LYCOMING COLLEGE SUMMER MAGAZINE 2023

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LYCOMING’S TOUR CHOIR RESUMES DOMESTIC TRAVEL PERFORMANCES

JOE FEERRAR ’02 NAMED LYCOMING COLLEGE ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR

Since its inception in 1946, Lycoming College’s Tour Choir has traveled all over the United States. Tour Choir affords students the opportunity to make music in extraordinary places and forge relationships with classmates and professors that last a lifetime, all while offering the gift of music to people far and wide as some of Lycoming’s finest ambassadors. The Tour Choir was thrilled to resume its domestic travel during Spring Break in March 2023 after a hiatus during the pandemic. The choir performed its traditional send-off concert in Clarke Chapel on March 8 before departing campus on March 11. The choir then made subsequent stops at Damascus, Md., Washington, D.C., and ended the tour in Williamsburg, Va., on

March 14. Making this year’s trek particularly meaningful were the connections made with Lycoming alumni and friends along the way. Peggy (Giauque) ’69 and the Rev. Walt Edmonds ’67 are a special connection point to Damascus United Methodist Church, where Walt is the former pastor and founder of the Charles Wesley singers. The Edmonds’ grandson, Matthew Baldridge ’25, is a current Lycoming legacy and member of the Tour Choir and was excited to perform at his hometown church. Carol “Missy” (Marsland) Schoch ’73 joins Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg for three special concerts held annually at the church and was incredibly

Birds Brewing, with locations in Audubon and Jersey Shore, Pa., as well as Four Birds Distilling in Havertown, Pa. It was when Feerrar was a store manager at Commerce Bank where he worked on a loan for Victory Brewing Company that he learned a lot about craft beer from the owners during the lending process. He was so enamored with the craft beer business that he started to save money with the aspirations of opening his own brewery one day. Eleven years later, Feerrar opened Bald Birds Brewing Company in Audubon. “Lycoming’s been an incredible family throughout the entire time. It’s because I went to Lycoming that we’re sitting here today.” Feerrar currently serves the College on the President’s Leadership Council. Also see page 27.

On March 2, 2023, Lycoming College recognized entrepreneur Joe Feerrar ’02 as Alumnus of the Year at the 22nd Annual Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce Education Celebration at the Williamsport Country Club. Following a heartfelt introduction from his former faculty advisor, Philip Sprunger, Ph.D., the College’s provost and dean of the faculty, Feerrar acknowledged the role Sprunger and Lycoming have played in his life, professionally and personally. A Jersey Shore, Pa., native, Feerrar played football for the Warriors and studied finance while at Lycoming. His 15-plus-year career as a banker in both the retail and commercial sectors gave him a firm foundation to follow his entrepreneurial spirit. Feerrar and his wife and business partner, Abby, own Bald

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LYCOMING COLLEGE 2023 SUMMER MAGAZINE