UNI’s Campus Activity Board held its annual Celebrate the Seasons in the Union last Thursday. 

“It’s really fun for all the students,” during a “really stressful time” to be able to hang out with friends in a big group setting and get free stuff, said Zoe Mckimpson, senior communication major and CAB’s Celebrate the Seasons’ activity coordinator.

Some activities looked similar to last years’ event but others were tweaked. These changes were considered after evaluating the event from past years. Mckimpson said some activities were not as popular as they had hoped in the past.

 The one event that stayed was making stuffed animals which was the most popular activity during the event. Mckimpson said that this activity is what brings people into the event.

One major change was handing out raffle tickets to students rather than having them stand in line as they have done in the past. Despite the change, the line for this activity began about an hour before the start time. 

Numbers were called periodically throughout the event. This was done in hopes of getting people to try out the other games and crafts instead of leaving right after they built their stuffed animal.

A photo booth filled with dress-up items such as hats, candy canes and ties was another popular activity.  Holiday crafts and games were set up in every corner of the Union. Sugar cookies, caramel corn and hot drinks were snatched up and gone shortly after the event began.  Holiday music filled the room as event-goers made their rounds to the multiple activities.

Ugly Christmas sweaters accompanied some of the guests including Levi Bostian, senior computer science major. Bostian has come to this event every year he’s been at UNI. 

“This is a once a year event, you’ve got to sit down and enjoy yourself,” Bostian said. 

Shelbi Grommon, freshman elementary and middle education major, spent her first Celebrate the Seasons making a stocking and building a bear. She went all out wearing an ugly Christmas sweater. It’s a great time to “relax and unwind,” Grommon said. She plans on coming again in the years to come and had fun at this event.

“[It’s a] really great way to connect with the UNI community…pull everyone together…and make a good time of the seasons,” Grommon said.

A lot of help went into planning this event. UNI Catering and Union staff played a major role. They set up the Christmas tree and made sure the Union and food were ready for students when they arrived. 

Mckimpson expressed her appreciation of CAB members, the CAB committee directly involved, Essentials, Union staff and UNI catering for help in planning and executing a successful Celebrate the Seasons.