KTSW’s Fifth Annual MR Fest, a free three day music festival in downtown San Marcos, has been full of firsts this year.  It’s the biggest it’s ever been with 14 venues participating, over 98 bands and comedians performing and ultimately branching out not only to students but the community as well considering it will be the largest event San Marcos has ever hosted.  The Texas State Geography department will also be incorporating their 18^th Annual Alumni Reunion and Student Celebration on April 28^th, bringing two school organizations together and helping KTSW to add environmental awareness to the growing list of the station’s accomplishments this spring. 

“This year what we’re going to do is completely different.  This is the first time we’ve ever partnered with KTSW and we’re really excited about it.  Normally what we do is the scholarship and awards program and then we do a barbeque out at Aquarena,” Angelika Wahl, the department’s Office Manager, said.  “This year we’re partnering with MR Fest so that we can send all of our folks to the music festival instead.  What we’d like to do is on the Saturday find one of the venues or performances that’s either Geography alum or University alum so that we can send everybody to that specific event.  And then we’re going to coordinate our scholarship and award time frame around that.”

The department’s booths will be on the courthouse lawn all day Saturday where they plan to provide extra activities and career services for their students and alumni.  Wahl is really looking forward to the change of pace, “People are used to the picnic atmosphere of it.  So it’s a little bit different for us but we love it because there’ll be so much more to do.”  She also loves the idea of partnering with another school organization and has made a personal goal for the department, “Just to get more involved with the different departments on campus because I think there’s such a divide amongst the student organizations and the departments.”   

Aside from bringing their event tothe festival, the department plans to provide a clean-up crew and hopefully prevent some unnecessary waste by offering compostable cups and plastic ware made of corn to the food and drink venders.  “We have the composting folks from the University come out there and they’ll provide bins which will be really nice and helpful,” Wahl adds.  “It’s a really proud moment for Texas State because KTSW is really doing an outreach into the local community.  What a way to really focus on the different venues in downtown San Marcos because it’s changed so much if you don’t frequent down there you don’t know what’s going on.  This is great.” 

The department is organizing volunteers to help clean up after the festival is over.  Anyone can sign up; just contact Brian Cooper, a senior lecturer for the department.  He will be coordinating the volunteers.

 -Erica Brokaw

http://www.geo.txstate.edu/people/alumni/reunion.html
http://ktsw.txstate.edu/promotions/mrfest.html