On Oct. 26 hordes of costumed children and their parents made their way up the hill to Greek Row for Mercer’s annual Harvest Fest. They found a fall festival full of games and candy awaiting them.
Mercer Greek and student organizations volunteered their time to sponsor the games and booths, and provided the kids with an evening of fun. Mercer University Pan-Hellenic Council, the governing body for Mercer’s four sororities, organized Harvest Fest.
Harvest Fest has been a yearly occurrence at Mercer for quite some time.
Cindy Drury, assistant director of campus life said, “Harvest Fest has been around for at least 10 or 15 years. The event provides a fun fall festival and safe trick-or-treating environment for the children who attend.”
The majority of attendees are the children or other relatives of Mercer’s employees, but some children from the community attended as well.
“In the future we would love to see even more kids from the surrounding community take part in Harvest Fest,” said Drury.
The kids weren’t the only ones who had a great time at Harvest Fest. The Mercer students who volunteered their time enjoyed themselves too. Some even dressed up in creative costumes.
Games and activities in Harvest Fest’s past have included a Jell-O toss, pin the tail on the donkey, bobbing for apples, pick-up ducks, a fishing game, a cookie decorating station and a bean bag toss.
No matter what games they were helping with, the Mercer Greeks and other student organization members ensured that all of the children who attended Harvest Fest had a lot of fun.
Junior Caitlin Donnelly and Senior Jessica Savage both helped with the ring toss. “We both really enjoyed working at Harvest Fest,” they said.
“We’re glad that we could help to provide a safe trick-or-treating environment for the kids.”
Many of the students who helped with Harvest Fest enjoy devoting their time to work with children, including the members of Mercer Educators in Action, a student organization made up of the Tift College of Education’s education majors.
Mercer Educators in Action gave away delicious, freshly-baked cupcakes to the children at Harvest Fest. Some of its members volunteered to bake the cupcakes and some volunteered their time at Harvest Fest, giving the cupcakes away to the attendees who eagerly awaited them.
Autumn Vineyard is a freshman Holistic Child major and member of Mercer Educators in Action who volunteered at Harvest Fest. “I enjoy volunteering with children, so Harvest Fest was a fun way for me to both support [Mercer Educators in Action] and provide the kids with an enjoyable evening. I also liked seeing the creative ideas that different organizations came up with for their activities,” said Vineyard.
Annual Harvest Fest event held for children
