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THE VOICE OF WILKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE
VOIAJMK 14 - NO. 2
WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
NOVEMBER 15, 1984
Happy Thanksgiving
Dr. David E. Daniel, President.
President’s
Message
Although fall quarter has
practically come and gone so
quickly, these past few months
certainly have represented a
momentus period at Wilkes
Community College.
In August, the college celebrated
a dream that became reality in the
opening of the John A. Walker
Community Center. The 2.1
million dollar facility is being
utilized continually by a wide
range of groups. Civic and
community groups have an ideal
place to conduct their activities;
local business and industry can
become strong and more
profitable through specialized
training conducted at the center;
our local fine arts groups now have
a fine facility in which to present
their talents, and professional
entertainment is scheduled
through the school year. TTie
center truly is fulfilling its purpose
by serving the community in so
many ways.
In October the college honored
its alumni with a reception in the
new Walker Center. TTiis was a
major effort to strengthen the
relationship between alumni and
the college, and the event should
foster continued growth in the
WCC alumni association. A
precedent also was set with the
production of an alumni magazine
at Wilkes Community College.
TTiis was the first publication
designed especially for alumni in
the state’s community college
system.
The WCC Symphony and the
College Theatre started the school
year with probably the best
musical production ever held at the
college. A superb cast and
production staff made “The Music
Man” a success, and this marked
the first college production in the
Nan Davis Van Every auditorium.
We look forward to many more.
Expansion also has depicted fall
quarter at WCC. In Alleghany
County, a second facility opened
this quarter and is being used for
vocational classes. In Ashe
County, construction is in the final
stages for a new skills center to be
in full use by winter quarter. The
10,000 square foot facility, which
includes shop space and
classrooms, will house vocational
and industrial training programs.
Fall quarter has indeed been a
productive and successful period
for Wilkes Community College,
through the untiring efforts of a
determined group of people. The
support and dedication of all those
involved in these major
accomplishments give rise to a
feeling of optimism for continued
growth at Wilkes Community
College.
Hohdays
honored
Freshman Elections
Ihe Freshmen have at Wilkes
Community College have now
elected their Freshman Class
Officers. The elections were held
on Wednesday, October 10 and
Thursday, October 11. The
candidates for each office were: for
president: Sheila Miller and Darin
Moretz; for vice-president; Gina
Elliott and Melissa Johnson; for
secretary: Melissa Anderson; for
treasurer: Tammy Walker; and for
senators: Tina Brinegar, Tim
Porter, and Darren Welborn.
Campaign Week was held the week
preceding the elections. The
candidates put up posters and
campaigned for votes among the
Freshman Class. The candidates
gave their campaign speeches in
the Student Commons on
Tuesday, October 9.
The votes were counted on
Thursday night, October 11 and
the winners were announced
Friday morning, October 12. The
elected officers were: President -
Sheila Miller; Vice-President -
Melissa Johnson; Secretary -
Melissa Anderson; Treasurer -
Tammy Walker; and Senators -
Tina Brinegar, Danny Clack,
Donna Deal, Keith Neaves, Tim
Porter, and Darren Welborn.
The Freshman Class Officers
were sworn in on Tuesday,
October 16. The freshman officers
are now ready to represent their
class. With the support of the
freshman class, they will give some
needed input to the SGA.
Angela Ro>’al
Thanksgiving Many Centuries Old
Setting aside a time of
Thanksgiving is a rite dating from
antiquity. Reasons for giving
thanks varied: a good harvest, a
safe journey, victory in battle,
blessings from God. Celebrations
generally included religious
worship and feasting on assorted
foods.
The Chinese celebrate
Tlianksgiving thousands of years
ago . . . For centuries, the Jews
gave thanks during the eight-day
Feast of Tabernacles. They dined
in small booths whose lattices held
fruits, vegetables and flowers and
were open to the sky as a reminder
of God, the Creator... The Greeks
feasted for nine days in autumn to
honor Demeter, goddess of
agriculture . . . Ditto the Romans
during Cerealia in honor of the
goddess Ceres.
In the New World, Thanks
giving actually preceded both
Columbus and the Pilgrims,
according to the Pennsylvania
Chapter of the Leif Ericsson
Society. The famous Viking
explorer and his men observed a
Thanksgiving Day of prayer and
feasting on roast wild goose some
500 years before Columbus.
In 1565, Pedro Mendendezand
company of Spain gave thanks to
God for a safe landing in Florida.
Here they established St.
Augustine, the oldest permanent
city in the New World. In 1578,
English explorers followed suit
upon landing at Baffin Island. As
did Capt. John Smith when he
made it to Jamestown in 1609.
Thanksgiving became a yearly
affair at the Berkeley Settlement in
Virginia when Capt. John
Woodliefe proclaimed “the day of
our ship’s arrival (Dec. 4, 1618)...
shall be yearly and perpetually
kept holy as a day of thanksgiving
to Almighty God.” And so it was.
Next came 1621. Enter: the
Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock.
Supplied with wild fowl and
venison by Massasoit and the
Wampanoag Indians, they prayed
and feasted on Indian pudding,
hoecakes, eels, lobsters and
gooseberries. Nov. 29, 1623 was
later decreed a Thanksgiving Day
by Gov. William Bradford.
The early 18th century saw the
first of many Hurricane
Thanksgiving Days in the U.S.
Virgin Islands, a day set aside for
successfully surviving hurricane
season. Even though the
hurricanes ceased coming, the day
is still an important holiday there.
Thanksgiving in the colonies
was officially observed Nov. 25,
1775. Then, in 1777, the
Continental Congress ordered the
day set aside for all the colonies.
It was President Lincoln who
first proclaimed Thanksgiving the
fourth Thursday in Nov., 1863,
even though the Civil War raged.
Except for the years 1939-41, when
President Roosevelt changed it to
the third Thursday in November,
Thanksgiving has remained the
fourth Thursday in November.
Hail To
November
November got its name from the
Latin word for nine - for it was the
ninth month in the ancient Roman
calendar.
But it would not have retained
its name except that the Roman
Emperor Tiberius, who was born
in November, declined a proposal
of the Roman Senate to change the
name of the month in his honor.
L
Tony Randall - Dean of the
College.
From The Dean
The various curriculum
departments have provided a
comprehensive Winter schedule to
meet the needs of our students
throughout Ashe, Alleghany, and
Wilkes Counties.
The scheduling process, for
curriculum programs, is a function
of the departmental chairpersons
who solicit input from individual
instructors. Basic schedules are
composed of required courses,
listed in the College catalog, on a
quarterly basis.
Non-required special interest
courses and seminars are
scheduled on a request basis. Any
student having an interest in a
particular course should make it
known to Studefit Services, who
will put the student in touch with
the appropriate department.
Therefore, when sufficient interest
exists for that course, it will then be
offered.
Lifelong learning is a concept
that the Community College is
ideally suited to support. We strive
to make this concept a reality, to
all people in our area, by
comprehensive scheduling and
services.
Tony Randall
Alumni
Association Has
Meeting
Approximately 150 former
students along with staff and
instructors met at the John A.
Walker Community Center for an
evening of renewing old
acquaintenances and viewing the
“Music Man.” All that attended
enjoyed the program, the food,
and the social time with friends.
Dr. Sandra Swaringen at alumni
meeting. (Former Student)