Georgetown College

RD Ashley Babladelis, center, flanked by RA’s Sorna Kamara, a junior from Dallas, left, and Meredith Johnson, a soph from London, KY – all veterans of Knight Hall Halloween.

Jim Durham, News Bureau Director

Perhaps no other Georgetown College tradition has the potential to connect current students with the community than Knight Hall Halloween. And, certainly no other effort bonds 250 freshmen – girls who’ve only been away from home for two months than choosing costumes, decorating halls and purchasing treats for the children of their professors, GC staffers and Scott County citizens.

The young women of Mary Frances Knight Hall are continuing the tradition and invite the public to their annual Halloween event from 6-8 p.m. this Thursday (Oct. 28).

Ashley Hatcher Babladelis ‘08, who just returned this fall as Resident Director of Knight Hall, knows well the magic of this night. Also, an Area Coordinator for Campus Ministry, she was full of anticipation for what her freshmen would bring. “This all makes you feel like a kid again,” she said, her eyes wider than a child’s.

Her freshman Fall (’04), Ashley’s hall on second floor was decorated like a magical forest. “I remember making a huge waterfall near the bathroom out of blue streamers and Christmas lights. Whenever the shower ran, it would sound like an actual waterfall,” she said. “We all dressed up as fairies.”

Then, as an RA in Knight her sophomore year (’05), Ashley and her residents had a Disney Princess themed hall. “They built a huge castle out of cardboard boxes,” she recalled.

Ashley Hatcher would go on to become a President’s Ambassador and serve Campus Ministries, leading one of our Spring Break mission trips to Brazil. The Psychology major won the Outstanding Student Leader award her senior year and graduated cum laude.

Since graduating from Georgetown, she received an M.S. in Counseling with a specialization in College Counseling and Student Development from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. And, she married Nick Babladelis, an ’08 graduate of Wake Forest University. Her husband is pursuing an MA/ThM in Biblical Studies at Asbury Seminary while doing some freelance photography and working part-time for the Georgetown News-Graphic.

Ashley is looking forward to participating in her third Knight Hall Halloween and serving as co-hosts with husband Nick, who will experience his first. “It’sso much fun to see professors and staff members bring their kids by,” she said. “I love this event because it creates such a connection between the students, in their living space, with faculty, staff and the community.”

President Bill Crouch (center), posing here with a portion of the gathering, spoke briefly about the College’s positive direction and Admissions counselor Jeremiah Tudor shared with the families what GC has in store for their future Tigers. Also, representing the College in this photo are Director of Religious Life H.K. Kingkade ‘83, left, and Development Director Roy Lowdenback ‘05, third from left. Cathy Otis ’86, whose parents own the orchard, is far right – next to Charlotte Elder ‘96, who set up the event.

Earlier in the day, former Gov. Martha Layne Collins, Kingkade, Lowdenback and President Crouch “painted Bowling Green Orange-and-Black” with visits to homes of alumni and friends, places of business, First Baptist Church and Graves-Gilbert Clinic. Kingkade said a special highlight was presenting Dr. Paul Parks ‘43 with a photo album of GC’s 11 current Parks Scholars.

Lowdenback and Gov. Collins, a GC Executive Scholar-in-Residence, also paid a call on Bowling Green High School – and met with a number of future Georgetown College Tigers, hopefully.

Cathy Otis opening a gift of appreciation for allowing the Southern KY Alumni group to meet at Jackson’s Orchard.

Betty Lou Smith ‘55 – wearing her freshman t-shirt from “a few years ago” – flanked by H.K. Kingkade, left, and Roy Lowdenback

Deana Douglas ’92 and Roxann Fry ‘93 didn’t know the other was coming and had been trying to get together for over a year! Warm & Fuzzy!

Monica arston Porter ‘97, Lisa Wood Harmon ‘94, Tera Jones Ragland ‘95, Jennifer Carter Myers ‘94, Stoye Young ’01. Monica, Lisa and Jennifer are Sigma Kappas – Little, Big and Grand-big.

Future Tiger Anna Ragland, 5 (Tera’s daughter)

Future Tigers Emma Harmon (Lisa’s daughter) and Elly Myers (Jennifer’s daughter)

Future Tiger Millie Porter, 6 month’s (Monica’s daughter) e than 70 area alumni, prospective students and their families turned out Thursday night (Oct. 21) for a Georgetown College celebratory picnic at Jackson’s Orchard on Slim Island Road.

Jim Durham, News Bureau Director

Company Manager Kelsey Meiklejohn is Puck/Philostrate

Jim Durham, News Bureau Director

National Players’ Tour 62 brings a new production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to the Georgetown College campus Monday evening (Oct. 25), but that’s all part of the fun of taking in the William Shakespeare classic today.

Kelsey Meiklejohn, who plays the key role of Puck – the mischievous, quick-witted fairy, said, “the part was written for a man, of course, but I played Puck before in college and it’s what brought me to theatre,” said the ’09 graduate of the College of William & Mary. “I thought we should bring (the mischief) down a little in my portrayal. There’s a lot of sincerity in her.”

Curtain time for this Foust Artist Series event is 8 p.m. in the College’s John L. Hill Chapel. Tickets at the door are $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens, and $5 for (non-GC) students.

Patrons can still expect: Gods mix with mortals, a feuding king and queen unleash magical practical jokes on each other, spells yield improbable love affairs, and a band of comical tradesmen wander into an enchanted wood and are transformed in the most unlikely of ways.  “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” arguably Shakespeare’s most popular and enduring comedy, spins a fanciful and fantastical tale of love, complete with nymphs, fairies, and, oh yes, those misguided human creatures.

This National Players’ production offers a fresh twist on the setting, making it relevant to today’s fast-moving, media-saturated world.  The woods glow in the dark and fairies dance to electronica, setting the scene for the wonderful and silly vagaries of love.

By electronica, Meiklejohn – who’s also this tour’s Company Manager – said, “We’ll dazzle the audience with a lot of electricity, technology and club music – like if you went to a rave in downtown Manhattan. Everything is still magic, but you know something has happened and you’re not sure why.”

The National Players troupe is known for each actor playing more than one character. “We’re doubling the characters as we think it would’ve been done in Shakespeare’s time,” Meiklejohn said. “I’m still Puck throughout the whole play, but the audience knows I’m Puck pretending to be a human (Philostrate).”

“The journey of the character that one actor plays is similar to the other role – and we are really playing that up,” she added.

Meiklejohn’s example: “Hippolyta is about to get married to Theseus. However, there is a rift in their relationship.  The same actors are playing Titania and Oberon who are in the middle of a huge fight over an Indian boy.  But in the end both couples reconcile.  So the actors are taking similar journeys.”

Founded in 1949, National Players is America’s longest running touring company.  Comprised of young professional actors, each year the company travels throughout the country performing two plays in repertory – one Shakespearean play and one dramatic classic.  National Players has performed in the East Wing of the White House; in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East for American military; and throughout 40 states.  Committed to the development of young theatrical talent and audiences, National Players’ tours celebrate the experience of theatergoing by presenting the world’s greatest dramatic literature.

The cast for A Midsummer Night’s Dream includes Kyle Blair (Bottom/Egeus), Hannah Burkauser (Hermia/Snug), Jenny Donovan (Helena/Snarveling), Chris Egging (Oberon/Theseus), Greg Magee (Lysander/Quince), Kelsey Meiklejohn (Puck/Philostrate), Sam Robinovitz (Demetrius/Flute), and Bethany Rowe (Titania/Hippolyta).

For more information about The National Players, visit www.nationalplayers.org.

View a Full Slideshow of Photos

Jim Durham, News Bureau Director

Back when Junior Bridgeman wore a University of Louisville Cardinal basketball jersey in the mid Seventies most players competed “for the love of the game and the loyalty to school,” he remembers. By the time he was selected 8th over-all in the NBA Draft in ’75 by the Los Angeles Lakers, he saw that it was all “business.”

Bridgeman, who would go on to become an NBA Player Representative and have his jersey retired by the Milwaukee Bucks, is the honored guest for Wednesday’s fireside chat on the “decline of character in collegiate sports” – the second in the Billy Reed “Conversations with Champions at Georgetown College.” This free event begins at 7:30 p.m. (Oct. 20) in John L. Hill Chapel.

Reed, who recently joined former Gov. Martha Layne Collins as a GC Executive Scholar-in-Residence, is a former sports editor at the Louisville Courier-Journal and contributor to Sports Illustrated. About Bridgeman, Reed wrote, “Junior always has done things the right way. He prepared himself for life after basketball by getting his degree and developing good contacts in the business world. Today he owns a chain of Wendy’s and is giving back by being a community leader. He’s a past board chairman at U of L. Bottom line, he is a great role model for student-athletes.”

Besides being president of Manna Inc/ERJ Inc and owner of 163 Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburger Restaurants and 121 Chili’s in five states, Bridgeman is active on a number of boards. Currently, he serves on U of L’s athletics board, Louisville’s Arena Authority board – which just last week saw the dedication of the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville and Fifth Third Bank. He’s also a board member of the PGA, the golf organization with which Georgetown College has a unique partnership.

Bridgeman especially appreciates the platform golf gives him to talk about sportsmanship and fair play. “In golf there is respect for your opponent,” he said. “And, it’s the only sport where you can call a foul on yourself.”

Bridgman is dismayed, though, with what’s happened in collegiate sports. “Somewhere along the line it’s gotten off track – what with the money (Division 1) schools can make being on national TV every week, coaches contracts, and issues of integrity and character that have gotten away from the core values of athletics,” he said.

“Somehow we’ve got to get back to competing on a higher level than high school, but not to where winning is the most important thing – and to win you’ll do anything,” Bridgeman said.

Collectively these “conversations” with Billy Reed tie in with GC Athletics Director Eric Ward’s emphasis on the College’s “Champions of Athletic Character” program. Ward, Reed and President Bill Crouch urge all student-athletes, sports fans and concerned citizens to come and be part of the solution by helping to restore character, ethics and integrity in collegiate sports.