Three bands, one cause and one night resulted in the second Imagination and Milk Jam, which occurred on Friday, Oct. 19 from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. The event featured Waiting for December, Carbonaut and the Phyllis Brown Experience, and was sponsored by the West Chester University English Club.The first act of the night was Waiting for December, formerly The Soapbox Prophets, performing songs off their new EP, “Kill Your Television.” According to their MySpace blog, they are in the process of being signed to a local record label. To listen to their music, check out their Web site, www.myspace.com/waitingfordecembermusic.
Following Waiting for December was the Phyllis Brown Experience. With their smooth sound due to the mixture of guitar and piano, the duo created a calming effect for the audience.
The audience became revived again during Carbonaut’s performance, which featured five males making a powerful impression on WCU and ended the Imagination and Milk Jam at approximately 11:30 p.m.
The English Club has made a tremendous comeback from three years ago when it barely existed. This year’s executive board includes Amanda Tingle, president; Al Solove, vice-president; Michelle Sustello, secretary; Johnny Wood, treasurer and Christine Shanley, public relations and historian. Dr. Timothy Ray, professor of writing, is the faculty advisor.
They produced their first literary magazine, “Imagination and Milk,” last April and plan on producing one by March 2008.
The purpose of the Imagination and Milk Jam was to raise money to fund the literary magazine because unlike “Daedalus,” the WCU literary magazine, “Imagination and Milk” is not funded by the Student Government Association.
The name, Imagination and Milk, has an interesting history.
“Our current vice-president [Al Solove] decided in 2006 that the lit mag should have a fun, quirky name,” Tingle said.
The name came from the literary magazine editor of that year, Stef Szymanski, because of the use of one’s imagination when one is creative and that one can drink milk and eat cookies while reading the magazine.
The first literary magazine was supposed to be printed in the 2005-2006 school year, but due to difficulties with getting it printed, it failed to occur.
However, in the following spring, English Club managed to produce the literary magazine at a cost of roughly $250, and students were able to purchase it for a small fee of $4.
Tingle said that there will be a Book Sale to support the English Club on Wednesday, Oct. 31 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Sykes Student Union.
They also hold Open Mic Nights on the first Tuesday of every month. The next one will be on Nov. 6 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. in Sykes Common Grounds located behind Ram’s Head Food Court. Everybody is welcome to come out to perform or watch. Comedy, poetry, music and any sort of act is welcome. Open Mic Nights are free.
English Club holds their meetings every Monday at 7:30 p.m. in room 210 of Sykes Student Union. Everybody is welcome to join, not just English majors.
Regardless of the rain, the Imagination and Milk Jam proved to be a terrific success, earning $285 for their literary magazine and provided entertainment for WCU students.
English Club hopes to have another Imagination and Milk Jam in the spring semester in order to celebrate the second literary magazine publication.
Students interested in submitting work to this year’s “Imagination and Milk” are encouraged to contact editors Timothy Bruno, Jessica Conrad, Nick Mehalik and Kip Migdalias at imaginationandmilk@yahoo.com. All submissions, such as poetry or short stories, to the literary magazine are due by Friday, Dec. 7, 2007, and must be emailed to the the address.
Jenn Halligan is a first-year student majoring in English education with a minor in Spanish. She can be reached at JH0653435@wcupa.edu.