Nearly 150 participated in the competitive
potato-bagging contest between VWC
and Roanoke College.
Virginia Wesleyan College won the Golden Spud Award and bragging rights this spring in the first sweet potato bagging competition with Roanoke College, all to benefit the hungry in Hampton Roads and Southwest Virginia.
Refereed by officials from Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), in which both schools compete, the event began at 9 a.m. VWC was declared the winner at 10:45 a.m., after all potatoes were bagged and the trash was cleared. Roanoke finished at 11:05 a.m.
Approximately 150 students, faculty and administrators, including VWC President Billy Greer and Roanoke College President David Gring, participated at each site in the event in spite of cold, heavy rain in Hampton Roads and light rain in Roanoke.
This was the second year that the two schools bagged sweet potatoes for local shelters and food banks. The potatoes were provided by the non-profit Society of St. Andrew, a food salvaging organization that collects commercially unmarketable, yet still useable, potatoes and other produce donated by the agricultural community.
The idea for the competition began over Thanksgiving dinner when VWC President Billy Greer challenged his son, William Greer, who directs Roanoke College's Department of Community Service.
In addition to serving the hungry in the two regions, the purpose of the potato competition was to encourage fun competition between the two colleges and to build morale and school spirit. Many of the participants were athletic team members and coaches who compete against each other in official sports such as soccer, baseball and basketball.
"I was delighted that so many people came out to bag potatoes in spite of the rain," said Diane Hotaling, VWC's director of community service. "There was great spirit around the potato pile."
"It's a great cause," said VWC senior Bladen Finch of Lawrenceville. "It's really heart-warming to see all the students out in nasty weather to help those who are less fortunate."
The event was monitored by competing teams via "yam cam," web cams that photographed and transmitted shots of the shrinking potato piles. The colleges promoted the event by serving sweet potato dishes in the dining halls.
VWC held a potato pep rally the preceding day, at which "Mr. and Ms. Half-Baked" were crowned. Wesleyan students made and sold tie-died t-shirts inscribed with "I'm a Grateful Potato Head."