Goshen River Race Project to share possibilities for future at Afternoon Sabbatical, Nov. 14

GOSHEN, Ind. – The Millrace Canal Revitalization Project will be the topic for Goshen College’s Afternoon Sabbatical lecture titled, “ Our Community Connection: The River Race Project.” Tom Stark, chair of the River Race committee; Everett Thomas, Goshen City Council president and Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman will share what efforts are underway to enhance and develop the River Race. The program starts at 1 p.m. in Sauder Concert Hall.

The mission of the River Race Restoration Committee is to identify and work to restore, develop and reuse existing commercial and industrial land and buildings in Goshen that would improve the surroundings in the community.

Architects and community planners from Ball State University’s Building Better Communities program have proposed turning the River Race area into a community and residential area of townhouses and single family units, with some integration of retail and restaurant space.

David Daugherty, president of the Goshen Chamber of Commerce, was pleased with Ball State ideas, which were presented in 2005. “It made me want to buy a home on the race and enjoy riding my bike on the trail, take an evening walk, walk downtown for breakfast or shopping, and of course the Farmers Market on Saturday morning. I couldn’t think of a better place to live,” he said.

From these proposals, the Goshen Redevelopment Committee has taken leadership on the project, and the city of Goshen has received a grant of $400,000 to begin the environmental work.

Future lectures in the Afternoon Sabbatical series:

·    Dec. 5, 1 p.m., Sauder Concert Hall, “A Baroque and Renaissance Christmas” with Danielle Svonavec, soprano, Amos Burkholder, recorder, Mary Anne Ballard, viola da gamba, Rosalyn Troiano, viola and Kathryn Sherer, harpsichord

·    Feb. 13, 1 p.m., Sauder Concert Hall, “ Hand-Me-Down Songs: The Power of Melody,” with Jim Heiks, associate professor of music

·    March 6, 1 p.m., Sauder Concert Hall, “Imagining the Serengeti: Landscape Memory as History in Tanzania,” with Jan Bender Shetler, associate professor of history

·    April 10, 1 p.m., Sauder Concert Hall, “International Luncheon: Senegal” with Gwen Miller, assistant professor of art and co-leader Suella Lehman Gerber. Cost: $20

·    May 16, Chicago bus trip to see “The Color Purple.” Cost: $110.

Goshen College’s Afternoon Sabbatical program is in its 30th year of offering rich diversity in programs for the community. A committee of area representatives and college personnel look to the wealth of knowledge and talent at Goshen College and among Elkhart County citizens and selects programs that will appeal to a wide variety of interests. Programs have an integral connection to the college, either through subject matter or in ways in which the campus and community are interrelated.

For more information on the Afternoon Sabbatical series call the Goshen College Relations Office at (574) 535-7565 or e-mail edutravel@goshen.edu.

– by Megan Blank

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.