By Shauna Stagner
The Scene staff
Forest Park hosted a “Friday at the Fountain” concert on campus in 2019 with hopes that it would become an annual event.
Then COVID-19 hit.
A year and a half later, the St. Louis band Dirty Muggs welcomed back students for fall semester with R&B, blues, Motown and other music Sept. 3 on the quad.
“Things went well,” said Donivan Foster, manager of Campus Life, which organized the concert and other Welcome Week activities.
“I could see the joy on people’s faces. Students, staff and community liked it. Campus leadership came with their families and were very happy with the outcome.”
More than 150 people sat in lawn chairs and on concrete benches, shaded by trees north of F Tower. A few got up and danced.
Everyone seemed to wear a smile. They were happy to be outdoors and not subject to the indoor mask mandate.
The concert was a family affair for Boyd Copeland III, vice president of multicultural student services, who is spending his first semester at Forest Park. He brought his wife and son.
“We attended and had a blast,” Copeland said, adding that if concert becomes an annual event, “We’ll definitely make it a point to come back.”
Dirty Muggs performed from 5 to 7 p.m. DJ Prospect played hip-hop music before and after the band.
Perhaps the biggest glitch of the evening was a last-minute cancellation by Full Moon Food Truck, which was supposed to serve food from 4 to 8 p.m. An employee came down with COVID-19, according to officials.
As a result, the college couldn’t provide free food to the first 100 concertgoers as planned. But that didn’t seem to dampen the fun for Dirty Muggs fans, such as Cassandra White, manager of Student Success.
“The event was spectacular,” she said.
Tiffany Bush, Copeland’s administrative assistant, also checked out the concert after work. She thought it was good for students, employees, their families and the larger community.
Bush was particularly impressed by a 10-year-old girl’s enthusiastic dancing.
“My most memorable moment was to see the little girl dance,” Bush said. “She inspired me to get out there and dance, too.”
Officials still hope the concert will become an annual event, giving Forest Park students and employees a chance to get together for some fun and stress-free quality time outside of the classroom.
Foster said Campus Life wants students to know that its staff cares for them, not only their academics, but also their well-being.
Bush noted that a group of motorcyclists watching the Sept. 3 concert were asked to move their bikes after parking in an Oakland Avenue cut-out, next to the bus stop.
“Maybe we should take them into consideration (next year) and have a dedicated spot so they won’t be rushed off,” she said.
Foster’s co-workers, Dedra Duncan and Tanya Carr, helped organize Welcome Week activities, which also included a two-day expo in the quad.
Students could gather information on classes, clubs, sports and other extracurricular activities and meet sponsors, instructors, coaches and tutors.
They also could win prizes, such as flash drives, notebooks, wipes, T-shirts, bags and coffee cups. A company offered free photo sessions with boas, parasols, oversized sunglasses and other props.