Toad Suck Daze

[sadie65]

Let's see...last year had Dennis...this year...

Shaw/Blades

http://www.thecabin.net/stories/032108/ ... 0005.shtml

At Thursday's Conway Chamber CEO Luncheon, the much-anticipated announcement of this year's Toad Suck Daze entertainment was made, and the 2008 Toad Suck Daze T-shirt was unveiled. Also, Doug Virtue, executive vice president of Virco Manufacturing, spoke about the challenges of "going green."

Toad Suck Daze 2008 will be May 2-4. Greg and Sherri Pillow, honorary chairs of the festival, shared the big announcements.

Friday night's entertainment will kick off at 5 p.m. with last year's Toad Suck Super Star winner Rick Spurr, followed at 5:30 by Arkansas bands HWY 5 and Riverbilly. Friday night's headliner will be Blake Shelton. Also performing Friday on the acoustic stage will be Ben Coulter of Arkansas at 6 p.m., Culpepper Mountain Band of Clinton and headliner FreeVerse.

Saturday's entertainment will begin at noon with Mid Life Crisis followed by KickBack and Happenstance of Conway. Saturday night's headliner is Shaw Blades featuring Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades. Their show will feature music from Styx, Night Ranger and Damn Yankees as well as songs from their duo album. Playing on the acoustic stage will be Sara Thomas at 6 p.m., followed by Opal Fly and Jeff Coleman and The Feeders.

Sunday's entertainment will begin at 11:30 a.m. with Tyler Bass of Conway, followed by the Toad Suck Super Star finalists. Ashmont Hill of Boston, Mass., will perform at 3 p.m., followed by Jimmy Needham. Sunday's headliner is Natalie Grant.

Greg Pillow announced this year's festival will provide $61,500 in scholarships, the largest donation to date. As in the past, four scholarships in the amount of $4,000 each will be given to the University of Central Arkansas, Central Baptist College and Hendrix College, and two $1,500 scholarships will be given to local vocational/technical schools. Winners will be announced soon.

The Toad Suck Daze committee has added new scholarships this year. The Faulkner County Single Parent Scholarship Fund will receive $3,000; Conway Adult Education will receive $500; the United Way will receive $3,000 to use as a scholarship; three $1,000 scholarships will be given to non-traditional students in Faulkner County; and two $500 scholarships will be given to teachers continuing their education. Applications for the new scholarships will be available April 1. For more information, contact the Conway Chamber of Commerce at 327-7788.

Also on Thursday, the Pillows presented guest speaker Doug Virtue with the first Toad Suck Daze 2008 T-shirt.

Going green

Virtue discussed his beliefs and predictions about the "green movement." Virco has received numerous awards for its recycling programs and other environmental efforts.

He predicted in the future, instead of activist groups leading the green movement, groups like the chamber of commerce will be leading. He said the answers to going green are so often "phrased negatively" in terms of cutting back, when in reality, the answer is to invest in a more energy efficient infrastructure. To be able to pay for such things, a city or region needs a balanced economy, he said, adding that Conway is in a position to attract people who can make a green movement succeed.

"You're right on the edge of becoming a community the nation will recognize and follow (Conway) could also lead other communities down this green path," he said.

He warned that the green process can be costly and can involve "frustrating tradeoffs." He said the political process is vital. He said usually the "green" process is usually "shades of gray."

Virtue said a lot of Virco's competitors tell customers their products are green, neglecting to mention "they are made in China without fair wages or health care for workers," he said.

He said after the Berlin Wall fell, the global economy came about through the free flow of Western capital, cheap transportation and technology. Cheap transportation is changing because of energy costs, he pointed out.

Globalization has been discussed for some time. Virtue said he believes the next step will be localization.

"As transportation costs go up, it's going to make more sense to make more things at home," he said.

He added he believes Conway is "perfectly positioned to become a leader."

(Staff writer Rachel Parker Dickerson can be reached by e-mail at rachel.dickerson@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1277. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)

[styxfanNH]

So Shaw Blades cotniues.

and the name of this event still makes me laugh