They’re back

Anyone who traveled west on Austin Boulevard this past weekend had to notice that one of Nevada’s oldest bastions, had returned in full swing. This mainstay of our community, Cottey College, greeted new students for the beginning of their 134th year. This institution’s new education season once again gives our community a sense of renewal and enrichment. For some of our community’s male population the opening of a new year brings back enjoyable past memories.

As a native of this area, Cottey has always been and always will be an institution that for me and I suspect many others is a natural and familiar fixture of our community.

My earliest memories of the school involved the size of the buildings. My great aunt and uncle, Leatha and Ben Balke, lived in a house just a couple of blocks south of Austin Boulevard on College Street. When I was very little our family made regular visits to their home. As we passed by Cottey those multiple story brick buildings made quite an impression but I had no inkling as to their function.

In my adolescent years Cottey represented to me the west end of our town. Back then there was no Woods Grocery or the other businesses at that end of town. We only passed that way when we were going to Radio Springs to swim or to head to Logan Field for a football game.

As a teen, I was old enough to begin to enjoy one of our town’s regular pursuits, which was also a very American tradition. In a column from a few years ago titled “Crusin,” I related my memories of how we used to spend hours in our cars, just following a set “cruisin” route through Nevada.

A map of that trek included a few set points. Basically it began at the White Grill, turned at Cottey, then to the terminus turnaround at Radio Springs Park. We now have a modern three-light traffic signal that regulates the intersection of Austin and College that overhangs from a large metal pole.

In my “cruisin” days, Austin was only a two-lane road and the intersection light consisted of a blinking affair that hung from cables over the highway. As you approached from either east or west on Austin, the light blinked yellow. Traffic from College entering from the south, had to yield to traffic as their light was blinking red. Somehow we all managed to get both students and vehicles safely though that area, unlike today’s often dangerous encounters.

Teenage boys in Nevada really enjoyed the Cottey College portion of the cruise. Such was not the case as I have been told numerous times by the local girls with whom I was raised in our hometown. According to many of them there was a natural competitive sense of jealousy between the local girls and Cottey students. Of course none of the guys my age had anything to do with that issue and if you believe that I have some oil wells in my backyard to sell you! That rivalry has lessened quite a bit in recent times because there are many more local girls attending classes there.

I can still remember my very first visit to one of the Cottey dorms and my first date there. I had a couple of friends who had met and begun dating Cottey girls in Reeves Hall. The reception area in Reeves had several comfortable couches and chairs where students and guests could sit and visit. I was very impressed with the decor on that first visit.

Dating Cottey girls included learning some of the basic rules. In those days the girls were not allowed to go off campus in any attire except a dress or skirt. We learned to fudge that rule and kept a change of clothes for our dates. On weeknights they had to be back in the dorm by 11 p.m. and weekends by 1 a.m. There were some smoking rules too, but they were generally forgotten as soon as we left campus.

Each dorm had a woman that we called the “dorm mother.” They kept a pretty close eye on these youthful relationships. If you didn’t follow the rules you were ousted from visitation privileges.

Since Cottey was a two-year college, if a young man and a Cottey girl entered what we referred to back than as a “steady” relationship, their time together passed quickly. On more than one occasion the relationships grew so close they led to marriage.

I have several memories from that dating period. The Cottey girls I met had come from all over the country but there seemed to be a significant number that were from the upper Midwest states such as Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota. Since they often came from rural areas Nevada was perhaps closer to their own background.

During the school year Cottey hosted some events for the girls and their guests. In the basement of Robertson Hall they held dance mixers each year. The school also had special events in the Main Hall.

In the spring of 1970 I was back home on spring break from college. Some of my friends told me there was an entertainment function scheduled for that Saturday night at Cottey.

I was totally surprised to discover that the entertainers were the newly famous singing duo, “Brewer and Shipley.” Their songs were a brand of folk music, and often dealt with the issues of that generation. We were very familiar with them as their songs were regularly heard on radio stations like the famous 710 WHB in Kansas City.

Sometimes I feel that Nevada doesn’t fully appreciate the tremendous connection and benefit that Cottey has provided for over a hundred years. Other institutions have come and gone, but Cottey remains stable and vibrant.

If you were a young man from my generation, when the Cottey girls returned each year, you anticipated, enjoyed, and understood the term “they’re back!”