Longwood University President W. Taylor Reveley IV gave away his own ticket to the Vice Presidential Debate during the VP Jubilee kickoff Sunday night on the campus’ Stubbs Mall. By doing so, he made Jessica Shaw the lucky 101st to be given a special pass to be in the Debate Hall on Tuesday night. Reveley made the announcement at the end of a two-part student ticket lottery between sets by pop music artists Sinclair and MKTO.

The VP Jubilee was the second of two major weekend events celebrating the hard work going into Farmville and Longwood’s hosting the debate.

The other event took place Saturday at the High Bridge Trail State Park plaza on North Main Street where Farmville and Coca-Cola hosted an “All-American Downtown Celebration.” Saturday’s event started at 11 a.m. with musical act Old Souls. A half-hour later, Coca-Cola Consolidated spokeswoman Emilie Nicholls said the event celebrated not only the renovation of two 1920s Coca-Cola wall murals — on the side of the historic Poplar Hall building on North Main Street and at the corner of West Third and North streets — but the town itself.

Nicholls said the project started in North Carolina in 2011 and has led to 32 murals being repainted in Coca-Cola Consolidated’s territory, including the two in Farmville.

“We weren’t prepared for the response,” Nicholls said during the brief ceremony. “But this isn’t just about Coca-Cola, it’s about Farmville … about people coming together.”

Farmville Mayor David Whitus thanked Nicholls, expressing the town’s “deep appreciation” to Coca-Cola for moving the proposed 2017 date for the murals project to 2016 to be completed in time for Tuesday’s Vice Presidential Debate.

Attendees enjoyed free soft-drinks, cookies and T-shirts; Coca-Cola also arranged for free food to be served at Walker’s Diner. Celebration-goers also enjoyed the antics of the Downtown Farmville Partnership’s John Burton, who, dressed as Uncle Sam, waved flags and danced. There were also two booths manned by the Virginia Children’s Book Festival, where more than one set of parents could be found reading to their children.

Sunday night, Reveley was already on stage when he gave away his debate seat, having helped Longwood Student Government Association President Dillon Yonker and “Lancer Pants” cheerleader Steve Robertson with drawing the 100 winners from among 800 entrants in the student lottery.

Kaitlin Owens, of Goochland, was among the winning students for the first set of 50 to be given away.

“I’m really excited,” Owens said, after having happily shouted with her friends when she learned she’d won. “I’m already working with FOX News, but this is exciting, too.”

Among the second set of 50 winners: graduate student Alexis Kiriakos, who screamed pretty loudly when she heard her name.

“I was already excited to be at the concert, but to go to the debate — I didn’t expect this,” Kiriakos said.

In addition to the student debate ticket lottery and the concert, students also got the chance to check out social media streams from Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter and food from Moe’s, The Frosty Penguin and Longwood University itself.

“I’m glad this worked out,” Reveley’s Chief of Staff Justin Pope said as MKTO took the stage. “We wanted one night for the students so they would feel like this was for them.”

During both sets — opening act Sinclair and featured group MKTO — students danced, shouted, sang along and caught the occasional bit of swag thrown out to the audience by the bands.

The VP Jubilee continued Monday and Tuesday, noon-7 p.m. on Stubbs Mall with debate-related booths, activities and musical acts.

 

MARTIN L. CAHN | HERALD
Jazmin Dennis dances atop fellow Lancer cheerleader Ashley Hasting’s shoulders as recording artist Sinclair performed during Sunday’s VP Jubilee kickoff.