Last Thursday evening, ominous “ooohs” came from residents hiding within their dimly lit, cobweb-filled rooms. They greeted a parade of vivacious Middletown kids in Halloween costumes eagerly trick-or-treating.
Throughout the Butterfields, Nicolson, Clark, Fauver, Westco, and various woodframes, halls were transformed into dark dungeons overflowing with Halloween décor, including pumpkins hanging from doorknobs, skeletons hanging from ceilings, and ghosts taped along the walls. The eerie silence of waiting hallmates was shattered by groups of exuberant children, ready to show off their costumes in exchange for heaps of candy.
Halloween Halls is an annual tradition dating back at least 10 years. The Office of Community Service (OCS) collaborates with the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) and dozens of Wesleyan students to host fourth and fifth-graders of Middletown, who trick-or-treat through residence halls and houses.
“The route was the hardest thing to plan,” said Mica Anaya ’08, the student coordinator of Halloween Halls.
Middletown kids were led through Halloween Halls in shifts beginning at 4:45, 5:15, and 5:45 p.m. Planning required making a map and extensive coordination between residences. Each year, some new woodframe houses are added to the route, and this year the route included X House, Womanist House, La Casa, Sign House, and 156 High Street.
In determining which residence halls and houses would be involved, OCS first sent out an e-mail looking for interest, and then held a meeting three weeks prior to the event.
“In the past, the X House and La Casa were excluded because of distance from the center of campus,” Anaya said. “I wanted to make an effort to include them this time.”
Flyers were sent out to various Middletown elementary schools and spread around town inviting all fourth and fifth-graders to participate. According to Anaya, many students from the Green Street Arts Center have participated in past years. Participants are instructed to bring a parent or chaperone along. In past years, there has been a varying number of participants, always depending on the weather. According to Anaya, the kids are the tricky part of planning.
“You never really get a sense ahead of time of exactly how many kids are coming,” Anaya explained.
Despite intricacies and difficulties in coordinating the event, it was a huge success enjoyed by Middletown kids, their parents, and Wesleyan students alike. Over 90 kids from Middletown dressed in costumes ranging from fairies with wings to vampires with dripping blood. Along with their chaperones, student volunteers escorted the kids from house to house and hall to hall in three different shifts throughout the night.
The appearance of halls alone made it clear that many Wesleyan students put in some serious effort.
Jeff Cubeta ’10, from the second floor of Butterfield C, depicted an entire death scene within his room, tying a noose around his own neck with a long rope, smearing glow-in-the-dark fabric paint on his body, and using a black light to create a glow-in-the-dark effect. On the back wall of his room were the glowing words “Help Us, He Is Mad,” created with letters cut out from computer paper under a black light.
“Halloween was really big in my family,” Cubeta explained.
Ian Agoos ’10, Cubeta’s neighbor, cut black trash bags and taped them together in a box shape around the entrance of his room, giving the effect of a dark pit.
“We got really into this, although the rest of our hallmates kind of pooped out,” Agoos admitted. “I’m sure it’s in violation of all kinds of fire safety rules.”
Other residents of the Butterfields played scary Halloween music or drew images in chalk on all of the doors, and one room requested that kids tells a joke first in exchange for candy. Students appreciated the opportunity to interact with young Middletown residents.
Emily Hoffman ’10 said that the hardest thing about being away at college is that she doesn’t get to see her 11-year-old brother grow up, and she misses being around little kids in general.
“I love how enthusiastic and uninhibited they are,” she said. “The Middletown kids did not let me down.”
Parents from the Middletown community also appreciate Halloween Halls.
“I think it’s so awesome that the Wesleyan students are doing this,” said one mother, Regina Schoffstall. “It’s really wonderful for our children.”
Director of OCS Cathy Crimmins Lechowicz echoed these words.
“Every year the parents and guardians are so appreciative of the opportunity, and the Wesleyan students have fun opening their doors to costumed kids,” she said. “This year’s event would not have been possible without the interest and support of the residence halls and the eager Wes students who led the groups of kids through campus.”
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