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Email Announcements Received Today: See What’s Going On Around The Community

1) Campus Emergency Siren Test Conducted Oct. 1

Appalachian State University will test its campus-wide warning system on Wednesday, Oct. 1 at 11:55 a.m. The campus drill will also include a recorded message indicating the beginning and end of the test.

2) Wilkes Agricultural Fair Starts Sept. 30

The Wilkes County Agricultural Fair will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 30, and will run through Saturday, Oct. 4. The Rotary Club of North Wilkesboro will sponsor the event, which is held at the Rotary Fairgrounds beside West Park in North Wilkesboro. On Saturday, a special event at the fair will be a lawnmower race. Practice for the race starts at 3 p.m. Racing begins at 6 p.m. A fairground admission ticket will also admit you to the race. This year’s fair will feature more than 25 rides, a bicycle giveaway, E-Z ride, petting zoo, Buffalo Barfield’s unheard of style of music and comedy shows, miniature bull races, 4-H exhibits and games and food on the midway. N.E.W. Wrestling will be held on Thursday and Friday. No Joe’s Circus Clown and Trapeze Act will be performing every day. The 4-H exhibits, coordinated by Wilkes Cooperative Extension Service, will be on hand in the Exhibit Hall. This year, the fair will also feature a hay bale decorating contest. On Tuesday, there will be a junior lamb show. On Wednesday there will be a junior goat show. On Thursday, there will be a car show and a tractor driving contest. Gates are open weekdays at 5 p.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday. Ride bands are available every day. On Saturday, ride bands are good from 1-6 p.m. or from 6 p.m. until closing.

3) Volunteers Needed for the Land of Oz Event

Volunteers are needed for the Land of Oz event on Oct. 4 and 5. Volunteers are needed both Saturday and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and 12:30-4:30 p.m. Help is needed in the areas of wrist band table, parking and shuttle line.

4) Quilt Guild Meeting Oct. 2

The Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 1:30 p.m. in the conference room on the second floor of the Senior Center on Poplar Grove Connector in Boone. The program, “Tote Bags and Jar Quilts,” will be presented by talented local quilter, Susan Sweet. She will talk about the things you can make from fabric squares and your leftovers stash. Susan will share some patterns for the bags and shows ways to enhance them to make wonderful gifts. If you have any bags you have made, please bring them to the meeting and share your knowledge. Don’t forget your quilts for show and tell! For more information call Marge at 828-295-6841.

5) Congress to Campus Program Brings Former Congressional Members to Appalachian

Appalachian State University will participate in Congress to Campus Oct. 6-7.  The program brings together former members of Congress and today’s young voters to increase civic literacy and participation. Two former members of Congress will visit campus and participate in the SGA-sponsored “Coffee with Congress” event on Monday night Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Parkway Ballroom in the Plemmons Student Union. The public is invited. For more information, contact Lexie Condon at 262-2071. Former Rep. Beverly Byron, who was the Democratic representative from western Maryland from 1978 to 1992, and former Rep. Dan Miller, a member of the Republican Party who represented the Thirteenth Congressional District of Florida for 10 years, will be the Congress to Campus speakers.  While on campus, Bryon and Miller will visit with students in Appalachian’s ROTC, social work, and government and justice studies programs, as well as with graduate students and student veterans. These settings allow students to discover, on a more personal basis, what participation in a democracy entails. Byron served as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, where she was elected subcommittee chairman and had oversight of 42 percent of the Department of Defense’s budget. She was a member of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Select Committee for Aging. From 1983-86, Byron chaired the House Special Panel on Arms Control and Disarmament. In 1987, she was elected Chairman of the Military Personnel and Compensation subcommittee, becoming the first woman chosen for a prominent leadership role on the Armed Services Committee. She presided over policy issues that, with the dismantling of the Warsaw Pact and the stunning changes in the Soviet Union, reshaped the American military. Miller served on the House Appropriations Committee, the Budget Committee and the Committee on Government Reform. As a member of the Appropriation Committee, he served on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittee; Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Subcommittee; and Military Construction Subcommittee. While he fought to eliminate or reduce many unnecessary or inefficient programs within his subcommittees, Miller was a strong advocate for the National Institute of Health and the successful doubling of their budget. As a member of the Government Reform Committee, he chaired the Census Subcommittee with oversight of the U.S. Census Bureau. Miller led the successful fight against adjusting the 2000 Census based on unreliable and unconstitutional statistics estimates. The aim of Congress to Campus is to engage students and provide inspiration that will lead to greater democratic participation, whether it is in the arena of public service or something as simple as voting. Former members give students and faculty an authentic and candid insider’s look at the workings of American government and politics. Their personal experiences help to illuminate the democratic process and the inner workings of Washington. Congress to Campus is sponsored by the U. S. Association of Former Members of Congress in partnership with the Stennis Center for Public Service.

6) Classical Guitarist Peter Fletcher Returns to Watauga Library

Continuing what has become an annual tradition in recent years, New York-based Classical Guitarist Peter Fletcher will present a solo recital of his virtuosic interpretation of compositions by the masters, classical and modern. Fletcher’s published recordings include his performances of works by Edvard Grieg, Erik Satie, Federico Mompou, as well as several compilations of Baroque, Renaissance, and Spanish music for guitar. He often prepares his own transcriptions of noted compositions. Peter Fletcher began guitar study at the age of seven under classical guitar instructor John Sutherland. In 1980 classical guitarist Jose Tomas, Andres Segovia’s teaching assistant in Spain, held a week long master class in Atlanta, GA. Peter Fletcher was the youngest student to perform in the class, playing music by Bach and Carcassi. In over thirty years of performance since that time, Fletcher has appeared on national radio, television, and in numerous prestigious venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall. He returns to the Library’s Evelyn Johnson Meeting Room to perform a concert featuring works of Praetorius, J.S. Bach, Paganini, Villa-Lobos, Grieg, and the Shaker melody “Simple Gifts,” among other selections.Admission is free, but seating is limited. No tickets required, nor reservations taken. Please call the Reference Desk of Watauga County Public Library at 828-264-8784, Extension 2, for more information.