As a continued effort to regenerate campus life, University of Hawai’i Maui College celebrated Halloween with a fun-filled event thrown by students and staff for the local community. The two-night affair took place on October 20 and 21, and included the family-friendly Keiki Zone and The Mansion of Fright for mature audiences. The decor was spooktacular and picture-worthy opportunities were at every turn. I was glad to attend the event with my 9 month old daughter, and in the spirit of Halloween, we dressed up as avocados.
The Keiki Zone offered a few different attractions and welcomed visitors with a burst of Halloween-themed decor. A spirited display of blow-up pumpkins and a giant Halloween dachshund hound greeted kids and parents at the entrance. Families lined up and posed for photos with the Halloween aesthetic. Leading into The Keiki Zone was a black lit, spookily decorated hallway that opened into an array of activities. Amongst the fun there was face painting, games, free candies and popcorn, therapy dogs, and resource tables. A magnificent Halloween balloon wall served as another backdrop for memorable moments. It was clear the volunteers put effort into creating a wholesome and festive ambiance. The spirit of Halloween was fully embraced. Many students, friends and families arrived in costume. To top it off, The Keiki Zone offered golf cart rides around campus as an opportunity for guests to enjoy more of the campus’s spooky and amusing Halloween decorations.
Next, the Mansion of Fright was a key highlight of the event and quickly sold out. Designed to be a fundraiser for the students basic needs fund, the Mansion of Fright provided an immersive and frightful journey through five themed rooms-
Kilohana Fujii-Miller, the schools Institutional/Policy Analyst and the mastermind behind this haunted attraction, expressed the team’s excitement. “The Mansion of Fright started out as we were looking to create more events throughout the semester. Halloween is one of the few themed holidays during the fall semester and we found that some of us really love Halloween, horror movies and haunted houses. We really liked the idea of creating our own haunted house and having it be a fundraiser for basic needs projects. Each team leader was given the opportunity to create and implement their own themes and ideas in their room.”
Fujii-Miller felt a positive and humbling reaction from the audience and was proud, especially since the event was a first of its kind on campus, and was pulled together in a short amount of time. She told me, “There were plenty of screams so we knew we were doing a good job. We’ve got so much positive feedback from the people that attended. We are truly grateful. The volunteers that participated in the event had a great time. If we do this event in the future we hope more students volunteer and want to participate.”
Indeed, the Keiki Zone and Mansion of Fright was a success. The thrill on the faces of organizers, volunteers, and attendees was a testament that fun-filled community driven events are a must and should regularly take place. Students are evermore encouraged to participate and even come up with ways to engage our campus community. Happy Halloween from everyone here at UH Maui College.
