Congratulations McCook Students!!!!!! President's List:

Lori Barber; Sarah Calvin; Kari Eisenach; Sheree Eschliman-Cooper; David Garretson; Teraysa Hinson; Ashlee Huffman; Morgan Pearson; Janelle Taylor; Isaac Weyeneth

Dean's List:
Joel Arterburn; Sandra Banjoff; Carter Dack; Ashley Donovan; Aaron Goodenberger; Preston Hueftle; Kayla Koetter; Andrew Lambing; Trisha Lavery; Alison Marts; Jared Metcalf; Lisa Olsen; Thomas Power; Mitchell Sellers; Kirstyn Shaffer; Brett Teel; Karen West; Linda Wright

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Squares
From: Sandy Buelow

2 18-oz. tubes refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
Non-stick vegetable spray
3 3-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
Press one tube of cookie dough into the bottom of a 13” x 9” baking pan that has been sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray. Beat cream cheese, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Pour over cookie dough; crumble remaining cookie dough over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Chill before serving. Makes 15 servings.

Famous Oatmeal Cookies
From: Logan Hoyt

¾ C. veg shortening
1 C. firmly packed brown sugar
½ C. granulated sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. of vanilla
3 cups of quick oats oatmeal
1 cup of flour
1 tsp. of salt
½ tsp. of soda
(Mix together and bake at 350 degrees)

Chile Rellenos

By Ashley Donovan

2 tomatoes

1 can green chillies

1 can diced black olives

1 bunch green onions

2 tbsp vinegar

pour olive oil until moist

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and chill.

Serve with chips.

McCook Basketball Teams Kick Off Season

By Jarod Weidner

Judging from the McCook Merchants Classic, it will be an exciting season for the McCook Community College basketball teams. The men and the women both return plenty of returning talent, but also welcome in some exciting newcomers. The Classic, held over the weekend at True Hall, was a great way to start the season. Both MCC teams went 1-1.

The men played Friday night, and left with a hard-fought 88-76 loss to the Denver Force. McCook started strong, but were eventually put away by an impressive barrage of three-pointers from Denver. Noel Cardinelli scored 15 to pace McCook. Christian Lewis added 14, and Sterling Link, a 6'9" freshman, chipped in 11. Link electrified the True Hall crowd with several dunks and blocked shots, and with his relentless hustle, several times hurling his body to the floor in pursuit of a loose ball.

The MCC men bounced back on Saturday by crushing the Kearney Magic 96-56. Trey Harris and Craig Wamsley each scored 16 points for the Indians.

The women also got a win on Friday, defeating the MCC All-Stars, a group of McCook alumni, 74-41. Amanda Terpstra led McCook with 15 points, and Sarah Hector added 10. McCook came back on Saturday and lost a tough one to Concordia 50-45. McCook coach Michelle Orton said McCook had a chance to beat Concordia. "We had a lead with a minute and a half left, a three point lead, but mental mistakes there towards the end made us lose by five."

Kamillia Brown led McCook in scoring against Concordia with 13, while Terpstra had 11.

The McCook men are back in action at home against Eastern Wyoming on Saturday at 7:00. The women will participate in the Air Force Prep Classic Friday and Saturday in Colorado Springs.

Coach Orton Excited About New Season

By Jarod Weidner

Not even having a foot in a cast can inhibit Michelle Orton's enthusiasm for this basketball season. Orton, McCook Community College's women's basketball coach, injured her leg seven weeks ago, but that has not slowed her; she is ready for the season to start and is upbeat about what she sees from her team. And she has good reason to be positive.

Orton welcomes back one of the region's top players in Kamillia Brown, a 5'5" guard from Kansas City. Brown averaged nearly 19 points a game last season and was a first-team All-Region IX selection. Orton says Brown has been working hard to develop into more than just a scorer.

"Her defense is stepped up this year, and I think she is going to do a good job of finding others. Her assists stats are probably going to go up this year," Orton said.

Staci Moore, a 5'5" guard from Cambridge, Nebraska, is also back for her sophomore year. Moore was an honorable mention all-region selection last season, averaging 10 points a game. Orton said that Moore's shooting ability is what sets her apart. "Staci is just a pure shooter…when she's on, she can be our leading scorer."

In addition to Moore and Brown, three important sophomores return in Sadiyyah Guilford, Amanda Terpstra, and Sarah Hector. Orton said all three are strong inside players. She hopes to use Hector's 6'4" inch frame to create mismatches, while Terpstra and Guilford are both able to run the floor well.

Orton is also pleased with her freshmen class. She said that she has at least six freshmen who could see plenty of playing time. Heaven Johnson, a 5'8" guard from Colorado Springs, started the first two games of the season for the Indians. Orton said that Johnson is a very good outside shooter. Bridgette Riddick, a 5'8" guard from Denver, is also in the mix for playing time.

"Bridgette is a slasher; she creates her own shots and rebounds well," Orton stated. Coach Orton believes that her team can have a very successful season, despite playing in a difficult region. Orton says that she hopes to finish above .500 this season, although as long as her team plays hard and competes well, she will be happy. "The biggest thing is making sure that we're competing every game and never giving up."

As always, the Indians have set a goal to be in the top five nationally in team GPA. Last season, McCook's women were third in the country among junior colleges with an impressive 3.49 team GPA. They also had seven Academic All-Americans. Coach Orton says that the players take pride in their academics and that they all expect to be Academic All-Americans.

So what happens when you combine talented returning players (who happen to be great students) with an exciting group of newcomers? We will find out, but it is obvious that Michelle Orton has good reason to be excited-cast or no cast.

Volleyball is New Coach Payne's Passion

By Jarod Weidner

Gary Payne loves volleyball. In fact, McCook Community College's new volleyball coach plays competitive volleyball himself, in addition to coaching. His upbeat attitude and passion for the sport is emblematic of how he hopes to shape the MCC volleyball program. Let's meet the Indians' new head man.

Payne gained an interest in volleyball while in college at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, where he started playing in tournaments. After college, he taught at a high school in Colorado for five years, and coached the volleyball and track teams there. During that time, he kept an eye on college volleyball coaching vacancies, and when McCook got an opening, Payne interviewed and got the job.

His first season has been a learning experience. But although the Indians are currently 2-37, Payne remains optimistic. He says that he is thrilled with the progress the team is showing, although it has not yielded many victories.

"After the first tournament I thought we needed a lot of work, but I think they keep improving every day," he says.

Payne pointed out that MCC plays in an extremely difficult region, and that the Indians have hung tough with the better teams. The Indians have also played very well against some teams that they should have beaten. Payne's mindset is that if the team continues to make progress, the wins will shortly follow.

Leadership has not been a problem thus far for the Indians. Payne said that his three captains-Sara Cappel, Crystal Zwickl, and Brittany McConville-have done an excellent job.

"Sara does a real good job in keeping the girls motivated during the games on the floor, and Crystal and Brittany are not as vocal as Sara," Payne said, "but they're there to make everyone better, and they're team leaders out there on the floor."

In addition to the three captains, McCook has an abundance of experienced sophomores in the rotation. Six players returned with game experience from last season, and they are all playing again this year. However, some freshmen are seeing playing time as well, Payne said.

Payne said he "loves" coaching volleyball in the state of Nebraska. In addition to passionate fan support, Payne believes that there is great talent in the state, as evidenced by the fact that there are fifty-three players starting on Division 1-A teams who hail from Nebraska. Payne also praised the level of high school coaching, saying "its fun to coach girls who know what they're doing."

Payne is clearly passionate about volleyball, and excited to be at McCook. With his enthusiasm and expertise, not to mention coaching in a state full of talented players to recruit, Payne is certain to have the Indians' volleyball fortunes turned around in no time.

Retrospective Exhibit

of Jack Olson

For the first art exhibit at the Wrightstone Building, Art Instructor Rick Johnson chose to start out with a former MCC Student, Lester Jack Olson's elaborate collection of non- objective art work. " This is a nice collection. Mr. Olson accomplished a lot in the short time he was alive, and we're very excited to be sharing his work with the community, " stated Mr. Johnson.

Olson's former classmates donated another one of his paintings. In addition another former classmate, Dr. Mry E. Nickolaus and Olson were honored for their donations and in memory by a black marble plaque.

Art Show Extravaganza!

By Amy Swanson

Please enjoy the displays of the Drawing I, Drawing II, Painting I, II, and III, Problems in Paint I, II, and III, Design, and Art Structure.

Chimes are ringing in McMillen Hall!

The McCook College Foundation is proud to sponsor the restoration of the campus chimes in McMillen Hall at McCook Community College. Once again, the chimes will ring out and touch the heart strings of the individual and reestablish their presence in our community. In rededicating these beautiful and historic chimes on February 7, 2006, the Foundation also gratefully acknowledges the generous contributions of Helen Allen and Carolyn Givan, and the family and friends who donated memorial funds specifically for this restoration project to honor Kenneth Bollerup, Richard Driml, and Dal Wood.

So what’s the big deal? They’re just chimes, right? Well, they happen to be quite a big deal, as they carry a great amount of historical significance. The original chime system was installed mid-summer of 1939 as a gift from Mrs. McMillen ( the donor of the first College building, McMillen Hall). The twenty-five chimes of nickel-plated bell metal were manufactured by the J.C. Deagan Company of Chicago, Illinois.

The chimes were installed in two small rooms in the basement of McMillen Hall and loudspeakers were set in a “penthouse” on the roof so the chimes would ring out over the campus and the neighborhood. The chimes were reported to have cost seven thousand dollars. It took approximately thirty days for the complete installation. In addition to the chimes, the system included a multiple-clock mechanism, a DC voltage rectifier, a player mechanism to play paper song belts, an electric relay box to control the electric magnets to pull the mallets, and an RCA tube amplifier and microphone.

According to newspaper articles and written accounts by Ray Search, Wendell Cheney, and Richard Racine, the chimes were either shut down or failed sometime during World War II and parts were unavailable for repair. After World War II, Richard Racine, a student of McCook Junior College (’48) who had gained experience in electronics while in the Navy, was successful in reviving the chimes in early 1947. They continued to play until sometime in the mid-1950’s.

The chimes have remained silent over the years, ringing only in dedication of McCook Community College’s 60th and 70th Anniversary celebrations—but in April 2002, in conjunction with the renovation of and addition to McMillen Hall, the McCook College Foundation agreed to sponsor the resoration of the chimes and their relocation in the Atrium.

“The renovation of the chimes represents the renovation of McCook Community College itself,” says Doctor Tubbs, just prior to the ceremonial ringing of the bells.

Mrs. Patricia Allison, the Vice President of Mid-Plains Community College, expressed her appreciation to everyone who had made the renovation possible.

Mrs. Norma Stevens, Vice President of the McCook College Foundation made the acknowledgements and indicated everyone who had funded the project.

Dr. Michael E. Owens, President of the McCook College Foundation, took care of the final commemorations and dedications.

Mr. William Pugh, the restoration specialist, came forward to speak on the process of the restoration.

Mr. Jon Burkey activates the chimes for the ceremonial ringing and looks on as they ring.

Mr. Pugh plays the McCook Community College Song on the chimes using a specialized keyboard.

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This is an excerpt from a letter to Mrs. McMillen, from the Board of Education, dated September 7, 1939:

"As members of the board of education we are happy to accept the chimes you have so graciously installed on our Junior College campus; as fellow residents of McCook we are proud of the gift; as fellow citizens we are deeply grateful that we can hear each quarter hour of each day chimed off into the inevitable procession of hours past and future with the satisfying realization that in a mad world we have preserved a measure of sanity and that despite widespread destruction of culture we can hear each night the sound of bells, remind us of kinship of beauty and its creation.”

Signed: L.H. Cheney, H.D. Stewart, C Edward Hoyt, C.D. Ritchie, John Dunbar, and F.H. Holmes.