HANK WICKLEY
SPORTS WRITER
Last Thursday, downtown Alma hosted the Fall Festival, which provided entertainment and excitement for both the town and the college.
“Fall Festival is a community-wide event where students and community members come together for a Halloween themed festival,” said Rotaract Chancellor and Men’s Lacrosse player Garrett Heaney (‘20).
Assistant Athletic Director Sarah Dehring hoped to use the Fall Festival as a means to further the relationship between the college and the Alma community.
“We just wanted to get the community involved with the college and give the people from the community an opportunity to see some of the students,” said Dehring.
Kids who attended the festivities had a variety of fun activities to participate in, with the most popular event being Trunk or Treat.
“Students hand[ed] out candy for children from their decorated trunks while offering an array of activities such as slime making, face painting, and a costume contest,” said Heaney.
Though the candy eventually ran out, the night was far from over.
Throwdown in A-Town took place in the Art Smith Arena, inviting student athletes from every team.
“Throwdown in A-Town really highlights and kicks off all of the winter sports, so as we close up the fall season it gets the hype up for the winter teams,” said Dehring.
The event was as interactive as it was performance-filled. Competitions like a half court contest, Minute-to-Win-It games with faculty, a team tugof-war and a high flying dunk contest between basketball players were interspersed with presentations from Alma’s Cheer team, Dance team and Kiltie Dancers.
“A lot of times there is a disconnect between athletes and faculty so bringing them in and letting them know we care about them was really cool,” said Jared Fleming (’19), who particularly enjoyed the Minute-toWin-It competition.
Though Fall Festival incorporated students from several different campus groups like athletics and Greek life, the real focus of the event was the community.
“The entire community benefits from this event,” said Heaney.
“Businesses are able to reach out to the local families while college students get to brighten a kid’s day.”
Heaney thoroughly enjoyed being a part of Fall Festival.
“By being involved and engaged in this event, we all helped build community spirit while bringing everyone closer together.”
