Everything Nac

The Stephen F. Austin State University Sylvans, a timbersports team, captured its third consecutive championship title at the 58th annual Southern Forestry Conclave in Mississippi.

The team of 35 students, composed primarily of forestry majors, competed in technical and physical events against 14 other Southern forestry schools, including Virginia Tech, Clemson, Auburn and Louisiana State University.

Dr. Jeremy Stovall, assistant professor of silviculture in SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture and the Sylvans’ faculty adviser, said the rigorous coursework undertaken by students in SFA’s forestry program is a key component of the team’s success.

“Stephen F. Austin has one of the best undergraduate forestry programs in the country,” Stovall said. “This really helps with the technical events, which are mostly focused on coursework in subjects like dendrology, wildlife, wood technology and timber estimation.”

In addition to the technical portion of the event, students compete in traditional physical timbersport events such as crosscut sawing, log birling, archery, axe throwing and pole climbing.

To prepare for these physical events, the Sylvans practice daily in the weeks leading up to the competition. During the semester, members are often found practicing events and providing teammates with performance critiques and encouragement in the designated practice area, located behind the Forestry Building.

“This was the best-rounded team I have seen,” Stovall said. “We had 18 different individuals compete in the 22 events, each working hard at perfecting his or her event.”

Out of the 15 competing schools, SFA won first in both technical and physical events, with an overall score of 317.25 points. Clemson finished in second place with 269.5 points, and the University of Georgia finished third with 268.5 points.

The Forestry Conclave is an annual competition between forestry schools of the Southeast featuring both technical and physical timbersport events. Next year’s competition will be hosted by Clemson.

For information about the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, visit www.atcofa.sfasu.edu.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches.

Matt Welch, a horticulturist for Madrone Landscaping, a design firm specializing in large-scale residential projects throughout the state, will present “Plants, Planting and Pushing the Envelope in Austin Landscapes.”

With a degree in horticulture from SFA and graduate studies in plant ecology, Welch has spent half of his 20-year career in horticulture working to connect the two sciences.

Welch started his career as a plant propagator in the wholesale nursery business. He has since made the rounds in the horticultural world, from botanical garden curator to retail nursery manager to garden designer and landscaper. He resides in Austin and builds deep-soil, rain harvesting gardens and lectures on carbon farming.

The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month at SFA’s Pineywoods Native Plant Center. A rare plant raffle will be held after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves lecture series fund are always appreciated.

Parking is available at the nearby Raguet Elementary School, 2428 Raguet St., with continual shuttle service to the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building.

For more information, call (936) 468-1832 or email grantdamon@sfasu.edu.

The citizens of Napa Valley agree that Tony, played by Houston senior Cairee Mayfield, is “The Most Happy Fella” in a rehearsal of the musical by Frank Loesser. The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present “The Most Happy Fella” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 9 through 11, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.