Detroit, Mich. - The Wayne State University Department of Music, with the generous support of Circa 1890 Saloon, proudly presents the 2002 Funeral for Ol' Man Winter at 11:30 a.m. April 3. This year's New Orleans-style funeral promises to be the best in the nearly 20-year history with exciting additions. The master of ceremonies, Dwayne X. Riley, will bury winter, WSU Student Council member Anthony Almeida and crown 2002 Miss Spring, WSU Music student Elizabeth Gray.

Supporters are inviting funeral marchers to help bury winter by donating old but still good clothes to benefit Mother Waddles Charities of Detroit. Other additions include a Mortuary Science Department hearse, winner of the 2001 Homecoming Parade's "Best Float," and a funeral procession/parade featuring the WSU Dixieland band, student council and athletic teams.

The funeral procession/parade will start on WSU's Gullen Mall (Second Ave.) at Warren Avenue, will proceed up through the center of campus to Ferry Mall and will end at the Circa 1890 Saloon on Cass Avenue. A brief ceremony to celebrate the welcoming of spring will follow the parade. After Ol' Man Winter is put to rest and Miss Spring is officially here for another year, all participants and spectators will be invited inside Circa 1890 where owner Steve Xantheas will donate the day's proceeds to the WSU Department of Music in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, the Department of Mortuary Science and the WSU Athletic Department. For more information, contact Andrea Saglimbene in the Department of Music, (313) 577-1783.

The Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts is educating the next generation of visual artists, musicians, communication professionals and professional actors and dancers. The college offers 16undergraduate and 12 graduate programs in Art and Art History, Communication, Dance, Music and Theatre with students benefiting from expert faculty and excellent resources such as the nationally known Hilberry Theatre.