FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4/8/05

Greenville College to Celebrate 150 Years of Higher Education

Celebration Activities include a Sesquicentennial Play, Restoration of Almira House and Open-House of G.C. Music Center

Official sesquicentennial celebrations will kick off on April 16, 2005, at Heritage Day. As a stop on the Heritage Day tour, Greenville College will feature a display of historic Almira and Greenville College photos in the east wing of Hogue Hall and a display of works by sculptor Richard W. Bock in the west wing. Brick making on the front lawn, presented by Dr. Don Jordahl and Dr. Dan Jensen, will provide visitors with an understanding of how Hogue Hall was built over a century ago using bricks students made.

A dinner will complete the evening with the inaugural performance of a play written by Dr. Dan Jensen as an adaptation from Still Abides the Memory by Mary Tenney. Given as a dramatic reading, the plays performers include Vondria Bergen as Almira Morse, Tom Morgan as a Tavern Keeper, Bill Ahern as Stephen Morse and Rich Beans as John Brown White. Bruce Paulsen will direct. Subsequent performances will be performed at Alumni Reunion and Homecoming Weekends.

 Alumni Reunion Weekend, June 10-12, will showcase a fashion show and music revue. Carol Ann Miller, owner of “Fashions of the Past” of St. Louis will provide dinner entertainment June 11. Miller has an extensive antique clothing collection and does numerous programs throughout the year. Local models will be used for the fashion show which will feature both men's and women's clothing.

A jazz band, which includes Greenville College professors Dr. Michael Johnson , Ani Johnson and Tom Stampfli , will provide after dinner entertainment with a revue of popular music over the last 150 years. The band will also provide brief educational commentary explaining the various types of music and how they have evolved. The program will include samples of folk, ragtime, blues, jazz, big band, rock ‘n roll and more recent styles of music.

A key project in the year-long celebration, the restoration of Almira College House, began in October 2004. Almira College House, now known as the Bock Museum, was constructed in 1855 and showcases the largest single collection of works by sculptor Richard W. Bock. The restoration process will return the house to its former grandeur, where it can then serve the community and host the Bock collection for many years to come.

October 1, Greenville College will remember the Legacy of Almira Morse through a celebration of women in education. This event will include an afternoon tea and award given to recognize an alumna of Greenville College who has made a difference in the field of education .

During Homecoming Weekend, October 21-23, the college plans to dedicate the restored Almira College House and Bock Museum, as well as host an open-house to showcase the Music Center renovations.

Local Greenville artist, Robert S. Horsfall has captured the spring beauty of Almira College House and Hogue Hall with a watercolor entitled, Almira College (Est. 1855) – Greenville College (Est. 1892) A Celebration of Higher Education in Greenville, IL. The print, sold by Greenville College to benefit the Sesquicentennial Celebration, is available as limited, signed, numbered edition (size 11x14) for $50. Smaller (8x10), unsigned prints are available for $15. Shipping and handling charges are $5.

 You may also join us in celebrating 150 years of higher education by honoring or memorializing a friend or loved on with a brick to be placed on the Almira College House sidewalk with a $150 gift. To find out more information or take advantage of these opportunities please call the Advancement Office at (618) 664-6500.

Greenville College is a four-year accredited Christian liberal arts school with more than 1200 traditional undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree completion students.  Founded in 1892 and affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, the college is located in Greenville, Illinois, 45 miles east of St. Louis.

CONTACT:
Christy Grimes ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )
Assistant Director of Public Relations
Greenville College
(618) 664-6515