Staff writer
Tabor College canceled classes Feb. 9 because Hillsboro received about 20 inches of snow the day before, and many students spent their unexpected free time helping residents dig out of the snow.
Tabor College President Jules Glanzer declared a “snow service day” and urged students to volunteer. Many students responded, traveling throughout town individually and in groups, shoveling residents’ driveways and sidewalks.
Becky Steketee of Hillsboro was part of a group of nine students who began shoveling about 10:30 a.m. and continued until 3:30 p.m. She estimated the group shoveled 14 to 16 driveways in that time.
The group began by shoveling the driveways and sidewalks of elderly residents of the Carriage Hills subdivision, pointed out by Glanzer. When those were completed, they searched for homes that weren’t yet dug out.
Steketee said she had never seen so much snow from a single storm before. Another member of the group replied that even bigger snowstorms aren’t unusual where she grew up out-of-state, but she admitted snowblowers were a much more common sight there.
Glanzer estimated that 150 to 200 students were involved in the project. Tabor College has a total enrollment of just over 500 in Hillsboro, he said.
“The attitude was, ‘We want to serve the community, give back to the community,’” he said.
Glanzer said the snow service day was a good practice for the college’s mission, which is “to prepare people for a life of learning, work, and service for Christ and His kingdom.”
