Old Oak Festival draws alumni

By Tusculum University on April 28, 2017

Tusculum alum David Nunez, center, performed with his band, This Perfect World, Friday afternoon.

Tusculum alumni were a strong presence throughout the weekend of the Old Oak Festival, April 21 – 23.

From the Alumni/Faculty Social Event on Friday evening to alumni presence on stage and as part of the vendors, Tusculum alumni were part of the festival this past year, the sixth since the festival was reintroduced as an event.
On Friday evening, the social event all0wed alumni to reminisce and faculty to reconnect with former students, including a number of recent alumni.
Recent alumni were also part of some of the performing groups on Friday. David Nunez ’15 was part of two of the bands, This Perfect World and South Mouth. The latter band featured recent alums Chris Weems , Jack Lampley  and Kayla Tipton. On Saturday, Jon Moore ’02 performed as part of Abel Brown and Mike Joy ’03, who is the head coach of the Pioneer women’s soccer team, shared his musical talents in a set that featured his thoughtful, clever and heartfelt original songs.

Alum Jon Moore was one of the people who took an opportunity to try out their conducting skills during the "Conduct Us" session with the Tusculum Concert Band

A thunderstorm resulted in the cancellation of performances on Saturday evening, that were to include Mark and Cyn (featuring alum Cynthia Andresen ’75) and Shiloh TN, a band that started at Tusculum in the 1970s and feature Kenneth “Shadoe” Winterbauer ;73, Herb  Rubert ’74 and Wayne Hensley ’70. Festival organizers are seeking to reschedule a concert to feature those performers who were not able to share their talents because of the inclement weather. More details to be announced.

One of the many popular food vendors was Creamy Cup, offering coffee, lemonade, ice cream and other treats to festival goers. The business, located across from Tusculum, is owned by Tusculum alumnus Eric Price and his wife, Lynette.
One of the outdoor vendors, Stephen Harrison ’77, traveled through several states to share his artworks created from iron reclaimed from old ships. In his booth, “Shipwreck Iron,” Harrison had a variety of sculptures, including some Tusculum-oriented pieces, including the Pioneer image used by athletics and the baseball team logo. Harrison recounted that he had attended the first two Old Oak Festivals as a student, and had a booth of his woodwork at one of them.

Stephen Harrison featured his metal sculptures made with repurposed iron from ships during the festival. Note the Tusculum baseball logo in the right corner.

Make plans to be a part of the Old Oak Festival 2018, scheduled for April 20-22.  To see more photos from the festival, visit the Old Oak Festival facebook page.