BLUE RIDGE INSTITUTE HONORED AT WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY

May 3, 2004

        Washington, DC—The President and Mrs. Laura Bush presented a Preserve America Presidential Award for Heritage Tourism to the Blue Ridge Heritage Initiative at a White House ceremony today. Ferrum College’s Blue Ridge Institute and Farm Museum were among those honored for their work on the Blue Ridge Music segment of the Blue Ridge Heritage Initiative. Blue Ridge Institute Director Roddy Moore, Assistant Director Vaughn Webb, Ferrum College President Jennifer Braaten and Chair of the History, Political Science and the Arts Division Wayne Bowman attended the ceremony at the White House.

      Two honorees were selected in each of two categories: Heritage Tourism, for projects that exemplify efforts that demonstrate commitment to the protection and interpretation of America's cultural or natural heritage assets; and Private Preservation, for outstanding privately funded historic preservation projects that are funded privately or through public-private partnerships and that support the Administration's Preserve America initiative objectives.

      The Blue Ridge Heritage Initiative is located in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia. This initiative promotes four groups of heritage tourism trails: Blue Ridge Music; Cherokee Heritage; Craft Heritage; and Farms, Gardens and Countryside.
For more information on the Blue Ridge Music Trails visit this site: http://www.blueridgemusic.org or call the Blue Ridge Institute at 540-365-4416.

      Ferrum College is a four-year, private, co-educational, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Ferrum offers a choice of nationally recognized bachelor’s degree programs at a cost well below the national average for private colleges. For more information on Ferrum, visit www.ferrum.edu.
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