H: Lesser Known Scares To Enjoy: Draper Mercantile Hosts Zombie Walk

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THE SCENE
THE TARTAN Oct. 26, 2011
Draper Mercantile hosts Zombie Walk

JONATHAN FATH [email protected]
HALLOWEEN: Lesser known scares to enjoy

night, but if that is the case: for the younger set, Coraline (2009, PG) is wonderful and transforms the traditional possession story rich. A stop motion animated film based on into a jaw-dropping horror comedy. With the the celebrated Neil Gaiman novel, Coraline right suspension of disbelief, that can really is the rare childrens film that actually seems to reflect the mood of make your night. a fairy tale instead of For limit pushers, as any just robbing the tropes. gore hound knows, before Elegant, marvelously Peter Jackson wooed Ameranimated, and just scary ica to Middle Earth he was and gothic enough to in the business of hurling make this list makes it puke and innards at cinema perfect for children or audiences. His masterpiece adults uninspired by Braindead (1992, R), recopious amounts of viotitled for American audienclence. es Dead Alive is the stanAlways remember it dard I use when judging all never hurts to fall back other films on bloody vioon the classics like Pollence. After the overbearing tergeist, Scream 2, mother of a meek New Zeaand anything with Lon land man turns zombie, he Chaney Jr. However, is stuck with the revolting imdb.com surprise is the essence fallout as the town is quickly Dead Alive is one of Peter Jacksons of fun horror and worth transformed into pus-spew- early zombie films. the risk. Besides, all that ing monsters. As you laugh, you might feel a slight burning at the back of matters is the shared experience, locked to the flickering screen, black night looming your throat; that would be bile. For gothic innocence, not many of our read- outside, together on the most mystic night of ers will be stuck in with children Halloween the year.
Draper Mercantile, the nonprot and trading outpost, is reaching out to students again this Halloween for a spooky alternative to the usual college scene. On Oct. 29, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. they will be holding their rst ever Zombie Walk to benet hunger with the help of the group Feeding America. Participants will be dressing in their favorite zombie attire, donating cans to help end hunger in the New River Valley and staying for live entertainment. The Draper Mercantile is about celebrating and sustaining heritage, heart and soul in Southwest Virginia through showcasing the arts, music, food and recreation opportunities that make this area so unique, said Ashley Gardner, Creative Director for the Draper Mercantile. Looking at the Mercantiles history, Debbie Gardner, owner and head, has always reached out to collegiate members for help aiding her many projects at the Mercantile. Over the course of the last year she has held fundraisers, helped support the trail, and focused all of her efforts on educating the area on the rich heritage the New River Valley has to offer. The Zombie Walk, which was thought up just a month ago, is yet another attempt at showing the area how charitable it can really be. We see this as a community-building event and we wanted for the food donations raised by participants to stay here in the area so that they could directly benet people in our community who are most in need. We partnered with Feeding America Southwest Virginia because they are a won-
derful organization that helps people here in our own community, replied Ashley when asked why they decided on a zombie walk. The theme itself was inspired by the other great number of zombie walks happening in neighboring states North Carolina and Tennessee. The Draper Mercantile staff also guaranteed any students involved in the Zombie Walk that come with canned goods for the food drive will be allowed free admittance for the duration of the event. Im really excited for the Zombie Walk coming up. Ive always wanted to be a part of one, said Radford University sophomore, Kelsey Leek. With the holiday season coming up, the Draper Mercantile is doing everything they can to prepare for over one hundred students to pass through their doors for their event. The Mercantile staff wanted to give the community something to talk about for years to come. With zombie walks being popular in neighboring areas such as Raleigh, North Carolina and Washington, D.C., they are attempting something that is not very familiar with this area. The walk itself will consist of one mile through the New River Trail followed by a private showing of Night of the Living Dead, a cult Zombie classic. On top of the Walk for Hunger and viewing of Night of the Living Dead, the Draper Mercantile will also have live music and Ghost stories narrated by Jim Lloyd, a local storyteller. The Mercantile, also partnering with RU, expects a turnout of 100 or more for their rst annual Zombie Walk, and expect for it to grow for years to come. With the level of commitment they put in, anything is possible.
From page 4
BLUEGRASS: Old-time from Charlottesville

From page 4
With a packed career and an intensely loyal following, The Hackensaw Boys had a welcome presence in Blacksburg. The band has a history with the area, shaking the oor at venues all around the New River Valley, including the Dogtown Roadhouse in Floyd, the once popular Lantern in Blacksburg, and Radfords own Nesselrod on the New River. More recently, The Hackensaw Boys have appeared at the annual Floydfest, where they have earned a majority of their fans in the area. Their set started off with a bang, as the band launched off with the opener Oh, Girl and followed with a number other crowd pleasing favorites. A majority of the audience was made up of an equal mix of familiar listeners and newcomers who were completely unaware of the musical maelstrom they were about to witness. Within a moment of the rst song, the oor was packed and moving as the crowd danced to the music. As The Hackensaw Boys played, the concert became an amalgam of a punk-rock basement show and a drunken hoedown. By the end, no one left unsatised. Throughout their set, The Hackensaw Boys delivered a hefty load of other ddle and banjo-laced tunes. These ranged from the rapid re picking of songs such as Cannonball, and Lookout Dog, Slow Drown Train, to the melody of the softer Alabama Shamrock, which had the audience singing every word throughout the songs entirety. The Hackensaw Boys have always been known for their energetic live show, and their performance at Awful Arthurs did not undermine that reputation. As the crowd swung and stomped while raising their beers in the air, the Boys exerted their enthusiastic sound, never once staying still throughout the whole performance. Like most bluegrass, old-time, and Americana bands, each member of the Hackensaw Boys shared vocal duties. At some points of the show, they even switched instruments. The most notable one out of those instruments, though, was Neuhardts charismo, a homemade percussion instrument made from tin cans, license plates, a hubcap, and book bag straps, and then mercilessly beat with wire-brush sticks. While old-time music is generally marked by its strict absence of percussion, the charismo has an almost symbolic presence in The Hackensaw Boys music and live shows, and is an irreplaceable aspect of their sound. Overall, it remains consistent with the unconventional elements that The Hackensaw Boys have built their career upon. While progressing forward in the gradually increasing popularity of the current folk music scene, The Hackensaw Boys stand out as the rowdy and haggard black sheep among a tame, soft spoken herd. While they preserve a sound that has existed over a multitude of generations, they blend it with the energetic touch and rustic mentality of those who played it years ago, thus making them innovative as well as traditional. As proven by last weeks performance at Awful Arthurs in Blacksburg, their live show is one to behold. As they have proved time and time again, the New River Valley has not seen the last of The Hackensaw Boys.
C E N T R A L
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THE TARTAN Oct. 26, 2011

Draper Mercantile hosts Zombie Walk

HALLOWEEN: Lesser known scares to enjoy

BLUEGRASS: Old-time from Charlottesville

FIND OUT WHAT ALL THE BUZZ IS ABOUT

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