By Kayleigh Leadbetter, Staff Writer
Celebrate Armstrong, a three-day-long event celebrating 80 years of Armstrong, kicks off Thursday, Oct. 22 and runs through Saturday Oct. 24 at various campus locations. Students can explore more than 50 department and student organization booths at the festival.
The event begins with the Celebrate Armstrong Festival located on Burnett Boulevard Lawn from 12-6 p.m.
“I’m interested in checking out the different booths and learning about all of the clubs that are on campus. It’s sometimes hard for freshman to find out what organizations are active, but I think Celebrate sounds like a great way to let everyone know what’s out there,” freshman Sidney Scott said.
One booth that will be available for students to visit is the Armstrong Writers’ Collective, a club where writers can discuss their passion for writing and literature, as well as receive help on improving their writing abilities.
“We’re going to be having a ‘Whose Line?’ quote game that pits classic literature against contemporary music, plus we’ll have cupcakes and cookies as free snacks,”Writers’ Collective president, Jackie Zantow, said. “We’ll be handing out club bookmarks, promoting the James Kimbrell reading and selling raffle tickets for gift cards, a handmade scarf and some classic horror books.”
The Writers’ Collective is looking forward to reaching out to the students on campus and hopes to develop its presence on campus.
“We’re excited for Celebrate because we will get a chance to recruit new members to form a thriving community of writers at Armstrong.”
Students can also take part in other activities like mechanical bull rides, rock climbing, games and contests and live entertainment.
The Celebrate Armstrong Alumni Gala will tak place Friday, Oct. 23 in the Armstrong Center Ballroom with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7 p.m. At the optional black-tie gala the Notable, Outstanding, and Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented to the top alumni of the year.
Single tickets for the gala are $75 and a table for eight is available for $500. Proceeds from the event will go toward scholarship funds for future generations of Armstrong Alumni.
Oct. 24, the Celebrate Armstrong Finale will wrap up from 5:30-9:30 p.m. on Burnett Boulevard Lawn.
The family-friendly event will also include a Pirate Costume Contest, the Arm-azing Race: Halloween Photo Scavenger Hunt, ice cream from Leopold’s Ice Cream Cart, live music by the Band of Oz and much more.
All of the Celebrate events, except for the Gala, are free and open to the public. For more information on the celebration, visit Armstrong.edu or check out the Celebrate Festival page on Facebook.
