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Today’s Email Announcements

1) Hospitality House and Welcome Home Thriftique Announce Memorial Day 5k

On Memorial Day, May 25, Hospitality House and Welcome Home Thriftique will be hosting the second annual Color Blast 5K Run/Walk to raise funds, awareness, and support for individuals and families in our community.  The 5K will begin at 5pm at the Boone Greenway Trail at Clawson-Burnley Park in Boone.

A color blast is an event that showers runners in an environmentally safe, cornstarch-based colored powder at certain locations along the trail. The main idea is to tie-dye each runner’s white event t-shirt by the end of the run. The event welcomes competitive runners, casual runners, joggers, walkers, people with disabilities, families, and all those who are willing to give back to their community.  Sorry, no pets.  A guide to the color blast is posted at www.welcomehomethriftique.org and will be included in the runner’s packet.

“Last year was such a success and we wanted to bring back the event!” says Brittany Johnson, NC Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA and project manager for Hospitality House. “The color blast is for everyone, not just serious runners. It gives all members of our community a chance to come out and enjoy running or walking through clouds of colors while supporting a great cause. Last year we had over 250 participants and raised over $8,000. This year we intend to break that record!”

Participants can expect a free photo booth with fun props; face painting, free samples of Menchie’s frozen yogurt, music, water and fruit.  A “Fun Run” will be held at 6:30 for kids under 10 to run a lap on the dirt track through clouds of color. The cost is $5 and kids can sign up at the event with parental assistance.

Early registration is $25 for adults and $10 for kids 12 and under. Early registration runs April 1st – May 7th and guarantees an event t-shirt. Participants can register online at HospHouse.org.

On-site registration will begin at 4 p.m. and t-shirts will be first come first serve.  On-site registration will be $30 for adults and $15 for kids 12 and under. Cash, check, and credit cards will be accepted.

Mail-in early registration slips can be found at Welcome Home Thriftique, Hospitality House, Earth Fare, The Rock Sports Bar and Grill, Peppers, Appalachian Mountain Brewery, Town Tavern in Blowing Rock, and 24/7 Gym at New Market Center.  Those who pre-register can pick up their packets from May 21 – 23 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at Welcome Home Thriftique, located at 182 Boone Heights Drive in Boone across from Mint.

Food donation bins for canned goods, boxed goods and dry goods, like coffee, sugar, tea and bread, will be located at the picnic shelters beside the start and finish of the race.

Hospitality House serves those living in crisis, homelessness, and poverty in the seven-county region commonly referred to as the High County. With the poverty rate increasing to 31%, making Watauga County the 3 highest in the state, their services are in great need.

Welcome Home Thriftique, a four-year project in collaboration with Hospitality House, Appalachian State University’s ACT (Appalachian and the Community Together) program and North Carolina Campus Compact,  is a nonprofit retail shop with a purpose. All items sold in the store have been donated by the community and 100% of profits go to support the programs and services of Hospitality House. Merchandised items include art, furniture, antiques and collectibles, home goods, décor and name brand clothing.

Welcome Home Thriftique will serve as the classroom for a job skills training program, providing hands on training in a retail setting. This program is intended to give Hospitality House clients and Circles of the High Country participants the skills and confidence to enter the workforce and continue rebuilding a sustainable lifestyle.  Proceeds from the Color Blast 5K will support the launch of the job skills and financial literacy training component of the project.

Organizers are still welcoming sponsors. For sponsorship opportunities or additional information please contact Johnson atBrittany@hosphouse.org.

To learn more about Welcome Home Thriftique, follow them on Instagram @WelcomeHomeThriftique; Twitter, @Thriftique182; Pinterest @Thriftique182 and Facebook Facebook.com/WelcomeHomeThriftique

To learn more about Hospitality House, visit them online at www.HospHouse.org, follow them on Twitter @HospHouseBoone or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/HospHouse

2) Jazz Drummer Lewis Nash Performs April 18

Jazz drummer Lewis Nash will join Appalachian Jazz Ensemble I for an April 18 performance in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts at Appalachian State University. The concert begins at 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

The performance is sponsored by The Music Center located in Lenoir, Hickory, Morganton, Gastonia, Statesville and Asheville, and Pearl Drums.

Nash has been featured on more than 300 recordings during his 30-plus year career. A native of Phoenix, Arizona, he moved to New York City at age 21 to join jazz singer Betty Carter and her trio. He toured with Carter for four years and was the drummer on three of her recordings.

Nash has performed as a member of Branford Marsalis’ quartet, trombonist J.S. Johnson and saxophonist Sonny Rollins. He also has performed with Stan Getz, Art Farmer and Clark Terry.

He is a former member of the Tommy Flanagan Trio and featured on seven of the group’s recordings.  Nash also has been featured on recordings by Natalie Cole, Bette Midler, Nancy Wilson and George Michael.

Jazz Ensemble I from the Hayes School of Music is directed by faculty member Todd Wright.

Nash will be featured with the ensemble on “Strike Up the Band,” “Rivers,” “Twisted Blues” and “Go Go.”

The ensemble also will perform “Birks Works,” “Caravan Juan,” “Sister Sadie,” “Someday My Prince Will Come” and “Two Bass Hit.”

3) Ensemble Stage Summer Professional Season in Blowing Rock

How can you save 13 percent on show tickets this summer? It’s easy! Instead of buying single tickets to each of the professional summer main stage productions, purchase a season subscription and just like that you’ve saved $11.

But wait, there’s more! Here are some other advantages to being an Ensemble Stage Season subscriber. You get first choice on premium reserved seating. No hassle, no charge to exchange your ticket for a different performance date.

Season subscriptions include four plays and are $73 for adults, $65 with senior, military or student discounts.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.ensemblestage.com or call the box office at 828-414-1844.

Single show ticket sales will begin online and by phone on May 1.

Also, registration for summer theatre camps is now available. “Enchanted Theatre” camp will be held July 6-10 for ages 6-10 and “Myster Box Theatre” camp will be held from July 13-24 for ages 11-15.

4) Promoting Poetry in the Community

The Watauga County Public Library will host the annual “Favorite Poem Event” from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  on Saturday, April 18.

Poets of all ages are invited to read a favorite poem by a published poet or one of their own, and are welcome to be a part of the audience.

Those interested in reading poetry should arrive by 10:45 a.m. before the event.

The event is cosponsored by the Friends of the Watauga County Public Library and Behind the Stacks, a local poetry group.

For more information call Paula at 828-963-1164.

5) Contemporary Music Festival Presented on April 20

Composer-in-residence Frank Ticheli will be the guest conductor and flutist Erica Spear is the soloist for an April 20 performance by the Appalachian Wind Ensemble.

The 8 p.m. concert is part of the 2015 Contemporary Music Festival presented by Rho Tau Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. It will be presented in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts. The public is invited to attend.

The evening will feature the N.C. premiere of Ticheli’s “Dancing on Water,” inspired by a lifelong friend’s love of sailing. The wind ensemble also will perform Ticheli’s “Nitro,” a three-minute fanfare for band, and “An American Elegy,” composed in memory of those who lost their lives at Columbine High School April 20, 1999.

Ticheli is a professor of composition at University of Southern California. He is the recipient of a 2012 “Arts and Letters Award” from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, his third award from the prestigious organization. His “Symphony No. 2” won the 2006 NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest. His other honors include the Walter Beeler Memorial Prize and first prize awards in the Texas Sesquicentennial Orchestral Composition Competition, Britten-on-the-Bay Choral Composition Contest, and Virginia College Band Directors National Association Symposium for New Band Music.

Spear is a winner of the 2015 Appalachian Wind Ensemble concerto competition. She will perform Charles T. Griffes’ “Poem,” a one-movement flute concerto suggestive of Claude Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.”

Spear is an undergraduate at Appalachian pursuing degrees in both music education and flute performance. She has been a finalist in the Hayes School of Music Concerto-Aria Competition and the 2014 Rosen-Schaffel Competition for Young and Emerging Artists. She is a recipient of the North Carolina Teaching Fellow Scholarship and the Appalachian State University Diversity Scholarship. She is the 2014- 2015 Hayes School of Music Carr Whitener Orchestral Scholar.

6) April 20 Campus Forum to Address “Whose State Is This?”

A campus forum on the theme “Whose State Is This?” will be held Monday, April 20, at 7 p.m. in Belk Library room 114 at Appalachian State University. The public is invited to attend.

The forum is organized by the Appalachian State University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors. It is intended to provide information and encourage discussion about the major changes that the University of North Carolina system could face in the near future.

North Carolina has a longstanding and highly progressive commitment to public education. In recent years, however, a new generation of leaders at the state level has proposed policies that would appear to call this commitment into question—or, at the very least, impose a very different educational model.

This event is a follow-up to the Nov. 10, 2014 forum “Whose University Is This?”

Forum speakers, including faculty and students, will make brief presentations exploring various aspects of these policies. A public discussion will follow. Particular emphasis will be placed on how the Appalachian campus should respond to the proposed changes. All members of the campus community — particularly students — are encouraged to attend.

Forum speakers will include: Dr. Michael C. Behrent (history), Dr. Karl Campbell (history), Dr. Louis Gallien (educational leadership), Tamia Haygood (instructor, history), Dr. Nickolas Jordan (human development and psychological counseling), Mary Lyons (student, education major) and Dr. Greg Reck (anthropology).

For more information, contact Behrent, AAUP Chapter president, at behrentmc@appstate.edu or 828-719-5759.

7) Treble Choir to Perform April 27

Join the Appalachian Treble Choir April 27 for a performance of folk melodies, classical and other sacred works for voice.

The 8 p.m. performance will be in Appalachian State University’s Rosen Concert Hall in Broyhill Music Center. Admission is free.

The choir is directed by Dr. Prsicilla Porterfield. The choir will perform the Silesian folk melody “Fairest Lord Jesus,” “Syscepit Israel” from Bach’s “Magnificat,” “Ubi Caritas” by Carolyn Kellert, the Irish folk melody “Jerusalem,” “Eternity” by Chelsea Stith, and the spirituals “Elijah Rock” and “Witness.”

In addition, a string quartet will perform the second movement of Giuseppe Verdi’s String Quartet in E Minor and the first movement of Maurice Ravel String Quartet in F Major.

8) Weekly Events at Lost Province Brewing Company, April 13-19

Tuesday, April 14:

Cheap date night at Lost Province. Dinner for two for only $25 6-10pm.

Thursday, April 16:

$3.00 Thursday-$3.00 pints on all Lost Province brewed beers (except high gravity)

8:00pm-Closing, Live Music: Matt Walsh. His music has a primary focus is original music and blending his roots with new ideas rather than replicating them. The result reflects many genres of music – early electric and hill country Blues, Rock, old Country, Rockabilly, Soul, Stoner and Garage Rock, Hip-Hop and Psychedelia.

Friday, April 17:

Freakin’ Ferkin Friday at Five continues with our Lost Province Pilsner cask hopped with Mandarina Bavaria Hops.

8:00-Closing, Live Music: Tin Can Alley. Classic soul and R&B from the 1960’s brought to you by Tin Can Alley.

Saturday, April 18:

8:00-Closing, Live Music: The Worthless Son-In-Laws. Alt.indie-rock from the mountains of Western North Carolina. Pastoral daydream soundtracks and melody-laden rockers layered with stories of working life, eco-revenge, love, nostalgia, old television sets, letters, and plain-spoken pocketknives.

Sunday. April 19:

Lost Province is hosting “Paint and Pint”, a fundraiser for the Watauga County Arts Council. Enjoy a Lost Province pint of beer and snacks while watching local artists, Tommy Lee, Mary Karam, and Christina Bailey work their magic on canvas. All the while, you’ll relax to the strains of Grayson Foster and Kyle Wideman’s acoustic music on guitar and mandolin.

Tuesday, April 21:

Cheap date night at Lost Province. Dinner for two from 6-10 p.m. for only $2.