Tag: allegany county

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Stories In Focus

Remembering Doris Nielsen

Doris “Mabel” Nielsen’s name may be familiar to all, but her legacy is more significant than most know.

Coming from a background in theological studies and psychology—with degrees from both Houghton College and Columbia Bible College—Doris decided to pursue her love for the outdoors by earning her Master’s in Physical Education from the University of Buffalo. Doris immediately jumped into recreation programming as the director of Camp Sandy Hill, an all-girls’ outdoor retreat in North East, Maryland.

At Houghton College, where she moved with her husband Ken and became a full-time professor of Physical Education and Recreation in 1961, Doris immediately saw the potential for robust, thriving wilderness adventure programs. The inviting Allegheny County landscape—with its pastoral farmlands, rolling hills, and untamed forests—seemed like the perfect place to establish such student activities.

In pursuit of this vision, Doris helped establish many of the hiking and biking trails that wind through the trees behind the athletic complex. (To this day, one still carries her name.) She pushed for the construction of a ropes and initiatives course in the Houghton woods, which has helped countless students discover and overcome their personal limitations. She organized backpacking trips far from the familiar, introducing students to the rugged majesty of the Alaskan wilderness and the beauty of the Grand Canyon. Closer to home, she led the Pioneer Girls Club at Houghton Wesleyan Church, helping young women explore the Bible and discover their own potential.

The Highlander Adventure Program, which she founded in 1979 and oversaw until her retirement, remains her most lasting legacy on the Houghton campus and community. Doris envisioned the program as a chance to give young, potentially nervous students positive experiences that would teach them problem solving skills, build their self-confidence, and “carry them over the valleys” of their challenging first year. By connecting students with a community of other first-year participants, Doris hoped that her fledgling initiative would encourage them to rely on their own inner strength, their classmates’ encouragement, and God’s continual provision.

Dividing her students into groups of ten, she set off for the dirt paths and mountain tracks of Western New York. Cadres scaled challenging rock climbing courses, lugged their heavy backpacks over muddy trails, and shouted urgent directions to each other as they scrambled through the on-campus ropes course that Doris had earlier that year.

In 1988, Doris founded the first STEP Adventure Program, an experiential wilderness experience designed for high-risk youth in the community. Just four years later came an appointment to the directorship of Upward Bound of Allegany and Cattaraugus, a federally-funded program aimed at students in similarly high-risk situations.  Coach Robert Smalley, who worked alongside Doris during her time at Houghton and inherited her directorship of the  Highlander program, remembers her with a smile. “High-energy, lover of the Lord, lover of people, and lover of the outdoors,” he describes her. “She was a high-energy person who impacted many lives.”

Although Doris and her husband, Ken, retired from full-time service at Houghton in 1997, they continued to find new ways to serve the community. With its distinctive focus on wilderness adventures and its focus on connecting with Houghton’s abundant natural resources, the Nielsen Center reflects its namesake’s passion for the outdoors: a closet packed with camp stoves and well-used tents, a collection of kayaks and bundles of ski poles, a climbing wall dedicated “to the glory of God.”

But Doris’ most lasting impact on Houghton College is reborn every school year, not in the buildings and trails that bear her name, but in the hearts and aching legs of the students whose first introduction to the community comes through the Highlander Adventure Program. “Endurance, community building, integrity, and choosing challenge are all principles of Highlander, and all carry over to the way one lives out faith in Jesus,” says Emma Steele ’18, a student participant and two-time Highlander leader. “I’ve seen participants make what they can out of little, physically pull each other up, and learn trust. I’ve seen groups become teams, and teams become families.”

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Campus News

Push for Turkey Drive Funds Continue

Fundraising for the Student Government Association (SGA) Annual Turkey Drive will continue through the next week, according to Sergio Mata ‘19, Executive Officer of Student Life.

houghton.edu
houghton.edu

The Turkey Drive is a campus wide effort to provide Thanksgiving turkeys and trimmings to families in need living in Allegany county. Security guard Ray Parlett has participated in the Turkey Drive for the last nine years. He said, “ [I] distribute turkeys each year through local food pantries and other organizations. You might say the students raise the money and I get to spend it.  I have worked primarily with Shop and Save in Fillmore but also with Harington’s Sure-Fine in Belfast and occasionally Tops in Wellsville, all of whom have provided the turkeys to us at their cost, and at times even below cost.”

Families in need of a Thanksgiving turkey receive coupons, which are “distributed through the Houghton and Fillmore food pantries with some provided to the Rushford pantry as well” said Parlett. Aside from turkeys, “the food pantries also provide other food supplies to these families so they can have a nice complete meal for Thanksgiving, a rare thing for many of them,”Parlett noted.

Fundraising began with the Homecoming 5k race, which replaced the Turkey Trot 5k race SGA and Campus Activities Board (CAB) have hosted in the past, according to CAB member Kasey Cannister ‘17.

Fundraisers for the charity include Turkey Grams and “sponsor a turkey/feather,” according to Mata. “Students can pay $1 to send a Turkey Gram from the turkey mascot, just like candy grams,” he said. He also stated the print-out turkeys and feathers, which students purchase and color, will be made into a mural to decorate the dining hall for Thanksgiving.

SGA Vice President, Daniel Merriam ‘19, said students can sponsor a whole Thanksgiving turkey for a needy family for $15, or can sponsor part of a turkey by purchasing a feather for $1. “If every student sponsors a feather, we will easily meet our fundraising goal,” he said.

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Campus News

Students Celebrate Make-A-Difference-Day

Houghton College, Alfred State College, and Alfred University served the residents of Allegany County by participating in the fifth annual Make a Difference Day (MADD).

Photo courtesy of: Phyllis Gaerte
Photo courtesy of: Phyllis Gaerte

On the nationwide day of service, which happened on October 22, students and faculty from all three schools came together and assisted those in the community with tasks such as making goodie bags, organizing donations, visiting nursing homes, and cleaning.

Among the three schools, Houghton College as has historically had the highest turn-out rate, according to statistics on the Houghton College website. Of the two thousand students that have participated in MADD over the last four years, one thousand of them have been Houghton students.  This year, about seventy Houghton students signed up.  While some sign up as individuals, other groups, such as the Houghton baseball team and the Jet Group signed up collectively.

Melissa Maclean ‘17, Student Government Association’s(SGA) Executive Officer of Spiritual Life, sees the day “as an opportunity for Houghton to employ what we stand for and give back to the community.”  Maclean, along with SGA cabinet member Sergio Mata, ’19, were responsible for coordinating with Phyllis Gaerte in encouraging students to sign up, delegating tasks, and organizing finances.  

While the SGA is concerned with serving locals, they also place an emphasis creating connections with people and businesses in Allegany county, especially those who have not heard of Houghton College.  What is important, Maclean said, is “making ourselves known but not in the tyrannical, ‘let us show you how great we are’ way, but in a, ‘let us humble ourselves and serve you,’ way.”  Mata agreed, “I think Make a Difference Day is another way Houghton reaches out to the county.  Small businesses are really appreciative of us coming out and getting done the tasks they need.”

Laura Cunningham, resident director of Gillette Hall and assistant director of service opportunities, also had a significant role in coordinating the day.  While Cunningham has participated in MADD personally, her role these past couple years have been more logistical, including working with SGA, putting people into service crews, taking pictures, and generally managing.

However, Cunningham has confronted “unique challenges” in organizing and promoting MADD amidst the tumultuous time of the year that the day falls on.  With midterms, events such as Homecoming Weekend, Purple and Gold Week, and October break, it has proved a challenge to generate interest and enthusiasm while students may “not be thinking ahead.”  In previous years, MADD has been required of Transitions 101 students, affecting success and turn-out of the event.

“Overall, people find that Make a Difference Day is a positive experience,” Cunningham says.  “People experience having a one-time, low-commitment way of helping in the community, and visiting places in the community they don’t normally get to go to.”  Despite midterm exams and projects, a few hours of service proves very valuable to both Allegany locals as well as to those who participate.  With the variety of ways to serve, Cunningham cites several students who grew and learned from their MADD experience.  She said she hopes students realize that serving in small ways is very helpful, impactful, and fulfilling.

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News

Collegiate Baseball Team “Genesee Rapids” to Debut Next Summer

Upcoming efforts to transform incoming traffic to the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex into a positive, continual impact on Houghton may have another attraction to accommodate: that of a collegiate summer baseball team.

FURapidThe idea for such a team was formed by Houghton graduate Ralph Kerr along with the input of the other members in the Houghton Group, an organization working to bring new business and development to the Houghton area with the new traffic brought in by the athletic complex. Originally inspired by his grandson’s position on the Niagara Power team last summer, Kerr began to consider the possibility of bringing such a team to the Allegany County area. “When I saw not just him but other young men from all over the country having an opportunity to grow as Christians and using baseball as a vehicle to do that, I was really thinking it would be terrific if we could replicate that same thing in Houghton where we already have such a beautiful facility that is just going to sit vacant all summer long,” said Kerr.

After convening a group of potential supporters of a new team and presenting his idea to them, community interest in the project became evident. Kerr was also eventually able to gain support from the Houghton Group in finding support from local businesses, including advertising on the field during games, and from members of the team board, who typically make a financial contribution to the team and participate in its management. Further support comes from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), of which the team is an affiliate, which is able to funnel donations to the team through its website.

One of the aspects of the team which drew interest was its potential to bring traffic to Houghton during the summer, a time during which many faculty and students leave the area, leaving a void of activity. “The first thing is simply people coming to their games from out of town. It becomes summer evening fun, wholesome entertainment. Around here, that’s pretty hard to come by. There’s not much going on here during the summertime,” said Ken Bates, a business professor at Houghton, a Houghton Group member, and a team board member. Adding that team members would most likely be staying in the town during practices and home games, Bates cited this as another source of economic activity in the area. Phyllis Gaerte, director of community relations at Houghton College and a Houghton Group member, spoke similarly. “More people in town to support small business is important, and having small businesses to provide for the needs of people who come to town is important,” she said.

As for the team itself, which has been named the Genesee Rapids, the search for skilled players has already begun. The team was awarded a franchise three months ago by the New York Collegiate Baseball League, a league which already comprises twelve other teams from the state of New York. The League was initially hesitant to take on another team, but after a representative toured the athletic field on the college campus, an agreement was reached. “[He] saw our field, walked around the grounds, and got quite excited about the possibility. …he said something to the effect that this field was on par with some of the fields in the major leagues,” related Bates.

Players on teams in the league must be registered college students by the time they play summer games, so most members are typically sophomores or juniors. Describing the recruitment process, Kerr explained, “The League receives applications from players from all over the country and they forward those to us … [and] they fill out a formal application that includes something about their testimony and where they are in their relationship with God as well as the position they’d like to play, a little bit about how well they play, and then we have references from their college coach and then some other references as well.” Kerr explained that the motivation to play on an intercollegiate team isn’t just for entertainment purposes. Some players have intentions of continuing to play even after college. “In 2010, 38 of the players from the league were actually offered major league baseball contracts,” Kerr said.

With recruitment already underway, those involved with the Genesee Rapids have a vision for what the final team will look like. “We are recruiting from all over the United States and Canada, and so we expect to have 30 players on the team. We may have some players from the college team, but we’re limited to four,” said Kerr. Also aiming to achieve ministry through baseball, it is hoped that team members will be Christians or have some foundation or expressed interest in exploring the Christian faith. “What we’re looking for at a minimum is young men who aren’t afraid to have people talk about Christ with them,” said Kerr. “If we can witness to a young man who’s willing to be witnessed to, I’m all for that.”

So far, the creation of the team has continued with positive results. “Just today we offered 12 contracts to our first 12 recruits, so hopefully within the next couple of weeks we’ll be announcing some of our first signees,” said Kerr. Community outlook appears positive as well. “I feel this will be an asset to the community and a catalyst for economic development and community revitalization projects we’re working on right now for the hamlet of Houghton,” said Gaerte.

 

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News

Second Annual “Make a Difference Day” Promotes Student Volunteerism

Over four-hundred Houghton College students participated in Saturday’s Make a Difference Day, serving at sites across Allegany County. It was a day of sweaty hard work, team collaboration, laughter, conversations about life and service, and working with the heart to make a difference in Houghton’s community.

Courtesy of Collin Belt
Courtesy of Collin Belt

This marks Houghton’s second annual Make a Difference Day. Phyllis Gaerte, director of community relations, said the initiative started with the vision of Allegany County’s higher education institutes uniting to practically serve the county. Gaerte said, “It thrills me to see our students going out and working alongside our neighbors and meeting some real tangible needs in the community.”

Students from Alfred State College, Alfred University, and Houghton College worked in teams of five to twenty-five people. They scrubbed floors, painted walls, picked up trash, raked fall leaves, ripped up carpets, landscaped, and forged trails through dense forests.

Ben Hardy, SGA president, described the number of non-profit and community organizations lacking staffing to complete basic jobs. He said, “They maybe have staffing for day to day activities, but if they need to do some massive cleaning, redecorating, organizing, or a larger project, they may not have the staffing for that. There are ministries, towns, libraries, churches that just need extra hands. It’s service students can get involved in.”

As students served, community members responded. Describing the community response to last year’s Make a Difference Day, Gaerte said, “I have a folder of thank you notes, e-mails, and press from local newspapers that were part of the days following the event.” This year, students saw this same gratefulness as community organizations thanked them for their diligent work, positive attitudes, speed, and genuine desires to serve.

Hardy said, “The fact that so many students are doing it together also means it builds community.” This community was built as students formed a giant snake of people to clear a path through a forest in Letchworth, jumped in the piles of leaves they raked for the Oakwood Cemetery, and shared conversation by the path they forged to the Genesee River.

Junior Collin Belt described this sense of community at the multiple sites he visited, and said, “There was such a spirit of joy. Students took tedious jobs and turned them into games, and as a result they got a lot done. It was a trend throughout the day: people planned what they thought was an exorbitant amount of work, but when a huge team of Houghton students getting together and just having fun would do the work, they would get it done faster than anyone ever expected.”

Students served in midst of the mere glimpses of sun that shone through the grey sky and the strong wind that blew, whipping leaves and burning faces. The weather did not hinder students’ service.

Hardy believes that this Make a Difference Day lies at the heart of Houghton’s Christian faith. He said, “I believe we are called to service. Jesus came to serve and as his disciples, we ought to be serving as well. This was a great opportunity for us to be hands for our community.”

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News

Upcoming Series of Parks to be Established Along Genessee river

The Genessee River Wilds, a group of community members seeking to “restore, protect and enjoy” the Genessee River, has plans to open up several parks in Allegany County. While still under renovation, one of these parks opened near Houghton, in the town of Caneadea.

Courtesy of genesseeriverwilds.com
Courtesy of genesseeriverwilds.com

Courtney Waters, a project coordinator at the Southern Tier West Regional Planning Board and partner of the Genessee River Wilds, has been extensively involved with the project. “In the last three years, our group has gained so much,” Waters said. “We contacted several landowners around the river, legislators, senators, and anyone who we thought should know about our group and what we were doing. I have helped out with several successful river floats down the Genessee, painting of the kiosks that you see at our river access parks, and much more.”

The group, while small, has big plans for the local area. While working to improve the health of the Genessee River and its watershed and protect them from environmental threats, the Genessee River Wilds hopes to enhance the recreational potential of the river for the community to learn more about and enjoy.

“As an earth scientist, I have studied the Genessee River in great detail,” Waters said. “It really has so many unique features and a rich history, and I’d like to see people recognize and accept it as an asset to our region, rather than a detriment. Our kiosks at the river access parks explain some of that history as well as invite people to experience the river for themselves.”

The river access parks will implement environmentally friendly changes so that the community can safely enjoy all of the benefits that the river has to offer. Features include an increase of hemlock and white pine trees to offer reforestation and to continue conservation in addition to reduced mowing costs associated with heavily shaded forest floors. As an added plus for community members, some of the parks will have amenities such as hiking trails, an amphitheater, playgrounds, swimming and wading areas, a watercraft staging area, and log cabins functioning as restrooms for visitor use.

With the town of Caneadea approximately three miles away from the Houghton College campus, many opportunities will be opened up for students to experience the new access point for themselves.

“I think Houghton students would welcome any new opportunities to learn from, enjoy, and care for nature and the outside world,” Eliza Kelly, a sophomore and member of the Paddle Sports Club, said in regards to the new river access point. “I know that many people enjoy the river in many different ways, from simply crossing it on a bridge to hiking along it or kayaking on it.”

Zachary Kitchen, a junior and the president of the Paddle Sports Club, agreed with Kelly. “The river is very key to the Houghton community. It is the centralized object of our town: the place where people meet to swim and fish, the system our roads run along. I think it also adds life to the town,” Kitchen said. “A better park system would give people incentive to go and explore the river, opening an entire world of potentially new discoveries to them.”