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A summer-like day welcomed 415 pairs of wheels to Angwin on April 13, along with 415 helmets gleaming in the sun — and every imaginable color of spandex. The event was the 2008 Napa Valley Dirt Classic mountain bike race, an annual 22-mile ride that is part of the NorCal Mountain Bike State Championship Series and is hosted by Pacific Union College on its back trails. The pre-race hours welcomed a wide spectrum of riders to the campus, from two in the 14-and-under category to PUC alumni and student riders, and both local and out-of-town (and even out-of-state) participants. “We’ll see how it goes,” said student Zack Belnap, who had been “training pretty easy” because he thought the race happened later than it actually did. But he seemed optimistic under his helmet, and four of his PUC classmates were there to cheer him on. “We’ll be here for the start, go get breakfast, and be back in time for the finish,” grinned one of Belnap’s friends. It turned out to be a good race, though warm. Barry Wicks won at 1 hour, 23 minutes and 44 seconds. “It was a great day,” said Mike Hellie, race director and chair of...

In the first all-school colloquy program of the spring quarter, PUC embarked on the third phase of its year-long emphasis on service. The spring quarter colloquy theme is “A Sense of Pride,” and campus chaplain Roy Ice introduced the program by saying, “This quarter we’re going to do a little celebration … by saying, ‘Look what God has done.’ We’re celebrating what has happened and asking, ‘How much more can we do?’” Ice told students, “I want to challenge you … to really think about what the goal of God’s command [to love] really is.” Service has been very real to students this year, with new students getting involved in existing projects and starting up new ones. During the colloquy program, students gave personal accounts of the service they’ve been involved with this year. Student Krista Brieno recounted how, inspired by World AIDS Day on December 1 and the realization of how many resources we have at PUC, she asked the church for money — and, inspired by Gideon, asked God that they would raise $1,000. During the two services that morning, $2,100 was contributed to support ADRA’s fight against AIDS. Later, when planning a womens prayer breakfast for the...

On March 30 the PUC film and television program began the production of its annual senior digital film project, this year entitled “The White Abyss,” and wrapped up shooting four days later. Directed by student Craig Church, the post-apocalyptic short was shot on location at the PUC farming facilities in the old dairy. In the tradition of the program’s major productions, the shoot was a family affair, drawing a fully-volunteered crew of nearly 15 film and television majors, as well as the help of various non-majors who found their place on set. The film is the third in a line of diversely ambitious pieces to come from the senior digital film class. In 2006 Eryck Chairez helmed the award-winning “Three Courses,” which was followed the next year by Zach Dunn’s “Thunder and Lightning.” Like the projects before it, “The White Abyss” offers students a unique type of hands-on, real-world filmmaking experience that cannot be taught in a classroom. The roles of producer, art director, sound engineer and cinematographer were all given to students and allowed them to hone their skills with professional actors and high-quality equipment. Director of photography Ryann Pulido, a sophomore, said, “I’ve really grown a lot from...

Each year, Pacific Union College welcomes a small group of musicians for the Academy Keyboard Festival. The students, who mostly come from Northern and Central California academies, spend three days rehearsing, participating in master classes, enjoying demonstrations, and performing. This year, the Festival took place April 3-5, with 11 students. Lynn Wheeler, chair of the PUC music department, led the ensembles and master classes, with assistant music professor Rosalie Rasmussen leading the handbell choir and associate music professor Bruce Rasmussen doing a demonstration session on the Rieger organ. The students performed their solos, group keyboard pieces, and bell choir pieces on Sabbath evening, including such works at Schaum’s Battle Hymn of the Republic, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, and Mendelssohn’s If With All Your Hearts. For more information about the Academy Keyboard Festival or other music events, call the music department at (707) 965-6201....

The first service at the Pacific Union College Church commences with the rich tones of the Rieger organ. Not long ago, this “early service” started at 8:45 and housed a very small congregation, mostly white-haired. Now the first service is called the Majestic and starts at 10 a.m. It is purposeful in presenting a quality traditional service, and is more intergenerational and attended by about four times as many people as before. These positive changes are part of a larger picture that includes both worship services (the Majestic and the Gathering, which meets just after noon). Led by senior pastor Tim Mitchell, worship and outreach pastor Jessica Shine, and campus chaplain Roy Ice, the church recently began to take a good hard look at the weekly services and the congregational community. Some of the problems they faced were low attendance at the early service, frustration with the blend of elements in the second service, and the need for a sense of community that carries over from week to week. “We asked ourselves, what does the congregation need?” Shine recounts. Church members filled out surveys; and focus groups made up of people from a wide spectrum of ages and roles met...