By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
There was plenty to do at the first Night of the Arts Celebration of Visual and Performing Arts at North Rowan High School Friday evening.
There were back-to-back performances in the auditorium by North Rowan middle and high school choruses, ensembles and bands. A special performance by the Catawba College Student Brass Ensemble featured North Rowan High Head Football Coach Tasker Fleming on mandolin.
The Salisbury Swing Band closed out the night with a 9 to 11 p.m. performance.
Art students at the two schools also had their work on display.
For anyone who didn’t order a spaghetti dinner in advance, Jamie and Mark Sokolowski were selling concessions to raise money for the North Rowan Band Association.
North Rowan High junior Andy Hallett and sophomore Adam Gallegos sold Cavalier T-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, tote bags, backpacks, pens, blankets, lanyards, key chains and pens for the school’s DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) Club.
An hour into the five-and-a-half-hour event, Hallett said they had already sold “a little bit of everything.”
Senior Anthony Hipps and his sixth-grade brother, D’Anjelo, stopped to talk to Hallett and Gallegos while they worked.
Juniors Caitlin Crawford and Maurice Harrison manned the silent auction tables just inside the high school, where a very large gift basket with a beach theme had the most bids so far. The people with the highest bids at 8:15 were to claim the items.
There was even a real princess at the Night of the Arts. Photo opportunities with “Cinderella” were available for young girls aspiring to become princesses.
Annette Adams was at the school to hear her niece, eighth-grader Meisha Glenn, perform with the North Middle Chorus and her goddaughter, eighth-grader Molliyah Leazer, perform with the band. “I remember how important it was for family and friends to be there for me,” she said.
Steve Shuping brought a videocamera to film his grandson, Josh Price, a sophomore at North, performing with the Salisbury Swing Band. He was one of several to buy a $3 raffle ticket for a quilt made from North Rowan Cavalier T-shirts.
Jan Sneider, president of the North Rowan Band Boosters, sold the tickets. Her friend, Adrienne James, made the quilt.
Other raffle prizes included jewelry donated by Debbie Barnhardt Jewelry and custom pieces designed by Bonnie and Danielle Wright of Wright Designs.
Activities and displays were spread throughout the high school. Some students and family members talked outside enjoying the cool sprinkling of rain.
North Rowan Elementary fifth-graders Brittany Lane, Destiny Robinson and Katie Hannah watched people come and go while perched atop a metal railing at the entrance to the high school.
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-7683.