On Friday, Longwood students, staff, and faculty, as well as other members of the Farmville Community, went to the Longwood Landings to visit this year's Rock the Block.
This was the third year that the Office of the First Year Experience has put on the event. According to Sarah Whitley, Director of the Office of the First Year Experience, the event went extremely well, with "a record number of vendors." Whitley also said that this was the largest Rock the Block so far based on community support.
The one downside to this year's event, according to Whitley, was the weather. "Some students were probably deterred by the rain," she explained. Despite the weather, however, the novelty items at the vendor booths attracted many students for the entire evening. "The vendor booths this year," Whitley said, "were the best we've ever had."
This year's edition of the annual block party featured over 60 businesses and organizations offering free items. Many of students' favorite local businesses were present, including Taco Bell, Virginia Credit Union, Farmville Miniature Golf, Poplar Forest Apartments, The Sleeping Bee, and Barnes & Noble. Moe's Southwest Grill and Chick-fil-A also had tasting booths to showcase their products. Taco Bell and Chick-fil-A had their mascots, a hot sauce packet and cow respectively, in attendance as well.
The Dining Hall featured their usual picnic, but this time around they were able to use an electronic system to scan student's IDs in for the meal. The picnic has always been included in the student's meal plan and an additional cost (usually $10) for those without a meal plan. Brenda Ferguson, Assistant Director for Operational Excellence, explained that the line was slightly slow due to an influx of students coming to get dinner immediately following the fraternity walk, but other than that she felt like the picnic progressed smoothly.
Senior Allyson Johnson said that "This is one of the best ones I've been to so far. It's a great way to get to know the town and see what there is to do. It was a lot of fun this year."
Also taking place at the event this year was the announcement of Longwood's new mascot name. The once nameless mascot has now been dubbed "Elwood". The new mascot, which is a horse featuring red and green wristbands to represent each class at Longwood, was unveiled at this year's GAME 2.0 earlier in the semester.
Junior Chuck Wongus said, "I'm a fan of Elwood as a name. It has a double meaning, like L-Wood, Elwood… but I would have preferred something with alliteration, like Larry the Lancer."
Also at the event was a mechanical bull available for riding by those who were brave enough, and an Orbitron. Drawings were also held for entrants to win items like a Nintendo Wii, iPad, iPhone.
Longwood President Patrick Finnegan said, "this is one of the first ones that Joan and I have come to. It's a great event to bring together the University and community. This is a great thing they put on every year and it's a great place for our students to visit." Friday also had a large picnic dinner provided by Aramark for all those with a meal plan, featuring steak and potatoes, with a drink. Featured at Rock the Block as well was the band Full Metal Jackson, who did a cover of many artists, ranging from Journey to Britney Spears. The band appears at colleges up and down the East Coast. The evening culminated with a brief fireworks show.
