One group even had the Grand Canyon as its destination, while two others were in the Phoenix area to play baseball and softball, respectively.

The fourth group, the Monmouth Chorale, got a later start on its Arizona swing, presenting concerts in the Chicago area before heading west. Once there, the singers encountered a roadblock, but they made the best of a bad situation, performing for travelers who, like the Chorale, were stranded for two hours by a highway accident on their way to Sedona.

Tina Hartwig, a 1968 Monmouth graduate who hosted the Chorale in her Scottsdale home, came away very impressed.

"They ended with the ‘Star Spangled Banner,’" she said of the roadside concert. "Patriotism was expressed far and wide as the crowd and the students put their hands to their hearts. Wow! For me to see these students with their devotion to our country just blew my mind."

Hartwig said that the students thought about stopping after just two songs, but the ever-growing crowd kept asking for more. Even after the performance ended, requests were coming in. Hartwig said that one woman asked if the Chorale could sing at her church, and another group asked to have its picture taken with the singers.

Click on the speaker to hear a recording of the Chorale's performance at the Illinois City United Methodist Church.

While the Chorale was energized by performing alfresco, the Fighting Scots baseball and softball teams also enjoyed the open air. Both squads began practicing in Monmouth on Feb. 1, but the baseball team’s March 9 game in Phoenix was just the second time it had played or practiced under the sun. The softball team hadn’t been outside at all prior to its Match 10 opener vs. Patten University in Tucson.

Besides taking in the sun, the softballers also saw stars, namely Mike Candrea, the U.S. Olympic softball coach and head man at the University of Arizona, which won the 2007 national championship. Candrea spoke with the team, delivering a message about the importance of seizing every day.

"For being so well-known, he was very gracious and accommodating," said MC coach John Goddard. "He didn’t have to stop and pose for pictures with us, but he did."

Being on green grass was nice, but setting foot in the Grand Canyon was simply spectacular. Biology professor Ken Cramer, accompanied by MC faculty member Hannah Schell, led eight students to the Grand Canyon as part of his "Wilderness: Desert Ecosystem" course.

"We camped in Death Valley, Zion and Grand Canyon national parks, including a two-night, three-day backpacking trip down the Grand Canyon and back out again," said Cramer, who’s a big fan of the latter venue. "There’s absolutely no way any type of photography can do it justice."

Although Arizona was a popular destination, not all of Monmouth’s Spring Break trips headed there. Three students, accompanied by assistant director of residence life Abbie Alsene, participated in an Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip to the Ohio River near Louisville, Ky., while a larger ASB group, led by faculty member Marjorie Bond, was in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.

"I’ve gone all four years," said Amber Romano, a senior from Plano, of the ASB trips. "I love going, and I enjoy the bonding experience."

Romano, who organized the Texas trip along with classmate Sarah Evans of Peoria Heights, said highlights included meeting very kind senior citizens at a community storehouse and working on a Habitat for Humanity home. The group also volunteered at a food bank and a women’s shelter.

As a bonus, the weather was great, she said, adding, "Any time we had free, we spent outside."

The smaller ASB group was also outside a lot, helping to clear debris from the banks of the Ohio River as part of the Living Lands and Waters project. The organization’s founder, Chad Pegracke, has spoken at Monmouth several times, and he was present during the week.

Alsene said that, for fun, the barge crew assigns points to rare items, and they found the two highest-ranked items on their trip. Their discovery of a discarded refrigerator was trumped by the rarest find of all, a message in a bottle. Other items cluttering the waters and banks included tires and water heaters.

"I never realized how bad the pollution was," said Alsene. "It was a good experience, not only to help with the cleanup, but also to see how the organization works."

The meals for both ASB groups were donated by the college’s ARAMARK food service.

While MC students scattered in every direction at the start of Spring Break, one group simply stayed in Monmouth and performed community service for three churches, the Orpheum Theatre and Rainbow Riders.