LENOIR-RHYNE ANNUAL DINNER: Bears to celebrate 100 years of football on Thursday night

TICKETS
Tickets are $50 per person and there are discounted tickets ($25) for young alumni who graduated after 2000. The price includes two free drink vouchers along with dinner.
Online registration is available by at alumni.lr.edu/bearsclubdinner or by contacting Martha Wrike at (828) 328-7007) or via e-mail (Martha.Wrike@lr.edu).

HobbsDailyReport.com

HICKORY – Lenoir-Rhyne University’s kickoff celebration for the 100th season of Bears football is scheduled Thursday at the school’s Annual Dinner.

The Bears Club’s event is at Moretz Mills with cocktails served at 6 p.m. and dinner – courtesy of Texas Roadhouse – starting at 6:45 p.m.

A tour of LRU’s new Neill McGeachy Sports Performance Center is available with a 4:30 p.m. start on Thursday.

POPE

Special guests on Thursday are LRU graduate Mike Pope, former Bears head football coach Fred Goldsmith and current head football coach Drew Cronic.

The special guests for the evening will be Mike Pope, Fred Goldsmith, and Drew Cronic.

“This is such an exciting time to be a part of Bear Nation,” Bears Club President Bob Fincher said in an LRU press release. “I hope everyone who has had the opportunity to strap it up Between the Bricks can join us for what will surely be a memorable evening.

“I am forever grateful for my time playing at LR and can’t wait to be a part of this great celebration of 100 years of LR Football.”

LRU has won more than 500 football games in its history, a national title in 1960 and a national runner-up finish in NCAA Division II in 2013. Last season, LRU reached the NCAA Division II quarterfinals and Cronic was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Coach of the Year.

Pope is in the LRU Hall of Fame and is one of the greatest tight ends coaches in NFL history He spent 34 years with teams the New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys and picked up four Super Bowl rings.

Goldsmith coached the Bears for four seasons from 2007-10. He was responsible for bringing in many of the players and setting the foundation for the teams that would eventually win SAC Championships and advance to the 2013 National Championship game.

Cronic led the Bears to one of the most successful seasons in program history in 2018 and was the South Atlantic Conference (SAC), Regional and National Coach of the Year. The Bears’ win total increased from three to 12 and their offense broke multiple program records.

LRU won the SAC title by going 7-0, and the Bears won all of their home games last season.

Pictures, video and memorabilia from the first 99 years of LRU football will be displayed and all former players who attend will be recognized.

The 1960 NAIA national title team and the 2013 national runners-up team will also be recognized.

— Reported by LRU Sports Information

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