St. Michael's Monster Mash
Tarrant Sports Center will hold annual Halloween festivities

John O'Brien | staff writer
jobrien5@smcvt.edu

The annual St. Michael's Halloween Dance will be held on Saturday, Oct. 27, from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.  This year, the senior class officers are planning the event while the men’s and women’s rugby teams will work security for the event.

Halloween festivities

Molly Riendeau, senior class vice president, says the event will carry similar themes to those of previous years, but this year tickets will be available in the week leading up to the event.  Tickets for the event will be cheaper when purchased before the dance, and are available for the entire week preceding the event at the discounted price of $5. 

A festive Halloween pumpkin looks on into the night. Larry Frisoli, photo

The event is being held to the music of SuperSounds DJ with the visual assistance of the “jumbo-tron” big screen television.

Riendeau also highlights the small things the event organizers have planned for students' enjoyment, she says.

“We provide food and water and that helps to try to keep kids sober,” she says.  “We also have pizza delivered to residence halls before the dance.”

Mallory Wood, Student Association (SA) vice president, says she commends the effort that is presented by the senior class officers.  Wood says she and other SA members hoped to bring St. Michael's Halloween off campus to area events and businesses, but time and money restraints caused the group to cancel these efforts.

“(The SA) talked about different ideas that we might have involving local events,” Wood says. “However we ended up not doing it because of timing and cost and we didn’t really think that many people would have been interested.”

The dance promotion begins a week preceding the dance, but Riendeau says the notoriety of the event will advertise itself.

“People love going, people love dressing up,” Riendeau says.  “It’s always a lot of fun.”

One off-campus event occurring on Friday Oct. 26 is a Halloween dance downtown at Echo Center. The event is not put on by St. Michael's, but has gathered interest from members of the community as a way to warm up to the campus Halloween Dance.

Safety first

Director of Security, Peter Soons, says patrols will be increased for the weekend of the dance.

“We will have two off-duty personnel and myself in addition to normal staff,” he says.  The campus will also play host to two members of the Colchester Police.

The weekend of the Halloween Dance, as with other holiday weekends, brings the dangers of alcohol abuse to the campus, and Soons believes the extra security is a necessary measure. Past experience with St. Michael’s Security has given Soons insight into the activities on the campus during these weekends, and with it the knowledge that extra hands on security is helpful in maintaining campus safety, he says.

“Halloween is an event that tends to cause excess drinking,” he says.  “We want to make sure everyone is safe.  Safety is the bottom line.”

Director of Security, Peter Soons, says that security will be increased for the Halloween dance. Larry Frisoli, photo

Student perspective and concerns

Students are turning their attention to the festivities surrounding this fall event.  The Drama Club recently held a costume sale in Alliot, where students could buy a wide range of interesting attire for as little as a dollar and no more than $4.  Junior Dan Sandberg purchased a jacket covered in garbage at the sale.

Senior Aimee Boyle is attending the dance for her fourth consecutive year.

“I am proud to say that I have attended each and every Halloween dance at St. Michael's,” she says.  “It’s the social event of the fall and you can’t miss it.”

Boyle and her friends are going to the dance dressed for a “Disney Princesses” theme. 

“It’s my senior year and I just want to have the most fun possible with all of my friends and the rest of the student body,” she says.

First–year Hannah DuPrat hopes for exciting decorations and a variety of original costumes from those in attendance for her first St. Michael's Halloween dance.

“I hope there aren’t a lot of really, really drunk people,” DuPrat says. “That would be obnoxious.”

Boyle says the dance would be better if it were held in a smaller location as opposed to Tarrant. 

“I would like to see the dance moved back to Alliot,” Boyle says. “It’s a more central location on campus, and it’s a smaller place so it’s better for social networking.”