Local Red Hat Society members engaged in MainStreet Dayton's Mardi Gras celebration Saturday / Triangle photo by Krissy Proctor

Krissy Proctor
Copy Editor

Mardi Gras took its own sweet time drifting up to Dayton this year, but it certainly was better late than never.

Last Saturday afternoon, an estimated 800 people, including Bryan students and faculty, celebrated the party affair, jazzing their way down Main Street to classic swing tunes and sultry saxophone blues.

MainStreet Dayton’s second annual family-focused event ran from 3-8 p.m. on April 9, over a month after the traditional celebration ended on March 8. This was due to the organization’s desire to not conflict with other events usually occurring within that early spring period such as Spring Break and other pre-planned community events, according to Anna Tromanhauser, MainStreet Dayton’s executive director.

This year’s festivities included swing dancing in the middle of Main Street, vocal performances by local singers Vicky Gould and Chattanooga Idol winner Josh Melton, Cajun-style cooking featured at Mansfield’s Diner, an inflatable slide furnished by Kings of Bounce and shopping at local Mardi Gras bedecked stores.

“We wanted this to be a family-friendly event and something the whole community could enjoy,” said Tromanhauser.  “….But one of the main goals of MainStreet Dayton is to bring people down to shop in and support the local stores.  I think things went really well this year.”

Bryan students also got in on the fun with performances from the student-led MainStreet Swing group and instrumental entertainment was provided throughout the day by junior Aaron Hunt on saxophone and sophomore Kelly Findley on keyboard.

“Being a musical hobo can actually be very lucrative,” Hunt said, joking about the some-odd $30 he made in tips and donations throughout the afternoon.  “I definitely enjoyed playing…in the street and at the bandstand.”

MainStreet Swing dancers Rob Franklin and Paul Coblentz invite ladies from the Red Hat Society out for a dance / Triangle photo by Krissy Proctor

The MainStreet Swing group, led by senior Rob Franklin and freshman Paul Coblentz, also performed routines twice during the afternoon – drawing in some of the largest crowds of the event where people, young and old alike, began by tapping their toes, but found themselves pulled in to an impromptu dance party along the fringes of the main square.

Two of the more colorfully-costumed, jiving characters, identified as members of the local Red Hat Society dressed “incognito” in purple, green and yellow for the occasion, were later invited to join the routine itself for a performance.

“We saw a group of attention-grabbing, experienced dancers on their own dancing alone and we guys decided we should step in,” said Franklin.  “It was really fun and definitely one of my favorite parts of the day…besides watching our dancers model the Mardi Gras costumes at the main pavilion.”

Coblentz, who will be assuming leadership of MainStreet Swing next year, says the group already plans to work closely with MainStreet Dayton in the coming months and hopes to schedule similar performances soon.

Student Government Association has created a new executive treasury position, seeking to ease the load of dealing with finances within Events Council.

Junior Amy Morris and senior Chad Byers, the vice presidents of on and off-campus events, appointed junior Aaron Hunt to the unofficial position of Events Council treasurer at the beginning of  spring semester.

The new position will not be official unless senate amends the SGA constitution by the end of the semester.

According to Morris, this semester is a trial run to test the effectiveness of the office.

Events Council spends more money than class SGAs, according to Morris.  Previously, the administrative assistant or a class vice president has handled the finances of events council, but the task is not officially assigned to anyone.

According to Hunt, the position is similar to the other offices of Events Council because he helps plan events and share ideas for implementing events. However, the treasurer is different because he runs the budget, gives reports to the vice presidents of on and off-campus events and turns in receipts to reimburse students who purchase items for events.

Because Events Council has been planning more events than in past years, members of SGA decided to add a treasurer position to take care of the money and function as an extra hand, said Morris.

So far, Hunt has been involved in the planning of the Talent Show, Barbarian Wars and the Midnight Cruise.

According to Morris, the position may become the third executive office purposely filled by appointment. The vice presidents of on and off-campus events will appoint a student to fill the position next year if the trial is effective.

Spring 2008: Junior Robert Ethan Hargraves auditioned his freshman year for the musical “Man of La Mancha,” which requires a minimum of 12 male actors and two large choruses. Only five males showed up to the auditions, and two of them had technically graduated, according to Hargraves. The musical never made it to the stage that year.

Sophomore TJ Wilson and junior Jason Hundley rehearse for next Thursday's performance. Triangle photo by Staff Photographer Maddie Doucet.

The musical is based on the 1959 play “I, Don Quixote” by Dale Wasserman, which was inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ 17th century book “Don Quixote.” Music was composed by Mitch Leigh with lyrics by Joe Darion.

Hargraves said that a lack of male interest in theater can present an obstacle to certain productions because some men would deem it “slightly foppish,” as they also would genuine ballroom dancing.

For the most part, Bryan College’s Hilltop Players have not struggled casting male roles, according to Associate Professor of Communication Studies Bernie Belisle. He said that particular year they had already staged two musicals, and the male actors who had the singing voices and could have played the parts were not willing to commit the time that the musical would require.

Even though plays take commitment and flexibility, musicals require more out of the actors and actresses because they have to sing, act and sometimes dance, according to Belisle.

“I just put it on the back burner and said, ‘We’ll do it some day when we have the people to do it,’” Belisle said.

Spring 2010: Hargraves once again auditioned for “Man of La Mancha” and landed a lead role as a character who doubles as both the manservant and Sancho Panza. The timing was right for the musical because the right number of males auditioned with the talent to perform it.

“The musical is played out as a play within a play, with Cervantes and his manservant acting out the story of Don Quixote to their fellow prisoners,” Hargraves said.

Don Quixote tries to “right all wrongs” and views the other characters in the best possible light, according to Belisle. When he encounters a prostitute at an inn, he calls her his “honorable lady.” Even though she is not, she becomes how he views her because of his influence.

Belisle said that he has always liked the musical because of its redemptive message. It is about the “power of seeing people in the best possible light despite their depravity.”

“I kind of compare it to how God sees us,” he said, “He sees the good in us. He sees the possibilities in us even though we are fallen creatures.”

The cast and crew practice every Monday through Thursday from 7-10 p.m.

At first the cast was uncomfortable with the “infamous rape scene,” according to freshman Aaron Hunt, who plays the part of Juan the Muleteer. Juan’s most important responsibility is making clip-clop sounds when the pretend horses are galloping.

“Thanks to Mr. B, the scene is not working out anything like a rape scenario,” he said. “I don’t know anyone who is uncomfortable with it now.”

The set, which is a dungeon, is “elaborate and complicated,” according to Hunt, because large portions of the cast have to navigate it at one time.

Hargraves agreed that the set has proved to be a slight obstacle with portions of it being 15 feet high.

“The challenge will be ending production week with no causalities,” he said. “Knock on wood.”

The musical will be performed April 15-17 at 7:30 p.m. in Rudd Auditorium.

Tickets went on sale Wednesday, April 7, at 12 -4:30 p.m. in the box office. The cost will be $6 for Bryan students, faculty and staff.

Students and visitors who attended spring banquet on Saturday will remember the small, decorative pond located in front of the first floor entrance to Latimer Student Center. The pond symbolized the banquet’s theme “A Night on the Riviera.”

However, four hours after the banquet ended at 7:45 p.m., freshman Aaron Hunt walked through Latimer and discovered the pond had leaked nearly 75 percent of its water onto the Rhea County Room floor and part of the cafeteria floor.

Hunt contacted members of the freshmen SGA who organized 19 volunteers, including 18 students and one visitor, to begin a clean-up effort. Students were assisted by Rita Hayman, the night watch official on duty, who provided them access to two water vacuums and the inside of the gated cafeteria.

The volunteers worked from 2 to 3 a.m. moving tables and chairs, vacuuming the areas with the most water, draining the mops and buckets, emptying the pond, and discovering the cause of the leak.

The leak was caused by a 1.5 inch vertical cut in the lining of the pond. The cut was located near the front of the pool about 10 inches from its top.

According to Hayman, it is unlikely that such an incision could have been made accidentally. Only a knife or some other sharp object could have made such a clean cut because tears form in a more circular pattern and the pond lining was resting against a solid, bumpy wall of rocks.

The pond held water until 9:30 p.m. without leaking, according Freshman Class Treasurer Kelly Findley, but it is unknown what time the leak began after that.

Nothing in the cafeteria or the Rhea County Room was damaged by the leak, according to Diana Buttram, administrative assistant for the Office of Operations.