Halloween In The Halls

Averi Amsterdam, Staff Writer

‘Twas the night before Halloween and all through the halls, the town kids were in search of candy to celebrate fall.

Every year, the month of October consists of each hall government preparing for Halloween in the Halls. Celebrated the night before Halloween, the kids in the town of Oneonta are welcome to join us on campus to trick or treat in a safer environment and to partake in festive Halloween activities. All of the residence halls set up crafts and activities in their main lounge to welcome the children and their families before they begin to collect candy. The entrance to the building, the front desk, and the first floor main lounge area are decorated with both cute and spooky decorations. Students are encouraged to sign up to give out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Often, there is an incentive, such as a drawing for an iPad, for the students to participate in this event. For two hours, each hall government runs Halloween in the Halls and acts as tour guides helping the children find the rooms with the candy.

In addition to trick or treating throughout the resident halls, a Halloween carnival is hosted in Hunt Union. Beginning at five p.m., the children and their families are encouraged to participate in this fun, festive carnival before being guided around campus to collect candy. An honor society for sorority and fraternity members, Order of Omega, organizes this Halloween carnival. Beginning at 6p.m. and ending at 8p.m, student volunteers direct the families around campus to the different resident halls.

This year, in Higgins Hall, an additional incentive to sign up to give out candy was created. A week before Halloween in the Halls, a jar filled with candy corn was placed at the front desk for residents to guess how many were inside. The hall government of Higgins realized candy is expensive and students may not want to partake in the event because of this reason. The resident whose guess was closest to the amount of candy corn in the jar won a bag of candy to hand out.

Higgins’ hall government set up Halloween coloring pages and a lollipop ghost craft for the children before and after trick-or-treating. They were also welcomed with their first trick or treat stop at the front desk when they entered the building. Other activities consisted of a mummy-wrapping contest, eat the donut off the string, and many more.

This yearly event has been a way to connect the surrounding community with the college students. Halloween in the Halls is loved by the community because it provides their children with a safe place to trick-or-treat in a college town. The students also love it because they get to interact with the community and see the children dressed up in their costumes. Halloween in the Halls is an event the community and students can look forward to together.