by Matt Crutchfield, senior staff writer
The iron curtain of athletic rivalry between Bryan College and Covenant College (Lookout Mt., Ga.) was torn down last Saturday when the two schools united to celebrate the creative art of film.
The first annual Broad Street Film Festival was held at the Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga, Tenn. and was enjoyed by students and staff members from both colleges, as well as honored friends and family.
The award ceremony was hosted by Bryan College senior, Eric McEachron, and included talented performances by students from both colleges and across the entertainment spectrum. The house bands this year were divided between the colleges and were a blend of original songs and popular covers.
Members of the Bryan College basketball team demonstrated a new form of talent to their peers and other members of the audience. Junior Xavierian McCall and sophomore Derek Batt were the opening act, pumping up the crowd with an original song.
However, musical performances were just one of several showcases of talent. The Bryan College Advance Stage Movement performed a showcase of classic dance, ranging from fifties pop music to the boy-band days of the nineties and beyond.
Senior Brett Myers displayed more of his magical personality at the festival, appearing inside a bamboo cage of fiery peril, only to mesmerize the audience by splitting fellow Bryan student Emily Ricketts in half.
Though the live entertainment alone would have been an evening well-spent, the purpose of the night was to honor the filmmakers, actors, and actresses that attend the two colleges.
It was an evening of firsts, not the least of which being the laying down of arms between the Lions and Scots. The audience was introduced to the “Wheland” for the first time, a name taken from the pages of Chattanooga’s history and applied to the individual awards offered at the festival. Several Bryan students were recognized for their creative genius, winning the first Whelands in Bryan College history, and many Bryan students attended their first dance party, hosted by Covenant College in an East Main art gallery.
