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An RA focuses on his caricature of a student.
Photo by Marissa Black

Autumn arrived at Azusa this week. Actually, it more like plopped down, as scattered hay bales and pumpkins nested on Trinity Lawn for Thursday’s Fall Flannel Fest. This was the second block party of the year hosted by the Residence Life Office to build community by bringing everyone together on Halloween.

Jonny Liu, resident director for the University Village and the main coordinator of the event, hoped the Fall Flannel Fest would remind students of a low-key neighborhood get-together.

“I think at every block we just hope that the community comes together again,” Liu said. “If you think about if you lived in a community or neighborhood, we’re trying to create a block party feel where families come out, where friends come out and where we share food, fun games [and] all that kind of stuff.”

Between 800 and 900 students showed up throughout the evening and many stayed the entire length of the event. More students joined to fellowship after liturgical chapel finished.

Students seized the opportunity to dress up. Nearly everyone who attended wore the plaid flannel hipster look or some type of costume. Minions, sumo wrestlers and Miley Cyrus doppelgangers (the clothed kind) mingled and danced with hipsters in skinny jeans and glasses.

Students enjoyed a variety of games, such as helping to build a massive Jenga tower or chucking logs over a high bar for lumberjack games. Student artists drew detailed caricatures for “Hipstergrams,” and a cozy photo booth provided an excellent way to show off those new temporary tattoos. And what’s an Azusa party without music? An upbeat mix provided the soundtrack to the chilly fall evening, giving students a reason to dance.

Students also lined up to go on a hay ride, which looped around the back of the dorms. There, resident assistants from Engstrom Hall dressed in costumes and interacted with riders along the route, dancing and climbing on board the trailer.

Junior art major and Engstrom RA Sarah Morgan dressed as a falling leaf for the hay ride and wore a “#leaves” sign to continue the hipster theme.

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A student dressed in a minion costume pets the miniature donkey at the makeshift petting zoo.
Photo by Marissa Black

“Freshman RAs are always in charge of the hay rides, so I stayed with my staff the whole time,” Morgan said. “Each different dormitory is spread out around the hay ride.”

The hay rides went on from 8 to 11 p.m. as students chatted while clutching hot drinks and wandering around the other booths.

One of the popular activities of the night was a mini petting zoo, which attracted students who took selfies with llamas and crowded around and inside a pen with chickens, goats and a baby pig. Students also had a chance to interact with a miniature donkey named Butters.

Freshman undeclared major Abby Golliher wore a shirt with “life” written on it and passed out Lemonheads to other students. She said she was pleasantly surprised with how well put together and enjoyable the event was.

“I was actually expecting a lot less than is here,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting this many people to be dressed up, I wasn’t expecting it to be this organized and nice. They put a lot of work into this.”