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Today’s Email Announcements

1) Nature Program Host to Speak at Grandfather Mountain on June 25

Emmy Award-winning host Patrick McMillan will discuss the unique high-elevation natural communities of Grandfather Mountain in a special program June 25 in Linville.

McMillan, a 20-year naturalist, biologist and educator, is the co-creator of “Expeditions with Patrick McMillan,” a popular nature program that features incredible footage of wildlife and wilderness across the United States and beyond. The program airs on public television affiliates across the nation.

In 2014, McMillan released an episode focused on Grandfather Mountain titled “Island in the Sky.” The episode, filmed across two years on the mountain, treats viewers to scenes of rime ice formations on snowy peaks, a scarlet tanager singing from the trees, time-lapse footage of clouds sweeping over the peak and more. The episode now plays on loop each day inside the Grandfather Mountain Nature Museum.

Executive Director Jesse Pope called the film “the most comprehensive video of Grandfather Mountain I’ve ever seen.”

Now, McMillan visits Grandfather Mountain once again to speak with the public about his fascinating work and the features that made the mountain worthy of attention on his program. The Linville mountain is one of the most biologically diverse places in the Southeast and home to more than 73 rare and endangered species.

The event is at 7 p.m. June 25 at the Grandfather Mountain Nature Museum. The program will show throughout the day before the event for attendees to enjoy. Admission is free for Bridge Club members or $20 for the general public.

RSVP to rsvp@grandfather.com by June 24 to reserve your seat.

The not-for-profit Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation strives to inspire conservation of the natural world by helping guests explore, understand and value the wonders of Grandfather Mountain. For more information, call (800) 468-7325 or visit www.grandfather.com to plan a trip.

2) App State Unveils Junior Mountaineer Youth Initiative

With the goal of engaging young fans and their families while enhancing the Mountaineers’ positive impact on the youth community, Appalachian State University athletics unveiled its new four-tiered Junior Mountaineer Youth Initiative on Tuesday.

The four tiers of the Junior Mountaineer Youth Initiative include:

LET’S GO! Program

Appalachian State athletics has adopted a set of core values that will drive all youth programs and community outreach initiatives going forward. Those core values are outlined in the easy-to-remember acronym LET’S GO!

L — Leadership

E — Eating Right

T — Teamwork

S — Sportsmanship

G — Good Grades

O — Outdoor Fun!

All Junior Mountaineer Kids Club events and appearances by Mountaineer student-athletes and coaches at schools and in the community will focus on LET’S GO! values throughout the 2015-16 academic year.

Junior Mountaineer Kids Club

The Junior Mountaineer Kids Club remains as the EXCLUSIVE club for Mountaineer fans in eighth grade or younger.

Membership includes a membership pack, free admission to many Appalachian State athletics events, one-of-a-kind experiences with Appalachian student-athletes and coaches and much more! For more information and to register online, visit appstatesports.com/jmkc. Memberships begin on July 1 of each year and run until the end of baseball season.

Mighty Mountaineers

App State athletics wants to see your team in Black and Gold! All youth teams are invited to share in the Mountaineer spirit by registering with Appalachian State athletics’ office of promotions and fan engagement as an official Might Mountaineer team!

Mighty Mountaineer teams are given permission to don the Block A just like Appalachian student-athletes and have the opportunity to schedule visits by student-athletes and coaches or sign up for an exclusive gameday experience. For more information, contact the office of promotions and fan engagement at 828-262-8649.

Junior Mountaineer Summer Readers

Once again, Appalachian State athletics is proud to partner with the Reich College of Education to reward High Country students in eighth grade or younger for reaching their academic goals and to promote education through the power of reading!

Each spring, High Country students are sent virtual reading logs to track their progress over the summer. The top readers in grades 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8 from each county will be invited to participate in Education Day festivities when Appalachian State football hosts Troy on Oct. 31. Education Day includes a tour of the Mountaineers’ locker room, a tailgate party presented by the Reich College of Education and on-field halftime recognition.

Additionally, the top three readers from each grade in every school will receive complimentary tickets to Education Day at Appalachian State basketball (2015-16 date TBA), which includes a pregame locker-room tour and the opportunity to make a human tunnel for the Mountaineers to run through when they take the court. All students who participate in the Junior Mountaineer Summer Readers program will be invited to Education Day at App State basketball and recognized during halftime of the game.

Finally, the classrooms with the highest percentage of readers will be rewarded with a visit by Yosef and Mountaineer student-athletes or coaches.

For more information, contact the office of promotions and fan engagement at 828-262-8649.

3) Blowing Rock Community Foundation Scholarships Announced

The Blowing Rock Community Foundation is proud to announce the scholarship recipients for 2015. The six students pictured below will join the current eighteen scholarship recipients for a total of twenty-four scholarships awarded for the 2015-2016 academic year. This includes the first recipient of the Nancy and David Rankin Scholarship – Sarah Gailes, and the third recipient of the Stevens Scholarship – Haley Banks Harwood. Sarah will receive $10,000 per year and will attend Wingate University. Haley will receive $15,000 per year and will attend UNC Chapel Hill.

Austin Northern (Liberty University) will receive the Judy Burns Memorial Scholarship for $2,000. Tucker Chasteen (Liberty University), Rachel Norwood (Western Carolina), and Lily Weeks (Auburn University) will each receive $2,000 per year.

Three scholarship recipients will graduate this May – Jenny Myers and Kathryn Smith from North Carolina State University and Robbie Sherrill from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Foundation initially awarded one full scholarship (including tuition, room and board, and books). In 1999, Amber Teague Bratt was the first Foundation scholarship recipient to complete her undergraduate degree. Since then, ninety students have received scholarships totaling over $450,000. Of that number, over ninety percent have graduated with undergraduate or associate degrees and many have, or are in the process of, obtaining advanced degrees.

The Foundation is very proud of these scholarship recipients both past and present! Many thanks to all of the members of the community who have contributed time, talent, and resources to support the Foundation and our amazing young people.

4) Town of Boone Seeking Design Services for Sidewalk Project

The Town of Boone desires to engage qualified private engineering firms to provide planning and design services for Highway 194 Safe Routes to School Sidewalk Project (TIP# SR-5001CM). The project will provide for the addition of approximately 2700lf of sidewalk in the Town of Boone. Interested firms are invited to submit a letter of interest (in the required quantity and format) by 2 p.m. on July 6 to: Eric Gustaveson, Deputy Public Works Director, Town of Boone, 321 E. King St. in Boone. For questions or complete version of Request for Letter of Interest, contact eric.gustaveson@townofboone.net or call 828*268-6230.