University of Mary Washington President Troy Paino made a splash Saturday morning by riding a thousand-foot slip ‘n slide through downtown Fredericksburg.
City officials worked with the university to organize the SlideFXBG (Slide Fredericksburg) event, closing off streets and making room for the giant inflatable waterslide.
It was all part of UMW’s sixth annual Eagle Nation Day, which celebrates the University’s student athletes and introduces community kids to college sports and a healthier lifestyle.
Almost 2,000 people registered for The Urban Slide ride, which stretched along several city blocks down Fredericksburg’s Hanover Street hill, near the president’s home.
The giant three-lane waterslide has popped up in cities like Dallas and Denver. Paino said he’d never heard of it until Fredericksburg officials approached him with the idea, but when he went online to learn about it, he was hooked.
“I just thought it was the perfect thing to create a festive atmosphere between the university and the city,” he said.
