Concert in the Park

UC Irvine has been celebrating its 40th anniversary with numerous events, and this time around it was by means of thunderous proportions.
On Sept. 29, UCI put on the Concert in the Park and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, a renowned blues-infused rock band, took to the stage on the Commencement Lawn in Aldrich Park for yet another UCI birthday bash. The event was free of charge not only for the students, staff and faculty of UCI, but the general public as well. Starting at 5 p.m., several student groups performed for the crowd, including the Latin Dance Team, Jodaiko and Alpha Phi Alpha’s step team. The Fabulous Thunderbirds hit the stage at 6:30.
City officials in attendance included Irvine Mayor Beth Krom.
Chris Bolano, a member of UCI’s class of 1988, who worked as a volunteer at the UCI Bookstore booth selling UCI paraphernalia during the event, expressed the importance of having the city’s support.
‘It shows that the university has a good partnership with the city of Irvine and the Orange County community,’ Bolano said.
Other sponsors of the concert included The Paul Merage School of Business, the University Club and Diedrich Coffee.
Emceeing was Sasha Straus, an alumnus from the Class of 1999. He took part in founding the Completely Insane Anteaters, UCI’s student-spirit group. He showed his Anteater pride in traditional CIA fashion with the ‘Rip ‘Em Eaters’ hand sign accompanied by cheers of ‘Zot, zot, zot!’ with none other than Peter the Anteater by his side.
Other groups represented at the event included the Orange County Register, the UCI Bookstore and UCI student groups Asian Pacific Student Association and MEChA, who sold food to hungry fans at a concession stand during the event.
‘We’re hoping to have a lot of community members