Mountain Heritage Day brings large crowds to WCU

September 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Visitors enjoy a traditional hay ride through the festival. Photo by, Jarrett Frazier

 

Hundreds of visitors came out Saturday September 24 for the 37th annual Mountain Heritage Day festival on the campus of Western Carolina University. Tourists, community members, and Western students enjoyed the traditional music,  great food, and variety of local crafters. 
The weather was perfect for the event with clear blue skies and only a few clouds in the sky through out the whole day.
To see more from the festival go to jafrazier.com for a complete photo slide show.
Filed Under: Arts & Entertainment, Campus News, Home, News Tagged With: , , , , ,

Coming to Cullowhee

September 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The 3rd Annual Old Cullowhee Canoe Slalom for many participants was more than just fun.

Plans for the future park located off Old Cullowhee Road

 

The Cullowhee Revitalization Endeavor (CuRvE)  raised $280 for developing a new park by the river.

“We are planning a river park between the bridge and the dam. There will be some developments by the DOT when the new bridge is done in two years and some development around the dam at the Lena Davis landing site by Duke Power also within the next two years,” says Maurice Phipps, event coordinator and professor at WCU.

The new park could bring more visitors to the Cullowhee area.  They plan to make the area around the bridge a new place to spend time in canoes and kayaks with multiple landings and picnic areas.

This year’s canoe slalom had seven different categories which participants could compete in.  Listed below are the results:

 

Men’s Kayak                                      1st Place, Saunders Southecorvo                                                                                                         2nd Place, Joel Bostic                                                                                                                            3rd Place, Gavin Beetlestone

Kid’s Kayak                                        1st Place, Skyler Singleton                                                                                                                  2nd Place Aylan Meyers                                                                                                                      3rd Place McKayala Singleton

Double Open Canoe                          1st Place, Todd and Griffin Murdock                                                                                                 2nd Place, Kevin Williams and Mairi Padgett                                                                                   3rd Place, Debby Singleton and Mark Singleton

Single Open Canoe                            1st Place, Saunders Southecorvo                                                                                                        2nd Place, James Houtzer                                                                                                                    3rd Place, Dale Holentsein

C2 (Decked Double Canoe)              1st Place, Windy Gordon and Steve Thoma                                                                                      2nd Place, Saunders Southecorvo and Joel Bostic                                                                            3rd Place, Todd and Griffin Murdock

Parent/Sprog Canoe                         1st Place, Darron and Murryn Meyers

Stand-up Board                                 1st Place, Mark Singleton                                                                                                                    2nd Place, Debby Singleton

 

 

Filed Under: Home, Outdoors Tagged With: , ,

Training for the WCU half marathon kicks off

February 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Val

WCU students training for the Valley of the Lilies Half Marathon. Photo by Marcelo Maia

Training sessions for the Valley of the Lilies Half Marathon are held on campus, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. and on Saturdays at 8 a.m.

The 13.1 miles race is organized by the School of Health Sciences and the Department of Campus Recreation & Wellness and scheduled for April 3 through a scenic route on campus and along the Tuckasegee River in Cullowhee, NC.

The revenue of the race will be directed to help students with undergraduate research and professional engagement. Ashley Long, race organizing committee co-chair and assistant professor of WCU’s Athletic Training Program says it has one even higher purpose. “Another goal we had in designing this is developing something that can give people recreation and maybe achieve a fitness goal that they didn’t think it was possible before.“
Ashley says that the training group that has been committed to meet four days a week has developed a king of camaraderie that works as a support to carry forward a disciplined work out.
This group is composed of faculty, students and people that work in the local community.

There are different training levels from beginners to experts.

“We have different people at different levels. Some that have run half marathons and marathons before and people that have never done it, so we just let them find their own pace and we guide them building up to being able to run the 13.1 mile marathon,” says Ashley.

The athletic instructor also emphasizes the beauty of the landscape around the university campus and Jackson County that the participants will have the opportunity to enjoy.

Participant enrollment has already exceeded expectations since there are 56 enlistments out of the 50 initially expected. The organization now hopes to reach 100 by the end of March.

Olivia Belk, a student at WCU, says she’s been running for a month and thinks the training is going well.

”It’s good to start as a beginner here because they help me get on the right track.”

Her goal is to get to the finishing line without stopping and to see everybody else finish as well.

The race is open for everybody from the age of 13 and up. Registration is  $40.

You can see the whole route online at www.mapmyrun.com.

Filed Under: Outdoors, Sports Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Vanessa Carlton concert rescheduled for Valentine’s Day

January 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

After WCU faced inclement weather in early January, the anticipated concert featuring Vanessa Carlton was rescheduled for Valentines Day, Feb. 14, in the University Center Grandroom at 7 p.m.

“They [the airline] canceled her flight Sunday night from Atlanta to Asheville,” said Rotimi Arriyo, Interim Associate Director for Programs.

Arriyo talked to Carlton’s agent and they decided that they could reschedule the concert for another date, due to the terms of the contract.  The two discussed options, one of which was Valentines Day. It was decided that this date would work for both parties and they are proceeding forward with the new date.

“We really wanted the concert to be free, and it made sense to have it in the UC Grandroom. This saved money and also helped us with flexibility in re-booking the show,” said Arriyo. “Typically our concerts attendance numbers don’t require a larger, expensive venue like Ramsey.”

This event is targeted to students, but community members wont be turned away if they come.

Concerts like these are provided to students by  Residential Living and Students Affairs to help increase student retention rates, which is a major goal of both university entities.
“We are able to work together and it really helps student retention when they have something to brag about to there friends at other schools,” said Arriyo.

Filed Under: Arts & Entertainment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

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