“I was blown away by the performances,” she said. “I like that Cornell has really made the effort to mark this occasion and bring together communities across the globe,” said Jessica Ames, a program manager with the Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Members of Cornell’s Juggling Club roamed through the crowd and performed throughout the evening, as did the women’s hockey team (on inline skates) and the Big Red Bear, festooned with several blinking Cornell seal necklaces, mingled with guests, mostly for photo ops (“I think you blinked on that one, Touchdown!” called out one photographer after taking a group photo). Performers were projected onto huge screens hung from scaffolding. Total performers numbered 350, organizers said, including the marching band’s 100 strong.Ī huge, square red carpet in the center of the hall held the largest staging area, which was surrounded by 12-foot-high vertical, illuminated displays of images ranging from a close-up of a mosquito ear, to President Abraham Lincoln’s signature, to a map detailing restaurant spending in the New York City metro area. The Big Red Marching Band entered Barton to start the party the stages lit up every few minutes for short performances by dance groups such as the Phenomenon Step Team, Cornell Bhangra and Sabor Latino Dance Ensemble a cappella groups the Class Notes, the Chordials and Key Elements Yamatai, Cornell’s Taiko drumming group, and Paul Merrill’s Jazz Group and local groups such as the Community Unity Music Education Program and Jen X Academy of Dance. Entrance tokens – illuminated necklaces sporting the university seal – sparkled throughout Barton, as guests moved along the perimeter of food vendors and displays, and through performers, a sesquicentennial photo booth and four stage areas. More than 4,200 people from the Cornell and Ithaca communities attended the two-and-a-half-hour party. The hall’s vast interior was transformed into a showcase for performance talent, local foods, images of research and discovery, and rollicking birthday festivities for the Big Red Birthday Bash April 24 during Charter Day Weekend. Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick '09, left, and Cornell President David Skorton, right, along with local Ithaca singers The Burns Sisters, dance and sing 'We Are Family' during the university's birthday party celebration in Barton Hall April 24.įantastic sights, sounds and tastes were offered in abundance at a birthday party that was a feast for the senses Friday night at Barton Hall celebrating Cornell’s sesquicentennial.

Feast of the Dead by Source Point Press