By Kyle Kern Staff writer
Oct. 23 was a fun-filled day of Halloween activities, food, crafts and “trunk or treating” for the kids of Selinsgrove and the surrounding communities who attended the Susquehanna Student Athletic Advisory Committee’s Hawktober Fest.
There were relay races to entertain the children; children had their faces painted with Halloween characters and personalized favorites.
Other fall activities included bobbing for apples, carving pumpkins and decorating bags for trunk or treating.
Trunk or treating was a popular part of the event where some of the university’s sports teams had a car’s trunk filled with candy, and the children attending used the bags created to go “trick or treating” at each car’s trunk.
SAAC has held this event over the past few years for the community’s children, allowing them to venture onto the Susquehanna campus and experience fun, food and friendliness from the student-athletes of Susquehanna.
In the past, the event was called Crusader Carvings,. However, this year the event was renamed Hawktober Fest in honor of the new mascot.
This play on words combines the new nickname for Susquehanna and “Oktoberfest,” the traditional German celebration of the fall months.
Weather reports had worried Kaitlyn Wahila, the head coach of the field hockey team and advisor for SAAC.
However, the day came and the rain stayed away for the entire event, which ran from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The event was held on the Susquehanna football field beside the Garret Sports Complex. During the event, the sports teams of Susquehanna each had a part to play.
For example, the track and field team ran the “Pie an Athlete” stand.
Meanwhile, the football team ran the stand that was in charge of helping the children in attendance carve pumpkins.
The event was promoted and ran by the SAAC, but Susquehanna student-athletes controlled the event.
Each team was given a different activity to run throughout the event.
The students advertised with flyers and announcements.
There was even a raffle for the parents of the children who attended. This raffle’s prizes included a $50 Giant Foods gift card and a coupon basket from Texas Roadhouse.
Wahila said the event is “a great opportunity to take time from the daily grind, to put time into an activity that allows [the student athletes] to be a sort of mentor to the kids for the day.”
Haley Timko, a sophomore soccer player, was able to experience the event.
“It just is a great time at Susquehanna to just give back to the community,” she said.
“It’s just cool to see how much fun the children were having running around in their cute costumes while trying out all the activities available to them, and also seeing all the athletes that were there enjoying themselves while giving back to the community,” she added.
This event gave the opportunity for all the student-athletes to provide service to the local community.
Not only was this the first time for some student-athletes to help out with this event, but it was also Wahila’s first time coordinating the event.
“Hawktober Fest was a huge success for the athletic department SAAC on Oct. 23,” Wahila said.
“We look forward to continuing our Hawktober Fest tradition in years to come,” she added.
The brisk fall weather graced the event with a beautiful day to continue the Susquehanna student-athlete tradition of giving back to the community during the fall months.
It brings to light the fact that student-athletes can find time in between academic coursework and athletic practices and games to give back the community that loyally cheers them on each year.
