Foundation, the first floor of Samuel Morris Hall, used their creativity to put together an open house in time for Halloween despite COVID-19 limitations.
With everyone trying to follow safety precautions during the pandemic, dorms had to hold off on open houses for the 2020 fall semester; but with Halloween around the corner, Samuel Morris Hall looked to see how they do it safely and bring the community together.
Foundations saw the perfect chance to continue hosting their Halloween open house by doing a haunted trail by Taylor lake. With the help of Taylor Student Organization, they were able to pull it all together.
Usually, Foundation does the Halloween open house in the basement of Samuel Morris Hall, but they realized that they could still do it as long as their open house met the protocols.
They used the space around the Taylor woods to create a trail where they could scare anyone who happened to walk past. Bergwall Hall also did a haunted trail in the woods called “Schoolyard Days.”
Even though the coronavirus has been prominent this year, no one on the floor had any concern with it since it was being held outside and people were meeting the guidelines.
“Personally, I’m very excited for it,” said junior Kyle Mongoven. “I think this is one of the primary things that Foundation does for the campus, so it’s exciting we are able to still take part in it.”
Mongoven was able to help with setting up decorations for the haunted trail by hanging out tarps and rope to transform the space.
“A lot of abstract thinking is required this year,” Mongoven said.
Aside from running the open house, Mongoven most looked forward to creating the trail and having this community time together with his floor.
Mongoven was highly looking forward to scaring people.
On a dark and chilly Halloween night, the Taylor woods transformed into a spooky trail.
At the Taylor Lake, people lined up to get glow sticks so that people running the trails could identify groups. A hot chocolate and cider station was set up around the picnic area for people to get warm refreshments, and also candy sealed in a plastic bag.
Foundation men were dressed up and seeking to scare those who least expected it.
Freshman Emily Odell got to experience the Haunted Trails with friends from her wing.
“It was fun to go with other people from the wing, and I had a good time,” Odell said. “They also put a lot of effort into it, so I thought that was very cool.”
Along the trail, Odell got scared by people popping out from under the ground.
Overall, the Foundation Haunted Trail was a good experience for Odell.
“It was fun, and it was scary, but it wasn’t too scary for me,” Odell said.
Odell would definitely go on the trail again.
Sophomore Anna Collins also went and thought that it was a lot of fun, and Foundations were really creative in how they set everything up.
“I thought that it was designed really well,” Collins said. “I liked that they had clearly (thought of everything). I feel like they were definitely looking out for everyone’s safety, and they even precaution everyone before they went on the trail.”
Foundations Haunted Trail turned out to be a success with a huge line going far back along Taylor Lake, and it was a great way to celebrate the spooky season.
