On Oct. 30, All Campus Events (ACE), in collaboration with Residential Life, Join Us in Making Progress (JUMP) and the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership (OSIL), sponsored the 11th Annual Halloween Howl on Mills Lawn. The day was filled with candy and other festive treats: face painting, a bouncy house, and a costume contest (the headless horseman was victorious). Pinehurst Cottage and Gale Hall were transformed into spooky haunted houses that were fun for the students, the trick-or-treaters, and the visiting families. Each student organization was encouraged to put together a table or activity as a way to contribute to the festivities, and Kappa Delta, an oncampus sorority, set up a cookie decorating station, while Tau Kappa Epsilon, a Rollins fraternity, provided a dunk tank. The other participating organizations gave out candy and played games with the local children who had come to campus decked out in their Halloween costumes.
Katie Powell ’11, a member of ACE, explained that this Halloween Howl is “one of the biggest, most long standing events on campus.” Due to this tradition’s reputation as one of the most popular Rollins events, the pressure was on to organize the best year yet. In total, it took about six weeks of preparation, which included renting the sound equipment and popcorn machine, acquiring the food and treats to be given out, rallying the other organizations to get involved, and promoting the day as much as possible. All of their hard work paid off; there were smiles on every boy and girl’s face as the children ran around on the lawn, heading toward a sugar coma from their cotton candy and cupcake consumption.
It was not just Rollins that facilitated the afternoon’s activities; ACE sent out invitations to other institutes in Winter Park, as well as Orlando, extending the opportunity to bring their own Halloween spirit to add to the enjoyment. “We are all part of the community with Winter Park,” said Cass Yankala ’13; it was very important to the four leading organizations that Rollins’ hometown be involved. Judging by all of the families with younger kids running around campus on Saturday, it seemed that the word definitely got around the community. The 11th Halloween Howl was a complete success, and everyone is already looking forward to the 12th one.
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