Though the weather’s been chilly lately, here’s a recap of the festive spirit from Montgomery College’s Fall Fest. On Thursday, October 31 Rockville’s Student Activity Board (SAB) held this year’s Fall Fest. The event was held in the Arthur and Miriam Becker Family Quad from 3 to 6 pm. The key activities were the pumpkin painting contest, pie eating contest, mechanical bull riding, Laughing Hat Photo booth, and a costume contest.

The pumpkin painting contest consisted of three rounds, one hour each, with five contestants for each round. Each contestant had access to acrylic paints, brushes, a water cup, and paper plates for mixing paint. At the end of each round, the SAB volunteers judged the pumpkins and picked a winner.

The pie eating competition consisted of four rounds, each 30-45 minutes apart with five to seven contestants each round. While the competition started slow after the first round, it quickly picked up, as crowds gathered leading to the event finishing earlier than expected. There were 21 pies for contestants, with flavors including pecan, apple crumble, peach, cherry, and sweet potato.

One of our writers Angel, interviewed the second-round winners and runner-up about their experiences and why they joined; they openly expressed their desire to try something new.

The runner-up, Alexandria ‘Alex’ Fant, participated in the pie-eating contest with the hope of winning, and this is what she had to say.

“The thrill of it! And, um.. I don’t know! I just wanted to join, and to prove to my friends, ‘hey, I can do this challenge.’ I didn’t win, but you know, I tried it out anyway.” – Alex, getting candid about her experience in the contest.

The winner, Jordan Carter who participated and won the competition, expressed his thoughts about the contest.

“I actually hate pie, and I hate pumpkin pie even more! I chose this because it has the least amount of stuff on it, like there was no crumbs. There was no nothing! I chose that because it was the easiest one to eat. I knew i was gonna win, I didn’t have competition, but it was kind of hard.” – Jordan, going into details of his thoughts on the contest.

Talking to the two contestants about their participation, it was clear that they had no regrets. Another highlight of the event was the mechanical bull ride.

The mechanical bull riding station took longer to set up than expected giving students ample time to sign up and get a wristband from SAB volunteers. Students had a few seconds to adjust to the bull as it picked up speed. A rope-like material stuck out near the bull’s saddle for students to grip onto. Most students fell within the first few seconds of getting on, some partially due to their costumes’ nylon, silk, and satin fabric. The mechanical bull riding station remained popular with a line forming even as the event ended.

The Laughing Hat photo booth was situated near the entrance of the Theatre Arts building. Students quickly formed a line in groups or by themselves to get a photo. There was a table full of props for students to pick from ranging from handheld signs to headbands, boas, paw gloves, glasses, and much more. The photo booth allowed for three photos per visit and also remained popular until it was time to close.

In addition to the Fall Fest activities, a costume contest was held on the Rockville Campus Student Government Association (SGA) Instagram for Spirit Week. Students who attended Fall Fest were asked if they wanted to participate and had their pictures taken. Those who did not attend in person also had the option to tag the SGA Instagram page for the chance to enter their costumes.

Each station had at least one mini basket consisting of candy or chips. There were also snacks and refreshments, including candy, chips, funnel cake, lemonade, apple cider, cupcakes, and brownies. In addition, smaller games took place like catch and sack tossing.

Co-Written by Angel Nyambio and Linu Parajuli, the co-chair for SAB.