17 Dec 2011 At CBC – Harvest Party a longstanding tradition

by Erin Nipper

Husbands, fiancés, boyfriends and even friends were dressed to the nines as they waited in the lobby of Bruce Hall at Central Baptist College for the opening ceremony of Harvest Party to begin.

One at a time, each lady walked down the grand staircase as her name was announced; her date was allowed to meet her at the seventh step. Male students are not allowed past the seventh step in the girls’ dormitory, and this rule even applies on the most special of days.

Coach Jeff Riddle, a member of the CBC family since 1985 (and an attendee at the Harvest Party festivities almost every year since) said that the opening ceremony goes back further than any other tradition at the college.

“It’s the longest standing tradition,” Riddle said. “Everyone was almost spotlighted one at a time. Everybody had their moment to walk down the steps, and the spotlight, so to speak, was on them; everybody was looking at them, and it was just a very special time. It’s one of the things that made Harvest Party unique.”

Originally started as the grand finale of “TWIRP” (The Woman Is Required To Pay) Week, the woman asks her date to attend with her. Usually, she asks in a memorable way.

“I asked him with a parking ticket,” Nikki Dickson said of her date this year. “I typed it up with the dollar amount, and then I signed it. I had one of my girlfriends put it on his car.”  

Jordan Goforth, Dickson’s date, kept her on her toes as she anticipated his response.

“I was waiting for like a week to hear from him, and I didn’t know if he’d gotten the ticket or not, and then Monday I started getting all of these random envelopes with all of these little puzzle pieces. Finally when I put it all together, it said ‘yes!’”

When Goforth met Dickson at the seventh step, he presented her with a painting he did himself and a little something extra for her to remember the occasion: the fake parking ticket and his answer-puzzle on the front of the painting.

Sophomore Kayla Chitty also surprised her date, sophomore Danny Thursby, with a “gift” in his dorm room: a plunger filled with chocolate candies and a sign stating she would be “royally honored” if he would say yes to her invitation.

“It was exciting to get asked to HP in such a creative and funny way,” Thursby said.

The ladies have reason to ask their dates in a memorable fashion. Often, Harvest Party is a hallmark for a couple at CBC.

Riddle has been a witness to these moments through the years.

“It has been unique to follow the path,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who attended Harvest Party together and that was maybe their initial [first] date, and it flourished into a relationship and ultimately some cases as a marriage.”

Senior Susann Pickard and her husband Joshua met at CBC. She said that Harvest Party was a first for her as well as their relationship.

“Our first date was actually Harvest Party,” Pickard said. “Joshua had been hinting about it all semester, impatiently waiting for me to ask him. When he started talking about how close Harvest Party was a full month in advance, I finally called him on his hinting.”

Pickard said that she was traditional and didn’t like the idea of asking a guy out, so she turned the tables on him. “We came to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to ask him, so he’d have to ask me. Even after he did ask me, I asked if I could let him know the next day. Harvest Party was my first date ever, so it was a really big step for me.”

Pickard finally said yes, and because Harvest Party was close to Joshua’s birthday, she included tickets to the event in his card from her.

“Harvest Party is special to us because it’s so tied up in our history as a couple,” Pickard said. “In 2007, we went to Harvest Party separately. In 2008, we went as a dating couple. We were engaged for Harvest Party 2009. We skipped Harvest Party in 2010 because we had an almost 2-month old. In 2011, we were voted King and Queen. We’ve definitely come a long way!”

Like Susann, alumni Katie Prewitt was voted on to the court at Harvest Party and went with her now husband, Elvis.

“We attended four years consecutively,” she said. “Once before we were ‘official’ [as a couple] we went with a group of friends; twice before we were married and once as a married couple!”

Opris said the final year she attended Harvest Party was more special than the rest.

“There were actually three of us because I had just found out I was pregnant with our daughter, Adrielle!” she said. “Harvest Party is something of a rite of passage for CBC students. Being married and sharing memories together of Harvest Party makes it all the more special now, looking back.”

Tonna McGee and her husband, Steve, are also one of the couples that attended Harvest Party together.

“Steve and I attended two Harvest Parties together,” McGee said. “We didn’t know we would get married at the time.”

CBC holds a special place in the McGee family’s heart.

“Many of our best and most cherished memories are from our time at CBC.”

McGee’s daughter, Tasha, continued the tradition at CBC when she attended her third Harvest Party this year. However, Tasha said that the event is just as special to her without taking a boyfriend as her date.

“I think it’s kind of exciting to do some of the things my parents did, and even though I’m not going with anyone I’m dating, it’s still fun. I always pick someone new, who’s fun and exciting. It’s a really laid back event. You don’t want to make it stressful,” she said.

Marriage or not, Harvest Party is a time that CBC students look forward to.

Senior Thomas Mobly and his girlfriend have been dating almost 10 months, and even though it is far from their first date, it is still an experience that the couple had been excited about.

“I like to get dressed up. I don’t get to get dressed up much during the year, so it’s fun,” Mobly said.

As the evening ended at this year’s event, assistant director of student services and a chaperone for Harvest Party, Sarah Headley, was pleased with the outcome.

“It turned out beautiful. We had a good response as far as people signing up and wanting to be a part of it. It’s an even bigger success than last year, which was big.”