October 3, 2014
On Sunday, September 28, Hamilton students ventured off the Hill to enjoy the free music, food and crafts of the annual Fall Fest in Clinton. The event featured entertainment by Hamilton a cappella groups as well as local bands. Bon Appétit provided a spread of autumnal delicacies such as chili, molasses cookies and apple cider.
Various Hamilton clubs set up booths at the event to educate festivalgoers about their organizations and provide fun activities and crafts for children. Kyle Burnham ’15, founder of Hamilton’s new Ento Club, offered cricket bars and cookies to passersby. “I hadn’t planned on doing Fall Fest at first, since the club’s just getting up and running and eating insects is a bit of a weird thing,” Burnham said, “but after they asked I figured, it would be a good way to get the word out.” Burnham explained to interested students and Clinton residents the ecological significance of eating insects and encouraged them to then try a sample of insect-based snacks. “People were pretty engaged once I started talking to them,” said Burnham, “and there were several occasions that a small crowd formed.”
Olivia Surgent ’17 hosted the booth for Hamilton Autism Advocates for Neurodiversity (HAAND). The HAAND booth sold autism awareness ribbons to raise funds for the Kelberman Clubhouse, a new program that HAAND will be debuting at Hamilton this semester. The Kelberman Center, an organization based in Utica, is partnering with the College and HAAND to bring children with autism to campus every week. “HAAND chose to have a booth at Fall Fest because we thought it would be a great way to raise Autism awareness and promote the acceptance of Neurodiversity in Clinton,” Surgent said. “Those of us working at the booth had a great time at the event. The diversity of people who stopped by to share their stories about how autism has touched their lives or to simply show support of our cause was amazing.”
The Hamilton Republicans also ran a booth at Fall Fest, for which they hosted United States trivia. Will Swett ’16 explained that since “not many other organizations were participating in Fall Fest,” the Hamilton Republicans decided it was important to step up. “We decided that it would take little effort to go down on a beautiful day and interact a bit with the people who live in Clinton,” Swett said. “It’s disappointing that so few organizations participated, but I don’t blame them as there isn’t much benefit from the standpoint of most organizations on this campus. I had a few good conversations with some of the locals, so overall it was a good time.”
Other groups were involved in Fall Fest as well, including Alpha Chi Lambda sorority, which hosted cookie decorating, and the Vegan and Animal Rights Group. The organizations that attended and held booths at Fall Fest seemed to have an enjoyable experience and made the festival an enriching experience for students and community members. Burnham remarked, “I thought it was great! It was a beautiful day with great music and good company. It’s a great way for clubs to interact directly with a larger community as well, and I’m all for that.”
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