By Gabby Carlson | Echo
Run. Don't let anyone tag you. Stay indoors. Go to chapel. Run faster. Don't look back.
Similar to every chase scene ever made, Third West Wengatz puts on a weeklong show for Taylor's campus every year: Melon and Gourd. This tradition will premiere on Monday and end at chapel on Friday.
"What is that?" some may ask. The men of Third West Wengatz answered.
The Rules:
- The PAs start with the melon and gourd on Monday at midnight. Then, everyone new to Third West must run from the Wengatz doors to the Sammy statues and back without being tagged. If they are tagged, they must carry the melon or the gourd.
- Every participant must go to chapel Monday, Wednesday and, of course, Friday.
- Everyone playing is strongly encouraged to eat at the DC for every meal.
- Participants are only safe indoors.
- If participants have the melon or gourd, they must carry it visibly, which might look very awkward.
- If either the melon or the gourd breaks, it must be taped shut, and the participant who broke it must take a bite out of it later on the wing's "Oktoberfest" pick-a-date.
- In order to win, the participants must make it into chapel on Friday without the melon or the gourd.
- The two men stuck with the melon and the gourd once everyone else is in the chapel must take a bite out of it on the wing's Oktoberfest pick-a-date.
The PAs of Third West intentionally pick out a large melon and a gourd, to pass from player to player as punishment for being tagged.
And off they go. Third West men dodge their friends at all costs, especially if a sweaty fruit or vegetable is seen in their grip. For one week, there will be no Third West men playing Spikeball, enjoying the weather or even walking outside.
According to Third West Wengatz members, only one man has avoided the burden of the melon and the gourd in the tradition's 24 years of existence. Josh Chapman ('14) was never tagged in his four years on the wing. Now his brother Justin resides on Third West as a freshman, awaiting his fate, or attempting to continue a legacy.
"I just want to have fun and not worry about being perfect all four years," Justin said. "If it happens, great. If not, I'll still leave Taylor and Third West with a lot of memories from Melon and Gourd."
This game is not without risk. Last year, Robbie Brandkamp, now a senior, was running from a produce-clutching pursuer and took a plunge off of the wall between the DC and Bergwall that he believed was only a few feet from the ground. It was more than a few feet, and his elbow shattered on impact.
This game is not one to be taken lightly.
Exhilaration and anticipation fill the men of Third West when they cradle the melon or the gourd during classes and inside any building, just waiting to sprint out the door to their next destination.
On Friday at 10 a.m., the men of Third West Wengatz show their creative side. From Noah's ark to grandma bodyguards, the empty-handed will stop at nothing to make it into the chapel with no produce in hand.
"(The entrances) are super fun to be a part of and almost more fun to just watch," sophomore Luke Brom said. "Some of the guys get super creative at both entertaining the crowd and getting in without getting tagged, which makes it new and exciting every year."
A fun game for the observer and the player, Melon and Gourd brings the men of Third West Wengatz closer as a wing. They trick, they scheme, they compete, but in the end, they come together.
Godspeed, Third West men. And to everyone else, get out of the way if you see a melon or gourd in the hands of a determined man.
Follow Melon and Gourd on Snapchat: melon_gourd and Twitter: @Melon_Gourd to get live shots of the action.
