THE » PILOT
Gardner-WfebbCdkge
NOVEMBER 8,1979
BOILING SPRINGS, NORTH CAROLINA
^Homecoming Happenings 1979: A Success!’
If you happened to stay on campus and forego a trip home
on the weekend of October 19, you may have noticed an un
due amount of activity occurring as the weekend progress
ed. Don’t be alarmed—Gardner-Webb College was celebrat
ing Homecoming ’79! The festivities began on Thursday,
October 18 with Spirit Day. Everyone was urged to wear
scarlet, black, and white. The movie “Smokey and the
Bandit” was shown on Thursday evening. Judging from the
size and the reaction of the crowd, this movie was a great
success. During the night, an unknown Bulldog fan made a
“Charmin” contribution to the Homecoming decor. On Fri
day, the Student Center Board sponsored the ventriloquist
act of Willie Tyler and his “partner” Lester. Their act was
followed by a concert by the Plimi Hollow Band. This blue-
grass band presented “good ol’ down-home” music, for
those who appreciate the finer things in life.
Homecoming Day begM early Saturday morning with
the judging of the dorm decorations. Campus House won
first place, followed by Lutz-Yelton in second place. HAPY
received honorable mention. One of the highlights of the day
was the carnival from 9:00-11:00. Many clubs and groups
participated by setting up booths and various activities.
Among these were a ring toss, a log toss, an impressive self-
defense presentation by the Karate Club, and a ventrilo
quist act by Donna Easter. After the carnival, a parade was
David Dyches—hot stuff!
Homecoming Queen Delana Gray enjoys
the honor of her new title.
SPOTLIGHT:
Eva and Angela
held. Joimng the parade was the Bulldog Band and several
floats, sponsored by each class and various clubs. The Reli
gious Education Club won first place in the float competi
tion with its theme of “The Muppet Movie.” The parade
ended at the site of the new Convocation Center for the
groundbreaking ceremony. A large crowd turned out for
this very impressive event. Among the many speeches, it
was revealed that the projected date of completion will be in
April 1981.
After a picnic lunch held at the stadium, the Gardner-
Webb Bulldogs played Carson-Newman in football. The
highlight of the game occurred during half-time when Dr.
Craven Williams crowned Delana Gray as Homecoming
Queen. The Homecoming Court was recognized, with
Delores Long representing the Senior class; Audrey Awtry,
the Junior class; Tammy Gabard, the Sophomore class; and
Janet Bates, the Freshman class. After the game. Open
House was held in the dorms. The Homecoming activities
were topped off by a dance Saturday night in the gym,
featuring Communication Breakdown and Sid the Surf
disco. Special thanks should be given to the Homecoming
Committee for its efforts in making Homecoming 1979 a
great success.
by Ruth Ann Brunson
If for some reason you
venture to find yourself in
our cafeteria, your attention
might, on occasion, be
drawn to a circle of people
who are engaged in uproar
ious laughter. Located in the
center of this circle is a girl
who does not, at present,
have the ability to move her
legs. You may feel pangs of
sorrow for this girl but, as
you watch from a distance,
your pity moves to admira
tion and possibly envy when
you see her amidst scores of
friends. Eva Whittington is
quite an extraordinary
young woman. She is a soph
omore at Gardner-Webb.
Eva resides in HAPY dorm
and anyone will tell you that
the name of the dorm aptly
describes Eva’s smiling dis
position. Most of the stu
dent body heard Eva when
she sang during Fall Revi
val. Her beautiful voice
automatically gave away her
major of music.
But, this story is not even
half over, because of another
young lady who charms our
student body with her
bright face and delightful
personality. Angela Smith is
a day student from Cherry-
ville and she, like Eva, is
also confined to a wheel
chair. Angela is undecided
as to her major but she is
considering either Library
Science or French. Being a
student of the French
language myself, I quickly
suggested she delve deeper
into the field of Library
Science. When you see
Angela going to her classes,
she always has her “trusty
companion” (No, not Tonto)
with her, David Gibson.
Eva and Angela have
more than the obvious in
common. During the
summer, they both partici
pated in the Miss Wheel
chair North Carolina
Pageant. They were more
than happy to tell me of
their experiences and give
me some information on the
pageant itself.
The Miss Wheelchair
North Carolina is a non
profit organization and was
formed for the purpose of
conducting an annual
contest and pageant to
select “Miss Wheelchair
North Carolina”. This con
test was designed to focus
more attention on the abili
ties, rather than the disabil
ities, of the handicapped in
dividual. The judging cri
teria consists of: personal
accomplishments, personali
ty, and appearance, but the
coordinators of the Miss
Wheelchair Pageant state
emphatically that the com
petition is not a beauty con
test. The appearance cate
gory is included only in an
attempt to pick a girl who is
capable of creating favora
ble responses from any
audience before which Miss
Wheelchair would appear.
Friday night before the
day of the contest consisted
of a semi-formal banquet,
dinner, and disco dancing.
On Saturday night, July 7,
the contestants met with the
judges for ten-minute inter
views. They attended work
shops and practiced for the
contest. On Pageant night,
each contestant went on
stage in order to convince
the judges that she could
handle the job of Miss
Wheelchair North Carolina.
Toward the end of the com
petition, Angela was award
ed the title of “Miss
Achievement”. This award
is given to the girl who, in
the opinion of flie judges,
has achieved the greatest
adjustment since the onset
of her disability. Although
Angela neglected to mention
it, Eva gladly told me that
Angela received a standing
ovation from the crowd
when she received her title.
Eva and Angela enjoyed
the opportunity to partici
pate in the pageant and they
feel that the pageant needs
more community support
and wide-spread publicity.
Earlier in this story, I re
ferred to Eva as “amazing”
and Angela as having a
“charming personality”, but
words cannot accurately
describe these two people
who have overcome such
odds to be where they are
today.