Cottey picnic enjoys big turnout

"I thought the turn-out was more than we expected," Dr. Judy Rogers, Cottey College president, told the IMPACT Nevada tourism board Tuesday night.

Cottey is growing, so there are more students and more parents and annual Welcome Picnic helps to show the parents that Cottey is a good place for their students, she said.

"Having this reception gives them a very positive feeling about leaving their daughters," she said.

This year we have first-year students from 44 states and 11 countries including France, Japan, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mexico.

According to Robin McHugh, Nevada Park and Recreation director, there about 600 people in attendance at this year's Cottey picnic, up from the expected 400.

The picnic for first-year Cottey students is sponsored by the city of Nevada and paid for with money from the city's motel tax.

"I believe that we have about 322 students this year," Rogers said.

Rogers said that Cottey is growing by eight to 10 students per year and that they currently have housing for 350 students.

"We try to have our classes average 14 students and to keep that average we have added additional staff this year," she said. "I appreciate the picnic very much. The people showing up and shaking hands has a big impact on the new students and their parents,"

Bill Denman, Nevada Neptunes representative, told the board that they had 300 swimmers for their invitational swim meet which had to be moved from June to late July because of rainy weather.

Denman told the board that the Neptunes are planning to hold a two-day meet June 28-29, 2008.

"This is the first year that we've placed sixth in the conference championship," he said.

The Neptunes received a $440 matching tourism grant to help cover the cost of their invitational swim meet.