New this year! Join Threshy, Bethel cheer and the pep band, with appearances by President Gering, SGA President Matt Fleck, North Newton Mayor Ron Ratzlaff, Newton Area Chamber of Commerce President Sal Lujano and North Newton Police Chief Jim Bethards, to pump up the Threshers for the Fall Festival games, plus make yourself a s’more (ingredients provided).

Line up at 5:30 p.m. in the Thresher Stadium parking lot. 

View the current special exhibition, “Unlocking the Past: Immigrant Artifacts and the Stories They Tell.”

The Museum Store and permanent exhibits “Of Land and People,” “Mennonite Immigrant Furniture,” “Mirror of the Martyrs,” the Tallgrass Prairie Reconstruction and the historic farmstead will be open as well.

Museum admission is free Thursday through Sunday.

Help conserve two adjacent prairie reconstruction projects, started independently by successive Bethel biology professors (Dwight Platt ‘52 and Jon Piper), from the impacts of invading trees. Contact Brad Guhr ‘92 for more information.

Bethel College and the Newton Area Chamber of Commerce partner on this annual event to celebrate the community and to kick off Fall Festival. Churches, clubs, organizations and private vendors host food booths covering three city blocks downtown. Plus, there are two areas for live music and other performances!

Entertainment sponsored by Everence with your hosts, Josh Booth ‘16 and Keegan LeFevre.

View the current special exhibition, “Unlocking the Past: Immigrant Artifacts and the Stories They Tell.”

The Museum Store and permanent exhibits “Of Land and People,” “Mennonite Immigrant Furniture,” “Mirror of the Martyrs,” the Tallgrass Prairie Reconstruction and the historic farmstead will be open as well.

Museum admission is free Thursday through Sunday.

Check-in at 1 p.m. Tee time at 2 p.m. Join other Thresher alumni and friends in a round of golf at the scenic Hesston Golf Course.

Musical information coming soon.

Also at 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Purchase tickets for the Fall Fest musical 9 to 5. Also available online.

Honoring the 2024 Hall of Fame Class inductees: football coach Kent Rogers, and the 1983 KCAC Champion volleyball team . Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets go on sale Sept. 1 for $25. 

Join the cast and crew for a meet-and-greet immediately after the performance.

Tickets go on sale, Sept. 3.

Pancakes, sausage, eggs, coffee and orange juice

Cost: by donation. Benefits the Health Care Benevolent Fund, a ministry of Kidron Bethel Village, assisting residents who are unable to cover the full cost of their care.

Local birding experts lead a one-hour, 1.5-mile walk along Bethel’s Sand Creek Trail, looking and listening for birds. Trail terrain is uneven. No cost. Binoculars recommended but not required.

Hosted by Bethel College Flag Football

$20 for 1-mile fun run/walk and $30 for 5K. Medals will be given in 4 different age categories for both men and women for the 5K. T-shirt  guaranteed with pre-registration.

Fall Fest means fun, fellowship and food on the Green. Some booths start serving at 8 a.m., so get here early!

Look for the following options and hosts during the day:

Baked goods – Bethel College Academy of Performing Arts (BCAPA)

Barbecue – BC BBQ Club

Beef borscht and zwieback – Available 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bethel College Women’s Association (BCWA)

Brats – BC golf

Burgers, chips, pop, bottled water – BC Alumni Association

Cookies – BC social work

Hot links, sausages – BC African-American Alumni Association

Ice cream – Salted Creamery

Kettle corn – BC cheer

New Year’s cookies, coffee – BCWA

Pie-by-the-slice – BCWA

Verenike – BC Alumni Association

Frosted sugar cookies – Kauffman Museum

Cake pops, cookies – BC-KANS (nursing)

Mi Mama’s Recipes – Tacos and enchiladas

Crust and Crumb Co. – Artisan bread and pastry

Baked goods, Bethel items and crafts by BCWA members and others. Plus, a silent auction featuring items by Bethel College alumni artists!

Booths and activities hosted by Bethel College auxiliaries, departments, sports teams and student clubs and organizations, including:

Admissions and Enrollment Management

The Bethel Collegian

Athletic Booster Club

Men’s golf

Women’s golf

Office of Culture and Belonging

KIPCOR

DivCo (Diversity Council)

Forensics

Kauffman Museum

Student Activities Council

Social work

Woven and Open Road

Marketing & Communications

Tabletop Games Club

Track & field and cross country

BC-KANS (Kansas Association of Nursing Students)

Additional booths hosted by alumni and guests are listed below as they are confirmed. Those hosted by alumni and/or current or retired faculty or staff are marked with an asterisk (*). 

Newton Area Gideons

Harvey County Habitat for Humanity

Virgil Penner*

Made by Heather Garrison*

Camp Mennoscah*

Peace Connections*

Newton Et Cetera Shop

Everence Financial

Mennonite Central Committee

Open Road, Woven, Newton High School Jazz, Newton Community Children’s Choir, YAWP! authors/artists, and Bethel College Jazz

9:30am – YAWP!

10:00am – Woven

10:30am – Open Road

11:00am – NCCC

11:30am – NHS Jazz

1:00pm – BC Jazz

Thresher Shop will be open during the day and will have a stand at the football game from 6 p.m. through halftime.

View the current special exhibition, “Unlocking the Past: Immigrant Artifacts and the Stories They Tell.”

The Museum Store and permanent exhibits “Of Land and People,” “Mennonite Immigrant Furniture,” “Mirror of the Martyrs,” the Tallgrass Prairie Reconstruction and the historic farmstead will be open as well.

Museum admission is free Thursday through Sunday.

Organist Roseann Penner Kaufman ‘85 will perform pieces on the museum’s historic cabinet organ, built in 1750 by German master organ builder Teschemacher. Kaufman will play pieces representing the time periods and locations the organ encountered during its move across two continents. Soprano Lois Harder will join Kaufman on a song from the early 20th century.

During the match, we will recognize various individuals, coaches and teams, along with our recent Hall of Fame inductees from the 1983 KCAC Champion volleyball team.

Tickets go on sale Sept. 1 

*Volleyball alumni and 1 guest will have free entry with an RSVP to Tim Swartzendruber, tswartzendruber@bethelks.edu

A hard-riding hunter, frontier scout and showman, at one time Buffalo Bill was one of the best-known men in America. But a gourmet? William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was as comfortable eating at Delmonico’s in New York City as consuming wild game around a campfire. He dined with kings, queens, princes and presidents as well as men like Thomas Edison, Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler. He was even a food innovator, opening the first Mexican restaurant east of the Mississippi in New York City, introducing popcorn to the European continent, and promoting American cocktails to England. Steve Friesen, author of the new culinary biography Galloping Gourmet: Eating and Drinking with Buffalo Bill, will provide a whole new perspective on this famous American character who even visited Newton a couple of times.

Join your classmates in Mem Hall for an informal gathering of our milestone reunion classes. Alumni in classes “one-up and one-down” are invited, too. (For example, classes of 2007 and 2009 are welcome at the 2008 reunion.) Refreshments served.

Class of 2014 (10th) Meeting in the WAC atrium, 1:30-3 p.m.

Class of 2009 (15th)

Class of 2004 (20th)

Class of 1999 (25th)

Class of 1994 (30th)

Class of 1989 (35th)

Class of 1984 (40th)

Class of 1979 (45th)

Class of 1974 (Golden Threshers)

Class of 1969 (55th)

Class of 1964 (60th)

Thresher Heritage Class (1963 and prior)

All women who played volleyball while at Bethel College are invited to attend.

Purchase tickets for the Fall Fest musical 9 to 5.

Connect with former professors, peers and colleagues, and enjoy social work cookies and the sweetness of seeing friends.

A Swiss immigrant, Emil Kym decorated houses. He could hang wallpaper, do wood graining on doors, and paint a hallway so the walls looked like marble. But what he did best was paint scenes of his home country in Mennonite farmhouses. Some of those scenes, as well as Kym’s woodgraining tools, are on exhibit at Kauffman Museum. Steve Friesen studied Kym’s work for his master’s thesis in 1976 and has begun new research on this folk artist. Friesen’s lecture will include photos of Kym’s paintings as well as new information gathered on a visit to Kym’s hometown in Switzerland.  

Join the cast and crew for a meet-and-greet immediately after the performance.

Also at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday

Tickets go on sale, Sept. 3.

Come out early to tailgate in the Thresher Stadium parking lot!

Join Booster Club and eat free at the Booster Club Tailgate, starting at 5 pm.

Fall Fest 2024 football game: Bethel vs. Tabor College

Tickets go on sale Sept. 1.

Visit the Thresher Shop booth inside Thresher Stadium – open until halftime!

Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2024 recognition

1984 KCAC Champion football team recognition

Purchase tickets for the Fall Fest musical 9 to 5.

The Museum Store and permanent exhibits “Of Land and People,” “Mennonite Immigrant Furniture,” “Mirror of the Martyrs,” the Tallgrass Prairie Reconstruction and the historic farmstead will be open as well. Museum admission is free Thursday through Sunday.

Join the cast and crew for a meet-and-greet immediately after the performance.

Also at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday

Tickets go on sale, Sept. 3.