Dig In
Hundreds celebrate at ground breaking

Alumni, students and officials dig up dirt Thursday during the official ground-breaking ceremony for the new Rehoboth Sports Complex at Rehoboth Christian School. The new $7 million building will house a gymnasium, fitness center and a band room. [Photo by Jeffery Jones/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

Rows of shovels stand ready for alumni, students and officials to turn up the dirt during the official ground-breaking ceremony for the new Rehoboth Sports Complex at Rehoboth Christian School on Thursday. [Photo by Jeffery Jones/Independent]

REHOBOTH — Planning an outdoor event in November in the Gallup area might be deemed an act of faith.

But Thursday's blue skies and warm temperatures proved perfect for the official groundbreaking ceremony for Rehoboth Christian School's new Sports and Fitness Center. Hundreds of people attended the event, from the 400-plus student body of the school to hundreds of parents, alumni, staff members, well-wishers from the community of Gallup, and long-time Rehoboth volunteers and financial supporters from across the United States.

School officials recently announced the kick-off of the $7 million construction project, which includes a 40,000 square foot Sports and Fitness Center, located on the south side of the school campus, and a new soccer field with artificial turf, located on the west side of the campus. The Sports Center will also include new practice and office space for the high school band program.

The ceremony which was exactly 62 minutes long according to a group of high school teachers waging a friendly bet over the ceremony's expected duration was done up in typical Rehoboth style with lots of people, music, prayers, humor, a bit of theatrical flair. It opened with the audience gathered around the school's outdoor amphitheater, listening to the high school band and looking out to the red dirt field where two dump trucks held up a huge photographic image of a nearby rock formation like a theatre backdrop. It ended with the hundreds of people forming a circle around the Sports Center's construction site to hold hands and pray and watch a small army of kids and adults break the ground with garden trowels and maroon shovels.

Ron Polinder, Rehoboth's executive director, acted as emcee for the ceremony. Guest speakers included Karen Schell, the school board chair; Mayor Bob Rosebrough of Gallup; Fred White, a 1973 graduate of Rehoboth; Leslie Eldridge, a junior at the school; Mike Van Gessel of Rockford Construction, which is helping with the construction project; and Ginny Vander Hart, a representative of the De Vos Family Foundation, which donated $5 million to the project.

In his introduction of Eldridge, Polinder pointed out that next year the versatile young woman will be playing soccer on the new field, basketball in the new Sports Center, and music in the new band facility.

Throughout the ceremony, Polinder and some of the speakers thanked a long series of people who have helped the school thus far, from the out-of-town volunteers to local businesses like Vernon Hamilton Construction, Gallup Lumber and Supply, and Indian Capital Distributing.

Rosebrough applauded Rehoboth's history of achievement, success, commitment, and constancy. He also noted that as a human endeavor that is "not always perfect," the school has a willingness to make self-correction. Like many others, Rosebrough said, he viewed Rehoboth's presence "as a real blessing" in the local community.

White turned out to the be comedian of the day. The former high school basketball player entertained the audience with a humorous account of an important basketball game that Rehoboth lost to Kirtland Central in the early 1970s. "And guess who messed up?" White said of his own missteps during the final minutes of the game.

White, originally from Cornfields, Ariz., now serves on the school's National Advisory Council. "I feel like Rehoboth is part of my dirt as well," he said. He talked about the blessings he believes the school has had on his family and about the blessings he believes God has given to the school.

"It's great to be a part of this great, winning team," he added.

Contractor Van Gessel, who has a background in coaching, continued the sports analogy. He reminded the students that although they would soon be competing in athletic events at their new sports facilities, they should expect to lose sometimes as well as win.

"It's not always about victories," he said. "Adversity shapes you ... it builds character,"he added.

Vander Hart, representing Richard and Helen De Vos' foundation, talked about faithfulness and noted the century-old school has been faithful in carrying out its mission to educate local students.