By Marian Douglas | Echo
This semester only has 15 days left, and as students prepare for the summer, some plan to stay in Upland.
According to Housing Director Lori Slater, 72 students will be living in Campbell throughout the summer. There will also be students living nearby, working on internships or taking summer classes.
To help prepare students for summer, especially students who have never spent a summer in Grant County before, here's a list of five events happening in the area.
Upland Blooms & Berries Festival-1 mile from campus
This long-standing festival has become a household name, more commonly called the Strawberry Festival.
On June 10, Upland's Main Street will be filled with craft booths, games, displays and vendors. In 2009, events included a life-sized game of Monopoly where Upland citizens stood in for the tokens. This year, there will be live music, tours of Depot Park's caboose and a barbecue dinner.
Doodles & Daydreams Adult Coloring Club-8 miles from campus
Even summer can be stressful. People looking to relax for an hour can do so at Doodles & Daydreams. Hartford City Public Library hosts this coloring group for adults at the end of each month.
This event happens all year, but the group will have three meetings during Taylor's summer break on May 30, June 27 and July 25. All supplies are provided by the library, and those interested can RSVP on the Doodle & Daydreams meetup page.
Gas City Concerts in the Park-9 miles from campus
All summer, people can attend free concerts in Gas City Park.
Starting on June 6, Gas City Park will present a different concert every week. Concerts will take place every Tuesday between June 6 and July 25, except the week of July 4. That week, the concert will occur on Monday. Most of the artists are local, and the music groups cover every genre from orchestra music to blue grass. A list of this year's acts can be found on Gas City Concerts in the Park's Facebook page.
CASA's Sand Sculpture Artfest-13 miles from campus
Grant County is an hour and a half away from the nearest beach, so it might surprise people to learn that one of the biggest events of the summer in Grant County is a sand castle-building competition.
On July 8, Splash House in Marion will hose down its beach volleyball courts to create the arena for the Sand Sculpture Artfest. During this event, teams work for five hours, molding their sculpture in hopes of winning one of four awards:
- The People's Choice Award-Participant and community voting decides who gets this award. Each participant, spectator and Splash House patron receives a ticket that lets them serve as judge. Catey Williams Dental won this award last year with a Jimmy Buffet-themed sculpture.
- The Schramm Family Award-The family of Andy Schramm are the judges for this event, and they give the award based upon the team's attention to detail, creativity and subject matter, as well as the Schramm's personal preferences. Last year, this award went to Via Credit Union's "Donut know what kids would do without CASA" sculpture.
- The Golden Pail Award-The CASA board chooses who wins this award based upon the overall effort the team puts in and fun the team seems to have during the creative process. Last year, Grant County State Bank received this award for their recreation of the CASA logo.
- The Raisin Awareness Award-The staff, board of directors and volunteers from CASA choose the winning team for this award based upon which sculpture best represents the mission of CASA. Riverside Federal Credit Union won this award with a superhero sculpture.
The event raises money for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a nonprofit that works to give children a voice in court proceedings. Any team interested in signing up for this event should contact CASA of Grant County at (765) 664-1891 to register or for more information.
Movies in the Meadow-20 miles from campus
Starting May 19, the day before graduation, the Yorktown Council for the Arts will be holding a free outdoor movie night once a month at Morrow's Meadow. The movie will start at dusk, but there will be events beforehand. These movie nights will continue through October, so students returning to campus for the fall have the opportunity to take can take part.
The dates of the movie and what will be showing are listed below:
May 19: "La La Land"
June 23: "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial"
July 28: "The Secret Life of Pets"
August 18: "Beauty and the Beast"
September 8: "Remember the Titans"
October 13 : "Book of Life" & "Ghostbusters"
