By Sadie Shields
Laughter and excitement filled the air as classic Halloween music kicked off the first ever Hinarr Hu Moulik East housing Trick or Treat event Oct. 25 from 6-8 p.m. The first stop? A trip down the tunnel to other mother’s abode as the Coraline themed candy banquet began!
Residents of the Hinarr Hu Moulik (HHM) building and students from all around campus traveled to HHM on Sunday to get an early start on celebrating Halloween. This spooky event was organized by the Resident Advisors (RAs) who had the idea to bring Halloween early to HHM East. Each study room was decorated with their own themes of the RA’s choosing and students gathered around the mocktail table on the second floor while learning to be aware of alcohol and spiking.
Because the event was held inside a residence hall building, the housing department shared the information for this event a week in advance so that the students in HHM East were able to prepare for the possible foot traffic this event could cause.
Kai Frimodig, a junior and the HHM East lead RA, was excited to bring the event together and share how each residential building will be doing one major event per semester this year.
“We just wanted to be festive,” Frimodig said. “We decided that for our big event for HHM East, we would do something during Halloween and this seemed very fitting.”
RAs were stationed in separate study rooms throughout the floors of the residential area, some dressed in costume while other RAs dressed in fall sweaters and t-shirts. Residents participated in the trick-or-treating experience while exploring the different themed study rooms.
Floor seven’s decorations involved red balloons heading towards the direction of the origami boat stream, with a clown decorated door and a projector playing It, with templates for people to create their own boats to add to the stream. Floor five brought Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin’s pumpkin patch to life as visitors learned all about the Do’s and Don’ts of having a pumpkin.
Aside from floor five’s candy, the educational information about pumpkins and their environmental impact helped students to understand the importance of safely disposing of the festive decorations that come with the fall season. Abraham Orozco, a junior marine biology major, shared how learning about invasive pumpkin species and reading the recipes was his favorite part of the event.
From origami boats, to slime, to ofrenda decoration making, the hands-on activities drew a crowd of students and filled up the halls which spurred long lines for the elevators. The treats and the mocktails ran out before the event was over.
Lincoln Hester, a junior forest soils major, enjoyed how the event truly allowed you to fall into the interactive chaos of the evening, with many decoration stations and music to dance to.
“I really enjoyed the engagement, just interacting with the people hosting,” Hester said. “They had a lot of helpful info, and I found that to be pretty valuable.”
By the end of the event, the bowls were empty, the floors were quiet and the feeling that Halloween is nearly here could be felt throughout the resident halls.
Sadie is a reporter with an interest in covering and taking photos for sports and science. Reach her at sls331@humboldt.edu.