Midland homecoming activities begin Thursday

Midland Lutheran College will kick off its homecoming weekend festivities Thursday with an Academic Encounter Day that is free and open to the public.

“Health and Wellness: From Nebraska to the World” according to Allyson Backstrom, “will increase our awareness of health and wellness both at a personal level and as a shared social responsibility.”

"The point of Encounter Days are to bring the community together to talk about important issues. We really want students to understand more about their welfare as individuals and as a society,” Backstrom said.

The Encounter Day will begin at 9 a.m. in Clemmons Hall on the Midland campus with a welcome, followed by a keynote address by John Stone from Creighton University titled “Eliminating Health Inequities: Social Justice, Respect and Action.”

The presentation will deal with multi-generational social inequalities that have resulted in national and global health issues.

Following the address will be a morning breakout session, followed by lunch in the dining hall.

Following lunch will be breakout sessions led by local professionals Lynn Lamprecht of Fremont Area Medical Center and Diana Myers of the Fremont Family YMCA. Professionals from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Saunders County Medical Center, Alegent Health, Kansas State University and Creighton Medical Center will also lead sessions.

Backstrom is anticipating wide-spread participation in the event, “We had about 500 people participate in last year’s academic encounter, our Go Green day.”

Homecoming activities take center stage on Friday, including the Warrior Athletic Hall of Fame

Induction Banquet at 6:30 in the dining hall where Dale Sarratt, Larry Holmes, Bob Denton, Jennifer Houchin Wragge and Chris Allen will be inducted.

Clemmons Hall will host the Student Talent Show beginning at 8 p.m., including a parent/student look-alike contest and coronation of king and queen, followed by a pep rally.

Saturday’s events will include a pre-game party and carnival on the Midland campus green, featuring balloon artist, Poppin’ Penelope, a caricaturist, Bob Olsen’s Dixieland band, the Midland pep band and a canned goods building competition on the campus green, with all canned goods to be donated to Low Income Ministry Food Pantry, beginning at 11 a.m. and ending at 12:30 p.m.

The undefeated Midland Warriors football team will take the field against Dakota Wesleyan University, at Memorial Stadium, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

There are many other events throughout the weekend. Visit www.mlc.edu for additional information.