Fresno City College held its 2011 Fall Carnival on Oct. 31, Halloween night, at Ratcliffe Stadium. Multiple booths were set up to hand out candy and offer games for children to play, as a safer alternative to trick-or-treating for parents in the community. The annual event, held in the front entrance of Ratcliffe Stadium on Blackstone Avenue provided parents in the surrounding community another place to bring their kids who wish to partake in trick-or-treating. The carnival was free admission and around 1200 people attended.
“The kids come with their families and have a great time,” said College Center Assistant, Maile Glover. The Carnival had multiple booths set up providing various games and activities such as mini-golf, ring toss, facing painting, and many other family-friendly activities for the kids to partake in. Each booth was sponsored by an FCC club and handed out candy and small toy prizes for the kids. There was also a haunted house, also put together by the Associated Student Government.
According to ASG President Pro tempore Daesha Black, the haunted house is a tradition that ASG puts up every year. Using materials from the year before, the ASG made a haunted house that was appropriate for kids of any age to go through.
“We’re reaching out to the community, to our neighborhood families, children and friends,” said College Center Assistant Janice Wong. Wong feels that having a good partnership between FCC and its community is an essential. “As a college, we should be able to embrace the community.”
For parents, bringing their kids to this event was a huge relief, allowing them to participate in Halloween festivities but be safe from problems such as vehicle accidents or shadier members of the community.
“Where I live is not a great area and we can’t really walk around with our son,” said Christopher Crabtree, an FCC student majoring in Auto-Technology, who attended the event with his son and wife. Both Crabtree and his wife attend class and finish around 6 p.m., allowing them to attend the carnival with their son as soon as they were done. “This is convenient because we both go to class here.”
“I think it’s very kind of Fresno City College to put this event on for the community,” said Julian Olivarin, a parent of the community who took his two kids to the Carnival. He said, “This is a lot safer than going out house to house. Around here you don’t know who’s going to open the door.”
Olivarin applauded the effort that went into putting the event together. “I know it’s a lot of work to put this up, and it took some heart to do it.”