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Wednesday, May 4, 2022
NEWS
Bryce Vine performs at SpringFest By Eva Mihelich
News editor
Mercyhurst students had the opportunity to see singer Bryce Vine perform on stage in the Warde parking lot on April 23 for the first ever outdoor SpringFest. He is known for his many hit songs: “Guilty Pleasure,” “Sour Patch Kids,” “Drew Barrymore,” and “La La Land.” The concert was completely planned and executed by Mercyhurst Student Government. A small team of executive board members work together starting in October each year to plan this traditional event. It was a lot of hard work to plan the event and it really paid off. “We worked super hard to set up the concert all day before and the day of SpringFest. We’d been planning the event for months and it was so awesome to see all of our hard work pay off. We were really happy with the turn out and everyone had an awesome time. Plus we really lucked out with the weather. We are hoping to be able to host SpringFest outside again next year because it was just such a great experience,” said Nick Brodfuehrer, president of MSG. During the day prior to the performances, students could check out the special SpringFest menu in Grotto Commons Dining Hall. Parkhurst partnered with MSG
to create the menu and transformed the dining hall into a California Food Truck wonderland. While at Grotto Commons, students could check out some of the stations MAC/ SAC hosted including a temporary tattoo station, flavored oxygen bar, and CD painting. To attend the concert, students had to get a ticket, free of charge, by showing their
student IDs, and then they were also permitted one guest pass if desired for anyone who isn’t a student at Mercyhurst. Doors opened at 5:45p.m., and students began lining up. No outside bags or beverages were permitted: just you and your high energy! The performance started out at 6:30 p.m. with DJ Ca$hEra from Chicago, IL who played pump-up songs ranging
from “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston to “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes. The crowd was roaring with energy, ready for Bryce Vine to take the stage. Finally, the time came. The smoke machines were going, the lights were flashing, and Bryce Vine himself appeared from the performing arts center doors, jogging to the stage
with a smile on his face. He delivered an energetic, lively performance with infectious energy that had the whole crowd cheering along. Many students did not know who Bryce Vine even was before SpringFest but left with high spirits and a new artist to listen to! Bethany Jentz, sophomore Intelligence Studies major, said, “I had only listened to Bryce Vine a couple of times before SpringFest, but I didn’t know all the words or anything. But now I have been listening to him a lot more. He just had such a great stage presence even at such a small concert.” Jentz said that her favorite song performed was “Drew Barrymore,” which was a song that really got the crowd hyped. Because of COVID, students have not had SpringFest in two years, so the return of it was met with great anticipation and high hopes for a future of more events to return to campus. If you missed SpringFest and did not get the chance to see Bryce Vine perform, follow him on social media and listen to his music. His songs are well-liked by many and have a happy-go-lucky summer feel to them, so it is fitting that he performed on a rare sunny day in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Contributed photo
Bryce Vine encouraging the crowd to sing the lyrics with him to his song ““Guilty Pleasure.“
From the archives: what the duck? By Hannah Brooks
Features editor
Imagine waking up in the morning and heading to your classes, just to be faced with an interruption. Can you imagine what that may be? A slow walker or some sort of obstruction on the walkways? Perhaps a gigantic, larger-than-life duck? While this may seem like something out of a fever dream, this was a reality for Hurst students in November of 2012, as referenced from the Nov. 7, 2012 edition of the Merciad. Now, understandably, you may have many questions about this. First of all, how did such a large duck appear on campus? Why was it there? Who had this idea? Was it some sort of prank? All of these are understandable questions. The duck appeared as a part of a rotating art display that was ongoing under previous administration, according to Michelle Scully, campus minister. “The school used to have a rotating art display on loan throughout the hallway in Old Main on the first floor where the archive photos now hang,” said Scully. “There used to be arts of all sorts there, and some of it got pretty weird - there was once a sculpture made of pool noodles hanging from the ceiling in Old Main.”
Being that the larger than lifesized duck obviously was not going to fit in the hallways of Old Main, the concept required those involved to think bigger - the home for the duck became the lawn out in front of Old Main, according to Michelle Scully. She added that the duck also had wheels and a rope attached and was not just a sculpture set to stay in one place. “Oftentimes, especially on weekends, there were times that the duck would mysteriously be moved by students and end up in many locations,” said Scully. “While it was often outside of Old Main, it sometimes rested outside of the grotto as well as many other locations on campus. It ‘journeyed’ around.” The reason why the duck was created in the first place is even more interesting than its life at Mercyhurst - it was a concept created by Erie artists David Seitzinger and Gary Cacchione as part of their 2012 “Giant Quacker” project. As part of this project, a number of large ducks including Mercyhurst’s duck were entered into the 2013 ArtPrize competition. The contest drew in 1,524 entries from artists all across the world, in which similar displays such as this one were made and placed in
various areas around the world. Though ‘Quackers’ did not win, the display finished in the top 50 for the contest. Additionally, the creators of the project still work in Erie and create art to this day at Dovetail Gallery. Though ‘Quackers’ has left campus long ago, the mark of the duck has still been made and brought joy and excitement to students and faculty alike during its time spent on Mercyhurst’s campus. The idea, concept and all that comes with ‘the duck’ are interesting and different. “It was definitely one of the funnier things that has happened at Mercyhurst in the past decade,” said Scully. Though you will not see a large duck in front of Old Main today, for more information as well as photos of the duck and the project itself, more information is available at https://www.prweb. com/releases/2013/giant_quacker/prweb11281522.htm.
Contributed Photo
A student poses on ‘Quackers,’ poking out her body for a photo.
Contributed Photo
Two students stand on ‘Quackers’ and pose with their hands on their hips
