Our Place in Walla Walla: Wine
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Feature by: Noah Leavitt, College Liaison for Community Affairs
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Our place loves grapes.
This past weekend, you may have noticed extra traffic in town and around our community as Walla Walla hosted the annual Spring Release weekend, with thousands of people visiting town to participate in dozens of special events, tastings and other wine-related festivities. Demonstrating the loyalty of fans of Walla Walla and our wines, the Union-Bulletin noted that visitors are returning in increasing numbers to this event each year.
To be clear, not everything in Walla Walla is about wine. As part of a growing regional trend to offer alternative beverage options, many local non-alcoholic sipping products exist like bubbly rose and mocktails, and we even have a travel planning company called Zero Proof Walla Walla.
Having said that, wine is a large part of our local economy and community (a wonderful quick history, starting with the Missoula Floods, is here). According to our local tourism office, Walla Walla has more than 130 wineries consisting of 2,900 acres of planted vineyards and those numbers grow every year. The value of this is significant: An excellent 2022 Wire story on this topic cited a 2019 study estimating “total sales of $430 million, labor income of $114 million and 2,484 jobs generated in the local economy in relation to wine production, tasting rooms and winery visitation.”
Local wines consistently win regional, national and international awards and Walla Walla was the first community in the United States to win US Today’s America’s Best Wine Region award for three consecutive years.
Read more.
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Whitman Debate Members Advance at Nationals
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At the recent National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence, hosted at Whitman, Jas Liu ’24 and Kasey Moulton ’24 placed second in the nation—the first Whitman parliamentary debate team to advance to a national final in 10 years. In addition, Isabel Mathy ’25 received the National Championship Speaker Award with Alexa Grechishkin ’25 placing second. Grechishkin & Mathy placed in the top six overall.
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Boyer Avenue Partial Closure This Month
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Boyer Avenue will be closed from Palouse Street to Touchet Street Monday, May 6 through the first week in June. Pedestrian traffic will remain accessible only on the north side of Boyer Avenue in both directions, with a mid-street crossing available to access the Glover Alston Center and Boyer House. Vehicles will be detoured around the closure.
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Staff Coffee Break Tomorrow
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The Office of the President will host a Staff Coffee Break on Tuesday, May 7 at 10 a.m. on the Cleveland Commons patio. Enjoy a midmorning break to socialize with your colleagues.
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President Bolton To Hold Open Office Hours for Students Tomorrow
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President Bolton will hold open office hours on Tuesday, May 7 from 1–2 p.m. in Reid Campus Center (look for signage by the Fish Ladder). Throughout the semester, students can drop by these sessions to share their thoughts or just to chat.
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Mental Health Awareness Webinar for Employees
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May is Mental Health Awareness Month. All Whitman staff and faculty are invited to view a Mental Health Awareness webinar provided by Canopy, Whitman’s employee assistance program. If you have not yet logged into the Canopy member website, register using “Whitman College.” Once logged in, select the “Webinar & Training Center” and then select “On-Demand Webinars.”
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The Whitman College Athletics Department recently hosted its annual Celebration of Champions at the Sherwood Center. A list of recognitions is available on the athletics website. The event was held in conjunction with the Whitman Student-Athlete Advisory Committee who hosted its annual Blues Banquet during the same evening.
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Monday (Last Day of Classes)
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Stanton-Anderson-Cleveland Field
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Reid Campus Center, Room 240
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Reid Side Lawn or Sherwood 114 (weather dependent)
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Sherwood Athletic Center, Room 106
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Reid Campus Center, Young Ballroom
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Tuesday (Reading Day, No Classes)
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Hall of Music, Chism Recital Hall
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Wednesday (Reading Day, No Classes)
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Reid Campus Center, Young Ballroom
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Memorial Building, Room 205
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Reid Side Lawn or Sherwood 114 (weather dependent)
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La Maison (Interest House)
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Technology Services Building
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Reid Campus Center, Young Ballroom
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Cleveland Commons, South Corner
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Reid Campus Center, Room 209
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Would you like to share an event with campus? Submit the information to the Events Calendar.
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“Whitman Today” is produced by the Office of Communications and is emailed Monday through Friday to Whitman College staff, faculty and students.
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Previous issues of Whitman Today are archived on our website.
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