“I remember when Grandma lived in Pennsylvania, she would let us go to the creek and catch crawdads,” says Hesston College freshman Courtney Mast of Weatherford, Okla. “After we caught a bunch, we would go back to the house and sit outside while we cleaned them, then Grandma would let us cook them inside. Mom never let us do that.”
Mast had many fond memories to share about her grandmother Mari An Nyce, also of Weatherford, during Hesston College’s annual Grandparent Days March 24 and 25. The annual event drew 69 grandparents of 41 students from six states. Grandparents were invited to attend sessions on “Yesteryear’s Farm Life” lead by Dwight Roth and various Hesston faculty and staff. Students in Kevin Wilder’s Developmental Psychology class also interviewed guests on the topic “Adolescence of Yesterday and Today.”
Nyce did not attend Hesston College, but all three of her children, a son-in-law, a granddaughter (Kaitlyn Mast ’10) and now Courtney spent the first two years of their college life at Hesston.
“The relationships my children made at Hesston College are lasting,” said Nyce. “My kids still get together with the friends they made during those two years.”
“I saw the motto, ‘Start Here, Go Everywhere,’ used by my kids. Both Steve and Anita worked in the preschool at Hesston and they used that to do daycare in Mennonite Voluntary Service after they graduated,” said Nyce.
Students and their grandparents attended a banquet, and students shared stories or memories about their grandparents.
Freshman Wendy Whitcher of Hesston, Kan., said that she remembers playing Monopoly with her grandma, Mary Erb.
“I always thought she was really good at the game until I got older,” Whitcher said. “Then I found out that she was cheating.”
“Grandparent Days are one way to continue the grandparent-child relationship at the young adult level,” said Dallas Stutzman, director of Alumni and Church Relations. “Also, this is a way to provide grandparents an opportunity for continuing education. They have a lot to contribute.”
The continuing relationship is one thing Mast appreciates. “Having my grandma here was fun. It was fun just being able to see her and catch up,” she said.
Located 30 miles north of Wichita, Hesston College is the two-year liberal arts college of Mennonite Church USA.