April 26 was a huge day on the campus of Concordia Seminary and everything went perfectly accompanied by the most beautiful weather possible. The events of the day began by greeting special guests as they arrived on campus for a kickoff luncheon.
Dale explained the schedule of the day would be before heading up to the third floor of the Benidt Center for lunch.
This area has changed considerably from last year when the third floor was pretty much a shambles that no one wanted to climb up to.
Here's a bit of seminary construction history. When the campus was built in 1926 the stone walls were made so thick, 27 inches in depth, that only one I beam was needed for the buildings. The walls alone were strong enough to hold everything up.
At 4 the dedication ceremonies began with a service in the chapel after which everyone led by Dean of the chapel, Kent Burreson and Dr. David Schmidt, walked to the Benidt Center while singing Christ Is Our Cornerstone.
Then Dale spoke to the guests
Which included President Dennis Golden of Fontbonne University.
President Golden, in the middle, has been a great friend of the seminary as well as our north border neighbor.
Jason Holden, a representative of the student body spoke words of thanks for the renovation in a fun and enthusiastic way.
Then honored guest Bea Benidt was introduced. Bea serves as the president and executive director of the Charles E. Benidt Foundation, named after her sainted husband, and which organization made the renovations possible.
Her person story of how the foundation came into being was powerful and was talked about at much length throughout the rest of the evening.
Bea and Dale then lifted the scarf off of the plaque which will hang in the building.
At last came the ribbon cutting between the pillars of the new entry way which was decorated with beautiful flowers.
Then it was time to party for a bit.
Dale greets Dan and his wife and grandson, Dan was the construction supervisor during the renovations and did a fantastic job in the most amiable manner imaginable. His guys were not just construction people, they were craftsmen who like Holmes on Homes would say, "Do it right".
Everyone then headed into the building for tours or into the remodeled dining hall or outside tent for light snacks and drinks.
With the old 1800's carriage parked next to the log cabin it almost seemed as though the first president of the seminary, CFW Walther was in attendance.
A group of our hard working campus people who make everything run smoothly, provide security, work technology, accounting and play the carillon. They don't all do all those things, but collectively they do.
I think I'll end on this note. President Golden, chairman of the seminary's board of regents, Ralph Blomenberg and Dale compare hand sizes. Who knows why.
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