendar for updates.)

“On Broadway: An Evening of Musical Theatre” is the theme for the Lincoln College spring vocal concert featuring the Chorale, Chamber Choir and soloists. The performance will be Saturday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Johnston Center for the Performing Arts; general admission is $2.

Registration information and the complete list of all activities and events, including Bookstore hours, are available at http://alumni.lincolncollege.edu/lc-event/alumni-reunion-weekend/ . For more details, contact the Lincoln College Alumni Relations office at [phone] or e-mail mjwerth@l
incolncollege.edu.

[Tracy Bergin, Lincoln College]