Homecoming is our sacred week here in the Forest. There are countless traditions, such as the parade and Friday morning pep rally that have been around for years. However, our Student Council added a new event this year, hoping to become an annual homecoming tradition: the Fall Festival.
To kick off the Homecoming festivities, the Fall Festival was held on Monday, Oct 16 after school from 5:30-9:00. It started with fun games held by different clubs or organizations on campus and ending with a Halloween classic “Hocus Pocus.”
Clubs and classes had the opportunity to create their own “booth” to bring some fun games to the festival. The clubs present at the festival included the following:
- Anchor Club- Bouncy Cup
- Coastal Dance Team- Homecoming Photo Opt
- DECA – Glitter Tattoos
- Executive Board (Student Council) – Obstacle Course, provided by the National Guard
- Freshman and Sophomore Class- Ladder Toss
- Junior Class – Pumpkin Putt Putt
- National Art Honors Society – Face painting
- Prowler- Guess the Candy Corn
- Senior Class – Pumpkin painting
- Yearbook – Photo BOOth
Participants bought tickets to create the sense of an actual festival. One ticket was worth one dollar and sold at the gate of the track. Each club set their individual prices, depending on their activity. DECA, for example, provided glitter tattoos for one ticket each, and the Senior class allowed you to paint your own pumpkin for five tickets.
Senior Chase Faulkner shared, “The obstacle course was my favorite part as well as hanging out with my friends and girlfriend.”
To go hand and hand with the fun games located around the track, there were multiple food vendors on the outskirts of the fence if you wanted to grab a quick bite. Benito’s Wood Fired Pizzas, Jeremiah’s Lunch Box, Seas The Day, and Moose’s Munchies offered a wide variety of food, as well as our Panther concession stand run by Ms. Kristen Kilheeney.
Around 6:45, the track was cleared for a performance by the Coastal Dance Team, who was also participating in our Homecoming festivities. They gave an upbeat show with colorful pom poms while clubs were wrapping up their tables for the final event of the night to begin.
As the weather was coming to a chilly end, it was time to lay out blankets and find a good spot on the turf with friends. In the end zone was a projector screen, which streamed “Hocus Pocus.” While watching the movie, you could enjoy a souvenir cup of popcorn sold from the concession stand.
Julian Brooks, a senior, expressed, “The festival was a great new tradition to bring everyone together for one night. It was so good to experience this with all my friends my last year here at CF.”
Ms. Tracy Todd, head advisor for Student Council, added, “I’m so excited to host our first Fall Festival and Movie Under the Stars. This is a wonderful event to be a new Panther tradition!”
It was truly a night to remember and now for years to come. The Student Council will try to continue as well as improve the festival to better for the future with an ultimate goal to expand the festival to the community in upcoming years!
