Font Size: A A A

“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers” may be the unofficial creed of the United States Postal Service, but it just as well might be the motto of Bluefield College students when it comes to celebrating the school’s longstanding year-end tradition of Mud Pig Day.

Chris Shoemaker

April 26, 2012

	View dozens of other photos from Mud Pig Day 2012.
	View dozens of other photos from Mud Pig Day 2012.
	View dozens of other photos from Mud Pig Day 2012.

Despite heavy rain and gloomy clouds throughout the day, Thursday, April 26, Bluefield College students stormed a greasy waterslide, dove in a murky mud pit, and enjoyed other outdoor recreation in celebration of the school’s 34th Annual Mud Pig Day.

A beloved BC tradition since 1979, Mud Pig Day is designed to give students a break from classes, studying and books to celebrate the culmination of the academic year just before the start of final exams.

“Mud Pig Day is an event that we look forward to as students every year,” said BC senior Trey Wilson of Portsmouth, Virginia. “It’s a great way for us to relax one last time before we plunge into final exams.”

The 2012 version of Mud Pig Day featured the ever-popular mud pit -- a man-made pool of cold water and murky mud -- and the Mud Pig Day waterslide -- a long plastic tarp on BC’s high hill beside the Dome Gymnasium doused with water and cooking oil.

“I enjoy this day because it’s a day off from class to relax and not worry about anything,” said Pip Pattison, a BC sophomore from Radford, Virginia. “It’s also fun to get out on the slide and not act your age, but just have fun.”

Donning commemorative Mud Pig Day t-shirts, students also took part in carnival-like games, including a dunking booth, an inflatable bull ride and human bowling, as well lunch, featuring the time-honored roasted pig and other barbecue picnic favorites.

“It’s a good time for everyone,” added Pattison, “to come out and spend time together hanging with friends. It’s something we look forward to every year.”

Evening activities included a concert with the contemporary Christian music of The Afters and a bonfire to conclude the day. Best known for their two number one radio hits from the CD “Light Up the Sky” that gained national airplay on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” and ABC’s “You Deserve It,” The Afters played music from their album “Never Going Back To OK,” which debuted in the Top 50 on the Billboard Top 200 and proved to be a sensation on the silver screen with “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC), “Dr. Phil,” “Army Wives” (Lifetime) and “Rachael Ray.” The group also performed hits from their debut CD, “I Wish We All Could Win,” which featured the hit “Beautiful Love,” the theme track for MTV’s “8th and Ocean.”

“It’s a fun opportunity for us to interact with members of the local community and the recent alumni that always come back to campus,” said Wilson about Mud Pig Day. “It's the last social event of the year for most students before they head home for the summer or go their separate ways through graduation.”

Mud Pig Day began at Bluefield College in the spring of 1979 when prior to the start of final exams BC students took a day off from classes, away from books, tests and studying to commemorate the end of another semester of achievement. Some say the tradition began with a simple water balloon fight that developed into a full-scale, campus-wide water battle. Others recall how the event emerged out of a desire to increase school spirit and was named after a Lady Rams softball player who looked like every game she played in the mud. Still others recall how the early years of Mud Pig Day included the actual chasing of a small pig, the crowning of a Mud Pig Day King, and the development of a formal day of games, competition, food, music, recreation, and fun under the guidance of Dr. Charles Tyer, president of the college from 1972 to 1988.

“I was there for the first Mud Pig Day,” said 1981 alumna Anna Bradberry Jones about the beginning of the tradition in 1979. “It was so much fun, and what a mess it made. I remember all the girls outside the dorm trying to clean up with the water hose and tracking the water and mud all the way to our rooms. Those were such great memories.”

Comments: