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Rescheduled fireworks event at BPC raises hurricane relief
Oct. 13, 2005

Fireworks light up the sky over Jones Lake near Tyre Chapel on the Brewton-Parker campus to culminate the college's Fall Fireworks Hurricane Relief Mission, conducted Thursday, Oct. 13, in Mount Vernon. (BPC Photo by Ashley Byrd)

When Brewton-Parker College’s inaugural Fall Fireworks Celebration was postponed in August because of the threat of Hurricane Katrina, the rescheduled event’s focus thus became to use the pyrotechnics as a centerpiece for a hurricane relief fundraising effort.

Thus evolved the Fall Fireworks Hurricane Relief Mission, which on Oct. 13 raised nearly $750 that will be sent to the Georgia Baptist Convention’s Disaster Relief fund. Monies were designated to relief for Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina and her subsequent storm, Rita.

The fireworks, funded through special Strategic Plan monies, were originally to be launched Aug. 30 to culminate new student orientation activities on the campus. However, the uncertain path of Katrina forced college officials to postpone the event, though its successor proved more missions based following the two Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Justin McCalla, a Brewton-Parker College junior from Elberton, auctions off one of the baskets donated to the college's Fall Fireworks Hurricane Relief Mission, conducted Thursday, Oct. 13, in the pavilion behind the Philllips Student Center on the Brewton-Parker campus in Mount Vernon. (BPC Photo by Amber Swartzlander)

“The timing of this event, in my opinion, could not be better,” said Dr. David R. Smith, Brewton-Parker’s president. “Where we originally planned the fireworks display to coincide with the beginning of the fall semester (and gnat season), we now enjoy a beautiful autumn evening.

“When we first considered an evening of celebration only, we now have the opportunity to raise funds for victims of a hurricane that has devastated many in our own nation. This is indeed a blessed evening at Brewton-Parker College.”

The College Republicans, Counseling Center, Panhellenic Council and Student Government Association set up food booths on the banks of Jones Lake for the event, selling items that included baked goods, funnel cakes and ice cream. Coca-Cola of McRae provided a limited number of free soft drinks for the attendees.

Brewton-Parker’s Baptist Student Union student band -- which consists of Drew Garner, Jonathan Lewis, Eric Morris, Mike Price, Chris Rainey and Chris Sheffield -- provided musical entertainment, and a picnic basket auction drew 24 entries from BPC students and staff that raised more than $320 in itself.

A love offering also was collected, and the evening culminated with a fireworks display similar to that which illuminated the sky over the Brewton-Parker campus during the college’s Centennial Celebration in April 2004.

Dr. David R. Smith, president of Brewton-Parker College, addresses attendees at the college's Fall Fireworks Hurricane Relief Mission, conducted Thursday, Oct. 13, in the pavilion behind the Philllips Student Center on the Brewton-Parker campus in Mount Vernon. (BPC Photo by Amber Swartzlander)

Members of Brewton-Parker College's Baptist Student Union student band provide musical entertainment during the college's Fall Fireworks Hurricane Relief Mission, conducted Thursday, Oct. 13, in the pavilion behind the Philllips Student Center on the Brewton-Parker campus in Mount Vernon. (BPC Photo by Amber Swartzlander)

Dr. Charles Strickland (left), executive assistant to the president for College Relations at Brewton-Parker college, conducts a love offering during the college's Fall Fireworks Hurricane Relief Mission, conducted Thursday, Oct. 13, in the pavilion behind the Philllips Student Center on the Brewton-Parker campus in Mount Vernon. (BPC Photo by Amber Swartzlander)

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