RCC’s Fall Festival brings autumn joy, draws hundreds to COMtech location
Native American culture, holiday wreaths, elderberry jam, facials, flu shots, and free haircuts were all a part of this year’s fall festival at Robeson Community College’s COMtech location in Pembroke.
This was RCC’s second year hosting the annual event which featured free services from students, free workshops, food trucks and craft vendors.
This year, another addition was added, a cultural presentation by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
“It’s been a great day, we had a packed full house of kids,” stated John Oxendine with the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. “They asked some really good questions. It’s just been a great day and we’ve had a lot of fun.”
The cultural presentation included crafts, song and dance, and some show and tell with items used by Native Americans in the early days as the first inhabitants of the Americas.
“Today has been a way to educate the community about who we are, what we do, and that we’re still here,” Oxendine said. “And, it’s a time for the community to come see this building and see who we are at RCC. The community involvement is awesome, I’ve really enjoyed it.”
Kathleen Cummings receives assistance from the workshop instructor, Vonda Graham, on creating the bow for her wreath during RCC’s 2nd Annual COMtech Fall Festival in Pembroke.
Down the hall, many visiting the campus for the first time were taking a class in how to make a wreath and bow.
“I recently retired and now I have time to do things that are fun,” stated Kathleen Cummings. “I got an email about this and I thought, I want to try it. I never made bows before or ribbons or wreaths and I just thought it would be fun.”
Cummings attended the class with her husband, Jeffery.
“I enjoyed it, I’m just out helping my wife,” Jeffery said. “We did a bow together; I didn’t choose to do one myself… I just been watching and helping her.”
As his wife was completing the bow, Cummings turned around and started helping other students in the class, enjoying the opportunity to serve others.
“I always wanted to learn how to make wreaths,” the student said. “I hope to be able to do this as a hobby and maybe even start selling them to my friends and neighbors.”
“The wreaths created by the students were absolutely beautiful,” RCC President Melissa Singler said as she admired the work created by the students. “It will be a keepsake they will always treasure and hopefully become a conversation piece over the holidays about their experience at Robeson Community College.”
Tabitha Nunnery, a massage therapy student at Robeson Community College’s COMtech campus, provides a free chair massage during the 2nd annual fall festival.
For students who attend the COMtech location in Pembroke, this was the opportunity of a lifetime to get hands-on experience and really showcase their skills and talents to the community.
Latisha Stanley, a barber student, stays busy providing a free haircuts during the RCC Fall Festival held at the COMtech location.
“Today has been amazing,” stated Tabitha Nunnery, a massage therapy student. “I love seeing all the people coming in. Most of them have expressed how relaxed they are feeling, and they all say they want to come back.”
Nunnery says she enjoyed getting to the experience to work with clients.
“The more experience helps you with becoming more comfortable with people,” Nunnery said. “With each stroke we make we improve our methods and we learn techniques, because not every client has the same need… so we have to learn how to adjust and events like this just help us get better.”
That’s a sentiment shared by most of the students at today’s event.
“This was a great way for us to give back to the community,” Latisha Stanley said as she was providing a free haircut. “We get to make everybody feel welcome, and that’s important to me.”
Stanley says it’s also another way to build perspective business in the future.
“It’s another way to build clientele, so that when we do graduate, we will have people that will come follow us,” Stanley said. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”
For manicurist students like Shamarie Davis, today was a preview of what life in the nail salon and spa setting will be like.
Shamarie Davis enjoys getting to meet new people as she provides free manicures to the public during the 2nd Annual Fall Festival held at RCC’s COMtech location in Pembroke.
“I’ve enjoyed it,” Davis said. “I love meeting new people, the small talk, the conversations, the interactions, it’s been a very good learning experience.”
“The community response to this event has been simply amazing, and we thank everyone for coming out and supporting our students and the vendors who set up outside,” stated Terry Jackson, the director of the COMtech Campus. “This event was designed to help raise awareness of what we have to offer at this location, and by the looks of it, we have achieved that today… by all estimates, we had hundreds of people here today.”
With another successful fall festival in the books, organizers are looking forward to planning for a similar event for next year with hopes of reaching even more members of the community than ever before.
To view more photos from the event, please visit RCC’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/robesoncc.
