If you enjoyed the Ozarks Celebration Festival this year or in the past and would like to help secure future Festivals, you have an opportunity to help while enjoying a delightful evening of dinner and entertainment. “An Evening of Bluegrass and BBQ at the Top of the Tower” is set for Friday, Sept. 23 at 6:00 p.m. in the Tower Club, located at the top of Hammons Tower. The evening includes cocktails, a dessert buffet, a silent auction, and a private concert by Beyond Reach.

All proceeds benefit the Ozarks Celebration Festival. Tickets are only $35 and may be purchased by contacting Barbara Jones, Ozarks Celebration Festival director, at (417) 836-6605 or BarbaraJones@missouristate.edu.

Join us starting this weekend for the 14th Annual Ozarks Celebration Festival on the Missouri State University campus, September 9-14, 2011! Since 1998, the festival has been an entertaining and educational look at the region’s culture and heritage, and we hope you’ll come out to celebrate with us.

The festival kicks off Friday evening, Sept. 9 at 5:00 p.m. at the John H. Keiser Amphitheater (located on the east lawn of Strong Hall) with the annual Concert Under the Stars and Ice Cream Social. This year’s concert features three southwest Missouri favorites: The Blackberry Winter Band performs from 5:30-7 p.m., Beyond Reach, featuring original Ozark Mountain Daredevils Larry Lee and Randle Chowning, performs from 7-8 p.m. followed by Big Smith, from 8-10 p.m. Bring your blankets and lawn chairs and get there early for the best possible seating and your share of ice cream! Free parking for the Concert Under the Stars and Ice Cream Social is available at the lot off Holland and Grand.

Saturday, Sept. 10 and Sunday, Sept. 11 is the craft and music portion of the Festival, which will be held on the grounds in front (east) of Carrington Hall. This year’s event showcases more than 75 craftsmen and exhibitors. Four entertainment stages feature a wide variety of music all weekend, ranging from folk and bluegrass to traditional American and Irish music. Children and parents alike will enjoy the storytelling performances and special kids area with lots of fun activities. Free parking for weekend festivities is available in lots near the corner of National and Monroe and all lots south of Grand. Shuttles will pick up at Bear Park North, Bear Park South, lot 14, lot 24, and the visitor’s parking lot (lot 13).

To commemorate the tragic events of September 11th, “Taps” will be played in echo style at 1:00 p.m. on the steps of Carrington Hall. Dr. Roger Stoner, associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters, and Dr. John Prescott, professor of music, will take part in this performance. You are also invited to attend a special concert at the Jane A. Meyer Carillon, located near Meyer Library, at 7:00 p.m. Janet Tebbel, a carilloneur from Philadelphia, will perform “Reconciliation and Remembering 9/11,” a concert featuring traditional American hymns and folk songs. After the concert, Dr. Stoner and Dr. Prescott will join fourteen other trumpet players in a cascade performance of “Taps.”

Engaging lectures and discussions continue after the weekend’s activities. Be sure to catch the Ozarks Lecture Series scheduled in Plaster Student Union’s Traywick Parliamentary Room (PSU 313) from Monday, Sept. 12 to Wednesday, Sept. 14. The lectures feature a variety of authors, storytellers, musicians, and historians presenting unique perspectives of Ozarks history and culture. Some of the presentations this year include:

• “Erasing Boundaries and Discovering an Early Seedbed of Ozark Settlement”
  —Joan Gould
• “The Archaeology of Slavery and Freedom in Ash Grove, Missouri: Recent Excavations at the Berry and Boone Homestead Sites”
  —Dr. Elizabeth Sobel
• “Vigilante Justice in the Ozarks: The Baldknobbers of Southwest Missouri, 1885-1889″
  —Dr. Matthew J. Hernando
• “An Ozarks Record Collector Looks at Popular Ozarks Music Through the Years”
  —Wayne Glenn
• “Momma Don’t Own a Machine Gun: Looking for Al Capone in the Ozarks” and “Where We’re From: Fair Grove Middle School Students Write About Place”
  —Kim Piddington, Colleen Appel

Don’t miss this chance to learn more about Ozarks culture from people who have lived and studied it. See the complete lecture schedule online at ocf.missouristate.edu/lectures.htm.

Benefiting the Ozarks Celebration Festival and the Ozarks Studies Program, the benefit concert will take place in the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts.

Tickets for the concert are $15 for general admission and $25 for Gold-circle (Orchestra Pit) seating. There will be a reception following the concert for patrons with Gold-circle seating. Visit Missouri State Tix or call (417) 836-7678, toll-free at 1-888-476-7849.

The Ozarks Celebration Festival is an entertaining and educational look at the region’s culture and heritage. The University launched the festival in 1998 with the hope that it will foster a sense of place and understanding of place for both natives of the Ozarks and visitors as well. This year’s festival will feature more than 75 traditional artists and craftspeople with three entertainment stages featuring music (which will include traditional, bluegrass, and gospel music), storytelling, traditional dance (including square, jig, contra and clogging), films, historical characters, exhibits, and much more. Many of the finest artists and craftspeople in the region will be on hand to demonstrate and display their creations, offering a number of items for sale.

The Ozarks Studies Program aims to preserve the Ozark heritage, culture, environment and history through sharing a comprehensive knowledge of the people, places, characteristics and dynamics of the Ozarks. The program also seeks to discover new knowledge about the Ozarks and provides access to the knowledge. It is a program with a comprehensive view of the Ozarks through a multi-disciplinary, university wide effort.

More photo highlights are available on our Facebook page. Video highlights below are courtesy Missouri State’s Office of Web and New Media from the University’s YouTube Channel.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6FR_fZsnPQ

Writers Showcase: Celebrating Missouri State University Student Publications

Co-sponsored by the English Department, the English Society, the University Honors College, and the Writers Hall of Fame, the October 14th “Writers Showcase: Celebrating Missouri State University Student Publications” drew audiences totaling 140 to two afternoon reading sessions and an awards ceremony. Samantha Rohaus, a history major, and Miles Adam Park, a religious studies major, received awards from Dr. Art Spisak, Director of the Honors College, for contributions to Logos: A Journal of Undergraduate Research. Ryan Edwards and Eric Hartman were honored for contributions to Composing Ourselves: Writing from the Composition Program at Missouri State University. Presenting their awards were English Society co-presidents Sarah Wynn and Ann Robb.  Joseph Lucido, Heather Cook, and Lee Busby received awards for contributions to Moon City Review; these were presented by local businessman and author, David Harrison, Karen Horny, Dean of Library Sciences, and by businessman and author, James Leon Combs. On behalf of the Writers Hall of Fame, Paul Johns presented  ”achievement in publications” awards to Jessica Glover and Eric Knickerbocker, both graduate students in English. A special recognition award was presented to Eric Pervukhin, professor of art and design, for his work on behalf of Moon City Review. The afternoon reading and awards ceremony was organized by Dr. Lanette Cadle, assistant professor of English. The publications featured in the “Writers Showcase” reflect the university’s commitment to faculty/student collaboration and to student success in research, writing, editing, and publishing.

(Photographic Services provided these photos:)