More than a thousand students gathered in the Bolchuck Plaza Wednesday morning for the 11th annual ETSU Pride Community Showcase.
Sixty-seven separate vendors were providing a wide range of free food, items and games on a warm, sunny day with a DJ providing the music.
The Pride Showcase was sponsored by the ETSU Alumni Association in a joint effort with the Chambers of Commerce from both Johnson City and Washington County.
“This is a great opportunity for students to interact with each other, meet people and make friends,” said Cindi Ramsey of the ETSU Alumni Association.
“It’s also a good opportunity for businesses to introduce themselves to students on campus and for students to find out what’s going on in the community.”
Grocery stores, banks, communications companies, chiropractors, ministries, fast food chains and utility companies were among those hosting booths.
Ice cream, hot dogs, and cold drinks were handed out to students passing between games and prize drawings.
“It’s a good way to kick off the school year,” said Danielle Hughes, from Knoxville, who was with her friends from the Dental Hygiene class of 2010.
“Awesome music, food, and fun. Don’t forget to brush and floss after getting the free sweets!”
The largest set up was from Kroger, who provided a wide range of groceries from nearly 50 vendors, in addition to 400 grocery bags, 100 dictionaries and thesauruses and 100 hand sanitizers.
Kroger also gave away $25 gift certificates from El Torito and Red Baron, as well as a $25 Kroger gift card.
They had given away all of the grocery bags by 10:15 a.m., and all the groceries by 11 a.m.
“We began asking our vendors months ago,” said Cookie Walls, assistant drug/gm manager of Kroger. “It takes a lot of effort. We had some real good support from Kroger Co., and our vendors.”
Walls has overseen Kroger’s involvement in Pride Week for the last eight years.
One of the other most noticeable setups due to the smell of the grill was Food City, who cooked and served 800 hot dogs.
They also distributed 600 gift bags which included cereal, tooth paste, pens and other items, along with 2,000 coupons, 1,000 roses and 1,000 bottles of water.
Games for prizes included the Johnson City Power Board marshmallow toss, where a marshmallow must have been successfully lobbed into a jar to win, and the Embarq wheel of prizes.
When spun, it could result in a free T-shirt, Frisbee or soccer ball.
The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Dept. brought a black, two-door, 1994 Mitsubishi 3000GT with an orange and red flame paint job and a nitrous tank.
The car is used as a display for their D.R.E.A.M. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education and Mentoring) program.
“The car was taken from a drug dealer four years ago,” said Lt. Don Monteith. ” It had 70 pounds of marijuana in it when we got it. With the nitrous tank, it has around 200 horsepower.”
The Well was one of many ministries giving out information. With cups donated from Bojangles, they also gave out pink lemonade and sweet tea, as well as gift cards to area business, and popsicles.
Over half a dozen banks had displays, including one which offered a 10-second money grab to anyone who signed up for an account.
A large inflatable chamber was filled with a wind generator and $1, $5 and $20 bills. The new account holder had 10 seconds to grab all the money they could as the air furiously scattered it.
After a student worker managed to take in $70 using her shirt, a rule was made that limited the money to that which could be grabbed without the aid of clothing.
“Today was a lot of fun,” said Sherita McMullen, from Memphis. “I won some free stuff, and $22 in the money grab.”
Student opinion during the event seemed generally favorable.
“I think it’s fun and a good idea to have because it gets people involved,” said Sarah Messer, from Knoxville.
Some students attending expressed other viewpoints. “Less obnoxious, not so loud music would be awesome,” said Jordan Angel, of Mountain City.
“To me, this seems like a bunch of banks and Bible salesmen that I didn’t want to talk to, trying to save your soul and not your money,” said John McMeen.

Author