Rachel Virginia Newman
Contributing Writer
Every year, the student-run Wooster Activities Crew (WAC) arrives on campus before the rest of the student body in preparation for the events of the upcoming semester — and their final event of the fall semester did not disappoint. On Saturday, Nov. 4, WAC hosted their annual Fall Fest in the Oak Grove, which offered a variety of outdoor activities for students. Ty Reynolds ’27, a general member of WAC, said it best: “We’re here to celebrate fall.”
Some of the activities were yard games, the highlight of which was an interesting combination of bowling pins, tennis balls and a blue tarp serving as a backdrop. The game caused most of the event’s attendees to meet one another as the tennis balls invariably rolled (or were thrown) into the various activities scattered around the grove.
For Ayla Özbal ’27, Fall Fest was the perfect stress-reliever as students enter finals season. The event featured two stations dedicated solely to pumpkins: one station to smash them and the other to paint them. Some people decorated their pumpkins with Wooster colors and others with white flowers, whereas Özbal decided to paint a different icon for each holiday on her pumpkin, intending to turn it as the seasons pass. “I loved painting pumpkins but also enjoyed being able to aggressively smash them,” Özbal said.
The pumpkin-smashing station was contained to a small blue tarp accompanied by two mallets and a nice selection of ready-to-smash pumpkins. WAC President Ellen McAllister ’24 and Reynolds took turns demonstrating pumpkin smashing for the Voice. Afterward, McAllister shared that WAC had purchased 65 pumpkins in preparation for the event. “Home Depot has no more pumpkins thanks to WAC,” McAllister said.
At the entrance to the event, WAC members handed out powdered doughnuts and apple cider. These were perfect for students to snack on after working up an appetite smashing pumpkins — or a good treat for watching others smash pumpkins!
When it comes to planning these events, McAllister says that the biggest challenge comes with finding the right time to host them, as the student organization has to figure out a time that students are available both to attend and work the event as well as ensure there will be good weather. “We’ve had this planned for over a month,” McAllister said, which proved to be vital for securing all of Home Depot’s pumpkins.
The event’s only pitfall was the music, according to McAllister and Reynolds, as they had been hoping to secure a live band, but for regular attendees, the Spotify playlist set the mood perfectly. Özbal agreed with that assessment, stating that “It was the perfect fall event in my opinion.”
But now that Fall Fest is over, WAC has its sights set on Casino Night, to be held on Jan. 27, 2024. The event is sure to start WAC’s spring semester off strong. WAC has meetings every Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Lowry room 202 and anyone is welcome to attend. Keep an eye out for WAC’s spring calendar of events, which will be out soon!