Legacy of Lowell Community Service Day (Sept. 19)
This mega-event served as a kickoff to Homecoming Week 2009. It was the Bennion Center’s 6th annual event designed to celebrate the legacy of the center’s founder, Lowell Bennion. More than 950 students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members participated, clocking more than 2,400 hours of service Projects, including:
- Land Restoration at Bend-in-the-River urban greenspace: Land restoration, weed removal, and fall clean-up and planting
- Dental Hygiene Kit Creation at Globus Relief: Assembly of dental kits for the Sorenson Center’s dental clinic.
- Literacy Book Fairs at Parkview Elementary and Guadalupe Schools: Reading activities shared with families from the West-side community.
- Food Box Delivery with the Utah Food Bank: Delivery of food boxes to needy senior citizens all over the valley.
- Food Sorting at the Utah Food Bank: Food sorted to be distributed by the Utah Food Bank to families across the Wasatch Front.
- Best Buddies Project at Parkview Elementary: Entertaining and educational activities for Best Buddies participants.
- Home Improvement Projects with NeighborWorks and Services for Seniors: Residential and commercial clean-up projects that benefit senior citizens and people with disabilities.
- Refugee Site Visits with the International Rescue Committee: Visits to refugee families with the opportunity of “making lasting bonds.”
By all accounts, including a feature in The Salt Lake Tribune, the event was a huge success, bringing together almost four times as many volunteers as the previous year. According to Christy Tobolski BS’06, public relations coordinator at the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, “The energy that day was just amazing!” Photo gallery...
House Decorating (Sept. 22)
Fraternities, sororities, and other entities on campus scrambled to decorate their facilities according to this year’s Homecoming theme, “Redvolution.” Judges of their efforts included Homecoming Royalty and marshals, as well as the chair of the Alumni Association Homecoming 2009 Committee, Dari Scott. At the end of scoring, the big winner proved to be the Alumni House, which was decorated by members of The MUSS. Greek Row winners were:- Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, Alpha Chi Omega Sorority, and the Science House on Officers Circle. Photo gallery...
Hunger Banquet (Sept. 22)
Elan Bartholomew, a freshman in film studies, volunteered at the food pantry at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church last summer when he realized how much hunger there was in Salt Lake City. “It blew my mind,” he said. “It’s everywhere. It goes to show how prevalent it is in Utah.” The Bennion Community Service Center set out to raise awareness and help fight hunger Tuesday evening. Read “Banquet aims to fight world hunger” in The Daily Utah Chronicle, September 23, 2009. Photo gallery...
Emeritus Alumni Reunion (Sept. 23)
More than 130 Emeritus Alumni gathered at the Park Building for a tour of the newly renovated facility. Guests were fascinated to view the building were they spent many of their college days. The tour was followed by a buffet dinner on the east patio, along with a fascinating talk by Dr. David Grainger about the future of individualized medicine. (Dr. Grainger currently pursues research in areas of surface analytical chemistry, polymer chemistry, drug delivery, diagnostics, and biomaterials.) Photo gallery...
Songfest and Pep Rally (Sept. 24)
Gather a bunch of college students together representing competing sororities and fraternities, add a whole lot of enthusiasm, along with small to moderate doses of silliness and seriousness, and you have the ingredients for Songfest, an annual spectacle in which students show off their talents to the benefit and amusement of friends and family. Winners of this year’s Songfest competition were Chi Omega Sorority and Sigma Chi fraternity. Photo gallery...
The pep rally following Songfest saw a record crowd. Men’s basketball head coach Jim Boylen was the emcee and did a great job of pumping up the crowd. Many of the university sports teams were present and were given the chance to address the crowd. Coach Kyle Whittingham, along with a few members of the football team, took the microphone spurring on excitement for the Homecoming football game on Saturday, pitting Utah against Louisville. The winners of the House Decorating contest and Songfest were announced at the pep rally, and the Homecoming Royalty were presented. Photo gallery...
Scholarship Scramble (Sept. 25)
The fourth annual Homecoming Scholarship Scramble took place on a beautifull fall morning at nearby Bonneville Golf Course. The tournament brought together a full field of golfers, from corporate and community supporters to students and University staff. Players enjoyed a spectacular autumn day, which included a morning of golf, followed by lunch and an awards ceremony emceed by Joe Cravens, commentator for this year’s presenting sponsor, The MountainWest Sports Network. The tournament, chaired by Alumni Association board member Dallis Christensen, collected $25,000, with proceeds earmarked for the Alumni Scholarship Fund. Team winners of the tourney were:
- First Place Overall, with an amazing score of -19:
Chevron, represented by last year’s tournament chair Des Barker, Rey Butcher, Thomas Wright, and Jim Christensen
- First Place Men’s: Crimson Club Foursome
- First Place Women’s: Sally Ware Foursome
- First Place Mixed: Kim Gibson Foursome
- First Place Family: The Anderson Family Foursome
Dozens of donated raffle prizes were also distributed, including a 2009 Masters Golf Bag. Photo gallery...
Jim Gaffigan at Kingsbury Hall (Sept. 25)
Crazy man Jim Gaffigan performed two sold-out shows on Friday night at Kingsbury Hall, which was filled with laughter as the comedian entertained the crowd, performing new material as well as some of his classicbacon and Hot Pocket jokes. The performance was a great way to kick-off Kingsbury Hall’s fall season. Reception photo gallery...
Student Homecoming Dance (Sept. 25): Photo gallery...
Young Alumni 5K Run and 1K Kids Fun Run
A record number of runners (704) showed up at the Alumni House on a spectacular fall morning for the 5K Run. they came to have fun, run, and raise funds for student scholarships. The Alumni Association coordinator of the Young Alumni Board, Nanette Richard, extends a special thank you to “students, alumni, family, and friends who participated in our Young Alumni 5K and Kids K Scholarship Run on Homecoming Day... . The feedback we have received so far indicates that everyone had a wonderful time.”
In addition to the numerous scholarships that have been awarded for the 2009-2010 academic year, the Young Alumni Board is happy to provide a $500 scholarship each to Joshua Burton and Jonathan Ellis for Spring Semester 2010.
Kudos go to the Department of Exercise and Sports Science, which had the largest team of runners—210! The Young Alumni Board will present them with a $1,000 scholarship. Students from Beta Alpha Psi were also awarded a $1,000 scholarship for their team effort.
The overall winners of the 5K race were Trever Ball (men) and Patti Pearson (women). Our faculty/staff overall winners were Bill Billingsley and Brandi Page.
Theme winners were “Most Outrageous Ute Fan!” Stephanie Panos and Anthony Newman, for “Runnin’ in the Red.”
Read the article about the 5K Run in The Daily Utah Chronicle. Photo gallery...
Tailgate-Barbecue (Sept. 26)
The FUSS (Former Utah Student Section) added its numbers to the ranks of hungry fans at the annual Pre-game Tailgate-Barbecue, held on the lawns surrounding the Alumni House. Typical barbecue fare fueled more than 200 people who were well fed and energized to root for the Utes at the evening game. Utah beat Louisville by a comfortable margin, 30-14. Photo gallery...
The Alumni Association expresses its appreciation to the
2009 Homecoming Sponsors:
ARUP Blood Services, Comcast, Deseret News, Kall Sports 700, The mtn.-MountainWest Sports Network, University of Utah Federal Credit Union, and Verizon Wireless
And thanks to all who participated in Homecoming 2009. See you next year! |
