It’s no secret that Chatham has many traditions that are held close in the hearts of students, faculty, and alums.  With Halloween on the way it was time for one of those traditions to show its face.  

On Thursday, October 29, Anderson Dining Hall hosted Halloween Dinner and Mocktails for all students to attend. The darkened dining hall was filled with villains and, luckily, superheroes to keep them in line. Police officers, movie characters, Minions, some famous people from history, and even a unicorn showed up to party.

There was a costume contest, in which all students could participate. Costumes were judged for the funniest, scariest, most creative or recycled, and best overall.  Junior Maryann Fix’s Juno costume — complete with with a big round baby belly — won funniest costume. A masked Jigsaw was so frightening, we had no choice but to vote him scariest costume. In a blast from the past, Amelia Earhart, portrayed by first-year Carina Stopenski, won the most creative or recycled costume. A group of friends dressed as the toys from “Toy Story” — including graduate student Emily Kocian as Woody, junior Lynzy Groves as Jessie, Wesley Knotts as Buzz Lightyear, junior Alice Shy as Slinky Dog, junior Amber Starr as Hamm, and sophomore Brittany Fowler as a Little Green Man — and won best costume overall.

Anderson served up a scary selection of food that night.  Students munched on mummy dogs, wolfed down worms and eyeballs, chewed up some cheese fingers, and enjoyed lots of other monstrous goodies.

Different clubs — including the Creative Writing Club, the Beyond the Page Book Club, the Artist Collective, and many others— concocted their own creations to share at Mocktails.  Some of the drinks available were fresh sangria, warm apple cider, and some other creative mixtures of different beverages.  Afterwards, students were able to fill out ballots and vote for the best Mocktail — an award that the Creative Writing Club ultimately won.