Serving James Madison University Since 1922
Vol. 92, No. 8 Thursday, September 19, 2013
Scattered Storms n 78°/ 50° chance of precipitation: 10%
Madison’s vision
In with the new
Buyer hopes to fill gap left by one of Harrisonburg’s most popular downtown dives By IJ CHAN The Breeze
Downtown won’t be incomplete for much longer when a new restaurant moves in replacing Dave’s Downtown Taverna. Giles Stone, a Harrisonburg resident and owner of the Mini-Stor-It Self Storage on East Mosby Road, bought the downtown building for $700,000 on Monday afternoon at a public auction. “It’s the location — it’s a great place to have a restaurant and it’s laid out great for a restaurant,” Stone said. “I’ve already got two or three people [interested] as of now and it hasn’t even been 48 hours yet.” Dave’s, a local favorite for students, suddenly closed its doors in July. Stone has been living in Harrisonburg for 50 years and
MATT SCHMACHTENBERG / THE BREEZE
Dave’s Downtown Taverna closed its doors in July after 10 years of serving Harrisonburg. The building was auctioned off Monday.
said the downtown area hasn’t always been as active as it is today. Now, Stone owns a house in the downtown area, and said
he enjoys and participates in various downtown events. “I’d like for it to continue to be a popular place for students,”
Stone said. “I bought it because I’m interested in the downtown area and I like to see it do well.” Eddie Bumbaugh, executive director of Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance, said Dave’s has been a staple of Downtown Harrisonburg since it opened its downtown location about 10 years ago. Bumbaugh said he was a regular at Dave’s for years. “Often I work late and I could call and get take-out,” he said. “It was always ready in five minutes. From the very start I was a frequent diner at Dave’s Downtown Taverna.” At the same time Dave’s opened, HDR was initiated as well. Bumbaugh said Dave’s was one of the earliest businesses that helped kickstart the Renaissance, and it’s owners served on the HDR Board of Directors. see DAVE’S, page 4
U.Va. law professor explains Constitution in first of Vision Series
TRIXIE HADDON / THE BREEZE
A.E. Dick Howard spoke about the importance and relevance of civic duty among citizens on Constitution Day. By MARK OVERSTREET The Breeze
JAMES CHUNG / THE BREEZE
>> Farm fresh made easy
Freshman psychology major Philip Ricketts takes time to visit the farmers market on the Warren patio Wednesday afternoon. The market is an attempt by Dining Services to bring a variety of fresh produce and baked goods from local Shenandoah Valley farmers. The farmers market will be returning to campus on Oct. 9, but students can still get local produce at the main location downtown on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
The inaugural Madison Vision Series kicked off on Tuesday— Constitution day— in celebration of James Madison’s contribution to our country. A.E. Dick Howard, law professor at U. Va., lectured to about 150 students, faculty and community members in the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts concert hall on the importance of civic education and duty among our nation’s youth. “We want you to internalize the civic lessons you’ve learned,” Howard said. President Jon Alger introduced Howard, and urged the JMU community to explore our current civic landscape, and improve it. “We have a long standing tradition at JMU,” Alger said. “We exercise public discourse, which helps shape us into the university that we are today.” Alger said it’s essential that JMU lead the way in cultivating and educating the citizens that are ruled by the U.S. Constitution. The first step is educating JMU about these rules. “We believe that we are taking a step in the right direction with this Vision Series,” Alger said. “What better way to spend Constitution Day than with Dr. Howard who has helped write many constitutions himself.” Howard served on the committee that drafted Virginia’s current state see CONSTITUTION, page 4
Bridgeforth concessions a win-win Stadium eateries offer fundraising opportunity for local organizations
BRIDGEFORTH SERIES: Part one By WAYNE EPPS JR. The Breeze
While the football team is busy taking on another opponent at Bridgeforth Stadium, numerous people are working in and around the stadium to help feed some of the 20,000-plus fans present. “They’re there to watch the game, but we want to make sure that the product that we provide is first class,” said Beth Hartman, JMU Dining Services senior location manager for concessions. “So that hopefully adds to their gameday experience.” During a normal season, concessions will serve an average of 90,000 cold beverages, 21,000 hot dogs, 300 pounds of ketchup and use 7,500 pounds of ice. To serve all of that food, JMU brings in around 150 volunteers from local non-profit groups to work the stands. Many of the groups come from JMU and can range from the Harrisonburg High School JROTC to the JMU Boarderline Ski & Snowboard club. “In the spring we get applications from all the non-profit groups that are interested in raising money. And then we assign groups to each game,” Hartman said. “So we have two hawker groups and then we have four large stands that need 25-35 group members per game. And then we have three smaller areas that only need eight to 15 non-profit members.” When groups agree to volunteer at games, both sides get something out of the deal. JMU gets staffers for concessions and the groups get a portion of the concession sales. Groups that sign on to be hawkers get 12 percent of the sales and groups that work
9/19 INSIDE 3 NEWS Delicious duo Strite’s Donuts and the
Overtones come together to make a sweet team.
LAUREN GORDON / THE BREEZE
Dining Services opens up its concession stands to groups for volunteer opportunities, offering a cut of the proceeds for fundraising efforts.
at the stands get 10 percent of the sales. The club gymnastics team helped out at the Kickers stand during the first game of the season on Aug. 31 and made close to $500, according to club gymnastics fundraising chair and senior kinesiology major Lauren Price. Helping out for concessions is not only a fundraiser for the organizations, but can also serve as another form of team bonding during what can be a long day. When club gymnastics volunteered, they arrived at the stadium at 2:30 p.m., ahead of what was originally a 6:00 p.m. kickoff before weather delayed it to 6:30, and didn’t leave until about 11:00 that night.
6 Mixed drugs are the
OPINION Don’t blame Molly
actual cause of most Ecstasy deaths.
“We know how to make it fun, we always have a good time doing it,” Price said. “And we’re just always yelling out like, ‘Help club gymnastics,’ and stuff like that. People always come up and ask us about our club, it’s a great way to advertise too.” Throughout the week ahead of a home game, the full-time concessions staff goes through a process to prepare for Saturday. Before the season starts, the department orders the food and supplies like paper products about two weeks in advance because of the large quantity.
7 Students teach English LIFE Teach and learn
abroad to experience other cultures.
see FOOD, page 10
10 JMU prepares for Charlotte SPORTS Last call
game Saturday, its last nonconference opponent.