ROSEMARIE RAPISARDA
Special to the Leader
Halloween is often celebrated by children going door-to-door and trick-or-treating in their neighborhoods. However, the SUNY Fredonia community wanted to offer an alternative.
This year, Safe Halloween was brought back to the SUNY Fredonia campus for the first time since 2019, with the largest turnout ever.
Safe Halloween is an event in which children and families come to trick-or-treat in a safe, enclosed area.
Children ages 14 years and under were welcome, but had to be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times.
In previous years, the event was led by the student-run organization Percussion Guild and the School of Music.
This event did not happen for some time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other circumstances.
This year, the Percussion Guild and the Student Association of Fredonia decided to get the ball rolling again and start Safe Halloween back up.
The event took place in the second-floor practice rooms of Mason Hall, where each participating club was able to have their own room.
Children and families walked down the hall, room to room, collecting candy from students.
Joseph Fiumano, co-president of the Percussion Guild, said that there were “various signs across Mason Hall pointing parents in the right direction during trick-or-treating.”
Signs also led parents to live musical performances by the School of Music clubs.
Not just music clubs were in attendance, but also theater groups and even WNYF-TV, the campus TV station.
“This was my first experience volunteering for Safe Halloween… I am glad to have helped contribute to its success,” said Alexandra Giles, the maintenance technician for WNYF who volunteered at the event.
Giles also noted her favorite aspect of the event: “I enjoyed seeing the kids smile alongside the creative costumes.”
John Anderson, Percussion Guild’s events coordinator added, “[In the future] I hope other clubs around Mason Hall or campus will become interested in taking part so the event carries more momentum going forward.”
Even parents were happy with the event’s return.
Rachel Martin, a local mom as well as a SUNY Fredonia faculty member said, “I was happy to see the Mason Safe Halloween event back on campus. It was always a fun event in the past, and this year was just as enjoyable. It was nice to see our campus clubs engaging with the community. This was a great addition to the Family and Friends Weekend schedule.”
With productive collaboration between the Percussion Guild, the Student Association and other participating clubs, the event was deemed successful, according to Karolyn Stonefelt, distinguished professor and chair of percussion studies. “The attendance number is impressive, but more impressive was the organization and cooperation involved.”
Stonefelt also mentioned how “this event attracted 605+ people [through] strategically placing flyers and outreach with the public schools in Fredonia and Dunkirk…I know that candy is a big draw, but I doubt that there would have been such a successful turnout were it not for the outreach on the part of the student group and cooperation.”
Fiumano added, “Thank you for the time and effort that everyone put into this event to make it a smash and smooth sailing. Even if someone put up a single flier, this act got more people to attend and more happy community members in the safe doors of Mason Hall.”
Due to this cooperation, children were able to safely trick-or-treat with their families while bringing a sense of community to our campus. Hopefully, Safe Halloween will stick around for the long run.
Rosie Rapisarda, the writer of this piece, is the president of the Student Association. Alexandra Giles, who was interviewed for this piece, is the assistant photo editor of The Leader.