“If he has his hat on, then he’s a scarecrow,” said four-year-old Addie Dimeglio about her one-year-old brother. “If he doesn’t then he’s a farmer.”
It was the Dimeglio family’s first time at the Mills Halloween Extravaganza, and they were also the first to arrive. Addie was dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and her brother was the scarecrow/farmer. Both kids entered the building with smiles and wide eyes as they viewed the Halloween decorations.
“We heard about it from one of our friends who came last year so we thought we’d give it a try,” said Collins Dimeglio, the father.
Mills Hall hosted their 6th annual Halloween Extravaganza last Thursday from 5-7 p.m. for children in the community. Mills’ hall council had been preparing for the event since September.
Each year the hall council comes up with a different theme for the occasion. This year the theme was “Mad Science,” where the first floor lounge was decorated as a graveyard and haunted house. The house included body parts, thriller music, and students dressed up playing different roles such as an old lady and a werewolf.
Many students and RAs were dressed in costumes. Kanoa King, an RA on the first floor, was dressed as a scary old lady wearing an old lady mask and a print-patterned dress that he bought from Goodwill. King also volunteered to help out last year when he was an RA in Hetzel Hall.
“I was going to be Dr. Manhattan, but I thought it was a little inappropriate for kids since he only wears a Speedo,” King said. “I found this old lady mask at iParty and got the dress for $5.”
Gina Russell, another RA, was dressed as a Pink Lady from the movie, Grease, and greeted families as they walked to the information table.
“Most RAs dressed up,” Russell said. “Some were a little bashful.”
Julia Pond, Mills’ Hall director, organized the event and bought all needed materials. She wrote a proposal to the Student Activity Fee Committee (SAFC) for money to help pay for the expenses. The SAFC gave $1200, and they spent $1000 on candy, food, props, and games.
“Julia put so much time into this,” King said.
Hall council and RAs began setting up the haunted house four days prior to the event, and on the day of they set up the activity stations.
“It’s been a whole week process,” said Paige Sheppard, a member of hall council.
Sheppard didn’t set up the haunted house, but her role was behind the scenes constantly walking around to ensure that everyone was ready by 5 p.m.
“Everyone did a really great job,” Sheppard said.
Mills also had activities and games set up for the children in the first floor lobby. There was a table with Halloween pictures and crayons for children to color. Another area had a pumpkin toss where the child had to toss a bean bag into the eyes, nose or mouth of the pumpkin. Vicky won the pumpkin toss and received a small bag full of prizes.
“We don’t really go trick or treating in the neighborhood,” Manisha said. “It’s really nice what they are doing for the kids.”
Once kids were finished with activities on the first floor, they walked around the five-floor building collecting candy from participating residents. 55 suites committed to participating in the event, and each suite was given a sign to put on their doors that read, “Trick or Treat here”.
Brittany Eressler stays in a suite of nine, and they were all prepared with their door decorated and bowl full of candy.
“I think it’s really nice that the kids come to our rooms,” Eressler said.
Mills had 75 children attend the Halloween Extravaganza. There weren’t any problems besides running out of munchkin doughnuts. Once 7 p.m. came, students started cleaning up the haunted house and packing it into storage, which took a few hours.
“It was smooth sailing,” Pond said. “It was so great to see the entire building out and about dressed up and ready to have productive fun.”
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