Mills CARES hosted a Halloween Carnival for students from the Mills College Children’s School and other local elementary schools in the living room of Warren Olney Hall on Monday afternoon.
The carnival booths and activities were each sponsored by a campus club or organization. Sophomore Cassie Pinnell of Mills Environmental Organization of Women (MEOW) said that her club sponsored a booth “to involve ourselves in the community a little bit.”
MEOW hosted a Cake Walk booth where the prizes were Halloween cupcakes.
The Hip Hop Association hosted Twister and a dance contest. Theirs was one of the busier booths, with costumed children sprawling on the Twister mat.
“We’ve been swamped with kids,” said sophomore Jackie Casey, one of the three club members running the Twister game.
Casey said that the Hip Hop association sponsored a booth “mainly to get our name out there. We wanted to let people know there is a [Hip Hop] club, to educate them about us. Also, we wanted to have fun.”
Trick or treating was another popular activity. Some residents of Olney had signs on their doors indicating that they had treats for the kids. Parents and children walked around the hall in small groups, knocking on doors. After several trick or treaters had passed, one resident ran from her room, saying she was worried about running out of candy.
Candy was not the only available treat for carnival-goers. A fishing game, where students could win noise-makers, was hosted by the English Center for International Women.
Art was also part of the celebration-children could decorate bags for their candy and prizes, and could get their faces painted by Jules Narcisse at the table hosted by the ASMC Academic Board.
Nearby Burbank elementary school also sent students and their families to the carnival.
For brave souls, a haunted house was set up in the basement of Olney Hall, and tours through the haunted house were given several times an hour.
Many children were dressed up in costumes. There were several Disney movie characters represented including a Tigger and two Jasmines. Animals and wildlife were also popular costumes. There was a Dalmatian, a butterfly-princess, and a lady bug. There were also pirates, a handy-man, a witch, and other classic Halloween characters represented at the free celebration.
