Fort Hays State University - Reveille Yearbook (Hays, KS)

Page 18 text:

• V88 One hundred years ago, the Volga-Germans migrated from Russia and settled near Hays. They built monu- ments of magnificent beauty — the Cathedral of the Plains at Victoria and the Holy Cross Shrine at Pfeifer are two outstanding examples — and these monuments still rise above the western Kansas plains Faith is as important to Americans today as it was to our ancestors Churches are still being built to house growing congregations, and missionary work, such as aiding Vietnamese refugees, plays a large part in the lives of many. A Search for Meaning To the men and women who faced the hardships and suffering of making a home for themselves on the plains, faith was a celebration of life. It gave them something to lean on in the hard years, a reason to be thankful in good years. 16 Opening

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Change Recalls the Past Remnants of the past — no society could exist without them. Authors write about them, collectors hoard them and photographers picture them as silent subjects. And from them, we learn, we change. They are reminders of the past that hold lessons which are irreplaceable. They speak of changes that come the hard ways, changes that were fought for or were slow in coming. They speak of changes that come with the inevitability of time, of life. It is from the past that new ideas are formulated by gen- erations who strive to learn, and create new things that will eventually become remnants of the past.

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“To the rugged Volga-Germans nothing was more important than their Catholic faith. Upon settling, they erected a tall wooden cross in the heart of their vil- lage, where they gathered on Sundays. But life was incomplete without a church or a priest.”