Local Happenings

     As the weather gets cooler and the leaves change colors, familiar rituals feel especially important to mark the changing season and celebrate Autumn before Winter sets in. On Oct. 1, St. Scholastica held its annual autumnal custom, Fall Fest, which brought students together for music, fall food, games and pumpkin crafts around the bonfire on Groves Lawn. 

     This year, the weather has been slow to take on the nip that makes it feel like fall outside, but the evening of Fall Fest was fittingly chilly. Attendees bundled in layers and clutched paper cups of hot apple cider to stay warm and enjoy the festivities planned by Student Activities. Fall Fest featured seasonal food offerings of caramel apples, pumpkin bars and (of course) ingredients to make S’mores around the fire. 

     Overall, students enjoyed the food, especially the pumpkin bars. One student, Freshman Abby Wood, was enthusiastic about it all. While painting pumpkins with friends, she raved about the food. “Oh my gosh, it was so good, 10/10. I love the caramel apples and the pumpkin bars and the apple cider.” After a pause, she added, “Everything! Everything’s so good.” 

     Not all students were as enthusiastic as Wood was about the food offerings. Jocelyn wished there had been more food at Fall Fest. “The snacks run out way too fast. And a meal would be nice. I feel like that’s the whole point of a festival—to have food to eat.” Junior Sean Reagan agreed that he would have appreciated a meal, but admitted that it “could be because I’m hungry because I just had rugby practice, though.” Reagan also sympathized with Student Activities, saying that although they ran out of food too early, “It’s not something that can really be helped, because they have no idea how many people are going to show up.”

     Aside from the food, another feature of Fall Fest is pumpkin crafting. Groves Lawn was temporarily transformed into a pumpkin patch, where students could pick one out to paint, carve, or take home unchanged. The pumpkins disappeared fast, though, and many students wished there were more. This was the only thing freshman Ellie Norvitch would change about Fall Fest. “I wish they had more pumpkins,” she told The Script, “because they ran out.”

     Junior Andrea Eiden was excited about her pumpkin, which she grabbed immediately after arriving knowing she had to act fast before they disappeared. “I saw the yummy food, and I was about to get some, but then I saw the pumpkins. I went to grab myself a lumpy pumpkin, and I’m excited to paint it!” 

      One thing that all the students who spoke with The Script about Fall Fest agreed on was that the music brought the whole event together. Former CSS student Nathan Voight and bandmates played guitar and sang mellow tunes that gave the gathering a cozy, intimate quality. First-time Fall Fest attendee Josie Kwansy was sitting in front of the band painting ghosts on a pumpkin when she spoke with The Script. “Even though I’m freezing,” she said, “I’m just in a high right now.” When asked if she’d return, she said, “I would, they play amazing music.” Norvitch agreed that the music was an essential part of the event. “I love the live music—it adds the ambiance.” 

     While some students wished there had been a bit more food and a few more pumpkins to go around, the people who spoke with The Script shared their enjoyment of the festivities. The event brought the CSS community together to celebrate Autumn with food, music, pumpkins and friends. Norvitch summed up the fun of Fall Fest best when she said: “I like that the school has events like this. It’s nice that I can go out and do something that I know is only going to be a couple of hours, but I can hang out with my friends and get free food. That’s usually the goal."