By Cassandra Bell, Catawba Student - Photos: Kaylee Johnson. Theatregoers will enjoy a fun and fabulous musical comedy when they attend Catawba College's production of "The Boy Friend" November 12th through 15th in Hedrick Little Theater on campus. "The Boy Friend" was written by Sandy Wilson and opened on Broadway in 1954. Julie Andrews starred as the original Polly, and years later made her directorial debut when the show took its first national tour.

When Catawba College senior Lindsey Jackson walks across the bricks on Stanback Plaza she does so with a certain amount of pride and relief. As she walks, she can look down and read the names and messages engraved on some of those bricks like: "Catawba Rocks, Class of 1983;" "To D.A.S. Brothers, Congrats! KS '96;" "Like Mother - 1983 & Daughter - 2011;" and "Days in the Sun, HEM and HEM."

by Preston Hinkle, a student in the Ketner School of Business. Representatives from N.C. State University's Master of Accountancy program were on campus recently to speak to Catawba's aspiring accountants about their graduate program. The presentation was held in the Tom Smith Auditorium of Ketner Hall on October 8.

Again this year, Catawba College's Residence Life staff will be using plastic ducks to raise money to buy turkeys — actually, Thanksgiving turkey dinners for needy local families. Catawba's Duck Draw Community Service Fundraiser, now in its sixth year, has raised money to feed close to 500 families, and this year, the goal is to provide at least 150 families with a Thanksgiving meal.

As part of their efforts to raise funds for the 6th annual Thanksgiving Duck Draw, a service project to supply Thanksgiving meals to local families in need, the Office of Student Affairs is selling Catawba College afghans, or throws. The throws are 100% cotton, woven by a company in South Carolina. The generously-sized, approximately 48" by 68" throw features the words Catawba College and the feathered "C" athletics logo.

This Friday and Saturday, October 30 and 31, the Catawba College Theatre Arts Department hosts the North Carolina Theatre Conference High School Regional Play Festival in Keppel Auditorium. The Festival is free and open to the public.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. Good luck trying to pin down Peg Pedersen '58 for an interview. Pedersen and husband Ronald, who live in Latham, N.Y., recently created the Rintz-Pedersen Endowed Fund for Volunteer Service at Catawba. The two are active volunteers — so much so that it's hard to get Pedersen on the phone.

Fifty-four Catawba College students were honored in a pinning ceremony October 14 for their admission to the Teacher Education Program. The ceremony, held in Tom Smith Auditorium, was sponsored by the Student North Carolina Association of Educators' (SNCAE). Joy Jenkins, Cleveland Elementary School and Salisbury-Rowan Teacher of the Year gave a brief presentation to the attendees.

Catawba College's Abernethy Village, a complex of five residence halls, has been LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. The certification recognizes these residence halls as meeting standards for environmentally sustainable construction.

Catawba College's Ralph W. Ketner School of Business invites you to the 4th Distinguished CEO Lecture Series, featuring Chief Executive Officer of New Breed Logistics, Inc., Louis DeJoy. DeJoy's remarks entitled "Tactical Leadership in Changing Environments,” begin at 11 a.m. Thursday, October 29 in Peeler-Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus. The event is free and open to the public.

The OWR&R office is teaming up with North Rowan High School's OCS (Occupational Course of Study Program) starting on Tuesday October 27, 2009 at 1:00. This group of students along with their job coach Mr. James House, a Catawba Alumnus, will be on campus to assist with pulling the recycling from Ketner Hall.

A guest column by Dr. John Wear, executive director of the Center for the Environment, appeared in the Oct. 14 edition of the Charlotte Observer. He noted that cooler summer temperatures, increased rainfall and the recession played a role in the number of reduced ozone alert days. So did environmental laws that were instituted earlier in this decade.

Catawba College's Omicron Chapter of Alpha Chi, the national college honor society, held an initiation ceremony for candidates on Sept. 25th in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on campus. The ceremony was held in conjunction with the college's annual Family Weekend.

Dr. Bethany Sinnott, a Catawba College professor of English, wrote an article, "Why Shakespeare?" that was published in the N.C. Shakespeare Festival's playbill for Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Dr. Sanford Silverburg, professor of Political Science at Catawba College, will serve as editor and as a contributor for "International Law: Readings on Contemporary Problems and Future Issues." The new publication has been approved by the editorial board at Westview Press.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service. Folks living in Tar Heel state may have seen that cheesy announcer, Gameshow Gary, on commercials touting the North Carolina Education Lottery. And people around Charlotte may have seen that goofy burglar being beat up by Panthers football players in a home security commercial. The actor playing both roles just happens to be Catawba College Alumnus Brian Lafontaine '92.

What does OPYP mean? At Catawba College, we're not just a beautiful campus or the ideal location with a great faculty to student ratio. We know that you've made a promise to yourself — a promise to strive, to achieve, and to become what YOU want to be. And that's why we're here — to help you realize your full potential and keep that promise to yourself. At Catawba, "Our Purpose:" is "Your Promise" (OPYP).

By Kathy Chaffin, salisburypost.com David B. Davis celebrated his 100th birthday Friday with the students and staff of the school he helped create. North Hills Christian School went all out to celebrate the milestone birthday of its last remaining founder. Davis, who goes by Dave, and his family founded North Hills in 1967 with the late Roger Harrison and William Ryburn and their families. Close to 300 students, staff, parents and board members attended the party in the school's gymnasium.

By Susan Shinn, Catawba College News Service - Dave Robbins '66 never set out to be a trailblazer. But that's exactly what happened in his life and in his career. The Gastonia native, whose long professional career focused on basketball, actually left his hometown to play basketball at Oak Ridge Academy. He transferred to Catawba on a basketball scholarship in 1964 where he became a football and track performer who played two seasons of basketball.

Award-winning journalist and author Kevin Sites will speak to Catawba College students and others in the campus community in Keppel Auditorium at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 14, and the public is invited to attend. Sites is the author of "In the Hot Zone: One Man, One Year, Twenty Wars," which was Catawba's 2009 Common Summer Reading.

In January 2010, Catawba College will enter into a unique academic relationship with Davidson County Community College (DCCC) in Lexington. Initial courses to be offered at DCCC beginning then will be associated with Catawba's Birth-Kindergarten program, offered currently on Catawba's campus to adult learners through its School of Evening and Graduate Studies.

by Jen Osborne '09 and Terri Hill '09, Sociology Alumnae. Osborne and Hill recount how they became lifelong friends at Catawba, though they gained some "cuts and scrapes" along the way.

Dr. Kathleen G. Lee-Stevens never attended Catawba College, but thanks to a new scholarship established in her memory, future female students from some key North Carolina counties who shared her love of English, Education and Political Science will have that opportunity.

Local audience members will be able to enjoy a host of beautiful voices raised in joyful song on Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. in the Omwake-Dearborn Chapel at Catawba College. In addition to a performance by the highly acclaimed 72-voice Catawba Singers, the Catawba Chamber Singers, Catawba Gospel Choir, and the newly formed Catawba Women's Chorale will perform.

Connor McPherson's drama, "The Weir," uses superstition and uncertainty to explore hope and regret when five characters find themselves sharing tales in an isolated pub on a windy Irish night. As the characters' lips loosen with libations, they reveal more about themselves than they intended. Performances of "The Weir," a student-directed production offered by Catawba College's Blue Masque Society...

by Bill Shockley '68, Psychology Alumnus. Shockley, who had a history of being a prankster, shares how one of his most clever pranks caught up with him one day.

Three outstanding business leaders will be inducted into the Catawba College Business Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 7. The event will be held in Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus. Darlene Landis Ball of Greensboro, the late Enoch A. Goodman of Salisbury and James F. Hurley, III of Salisbury will comprise the third class of business leaders to be honored by the Ralph W. Ketner School of Business...

by Gennie Lou (Piercy) Byerly '61, English Alumna. Byerly recalls how she managed to "bow out" of the tradition the other young ladies all participated in at Catawba.

by Gerald Phelps '67, Social Studies Alumnus. Phelps recalls the early challenges of attending college, then meeting a young woman who would hold his heart for over 35 years.

by Tom Crump '51, Business Alumnus. Crump relays the story of how a gift given to his college roommate recently reacquainted him with what he had not seen in years — but that had made its way to Arizona and back to Salisbury 57 years later.

by Bill Shockley '68, Psychology Alumnus. Shockley tells of how he and his roommate investigated an unexplained activity — and came face-to-face with the "Ghost of Hedrick Hall."

Source: SalisburyPost.com - Rebecca "Becky" Kepley-Lee, principal of Cleveland Elementary School, has been selected as the 2010 Wachovia Principal of the Year for the Rowan-Salisbury School System in a program sponsored by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and Wachovia Corp., a part of Wells Fargo Co.

By Kathy Chaffin, Salisbury Post - It was an enchanted evening in an enchanted building overlooking a pristine 189-acre ecological preserve. Luminarias lined the path to the Center for the Environment at Catawba College Friday night, while white lights outlined the three-level building. "It's like a fairyland," said Karen Alexander of KKA Architecture, who designed the green facility.

Alumni came back to campus for Homecoming Weekend 2009. Events they attended included a football game and tailgating before it, awards events, including the Blue Masque Hall of Fame and the Distinguished Alumnus Awards, a block party following the game and a gathering of the Golden Club. View photos and more from the weekend...

Four Catawba College alumni were recognized as recipients of Distinguished Alumnus Awards during Homecoming activities on October 3. Nancy Foster Councill '80 of Monkton, Md., Dr. Verne Lanier '62 of Durham, N.C., Dr. Arlan Mantz '62 of New London, Conn., and Barbara Marshall '72 of Cary, N.C., were honored during a barbecue luncheon held in Goodman Gymnasium on campus.

Since 1926, Catawba College's student newspaper, The Pioneer, has been a printed publication. Not anymore; it's now online at www.catawba.edu/pioneer. Students enrolled in Communication Arts Instructor Cyndi Wittum's Applied Journalism course have been working on stories and photographs for the new online site since the beginning of the fall semester.

The Catawba "Pride" pep band will perform a special exhibition performance at the 4th Annual Lord Salisbury Marching Band Classic to be held in Shuford Stadium next Saturday, October 10. The classic will feature 12 superior high school marching bands from across North Carolina.

Catawba College's English Department invites the public to a reading by Irish poet Ann Leahy on at 7:30 p.m., Monday, October 12, in Tom Smith Auditorium. Leahy's appearance is made possible by a grant from Culture Ireland.

Susan Hasler spent 21 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where she held a variety of jobs: Russian linguist, Soviet analyst, speechwriter for CIA Directors R. James Woolsey, John Deutch, and George Tenet, and counterterrorism analyst. She was working in the CIA Counterterrorism Center on September 11, 2001, and witnessed first hand our nation’s response to the worst terror attack in our history.

A biochemist in UNC-Chapel Hill's Department of Nutrition will talk on "Nutrition and Environment: Could Arsenic in our Water be Causing Diabetes?" on Thursday, Oct. 29, at the Center for the Environment at Catawba College. The 7 p.m. presentation will be followed by a reception.

More than 100 Catawba College students, faculty and staff put their names in a hat for a chance to win a Brita water pitcher and six winners were chosen. The giveaway was another Green Pig Initiative for the campus and was designed to heighten awareness to an Oct. 1st statewide ban on plastic bottles being disposed in landfills.