Don’t You Know That You Are A
Shooting Star?
Annual WEF fundraiser takes center stage April 25

By Caroline Monday

The young stars of Watauga County will be helping the Watauga Education Foundation celebrate its 10th anniversary this Friday at Shooting Stars, the group’s annual talent show and fundraiser.

Shooting Stars will be held Friday, April 25, at Farthing Auditorium on Appalachian State University’s campus. The show starts at 6:30 p.m., and tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for students and Watauga County Schools staff.

Tickets are on sale at the Boone branches of BB&T and at the Farthing box office. Those who wish to attend are encouraged to purchase tickets before the show, as Shooting Stars traditionally sells out early.

All proceeds from the event go to sustain the Watauga Education Foundation’s many efforts to support education in the county’s public schools. The foundation has supported education in Watauga County for nearly 20 years, awarding hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to Watauga County schools teachers to fund projects and programs that fall outside state and local budgets.

In addition to fundraising, the event gives the community an opportunity to celebrate the talent of its students. The event will feature 29 performing arts acts, more acts than ever. The acts include musical performances, dancing and much more.

The event also includes a visual arts portion. Visual arts entries will be on display at Boone Mall, beginning April 6. Winners of the visual arts competition will have their work exhibited at Jones House April 28 through May 23.

This year, the visual arts entries will be showcased during the performing arts event through interviews with the young artists to be shown at Friday’s event. Parents and other arts patrons will have the opportunity to purchase poster and card-sized prints of the art work.

Melanie Bullard, WEF executive director, said conducting interviews with the artists has given her a deeper appreciation for the students’ talents. “It’s wonderful to hear what goes on in an artist’s mind,” she said.

Tweetsie Railroad is one of Shooting Stars’ main sponsors this year, and Bullard said the audience can expect some fun antics from the Tweetsie gang, in addition to the usual show.

Bullard said the foundation owes the annual success of this event to community support. “I’m always amazed at how people here are so generous,” she said.

In addition to supporting a good cause, Shooting Stars is guaranteed by organizers to be fun.

To learn more about how you can support the Watauga Education Foundation, contact Melanie Bullard at (828) 268-1273 or go online to wefnc.org.