September 2008

I recently had the chance to reunite with several friends from college.  We returned to Pella, Iowa, and visited our alma matter, Central College.  It has been a long time since I’ve had as much fun, sitting with my old friends and enjoying more laughter than we should be allowed.  We got together for a “tailgate” meal of grilled burgers, we took in a football game, we wandered around the campus for a few minutes, noticing how many things had changed since we left.

People say that some things never change, and that is true.  The Central football team still appears to represent about 25% of the student population, the Dutch letters are still just as sweet as I remember, the  town is still quietly reverent on a Sunday.  But some things are seemingly in a constant state of change.   Most of us had gotten “plumper”, for instance, evidence of slow but constant change.

In the photo above, for those who aren’t familiar with Central, the pond and the spanning bridge have been a fixture for generations on the campus.  A favorite photo op, a natural meeting place, a romantic spot for a first kiss, a platform for daring divers (the pond is only about thirty inches deep, so I don’t advise this).  The bridge has been a focal point on campus for so many students.  The college has even incorporated it into its identity, making the modernly stylized logo from a representation of the bridge.

Something so elemental, something as enduring  as “the bridge” at Central, would appear to be a solid, even stoic, symbol of continuity.  Forever there, from generation to generation, ready and able to serve its purpose, and ultimately unchanging.

Well, not quite.  Even the venerable bridge is not exempt from change.  From my first evening on campus as a freshman I remember trotting up the three steps to the fairly severe arch of the bridge that took you over the water on your way from the student union to the cafeteria building on the opposite side of the grounds.  I still remember sitting on a bench nearby with a couple friends and watching anxiously during winter months as people gambled on the last, treacherous, icy step.  About 15% of the time we would be rewarded as the unsuspecting person would land with a “thwack” and often a little squeal, surprised to be sitting at the icy foot of the steps to the bridge and looking around to see who might have seen them execute such a “landing”.  Admittedly not very nice of us, and certainly potentially dangerous for our “subjects”, but in all of our observed landings no one was ever hurt anywhere but their pride – well, and maybe their unmentionable muscles.

If you can’t tell from the photo, there are now no steps – apparently the administrators were watching too.  Also changed from the bridge I traversed is the slope – it is almost flat now.  And it’s made of steel and concrete, not wood.  Some changes were made to accommodate people with difficulties walking, no doubt, but some changes like the steel railings, are more for aesthetic and durability purposes.

If you are reading this and you are in charge of things like this at good old Central, please keep up the good work – I’ve never seen the campus looking so good.  If you’ve never visited Central College or the city of Pella, Iowa, you owe it to yourself to spend a day and see the authentic Dutch architecture, taste the Dutch foods, visit the campus, see where Pella windows are made, check out Lake Red Rock (Iowa’s largest reservoir if memory serves me), and shop the downtown stores “on the square”.  Believe me, you won’t forget it.