1) Kappa Delta’s Pancake Dinner Slated for March 21
The sisters of Kappa Delta invite you to the 22nd annual Pancake Dinner. The sorority is raising money for Prevent Child Abuse America and The Children’s Council of Watauga. The event will be held in Central Dining Hall at Appalachian State University on March 21 from 5-9 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. The first 50 people in line at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. will receive a free event t-shirt.
2) Watauga Republican’s Lincoln Reagan Dinner April 4
The Watauga Republican’s Lincoln-Reagan Dinner will be held on Friday, April 4 at 6 p.m. at the Meadowbrook Inn in Blowing Rock. All state and local Republican candidates are invited. This is a great opportunity to hear from and meet the candidates directly. Tickets are $30 before March 22 and $35 after that date. To order tickets, call 828-963-4253.
3) April Foods and Fools to Benefit Caldwell Arts Council
As much a tradition this time of year as putting away winter clothes and enjoying fresh flowers, springtime means party time for the Caldwell Arts Council and its supporters. Building on the success of last year’s debut of the April Food and Fools event, the Caldwell Arts Council continues the month-long annual fundraiser again in 2014. This year’s events include 10 April Food parties hosted by individuals throughout Caldwell County, culminating in the “April Fools” event on May 1 when nationally known comedians will perform in downtown Lenoir. “Last year’s April Food and Fools events were so well received that we focused our efforts this year on growing it and improving it,” said Lee Carol Giduz, Executive Director of the Caldwell Arts Council. “In addition to the multiple parties from our April Food palette throughout the month and across the community, you can support the ongoing work of the Arts Council with an evening of laughs at our comedy event. Each of the parties and the comedy night are a guaranteed good time.”
- Saturday, April 5 from 9 a.m.-noon: Arty Party-Sourdough and Samples – Join Lenoir’s own “Sourdough Joan” Knox in the Caldwell Arts Council Kitchen for a sourdough bred making demonstration class. Catawba Valley Vineyards will be on hand to offer samples of their farm fresh jams, jellies and pickles. Take home bread and jam. Tickets are $30 per person, limit 10.
- Saturday April 5 from 6-9 p.m.: Savory Sunset Photography Lesson and Dinner Party at The Coves at Round Mountain – David Horn and friends bring their culinary skills to the grill and photographer David Hessell will offer instruction in mastering sunset photography. Bring your own camera for the photography instruction. $50 per person, limit 25
- Thursday, April 10 from 5:30-8 p.m.: Arty Party-One Stroke Painting and Southern Comforts – Learn some of the techniques of “One Stroke Painting” with certified instructor Cathy McCoy and create your own original artwork at the Caldwell Arts Council; a tasty dinner from Southern Comforts is included. Tickets are $45 per person, limit 8.
- Saturday, April 12 from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Arty Party – Make HeARTsy Gifts – Join book artist Sigrid Hice in creating a heart shaped accordion book and a secret room book, collage their pages with decorated papers and fill with your own creativity. Snacks and beverages included. Tickets are $25 per person, limit 8.
- Thursday, April 24, 5:30-8 p.m.: Arty Party-Mystic Papers – Join national workshop instructor Cathy Taylor at the Caldwell Arts Council for an evening of creative fun with marbled, swirled papers, stencils and ink. Leave with a frameable work of art. Wine and yummy appetizers included. Tickets are $45 per person, limit 10.
- Thursday, April 24 from 6-9 p.m.: A Rooftop Kentucky Sunset: Dive into an appreciation of Kentucky Bourbon with this special tasting and socializing event “Penthouse of Lenoir”. With a combination of top shelf bourbons, bourbon inspired hors d’oeuvres and a view of the Lenoir Skyline, you’ll relax in the glow of a spring sunset and the glow of a bourbon warmth. Tickets are $40 per person, limit 15.
- Saturday, April 26, 4-7:30 p.m.: Make Your Cheese and Eat it Too! – Learn to make fresh delicious mozzarella and make your own pizza in Dawn and Steve Mathews’ new cob oven. Baby goats will make an appearance, so wear your farm clothes! Tickets are $25 per person, limit 12 (20 if weather permits an outdoor setting).
- Saturday, April 26, 7-9:30 p.m.: A Hollywood Oscar Martini Party- Enjoy an evening of glitz and glamour at the Irish Rose Bed and Breakfast. Heavy hors d’oeuvres and adult beverages. Tickets are $45 per person, limit 30.
4) Salminen Named to 2014 Finnish National Lacrosse Team
Lees-McRae freshman Teven Slminen has been named to the 2014 Finnish National Lacrosse Team for this summer’s World Championship in Commerce City, Colorado. The Lynden, Washington native has scored one goal while scooping up six groundballs and has caused one turnover. Salminen has started three games while appearing in all six LMC contests this season. He previously competed on Finland’s U-19 National squad in 2012 where he was one of two Americans to earn a spot on the national team of players 19 and under. The 6-1 freshman is one of five players that are playing at U.S. Colleges. Finland will be playing its third world championship after finishing ninth in 2006 and 12 in 2010. The tournament will take place June 10-19.
5) Congressman Mark Meadows in Avery County March 19
Don’t miss out on hearing what’s going on in Washington, D.C. from Congressman Mark Meadows. He will be in Avery County on Wednesday, March 19 from 9-10 a.m. Come and ask the questions you want answers to. If you don’t ask you won’t know. This event is open to the general public and will be held at the Avery County High School. Breakfast will be provided by the culinary class and the cost for breakfast will be $5 per person. Please R.S.V.P. to the Avery County Chamber at 828-898-5605.
6) ASU’s Spring Open House to be Held April 12
Spring Open House for Appalachian State University’s prospective students and their families will be held Saturday, April 12. This event is a great way to meet faculty, tour campus and learn more about financial aid, scholarships, admissions and student life. Activities will take place in Holmes Convocation Center with a 30-minute Family Assembly at 9 a.m. followed by an Information Fair until 12:30 p.m. featuring student and faculty panels. A special program for transfer students will be held from noon-1 p.m. also in the Holmes Center. Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., Student Ambassadors will provide tours of campus and residence halls. Academic departments will also conduct departmental open houses. For more information call 828-262-2120.
7) Toxic Debt Documentaries to be Shown March 26
Toxic Debt: Documentaries on the Past and Future of Waste will be presented by filmmaker Phoebe Brush at 7 p.m. March 26 at ASU in Room 114 of Belk Library and Information Commons. The event features the screening of two short films followed by a discussion with Brush who is an N.C. Arts Council Artist Fellowship Award winner. The public is invited. The films are Brush’s “Yucca Mtn Tally” and “Around Crab Orchard” by Sarah Kanouse. “Yucca Mtn Tally” is a desert meditation on America’s first national high-level nuclear waste repository. Brush filmed the project over several years and completed the documentary in 2013. The film has won several awards, including the prestigious directors citation at the Black Maria film festival. “Around Crab Orchard” examines the only wildlife refuge in the United States whose mission includes industry and agriculture alongside conservation and recreation. Assembled from documents, found footage, and conversations with activists, writers and local residents, the film questions the ideal of natural harmony while meditating on the persistence of history, the creation of knowledge, the limits of representation, and the commonplace of environmental hazard. Brush is a documentary filmmaker based in Durham. Her work has been exhibited at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and at festivals including the Strange Beauty Film Festival, the Carrboro Film Festival and the Indie Grits Film Festival. For more information, contact Tom Hansell at University Documentary Film Services at 828-262-7730 or hansellts@appstate.edu. University Documentary Film Services is a unit within Appalachian’s University College. University College consists of the university’s integrated general education curriculum, academic support services, residential learning communities, interdisciplinary degree programs and co-curricular programming—all designed to support the work of students both inside and outside of the classroom.
8) 30th Roan Groan Held June 7
On June 7, the 30th Roan Groan will have 400 or more cyclists measure themselves against each other and Roan Mountain. It is part of the June 7 and 8 Johnson City Omnium. The race will be ridden by first-time racers as well as professionals who will be competing for their share of the more than $12,000 purse. The JC Omnium included the Roan Groan as the road race component beginning in 2006, though the Roan Groan was begin in 1985. Since its beginning, it has been sponsored every year by Nor-Well. Gary Nave of Nor-Well sponsored the first sanctioning on a previously informal race up Roan Mountain and his 30-year commitment has made it possible for the Groan to become the oldest continuous sanctioned race in Tennessee. Rex Martin, formerly of Johnson City who now lives in Davenport, Florida, has participated every year for the last eight years in the Roan Groan. He raced a total of 12 of the last 29 Roan Groans. We don’t know for sure, but we think he has the record of most Roan Groan competitions. Martin said he would be here this year also. The Tupelo Honey Roan Groan will start at Cat Island Park in Elizabethton at 9 a.m. with the professional 1,2 category, the first of seven groups. The first three groups will follow a 55 mile course, finishing with the 7.25 mile climb up Roan Mountain. The other four groups will take a shorter 30 mile course with the same finish climb. The racers will effect but not stop the vehicle traffic on 19 E, Simerley Creek, Route 107, Sciota Rd, Dry Creek, Gap Creek and Route 143. That afternoon the same racers will compete individually against the clock in the Tupelo Honey Time Trial on Temple Hill Road in Erwin. The Time Trial will start at 5:00pm with the last racer off about 7:30 p.m. The final chance to win points in the three-stage race is the Franklin Woods Community Hospital Criterium on Blue Plum Sunday. Races begin at 8:00am; the professional race begins at 2:30pm. Some riders will be vying to win the criterium race while others will be racing strategically for the overall win. The high speeds and closeness to the spectators gets the crowds excited, which in turn motivates the racers. Some people come for the crafts and food but then get fully involved in the races. Just before the Pro race the Tupleo Honey Kids Fun Race will give age 10 and under kids an opportunity to ride the same course as the professionals. From these will come the future Olympians? Full details at www.pcpomni.wordpress.com.
9) Poet Bruce Weigl Reads from His Work March 27 at Appalachian
Poet and essayist Bruce Weigl will read from his work during a March 27 presentation through the Hughlene Bostian Visiting Writers Series at Appalachian State University. The reading begins at 7:30 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Table Rock Room. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend. Weigl is the author of the memoir “Circle of Hanh” and the poetry collection“The Abudance of Nothing,” which was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize. A veteran of the Vietnam War and Bronze Star recipient, the memoir recounts his struggles in the aftermath of the war that included alcohol and drug and the salvation he discovered in poetry. Weigl has published translations of Vietnamese and Romanian poetry, and has also edited or co-edited several anthologies of war poetry. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the Robert Creeley Award, the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry, the Paterson Poetry Prize, the Poet’s Prize from the Academy of American Poets, the Cleveland Arts Prize, and two Pushcart Prizes. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Yaddo Foundation. Weigl is a Distinguished Professor of English at Lorain County Community College in Lorain, Ohio. While in Boone, Weigl will teach a creative writing workshop for veterans and their families March 28 from 1-4 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Three Top Mountain Room. Associated with Weigl’s Visiting Writers Series presentation and writing workshop will be a staged reading of “Deployed” at 5:30 p.m., also in Three Top Mountain Room. Presented by the Touring Theatre of North Carolina, “Deployed” is an hour-long compilation of poetry and prose written by veterans and their families. It depicts the experiences of seven wars: World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, First Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Visiting Writers Series is named in honor of Hughlene Bostian Frank (class of 1968), a past trustee and generous supporter of the university and recipient of the 2013 Appalachian Alumni Association Outstanding Service award. The Spring 2014 Visiting Writers Series is supported by the Appalachian State University Foundation, Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of English, the Summer Reading Program, the University Bookstore, Belk Library and Information Commons and the Appalachian Journal. Business sponsors are The Gideon Ridge Inn and The Red Onion Cafe. Community sponsors include John and the late Margie Idol, Paul and Judy Tobin, Alice Naylor, Thomas McLaughlin and The High Country Writers.
10) Fundraiser April 12 to Benefit Huntington’s Disease Research
The 9th annual Tom Moore 5K Run/Walk for Huntington’s Disease will be held Saturday, April 12 at the Boone Greenway. The event is sponsored by students in Appalachian’s Recreation Management program. The race will begin at 9 a.m. with registration beginning at 8 a.m. All proceeds from the 5K event will support the research on treatment and cures for Huntington’s Disease. F.A.R.M. Cafe is sponsoring an early packet pickup and pre-race pasta dinner Friday, April 11 from 6-8 p.m. at 167 West King Street. The meal includes pasta with or without meat, a side salad, dessert and a drink. This is a “pay as you can” donation event to contribute to the Tom Moore 5K event as well as help F.A.R.M. Cafe in its mission to build community and eliminate hunger in the High Country. Additionally, Come Back Shack will donate 25 percent of all proceeds from Monday, March 31. This event will be going on throughout business hours, but they ask patrons to inform their server that they would like part of their bill to be donated to the Tom Moore 5K for Huntington’s. For more information or to register, go to www.5K.appstate.edu. Early registration by April 9 costs $20. Registration the day of the event is $25. Each participant will receive a long-sleeved t-shirt on a first come, first served basis. Refreshments and fun activities will be available after the race, along with a record of running times. Each registered participant will be entered for great door prizes. You must be present to win. Tom Moore, a former director of Resort Area Ministry (RAM’s Rack, etc.) and local resident, was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease more than 10 years ago. Huntington’s is a hereditary, degenerative disease that slowly diminishes the patient’s ability to think, walk and function normally. Although treatments have been developed that lessen certain symptoms, currently there is no cure for Huntingon’s. In hopes of finding that cure, Moore joined with the recreation management program nine years ago to organize the event to raise awareness and funds for research. In the past nine years, the Tom Moore 5K has grown into a successful event which incorporates the entire Boone community. It has raised more than $20,000 for research.
11) April 1 Performance Celebrates Career of Scott Meister
When Scott Meister announced plans to retire after a 40-year career at Appalachian State University, his colleagues in the Hayes School of Music knew what one of his tributes should be – a recital featuring Meister’s compositions. Six of Meister’s works will be performed as part of the music school’s Faculty Recital Series April 1 at 8 p.m. in Rosen Concert Hall. Admission is free. Many of the compositions on the program were written specifically for the faculty who will perform them. The breadth of the program also illustrates Meister’s interests in ethnic, experimental and avant-garde music. The program consists of “für Spielen,” written for bassoonist Jon Beebe, “2 Ritual Dances,” which was commissioned by a former student of Meister who is now a university professor, “Three Inner Circuits,” commissioned by the late H. Max Smith for the American Guild of Organists, “The Note,” performed by Rob Falvo, “Games,” written for the Mid-America Trumpet Quartet and “Scenes,” written for music faculty members Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham, Beebe, Scott Kallestad and Eric Koontz. Other performers are Chris Blaha, Priscilla Porterfield, Jessica Warner, Rob Falvo, James Stokes, Brent Bingham, Matthew Dickson, David Marvel and Jay Jackson. Scott Meister’s career: One might call Meister an accidental musician and composer. While a high school student, he was interested in pursuing a veterinarian degree. Fate played a role in his successful career path when Ashland College, now Ashland University, in Ohio offered him a marching band scholarship. A drummer, Meister had to major in music to receive the scholarship. Meister published his first composition, a percussion trio, while a sophomore at Ashland. “That changed my whole life,” he said. The piece, written for a music theory class, drew the interest of a publisher Meister met while attending a music conference. “That motivated me, and I also realized I also wanted to be a college teacher,” he said. Meister has since published more than 60 compositions. He estimates they have been performed thousands of times, including his first work, which is often performed in Japan. His love for composition and incorporating atypical sounds in his work was fueled by professors at the University of Miami, where Meister earned his master’s and doctorate in music. “I had two of the best composition professors anyone could want. They absolutely opened my mind up,” he said. “One had worked with Stockhausen, who was into mathematics, graphics and visuals, and another had studied under Schoenberg.” Stockhausen was a pioneer in electronic and spatial music, which incorporates location and movement of sound sources. Schoenberg’s compositions typically use all 12 notes of the chromatic scale. “You’ve got to see my music to hear my music,” said Meister, known for using stage directions, such as having musicians use specific gestures, putting aluminum foil on top of a bassoon or using balloons to create unique sounds. He has written for almost every musical ensemble imaginable, including keyboard, brass, woodwind, percussion and orchestra. His latest orchestral work will be premiered by the Appalachian Symphony Orchestra May 2. Sound clips of his work are online at http://music.appstate.edu/faculty-staff/dr-scott-meister. Meister, who joined the faculty at Appalachian in 1974, is known for his focus on ethnic music. He founded the Steely Pan Steel Band in 1985 and has led the ensemble in performances at universities, art festivals, music conventions and public schools throughout the South. The band oftentimes performs his original works for steel pan or his arrangements of popular and classical compositions. He further expanded the music school’s foray into ethnic music by forming mid-Eastern and African percussion ensembles. He also regularly led study abroad trips to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean focusing on steel drum music, and to Ireland to learn about that country’s traditional music. Meister has taught theory and composition courses during his tenure at Appalachian, and has held the Sharpe Chair of Music since 1998. He also directs the music school’s electronic/M.I.D.I. studio. He has been commissioned to compose works for bands, choirs and a variety of chamber ensembles. Meister’s composition “Gravitons” for orchestra and piano was premiered in 1982 by the Indianapolis Symphony. He has won numerous ASCAP Composers awards and twice won the Hinda Honigman Gold Cup for Composition. Meister also has been a guest composer at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C.
12) Guest Conductor Thomas Sleeper Joins Appalachian Philharmonia Orchestra March 23
Composer and conductor Thomas Sleeper will lead the Appalachian Philharmonia Orchestra in a performance of two of his works March 23 at 2 p.m. in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts at Appalachian State University. Admission is free. The orchestra will perform Sleeper’s “Lullaby for Chelsea Rose” and will premiere his “Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra” with trumpeter James Stokes from the Hayes School of Music. It also will perform “Symphony No. 4 in G Major” by Gustav Mahler, with soprano Allison Deters, a senior music performance major at Appalachian. Sleeper’s compositions have been called hauntingly mysterious, richly lyrical and possessing soaring melodies by music critics. He has written six operas, 13 concerti, three symphonies, four orchestral song cycles, works for chorus with orchestra, three string quartets, numerous other vocal and instrumental chamber works and music for film. Sleeper is director of orchestral activities and conductor of the Frost Symphony Orchestra and Opera Theater and Music and director of the Florida Youth Orchestra in Miami.