A North Platte couple has been recognized as the 2016 Alumni of the Year for Mid-Plains Community College.

Gayland and Sandy Meyer were honored Monday night during the Nebraska Community College Association’s annual meeting at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Kearney.

Members of MPCC’s Cabinet selected the Meyers for the award because of their long history of returning gifts of time, talent and treasure to the community.

“As both credit Mid-Plains Community College for putting them on their paths to success, we are proud to recognize their accomplishments and pleased to name them as Mid-Plains Community College’s 2016 Alumni of the Year,” said MPCC President Ryan Purdy.

Gayland and Sandy met at what was initially the North Platte Junior College in 1965 – the year that it opened.

A North Platte native, Sandy enrolled at the college with the intentions of eventually becoming a secretary – a popular profession for women at the time.

Gayland, who was from Wellfleet, planned to pursue a career in engineering or construction. He was influenced by his brother, who had worked in the construction industry, and the fact that he already had a part-time job doing construction for the James E. Simon Company.

A year later, Sandy found herself employed as a secretary with the Nebraska Department of Roads. She transferred to the roads office in Lincoln in 1967 after she and Gayland married.

There, she worked her way up from the information office to the main office where she was the private secretary to the state director.

Her job allowed Gayland to continue his education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering, which he graduated magna cum laude from in January of 1970 with a degree in construction management.

The couple then moved back to North Platte where Sandy became a stay-at-home mom to the couple’s two children, Greg and Tracy.

She kept busy as Parent Teacher Association president for both Eisenhower and McDonald elementary schools, where she also served as a room mother and led art projects.

Gayland returned to work at the James E. Simon Company, taking over the commercial building division.

At that point, the company’s operations were primarily based in western Nebraska. Over the years, they were expanded throughout the state as well as into Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota, Oregon and California.

Gayland climbed the career ladder to vice president and then manager of the Nebraska operations. Great Plains Regional Medical Center, now known as Great Plains Health, Adams Junior High School and Eisenhower Elementary were just a few of the many projects he worked on over the years.

Despite a schedule that kept him at the office about six days a week, Gayland found time to give back to the community.

He served on the Golden Spike Tower construction committee as well as boards for the Golden Spike Tower, the Mid-Nebraska Community Foundation, the Nebraskaland Foundation, the North Platte Development Corporation, the North Platte Community Playhouse, the North Platte Optimists and NEBRASKAland Days.

Together, he and Sandy were honored with the Dale Studley Award, which is the highest award NEBRASKAland Days bestows. It’s presented to individuals who selflessly give of their time, talent and money to the official state celebration.

Sandy has also received many awards on her own over the years – most of them related to painting and a Fun With Color Watercolor Class she started for cancer survivors after surviving her own bout with the disease.

In 2001, Sandy was honored by the Association of Nebraska Art Clubs (ANAC) for making outstanding contributions to art in Nebraska. She subsequently won Best of Show at the ANAC state conference in 2002 and again in 2015. Winning the title twice is rare.

Sandy also won Best of Show at a Nebraska Mothers Association art competition in Lincoln then second at nationals in New York.

Some of her other accomplishments include:

2001 – Woman of Achievement in Cultural Arts Award

2005 – First Lady of the Year by Beta Sigma Phi International for recognition and appreciation of distinguished service to her community

2011- The First Lady’s Outstanding Community Service Award for Lifetime Achievement in Volunteer Service

2011- The Cody Scout Award for Community Service

2011 – Nominee for the Governor’s Art Awards

Sandy has been featured in “Woman’s World,” “Nebraska Life” and “Nebraska Cattlemen” magazines.

For the past 26 years, Sandy has spent time teaching art workshops and selling paintings in various galleries in St. John and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

She has also taught at the International Arts Festival in Anguilla, British West Indies, and one of her paintings hangs in the hallway of the USS Nebraska, a ballistic missile submarine.

Both she and Gayland credit MPCC for putting them on their paths to success. Not just because the college provided a smooth transition into a larger world outside of rural Nebraska, but because it led them to each other.

Since Gayland’s retirement in 2000, the two have spent much of their time traveling to art workshops around the world. Egypt, France, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, Turkey, England, Greece, Monaco, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia are just some of the many interesting places they’ve seen and experienced.