Project Pumpkin Provides Halloween Alternative
by April Bayer
Members of the Seward community brought their children to trick-or-treat at David Hall’s annual Project Pumpkin on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Each year, David residents work together to create an enjoyable evening for the trick-or-treaters by decorating each hall with a specific theme and dressing up in costume to hand out candy to children.
“I think it’s really good for the campus and the Seward community,” said senior Alyssa Newton, David’s residence hall coordinator. “It creates a safe environment for trick-or-treating. It’s a lot of fun for the kids and their families.”
Project Pumpkin is designed to give families a safe alternative to trick-or-treating on Halloween night, while also giving students a chance to serve their community.
The event also provides an opportunity for Concordia students and community members to interact and build relationships. Students, parents and children alike come together to dress up, chat and enjoy some candy.
“I’m amazed at the amount of effort the students put into putting this on for the kids and the community,” said Gabi Katt, a resident of Maui, Hawaii, who was visiting the area and attended the event with her great-grandchildren.
Hallway themes included “Alice in Wonderland” with a mad tea party, a Hawaiian beach party with a ukulele player, “Monsters University,” “Finding Nemo,” a top-secret spy headquarters and a group of pirates hosting a treasure hunt.
“It’s a really awesome outreach for Concordia University… to show how much the students appreciate being part of a community as warm and receptive as Seward,” said professor Beth Pester, director of middle level education and student teaching.
Pester was just one of several members of Concordia’s faculty and staff whose children attended the event.
So many trick-or-treaters passed through that one hall had to make two trips to the store to buy more candy.
Some notable costumes included an entire family dressed as the Incredibles, a little girl in a homemade R2-D2 outfit, a stick of cotton candy, and several princesses, witches and samurai warriors.
The halls’ themes and decorations are also judged by faculty and staff in an unofficial contest each year. The winners are rewarded with a pizza party.
This year, the residents of the South East Pit won with their lumberjack theme. Decorations included paper trees, leaves collected from outdoors, pine-scented air freshener and several girls dressed as bearded lumberjacks.
