Three Rivers Community College to mark founding with Tuesday ceremony

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Three Rivers Community College trustees approved a campus master plan last month that includes new brick and mortar projects they hope become a reality with external funding. But on Tuesday, the college and city will mark TRCC's history of expansion from its start in one building.

Having evolved from a single structure downtown, most facilities on the present Poplar Bluff campus were constructed through donations from former community leaders such as Arrettia and Herschel Bess, Harry L. Crisp Sr., Kay Porter, Myrtle Rutland and Lora Tinnin.

The public is invited to celebrate Three Rivers' humble beginnings at 2 p.m. Tuesday, when a historical marker is unveiled on what is now Southern Bank's Vine Street parking lot.

"Three Rivers is an integral part of what you might call the modern Poplar Bluff renaissance," said Three Rivers Endowment Trust member Scott Matthews, a businessman and philanthropist from New Madrid County. "The visionaries for Three Rivers were very forward thinking for establishing the community college, which every surrounding city wished it got after the fact."

Matthews financed the historical marker in honor of his wife Karen's grandmother Ruth Steele, who was secretary to Three Rivers' first dean, Mabel Swindel.

"The endowment trust wanted to get behind a project that signified the importance of the past, and I thought, 'What a great opportunity to tie all that together, by doing this monument,'" Matthews explained.

The Matthews family previously donated about 40 acres of land on the U.S. 60 and 61 interchange for Three Rivers' proposed eastern campus. When Scott Matthews was awarded a medallion for his generosity in May, he mentioned his family's connection to the community college's origin.

Southern Bank Chief Executive Officer Greg Steffens said he was proud to dedicate a small plot of land by the entrance of the bank headquarter's to use for the historical marker.

The associated plaque will tell the story of how the Three Rivers Junior College taxing district was approved by voters in Butler, Carter, Ripley and Wayne counties in 1966, and the following year, 138 students began taking classes in the former Poplar Bluff High School location.

Enrollment surpassed 1,000 students in a matter of years and the community college grew to occupy 11 downtown locations, before moving northwest to its present 80 acres in 1979, upon receiving an initial property donation from Mac Carmichael.

"We're honoring those that came before us, including the pioneers who saw a need for a community college district to begin with, championing a cause that has touched over 100,000 alumni," Three Rivers President Dr. Devin Stephenson said. "This is their day. We're reaping all of the rewards of their fine work."

Endowment trust executive director Diane Christian said she is reaching out to all survivors who were involved during the early years of Three Rivers to invite them to participate in the ceremony. She even tracked down the community college's very first graduate, Dr. Roger Abernathy, now a dean of Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, who will not be able to attend, but sent along his diploma for the occasion.

Following the unveiling of the historical marker, refreshments will be served in Southern Bank's board room.

Pertinent address:

531 Vine St., Poplar Bluff, MO