Amanda Orvis , Community Farmer The SEGway News
Personality , page 3
What to watch for this week in the SEG community :
Happenings , page 2
Bursting the bubble with a barn
— Community , Page 7
The SEGway News
Serving South East Grant County
Volume 1 , Number 3 A Good News Ventures publication Week of October 20-26 , 2016
Alumni , family members come to Taylor for combined Homecoming-Family Weekend
by Kyle Baird
Taylor University hosted its annual Homecoming and Family Weekend this past weekend , with around 2,000 alumni and family members of students coming to campus for the festivities .
Taylor has traditionally held Homecoming Weekend and Family Weekend on separate dates , with Homecoming intended to welcome Taylor alumni back to campus and celebrate the time they had on campus , and Family Weekend meant to create a time for families of students to come and visit campus , but for the first time in school history , the events were held on the same weekend this year .
“ It is really cool to have an opportunity for people who graduated to come back and see the old college buddies , to see what ’ s changed , to see what ’ s new , to see what ’ s still the same , to just kind of like reflect and remember what we ’ ve been through and what we ’ ve done ,” said Taylor Senior Sam Moore , who was on campus for much of the Homecoming celebrations .
Festivities for the weekend included a 5K run , a performance by the Taylor Theatre Department , classroom lectures , music concerts , a boat race , and more . One of the highlights of the weekend came at a Taylor chapel service on Friday morning when several alumni were honored for their achievements after graduating from Taylor , along with the announcement that the class of 1966 at Taylor had donated over $ 1.3 million to the school .
“ I think it [ homecoming ] helps the campus be reminded where it came from , and the people that came before
“ That ’ s a lot for our little town to handle , but it ’ s a great thing for the community in terms of commerce issues .”
it ,” said Taylor University Assistant Hall Director Eric Moore . “ I think that with college , it ’ s four years , and it ’ s always 18- to 20-year olds , but there ’ s thousands of people that have come to Taylor before , and it ’ s neat to be able to see that and to see the history behind it .”
One of the headlining events of the weekend was the band Sidewalk Prophets doing a show on campus Saturday night . The band has enjoyed significant commercial success over the course of its existence , having sold more than 500,000 albums worldwide , and having done multiple tours across the United States . Sidewalk Prophets has also garnered attention in the realm of music awards , with one Dove award win , four Dove award nominations , and one Billboard Music Award nomination .
Taylor athletics also celebrated Homecoming Weekend in style , with three Taylor sports teams competing on campus over the weekend . The football team , women ’ s soccer team , and the volleyball team all won their respective matches , with the win for the women ’ s soccer team coming over cross-town rival Indiana Wesleyan University .
The Taylor athletics department also took the time to honor some of the greatest contributors to Taylor sports throughout history by adding four new members to the Taylor Athletic Hall of Fame . The new inductees were softball and volleyball player Debbie Gates Varland , Taylor football great Quinn Hirschy , university benefactor Leland Boren , and longtime basketball coach Paul Patterson , who spent more than 30 years as the head coach of the men ’ s basketball team .
Patterson ’ s tenure as head coach and the impact he had on Taylor athletics was also commemorated by having the basketball court in Odle Arena named after him .
Homecoming and Family weekend were significant in the Upland community as a whole .
“ It [ homecoming ] brought over 2,000 people into town for the weekend , so when you think in terms of commerce and business , there ’ s not that many weekends in Upland where we have 2000 people from out of town who pass through ,” said Michael Hammond , a Taylor alumnus from the class of 1992 , and who is now academic dean . “ That ’ s a lot for our little town to handle , but it ’ s a great thing for the community in terms of commerce issues .”
The relationship between Taylor and the rest of the Upland Community is unique , with much of what happens at Taylor directly affecting the Upland community and much of what happens in Upland directly affecting the Taylor community .
“ It ’ s an amazing spirit here in the city of Upland . I can ’ t explain it — it ’ s quiet , it ’ s peaceful ,” said Upland resident Will Buck , who also serves as minister at Grace Missionary Baptist Church in Marion .
Business thriving in downtown Upland
Alongside the old bank building on Upland ’ s Main Street , a freshly painted gray building pops with new color , a clean and bright sheet glass window and cars in the parking lot . Troy Tiberi has been running a successful counseling center here for over a year . Troy bought the small building adjoining the bank and renovated it himself along with friends and family .
At around the same time , The Bridge Cafe was developed and opened across the street . Building up to 2015 , the Main Street of downtown Upland has had attention from the Town Council and other organisations in the community . Large flower pots have been placed , planted and cared for to produce a green effect . A number of condemned buildings have been pulled down in the area , and there are plans to clean up more tumble-down buildings , freeing up land for development and making the area safer , cleaner and more useful .
Postmaster John Bowman is excited about the potential Upland carries . “ The Post Office is a good indication of the amount of business going on in our town ,” he says . “ And I can tell you that the Post Office here is thriving .”
Warren Ross made the decision this year to move his Real Estate branch into Downtown Upland , and is now located next to Gary ’ s Barber shop . He felt that it was important to have a visible presence on the Main Street . Warren is on the Town Council , and is the Chairman of the Our Town Upland Committee , and has been instrumental in many of the initiatives to improve the Upland Main Street , and the local Parks . Bringing his business onto the main street was the sign of his belief in the growth potential of our local commercial area .
Upland Print and Stitch opened their shop in the house next to Best One Tire just before Labor Day weekend , and are excited about being part of the Upland Business Community . Owner , Andrew Preston grew up in Grant County and has a passion for the history of the area . His family is an example of people who want to plant roots in a community that they love , and thrive on the opportunities that having a history in a place can bring .
Some of the older buildings in Upland look like they don ’ t have much life left in them . And yet , others would not agree . The building that housed the Helping Hand thrift store was recently sold and is now showing a sign saying “ Polished - Coming Soon ”. A nail salon will open its doors in this historic building , bringing a new lease of life to this part of town .
We may be at the beginning of a new season of growth for the historic district of Upland . All it takes is a few pioneers to take the risky first steps and show they believe in the potential of a place . And it take the community being positive and supportive of the early changes to build the momentum into a successful season of growth .
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