As Downtown Harrisonburg prepares to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with a free concert and fireworks spectacular Thursday, Cassidy Walker ’25 is helping bring one of the city’s biggest summer events to life.

The Visual and Communication Arts (VACA) graduate has served as development manager for Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance () since January, where she builds and strengthens relationships with donors, sponsors, and local businesses to advance the nonprofit’s mission.

She spoke with 91����Ƶ News about her love for Downtown Harrisonburg, the lessons she brought from 91����Ƶ, and the city’s “biggest fireworks show yet.”

How did you end up working for Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance?

I fell in love with Downtown Harrisonburg, and I couldn’t really leave it. HDR is actually one of the reasons I fell in love with it.

Through the VACA program at 91����Ƶ, I also worked with downtown business owners, so I already understood the impact HDR was making. Then someone I knew told me, “You’d be great at this job. You love talking to people, and you’d really excel in this role.”

During my interview, I talked about how much I admired what HDR was doing and how my experiences at 91����Ƶ, from admissions to VACA and working with students, had prepared me for this role. Thankfully, I got the job.

What’s been your favorite part of the job?

I love talking to people. Being able to make these amazing connections with business owners, sponsors, and community partners is my favorite part of what I do.

91����Ƶ taught me how to build meaningful relationships and have genuine conversations with people. Those skills have carried over directly into this role, and now I get to use them every day.

You mentioned falling in love with Downtown Harrisonburg. What do you love most about it?

Like 91����Ƶ, Downtown Harrisonburg is incredibly community-oriented. People just care about one another and want to see each other succeed. That’s something I experienced at 91����Ƶ, and when I got to know downtown and the people behind HDR, I saw that same spirit among the business owners and community partners. They really support one another, and that’s something special.

Since starting this job, what’s been your favorite moment so far?

I’ve had a lot of favorite moments, but one really stands out.

One of our sponsors had worked closely with the previous development manager, and I was terrified walking into that first meeting. It was my first sponsorship meeting, and I wasn’t sure how it would go. As we started talking, I realized they also had ties to 91����Ƶ. We talked about where I came from, why I wanted to work for HDR, and what this role meant to me.

In that moment, it clicked that I was doing exactly what I was meant to be doing. Even though I was nervous, the conversation felt natural and gave me a lot of confidence moving forward.

There’s a big event happening Thursday. What can people expect?

We’re presenting the VA250 Fireworks Celebration, which also serves as the kickoff to this year’s Levitt AMP Harrisonburg Music Series. It’s really two events in one.

We’ll kick off the series with the first of seven free concerts, featuring a local opening act. There will be food vendors, kids’ activities, giveaways, and our biggest fireworks show yet.

It’s designed for everyone: families, friends, kids, and even dogs. Thanks to sponsors like 91����Ƶ and Blue Ridge Insurance Services, we’re able to make this event possible and are very grateful for their support.

What are you most excited for people to experience?

The whole idea behind the Levitt AMP Music Series is building community through the shared experience of live music. I get to see that happen in real time while working with our sponsors and artists.

Watching people come together, make connections, and simply enjoy being part of the community is what I’m most excited about. That’s really what these events are all about.

91����Ƶ is a sponsor of the VA250 Fireworks Celebration and Levitt AMP Harrisonburg Music Series.

These answers have been edited for clarity and conciseness. 

For the more than 200 91����Ƶ students participating in the university’s fourth annual Royals Go Downtown presented by Everence on Thursday, the foods available to try ranged from sweet sips (mango lassi from Taj of India), savory snacks (dumplings from Mashita), and the wacky and wonderful (pickles on a stick from Sage Bird Ciderworks).

That’s not to mention the dozen other mouthwatering dishes students could sample from downtown Harrisonburg restaurants, businesses, and organizations including Magpie Diner, Aristocat Cafe + Tea House, Court Square Theater (serving their own popcorn), Broad Porch Coffee Co., Rockingham County Circuit Court and Clerk’s office (handing out gavel-shaped pencils), Billy Jack’s Wing & Draft Shack, Texas Inn, Shirley’s Gourmet Popcorn, OASIS Fine Art & Craft (giving away lollipops), Klines Dairy Bar, and Benny Sorrentino’s.

Royals Go Downtown introduces 91����Ƶ students to the restaurants and other businesses that make the Friendly City so special. Students gathered, by the busload, at alumna-owned Magpie Diner to begin their cross-town culinary crawl, where they were greeted by Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus. “This is a time where we get to be community together,” Dycus told students. “We are in downtown Harrisonburg because this is home for us.”

Groups of students strolled through the heart of Harrisonburg along a guided walking route, led by faculty, staff, and student volunteers. They stopped at partner locations before coming together at Turner Pavilion for a dance party, hosted by DJ Adam Wirdzek (also known as EBRO), web content and strategy manager for 91����Ƶ marketing and communications, and Mayor Deanna Reed, director of alumni engagement and community connections at 91����Ƶ, who offered students a warm welcome to Harrisonburg.

“It’s like my favorite event of the year,” 91����Ƶ senior Lauren Kauffman, of Goshen, Indiana, told the Daily News-Record () about Royals Go Downtown. “There’s all kinds of good food. Good food, fun, and friends.”

Another student, first-year Eli Monroe of Poquoson, Virginia, told the paper, “It was absolutely phenomenal. I got some free things, I got a nice water bottle out of it, and I got to hang out with my best buds.”

Joni Wiederman, a first-year nursing major from Spotsylvania County, Virginia, attended the food tour with her field hockey teammates and said it was her first time experiencing downtown Harrisonburg. “I like how friendly everyone was,” she said. “It was pretty welcoming.”

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the event a resounding success, including the planning committee (Amy Springer Hartsell, Atma Khalsa, Deanna Reed and Sara Wittig), 15 participating downtown businesses, Mayor Reed, 23 faculty and staff volunteers, seven student volunteers, our mascot Herm, various 91����Ƶ offices and departments (Athletics, Student Life, Facilities Management, Pioneer College Caterers) and our businesses who sponsored this event.

These business partners include:

• Presenting Sponsor: Everence
• Court Square Champ Sponsors: CT Assist, LD&B Insurance Services, Matchbox Realty, Rockingham County Circuit Court and Clerk’s Office, The Mark-It, Friendly City Food Co-op, and Kline’s Ice Cream.

We will soon begin planning for next year’s Royals Go Downtown event. Please let us know if you have any feedback from this year or suggestions for next!