Monster Mash

On the rainy eve of Thursday October 25th, the Red Barn cast an eerie glow over Ripley as students came in droves dressed as their favorite characters for a spooky night of food, fellowship, and fun.

The Student Body Association’s ability to throw a blowout event never fails to impress, and The Fall Informal was no exception. Chef Brett prepared a lovely spread of finger foods, complemented well with various ghostly colored punches. Party lights mingled with false cobwebs decorated the rafters of the Barn and totally transformed the atmosphere; a live band played as students were free to mingle and let loose.

Unburdened from the stipulations of their day to day identity, people slipped easily into their characters — the allure of dressing up being that for one night of the year, children and college students alike are able to escape reality and become someone else. Not to mention the un-holy amounts of candy.

Among the costume clad attendees were wizards, Sandlot legends, red-necks, hippies, monkeys, greasers, grinches, paper salesmen, grandparents, dinosaurs, doctors, cowboys, princesses, Pacmen, and even a Blue Mountain bible professor — each with their own unique persona.

The night came to a bittersweet close with a costume contest. In the couples category, Michelle Calderon and Denio Chirindza won first place with their rendition of Cleopatra and Cesar. In the group category, Mary Dillingham, Caleb Mitchell, Declan Lowell, and Nathan Bennett took first place, collaborating to portray wizards and witches from J.K. Rowling’s classic Harry Potter series.

In the final category -individual- Luke Overton brought home the gold dressed as a body guard, complete with earpiece, sunglasses, and unbreakable stoic expression.

Many left completely exhausted - legs tired from dancing and voices hoarse from singing at the top of their lungs, but hearts smiling thanks to the momentary relief from ‘adulting’ to remember the joy of a childhood and the prospect of endless possibilities.