The Appalachian
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More than just beer! High Country Beer Fest features music, food beer, entertainment, education as well as beer
by MEGHAN FRICK Lifestyles Editor
This weekend, the lawn outside the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center will fill up with people, music and food – and, of course, plenty of brews. The fourth annual High Country Beer Fest will take place Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m. The event will feature samples of craft beer from a growing list of breweries, food from local restaurants, performances by three local bands and a full day of beerrelated seminars. Beer Fest is not all fun and games, though – for founder Brett F. Taubman, it is also about awareness. “There are so many breweries out there and so many different styles and so many different, good beers out there that it would be a shame to limit your palate to the three or so big labels that are out there. We want to show people how good beer today can be,” said Taubman, who teaches in the chemistry department and heads up Appalachian State University’s Ivory Tower Brewery. Shea R. Tuberty, another founder of the event, said the educational component of High Country Beer Fest separates it from other beer festivals in the country. “One of our mottos is actually ‘education, not intoxication.’ Everybody gets intoxicated too, but we teach them along the way,” Tuberty said. To that end, Beer Fest 2011 will feature six educational seminars. Attendees can learn about home brew at 3:30 p.m., hops in North Carolina at 4:30 p.m. or attend a professional brewer panel at 5:30 p.m. Food-based seminars include cheese and cured meat pairing, pizza and beer pairing, and beer and dessert pairing. Food seminars are offered at 3:30 and 5:00 p.m. Along with seminars - and food and beer tastings - the festival also features local music. This year, The Switch, The Henhouse Thieves and Swift Science are set to perform. J.D. Rust, a senior biology major at Appalachian, plays lead guitar and vocals for Swift Science.
Rust said he thinks the crowd will enjoy his band’s set, especially “if they like to groove.” “I…have a bit of a reputation for getting really into the music,” he said, “which usually leads to a few stage antics.” In addition to the day-of events, Peabody’s Wine & Beer Merchants will offer a week of tastings and ticket giveaways leading up to the event. The tastings will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. each night from Monday to Friday. Each night will feature special selections from a different brewery whose beers will also be available at Beer Fest. Featured breweries include Foothills Brewery, Old Hickory Brewery, Blue Point Brewery, Catawba Valley Brewing and Sierra Nevada. Those who attend the tastings will have the opportunity to put their name in a hat, in order to win a free ticket to Saturday’s Beer Fest, Peabody’s beer manager Chris Riley said. Beer Fest tickets are $30 for general admission or $10 for designated drivers, and are available at hcbeerfest.com/tickets. Tickets generally sell out before the day of the festival, Tuberty said. Taubman said every effort is made to avoid alcohol-related incidents the day of the festival. Designated drivers are offered discounted tickets, the Tipsy Taxi service
offers free rides, Bill’s Towing offers free towing and carpooling is strongly encouraged, Tuberty said. “Do not drive there unless you absolutely have to,” Taubman said. “If you do, make sure you have an exit strategy.”
Draft beer is not the only thing that is being offered at this year’s High Country Beer Fest. There will be beer-centric seminars as well as the educational theme that there is more than just High Life and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
File Photo | The Appalachian
Schedule of Food/Beer Pairing Seminars: All seminars offered twice, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. and 5 - 6 p.m. - Cheese and Cured Meat Pairing - sponsored by Erick’s Cheese and Wine - hosted by Randall Ray and Scott Pickett - Pizza and Beer Pairing - sponsored by Mellow Mushroom - hosted by Chase Luddeke
- Beer and Dessert Pairing - hosted by Gaila Hodgin, Avery County School District Culinary Arts Source: hcbeerfest.com Instructor
Students feel the impact of Hurricane Irene back home
by REBECCA HAMBLETON
Intern News Reporter
While Appalachian State University students were safe in Boone, many of their families and hometowns were affected over the weekend by Hurricane Irene. “The storm flooded everything,” said Kristen L. Novak, a sophomore global studies major from Bethlehem, Pa. “There are two major rivers that connect where I live – the Lehigh and the Delaware. There was so much water you couldn’t even tell where they met.” Early Saturday, The United States National Weather Service reported that Hurricane Irene was 100 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras. It followed the East Coast, moving north and further inland. Novak’s hometown was hit harder than most of North Carolina. “There was no major flooding in my neighborhood. The only major damage was one of my dad’s greenhouses was completely destroyed,” said Austin J. Huffman, a sophomore English secondary education major from Richlands, N.C. Huffman’s family owns a farm and he says that he has “been greatly affected by the storm in both good and bad ways.” “We were in an extreme drought
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Vol. 86 No. 03
Campus calls on undergraduates on, off campus by MATT CAULDER News Reporter
Courtesy of Creative Commons
Servicemen of B. Company 120th Combined Arms Battalion unload gear while preparing to relieve those battered by Hurricane Irene. Irene, North Carolina’s first hurricane of 2011, hit the coast hard, affecting many Appalachian State students and their families.
most of the summer, so my dad’s crops have suffered. The rain was helpful, but for most of the crops, it came a little too late,” Huffman said. “Last I heard from him, a lot of his corn harvest will be low because a lot of it was blown down from the wind.” Although the destruction to his family’s crops was a hard hit, Huffman
said he was relieved that the only other damages were power outages and fallen trees. Irene was expected to be one of the worst hurricanes in years. As dark clouds moved in and governors urged their citizens to evacuate, panic struck. see Irene, page 2
Jewish students find home with community
by HANK SHELL News Editor
The High Country’s Jewish community broke ground on Boone’s first ever temple, Sunday. The new Temple of the High Country/Schaefer Jewish Community Center will serve as a permanent home for Boone’s resident Jewish community as well as Appalachian State University, as the facility will be located within walking distance from campus. Lauren H. Fine, sophomore, came to Appalachian from Charlotte and a larger religious community. She said she was surprised to find that the Jewish community in Boone did not have their own place of worship. “It just wasn’t something that even occurred to me, and
then when I heard services were held at a church I said ‘well that’s awesome but why don’t we have a building?’” Fine is the president of Hillel, Appalachian’s only Jewish student organization. The congregation of the Temple of the High Country and Hillel currently attend Shabbat services in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. The new facility will have a space for Hillel, in addition to resources for the local community. “I was extremely surprised and grateful to find out that they are building a room basically for us in the temple,” Fine said. “That was just incredible to me.” “The Hillel here has always been a vital part of our con see Jewish, page 2
On Tuesday, off-campus and on-campus welcome programs joined for House Calls, a program that welcomes new freshmen to campus and connects student apartments to resources they can utilize. T. Hayes Cummings, a 19-year-old freshman performance music major living in Doughton, was the first stop for two volunteers. “I think it’s nice and shows they care and free stuff you know,” Cummings said. One hundred and fifteen faculty, staff and graduate students volunteered for House Calls. Volunteers ranged from residence hall employees to vice chancellors, and members from 61 different departments were mentioned as volunteering for House Calls. He said, “It’s fun. I get to meet students doing the stuff that’s not ‘academic’.” Zrull is a professor in the psychology department volunteering with House Calls for his second time this year. Shannon A. Perry, a recent graduate of Appalachian State University’s Appalachian studies program, teaches a first year seminar at Appalachian. She headed to Bowie Residence Hall for her first House Call experience. “It’s about fostering community,” Perry said. One unlikely volunteer was Scout, a trained therapy dog from the Appalachian Counseling Center who accompanied Carol O’Saben, the center’s clinical director. Scout is a 2-year-old White German Shepherd who helps clients warm up to O’Saben faster during sessions. She said she figured the same idea would work at House Calls. The program intends to make resources available to Appalachian students known and let the new freshmen have a chance to talk with faculty and staff about their first week of classes and give them a chance to voice concerns. “Our number one goal is to live out the Appalachian way,” said Corinne C. Smith, housing and residence life coordinator. “It would be easy to say come to us.” The House Calls website has information about oncampus safety, sustainability, student involvement, food services, self-care and equity and diversity. Smith said the group made steps towoard going paperless this year in an effort not only to streamline the project with an online database, but to be more sustainable, a concern of past freshmen being greeted with the plethora of materials from the university. Another change from last year is that the event was held closer to the first week of classes in the fall. “We thought it would be a great idea to welcome our students when they get here,” Smith said. “I think the best part of it for me is the look on the students’ faces.”