Swayed Pines Variety Show draws crowd of over 300

On Saturday evening, the Peer Resource Program (PRP) hosted the Swayed Pines Variety Show, an opportunity for students to showcase their musical, poetic and comedic abilities.

Milk and Honey Ciders provided the backdrop for the event, as their new pavilion provided space for friends, family and community members to come together and enjoy a night of entertainment. The space was abuzz with sounds of eager conversation and friendly introductions as students and locals mingled with families and neighbors alike.

PRP has hosted a variety of events in the past, but none quite like Swayed Pines. Swayed Pines was the brainchild of SJU students Zachary Staver and Sam Rengo; the pair drew their inspiration from past campus events.

“A few of my aunts and uncles who are alumni told me about this ‘Swayed Pines’ or ‘Pinestock’ thing where students could perform and entertain everyone,” Staver said. “When I got here and found out that tradition had long been gone, I thought I could get something like that organized for students.”

Rengo explained the shift from large-scale acts to more local performers and students.

“We wanted to move away from bringing an expensive, big-name performer for Swayed Pines and instead build something more community-oriented,”Rengo said.

The variety show opened with a tribute to Professor Ed Turley, who passed away suddenly this past month. A skilled pianist, Turley impacted the lives of hundreds of students during his time at CSB+SJU, two of whom honored him with piano selections.

Family weekend proved to be the perfect occasion to host the show, drawing a crowd of over 300 people. In fact, the people in attendance outnumbered the chairs, with many individuals choosing to stand around the edges of the pavilion to get a view of the stage.

“We had upwards of 300 people in attendance, which is an incredible assembly. I couldn’t be happier with the turnout,” Rengo said.

The event also provided the opportunity for parents of out-of-state students to experience all CSB+SJU has to offer.

“I was so excited to bring my parents to the variety show,” CSB junior Leah Fraher said. “As someone from Arizona, I don’t often get the chance to show my parents how strong our community is. The show was an opportunity for me to highlight what makes our campuses so special.”

For Attention Starved Children (ASC), the CSB+SJU improv group, the variety show provided the perfect environment for the troupe’s first performance of the season. When COVID closed campus in the spring of 2020, the future of the group remained uncertain.

“After the pandemic, I was worried that ASC would never perform again because we had lost many of our members. I am truly grateful for all the new members that took a chance and came to auditions so we can finally ‘bring the funny’ again, and for the variety show for giving us a platform to share our craft,” CSB senior and Member of ASC Celeste Dickson said.

Other performers included James Siems, Jane and Maura McMahaon, Anthony-Arjun and Gilbert Torvinen, Jervon Sands, the CSBeats, Sam Kelly and Alec Borgen, Braden Bizal and Taelor Nebel, Sam Rengo, Finn O’Malley, Amanda MartinezPort, Gavin Knott and Zachary Staver. The event provided an outlet for students to showcase talents and abilities that often get overlooked in favor of larger, on-campus events.

“There is so much talent across our campuses that goes unnoticed. Events like the one we just put on give stages and opportunities to that talent to blow us all away. I have been fortunate in my life to have chances to share my talent, but many people have not. If we can make those opportunities for students, we will,” Staver said.

Rengo echoed Staver’s sentiments, highlighting the importance of building community across both campuses.

“Our value of community living teaches us that we become who we are through our relationships with others—to overcome the adversity that we face in our lives and the world, we need to look to each other and grow forward together,” Rengo said. “What better way to cultivate organic community connection than by hosting an event that brings people together?”