Back 2 School Bash returns for 10th year

RAMSEUR — The Back 2 School Bash will return for its 10th year with more backpacks than ever. And its originators will be back to see how much it’s grown.

This year’s event will be held Saturday, Aug. 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Ramseur’s Main Street. All students returning to school this fall and the entire community are welcome to come.

Pastor Joshua Kurtz, formerly of Jordan Memorial United Methodist Church, and Pastor Samuel Moore, previously of McCrary Chapel, came up with the idea of a free haircut day for students returning to school in 2016. That event grew into a backpack giveaway and much more.

According to the Jordan Memorial UMC website, the goal of the Bash is “to provide school supplies so that every student has a chance to enter the year with the tools necessary to succeed” and “to reach our community through means of grace that they may know they are loved by God and us!

“The reality is that many of our students will face the school year at a disadvantage from their peers. They will be hindered because they do not have the means to get the supplies that are needed.”

Back 2 School Bash helps get those children up to speed and ready for school. 

Donna Urban, administrative assistant at Jordan Memorial and chair of the project, said the number of school backpacks given away has grown over the years, from 440 originally to 792 this year for an over-all total of more than 5,300. 

But that’s not all, says the Back 2 School Bash flyer for 2025. Over the 10 years of the event, there have been 480 free haircuts and more than 4,300 hot dogs/corn dogs served.

In 2024 alone, according to the website, the event “handed out 744 bookbags, 500 ears of street corn, 350 corn dogs, 250 hot dogs, 25 gallons of tea and 10 cases of water! We used over 110 lbs. of ice to make snow cones. Hair Hut LLP gave 25 free haircuts. The Lion’s Club completed 58 vision checks with 4 referrals. Over 116 families visited Jordan’s closet. The bounce houses and water slide were full of laughing happy children. The UNC-G School of Nursing Minerva Mobile unit conducted 15 physicals. Best of all were the smiles on faces as kids had a chance to enjoy a day just for them before starting back to school.”

And it’s all free.

The Bash wouldn’t be possible without the support of numerous churches, businesses and nonprofit groups. The list of supporters can be found at https://jordan-memorial.org/back-to-school-bash/.

Urban is quick to stress that the Back 2 Back School Bash “is a community event and several churches support it. It’s to get kids ready for school.”

Making this year’s Bash even more special is the return of Pastors Kurtz and Moore with their families. They’re likely to be impressed, even surprised, at how much the Bash has grown in 10 years.