Moms hit the bricks this weekend, descending on Athens to drink, relive their glory days and walk for a cause during Ohio University’s annual Moms Weekend.
Myriad events peppered the weekend, from Friday’s Aza! African Dance and Music Concert to the Upright Citizens Brigade show at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Saturday night.
And while for many, Saturday morning might have begun with rehydrating and recovering from the night before, others started the day with a cause as University Program Council held its 13th annual Mom’s Walk for the Cure.
More than 100 mother and student pairs attended the walk, which raised money for the Susan G. Coleman breast cancer research fund.
“The walk was great,” said Aly Mitchel, a freshman who is undecided as to a major. “It’s so important to raise money for the cause, and also, it was great that they had signs and facts about breast cancer everywhere so that people could be educated.”
The walkers took off onto the predetermined three-mile trail, which had volunteers along the way holding signs bearing facts about breast cancer. Most of the many participants were in rows of two: a mom next to her OU student.
One such pair was freshman Brianna Windle and her mother, Betty.
“It was such a nice day for a walk,” Betty said. “I’d never done a charity walk before Saturday, and the weather was so lovely. There were a lot of people involved in the walk, but it was organized very well, so there was no chaos whatsoever.”
Brianna also commented on the number of people in attendance.
“There was so much pink everywhere!” she said.
The weekend continued with an improv comedy night in MemAud Saturday night. After an opening from Athens’ Ready for Men — a comedy troupe comprising OU students — the famed Upright Citizens Brigade took the stage.
The performers brought Verity Hodgkinson, a senior studying early childhood education, to the stage and, after a brief chat with her, proceeded to base the first half of the show on their conversation with her.
For the second half, the troupe improvised sketches based on two text messages — “the police department called for you” and “haha naw you don’t look Jewish” — that had been shouted out from the crowd.
While many students took advantage of the on-campus events OU had to offer, others took to the town and made their own fun, said Laney Pierani, a freshman studying engineering.
“We mostly just went out to eat, went to a few Athens spots and went to a few shops on the street,” she said. “Sunday morning, we got breakfast, and I finally got to go to Wal-Mart. Not too exciting, but I loved every minute of it.”
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