Pillsbury Baptist Bible College: 50th Graduation

Pillsbury Baptist Bible College held its 50th graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 5. The genesis of Pillsbury College was primarily the work of Dr. Richard V. Clearwaters, who was the long-time pastor of Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis. In those early years, he asked Dr. Monroe Parker (affectionately known as "Monk" to his friends) to become president.

One of Pillsbury's 1963 graduates was Dr. Fred Moritz, and it was Dr. Moritz who was the commencement speaker last Saturday. In addition to preaching from 2 Timothy 2:15, he also reminisced about those early days at Pillsbury. Dr. Moritz currently serves as Executive Director of Baptist World Missions, which is located in Decatur, Alabama. Dr. Moritz has been a great friend of Pillsbury, and he is one of the most popular chapel speakers that we bring to the campus.

Of course, we want to honor our graduates. To the left, Nancy celebrates with senior Lynette Benda, who was one of our student teachers this past spring. We will be attending her wedding this coming weekend in Wisconsin. Below, senior Ray Miller is standing next to Jon Calcamuggio, who was part of the Color Guard. Jon is a graduate of Pillsbury who also served two tours of duty in Iraq.


All told, we had about three dozen graduates this year. Because Pillsbury is relatively "small," you get to know just about every graduate along the way. Of those three dozen graduates, nine were education majors, so I worked with them rather closely during the last year or so. We bid our graduates Godspeed, and we pray that He will direct their lives in their vocations, marriages, families, and ministries. That's what Pillsbury is all about.

The Old Main Tower at Pillsbury

On many college campuses across the country, there are buildings and other locations that students are not allowed to access on a regular basis. And then there are places that students really don't want to access under any circumstances. When I was teaching at Bob Jones University, I would hear tales from some of the security folks about some of the strange things that went on in the Art Gallery, Rodeheaver Auditorium, and Amphitorium in the middle of the night. Just the thought of walking through the Art Gallery during the wee hours sends shivers up and down my spine, what with all those paintings and sculptures looming up in the dark as you went from gallery to gallery.

Here at Pillsbury, one of the places that is generally is off-limits to students is the tower on top of Old Main, which serves as our administration building. The fact is that over the years students have surreptitiously managed to make their way up to the tower for a spectacular view of Owatonna. Although we have just finished final exams, Tuesday was "Student Appreciation Day" on the campus. Dr. Crane announced in chapel on Tuesday morning that anyone who wanted to do so could legally walk up the three flights of stairs and spend a few minutes in the tower. So a number of us did so, including me.

It was a clear day with blue skies all around, although it was quite windy when you reached the tower. We are told that the Old Main Tower is the highest point in Steele County, so one can see quite a distance from that vantage point. I used my camera phone to take several photographs. In this photograph you can see the men's residence hall, and at the lower left is the house that we lived in for twelve years between 1984 and 1996. We can tell you many interesting stories about what it was like to live on campus and in such close proximity to the men's residence hall. I suspect that there are stories that we don't even know anything about. One of the things that Nancy didn't miss when we moved out of the old house was the periodic invasions of bats that took place when one of the kids would leave a door open on summer evenings. Nancy HATES bats!

This photograph to the right is of the northwest corner of our campus, at the intersection of South Grove Avenue and East Main Street. If you look closely, you can see the back of the sign welcoming vistors to Pillsbury College.

Although I enjoyed my time at the top of Old Main in the Tower, I was glad to come back down to terra firma. I really don't care for heights all that much. And did I share with you the fact that although I have been at Pillsbury College for twenty-three years, this was the first time that I ever made the trek to the top of Old Main. There's a first time for everything.