MCC set to host college’s 100th year celebration

The banners are installed, windows are decorated, the old clock has been refurbished, the welcome signs are out, and the old “Blue Goose” is gassed up and ready to return to campus. MCC faculty, staff and students are putting on the finishing touches for McCook Community College’s celebration of 100 years.

MCC is welcoming back former students, faculty and staff as part of the MCC 100 celebration with events Friday and Saturday.

The MCC Alumni Exhibition: “Artistic Journeys,” featuring 54 works from former and current teachers and students continues each day from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Wrightstone Gallery. The gallery will be closed Saturday morning for the Heritage Days parade but will be open from 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday.

The reunion kicks off Friday at East Campus from 5:30-7:30 p.m. with an informal Meet & Greet for alumni and employees (past and present).

On Saturday, the college will be in the Heritage Days Parade which starts at 10 a.m. MCC’s entry will feature more than 100 current and former students, faculty and staff, with esteemed alumni, and vehicles including a return of the “Blue Goose.”

The blue extended-length Checker airport limousine was a fixture at MCC in the 1970s and 1980s. It hauled students to sporting events, field trips and became a staple in area parades. Nobody bid on the vehicle at a surplus property sale in 1988, but later Joe and Kevin Bellamy of Elwood heard about the vehicle and purchased it for “several hundred dollars.” They brought it back for the college’s 90^th birthday in 2016 and will bring it back for this weekend.

In addition to using the Goose to travel to sporting events, many students and instructors recall spring class trips to the Niobrara River for canoeing and arts-on-location trips to places like New Mexico.

Following the parade from 11:30-2 p.m. all the buildings on the main campus will be staffed by students, current and former teachers for an open house and campus tours.

Livestock Judging teams from the 1980s are having a reunion with Kent Been, Angus Garey, Hoagy Carmichael, and several students from 11:30-1:30 in the lower level of von Riesen Library hosted by McCook College Foundation.

The Child Development Center in the lower level of Walsh-Brady Hall is having a CDC Open House from noon--1:30 p.m. Current and former staff will be on hand to share scrapbooks and memories and give tours of the facility which underwent a major upgrade in 2022.

At 1 p.m. the MCC Baseball team will scrimmage Western Nebraska at the new City of McCook Sports Complex-North of the Fairgrounds.

From 2-4 p.m. there will be an artist’s reception for many of the 54 artists who are featured in the MCC Alumni Artist Exhibition “Artistic Journeys.”

The MCC Women’s and Men’s Basketball teams are having a “Fan-fest” type of opportunity from 4-5 p.m. for members of the public in the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center.

MCC 100 Reunion weekend will conclude with the banquet from 5-7:30 p.m. at the East Campus Main Ballroom with the theme, "MCC Reflections." This event includes cocktails and a meal ($20 per plate.) If you haven’t already done so and plan to attend, please RSVP to Heather Harvie at 345-8120 or email harvieh@mpcc.edu