Annual Oktoberfest yields fun times at the Laurel Courts

Photo courtesy of Ramapo College of New Jersey

Many clubs and student organizations participated in the College’s annual Oktoberfest festivities over the weekend. On Saturday night, students flocked to the Laurel Courts for games, crafts and a German-themed dinner served by Sodexo.

According to student Kiki Khiabet, the Student Government Association’s Secretary of Programming, the SGA asked students throughout the year what kinds of activities they would like to see at this year’s Oktoberfest.

“I actually started planning the first week of September, and for a month’s worth of work it’s a pretty good turnout,” said Khiabet.

She also noted that students seemed to enjoy the new activities SGA incorporated into Oktoberfest, including the life-size inflatable game of Twister and the create-your-own goldfish tank station.

Students could also create their own tie-dye tee-shirts, play other lawn games like KanJam and Cornhole and participate in raffles to win gift cards and electronics.

Some students especially enjoyed participating in games with their fellow Ramapo College peers.

“It’s kind of nice all of us just being together for a bit,” said freshman Catie Collier, gesturing to her group of friends playing a blanket game of Scrabble. “Basically, we’ve been going now for a good two hours.”

Across campus at the Birch Mansion, the Theater Honors Society Alpha Psi Omega led tours of students through their Haunted Mansion.

While standing in line to enter the mansion, students buzzed with excitement as they recounted past visits to the Haunted Mansion and other haunted houses.

Each year, APO puts a different spin on their Haunted Mansion skit, and this year they styled it after “The Purge.”  

“There’s a lot of improv going on. The tour guides give little speeches at the beginning and they’re all made up,” said APO’s business manager, student Lisa Kelly. “It’s up to the actors to do their best to scare people based on what they’re given.”

Once students were ushered into the lobby of the Birch Mansion, the tour guide recited history behind the mansion and the Birch family.  

Shortly into her historical spiel, the lights flickered until the room turned black. In the sudden darkness, student actors appeared behind the mansion’s staircase, masked and cloaked in “Purge” costume.

As students rushed towards the exit, APO actors yelled, “Get out while you still can!” “I have been in the mansion before but they totally transformed it today into something I didn’t even recognize,” said junior Claudia Wetzel, who visited the Haunted Mansion with a group of her field hockey teammates. “I feel like we really bonded together as a group through our fear.” 

 

kbongard@ramapo.edu