Scrimmage and picnic add up to a big weekend

This weekend features two major events for the Virginia Tech community.

Tomorrow, the spring football game returns. The final spring scrimmage -- a highly anticipated opportunity to see the Hokies in action, and to tailgate -- was cancelled in the wake of the April 16 tragedy last year.

The scrimmage is open to the public at no charge. Crowds of 30,000 are typical. Officials encourage people to allow enough time before the 2 p.m. kickoff to park and get to Lane Stadium.

Sunday is the Hokie Spirit Community Picnic. The Drillfield gathering of students, university employees, and the wider community was created by students last year as an expression of solidarity and hope in the face of adversity.

Jen Vaziralli of Virginia Beach, a marketing and human resource management major at the Pamplin College of Business, who is co-director of community initiatives for the Virginia Tech Student Government Association, said the event is still intended to “remind the students of those we lost, but even more so of the great community that we’re a part of.”

The 1 p.m to 4 p.m. picnic will feature food from local vendors, games, music, and a program at 1:30 p.m. Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam will speak at the program, which will celebrate the close ties between the university and its surrounding community.

Rordam said he viewed the picnic as “a day to say ‘here are two groups that have been though this experience together. We will continue to move forward together.’”