HANCEVILLE – Wallace State Community College is holding a party for its 50th anniversary in the form of a family-friendly music festival complete with activities and entertainment for all ages.
The Homegrown Music Festival will be held on Saturday, April 30, starting at 10 a.m., and will not end until 10 p.m., that night. All of the activities will be held in and around the Burrow Center for the Fine and Performing Arts.
“We want to throw an event that celebrates Wallace State Community College and the community at the same time,” said Lauren Salerno, theatre instructor at WSCC. “We have so many wonderful things planned for the day. We will have musicians performing inside the Burrow Center. Student groups and organizations will be on hand, and they will offer information about their programs and some will also use the opportunity as fundraisers for their groups.”
The event will have music, food and games and activities for children. “Food trucks from around the area will be onsite for everyone to enjoy a meal as they listen to performers on the terrace or in between acts playing inside the Burrow Center,” Salerno added. “We’ll have tables and chairs underneath a tent where they can sit and eat their meal or snack.
“The games and activities will include a bounce house, face-painting and corn-hole,” Salerno said. “Also, our first musical act, Tangerine Tambourine, is a kids’ band.”
This event was the idea of WSCC President, Vicki Hawsey Karolewics, according to Salerno. The event uses the word “Homegrown” to emphasize that it is not only celebrating the college, but the town that the college calls home.
The Homegrown Music Festival is the largest planned event during the college’s 50th anniversary celebration. The first classes were held at George C. Wallace Trade School of Cullman County in the fall of 1966, with 59 students enrolled in 11 programs taught by 10 instructors. The first graduates were awarded degrees in 1967.
Salerno said that the college has never held an event like this music festival before, but hopes to make it an annual treat for the community.
“We want to work toward making it annual,” she said. “If the community responds the way we think it will. I have already heard from many people, including people in the surrounding counties, that they’re excited about this event.
“We want to issue a special invitation to all of our alumni, whether they earned degrees, certificates, transferred to a four-year university or took any classes at Wallace State,” Salerno said. “No matter how long you attended you are a part of our Wallace State family, and we’d like to celebrate this anniversary with you.”
There is no admission fee for the Homegrown Music Festival, though food vendors will require payment and some school clubs and groups may hold fundraisers during the day.
Bounce houses, games and other activities are planned as part of the day’s events. Entertainment lined up for the day includes: Tangerine Tambourine, Wallace State Singers, Wallace State Jazz Band, WSCC Concert Choir, WSCC Concert Band, Round 2, Three on a String and Edd Jones Orchestra.
For more information, call 256-352-8277. There is still room for vendors, both of art and for food. Contact Laruren.Salerno@wallacestate.edu for more info.
ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE
Homegrown Music Festival, April 30, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- 10 a.m. – Tangerine Tambourine – (Children’s Dance Band)
- 11:30 a.m. – Wallace State Singers
- 1 p.m. – Wallace State Jazz Band
- 2:30 p.m. – Wallace State Concert Choir
- 3:30 p.m. – Wallace State Concert Band
- 4:45 p.m.– Round 2
- 6:30 p.m. – Three on a String
- 8 p.m. – Edd Jones Orchestra
