New WVU Building to Join Other ‘Gold and Blue’ Traditions at State Fair

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

As you visit the State Fair of West Virginia this year, be sure to stop at the new 4,600-square-foot West Virginia University Building, which will house many of the University’s exhibits throughout the nine-day event. Festivities at West Virginia’s largest event begin August 10 and continue through August 18 in Fairlea, near Lewisburg.

The WVU Building will be dedicated at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 16. WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. and WVU President-elect Michael Garrison will host the official ribbon-cutting ceremony. The first 400 people to arrive for the dedication will receive a free WVU State Fair T‑shirt, courtesy of Zide’s Sport Shop.

The air-conditioned building has a large exhibit area, and is located near the livestock barns and the Master Gardeners’ demonstration garden. The building was made possible through the efforts of State Fair and WVU officials.

Many of WVU’s state fair exhibits will center on the theme, “A Gold and Blue Tradition.” The overall theme of the 83rd State Fair is “Blue Ribbon Days and Nights.”   

Organized by the WVU Extension Service, the University’s exhibits, displays and activities will feature the programs of more than 20 schools and departments. WVU will add to the fun at the fair through activities, contests and youth agriculture competitions in the new building, the Underwood Youth Building, the barns and the show rings.

Among WVU Extension’s fair offerings is Jackson’s Mill’s “History Hitting the Road” wagon, where you may try your hand at dipping candles, marbling paper and grinding corn. Or, you may munch on fruits and veggies at the Family Nutrition Program’s exhibit promoting the new statewide “Pick a better snack” campaign.

On Thursday, Aug. 16, Fire Service Extension will demonstrate its new 53-foot-long, two-story Mobile Fire Training Unit, which is traveling throughout the state to train firefighters to extinguish fires in homes and other buildings.

If you’re a senior citizen, you can get better acquainted with the Internet with a little help from 4‑H members who participated recently in WVU Extension’s first Wired and Wonderful Technology Camp, sponsored by Verizon. They’ll guide you around the Web on Monday, Aug. 13.

Several other WVU departments also will offer interactive games and exhibits during the fair. You can dance away pounds and stress with Dance, Dance Revolution, an interactive video game provided by the School of Physical Education. At the Health Sciences Center exhibit, you may play the “Spin for a Healthy Life” game and have your photo taken with Ernie the Skeleton.

The National Research Center for Coal and Energy (NRCCE) will again offer its popular chocolate chip cookie mining game that demonstrates how the coal is removed from the ground. In NRCCE’s “Shoot for Recycling” game, you’ll score points and win prizes by throwing crushed aluminum cans through a basketball hoop.

College of Engineering and Mineral Resources representatives will demonstrate some interesting equipment, including a mini-Baja race car, a model petroleum drilling rig, and methane-detecting devices.

Stop at the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences exhibit Aug 10-12 for sunscreen from representatives of the McConnell Health Communication Project. They will emphasize how communicated messages can influence people’s daily health choices. The college’s exhibit Aug. 11-13 will feature the Regents Bachelor of Arts Program for adults who wish to return to college to earn their degree.

The West Virginia Master Gardeners, who are volunteers trained by the WVU Extension Service, will be on hand to provide expert answers to your gardening questions.

Gardeners and farmers with disabilities will be interested seeing a demonstration of assistive tools and devices at the West Virginia AgrAbility exhibit. The AgrAbility program helps disabled persons continue to work in their gardens or on their farms by modifying equipment and facilities.

At the NASA WV Space Grant Consortium’s exhibit, you’ll find three remote MARS rovers, interactive displays about the planet Mars, and an oversize storybook featuring three children who learn about the history of powered flight and the future of aerospace at NASA Langley. You can have your photo taken with a cutout of the exploration crew.

You also may want to snap a photo of the WVU Mountaineer mascot, Brady Campbell, who will appear in the WVU Building and other venues during the fair.

To get the latest WVU clothing and other merchandise, pay a visit to Zides Sporting Goods, which will be open in the WVU Building throughout the fair.

You can learn more about higher education at exhibits offered by WVU Institute of Technology, WVU Potomac State College, College of Creative Arts, Extended Learning, the P.I. Reed School of Journalism, the College of Human Resources and Education, the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, and other WVU units.

The schedule of events varies from day to day. For a full schedule of activities, times and dates—and for a peek inside the WVU Building via a Webcam—visit the WVU Extension Service Web site (www.wvu.ext.edu/). 

—WVU-ES—

jab—08/07/07

Last modified August 7, 2007
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