Luther celebrates a fresh fall with SAC

A brand new event took over Marty’s on the night of Oct. 28 when the Student Activity Councils’s Special Events hosted Fall Fest. Tis seasonal celebrations included hot apple cider, frost-your-own pumpkin cookies and live a cappella music.

“SAC is providing all the treats without the tricks,” said Rachel Loeffler-Kemp (‘11), one of the SAC Special Events co-chairs.

Students filled Marty’s booths and tables glad for a fun indoors activity on the brisk fall night. The event featured performances from three well-known groups on campus: Beautiful Mess, Undeclared and Vinyl Roots.

In the past the Special Events committee held an annual Halloween Dance, but the dance’s attendance was down in the last few years. This year’s SAC Special Events co-chairs Loeffler-Kemp and Sarah Long (‘10), along with their committee, voted to switch it up for something fresh and new for the campus.

“We held this year’s event on the same night as last year, but it’s different so students seem more willing to attend,” Long said.

Beautiful Mess opened the evening with a set of five songs including renditions of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” and OneRepublic’s “Apologize.”

In the spirit of Halloween, Jerry Johnson, director of public information, read a scary camping story to the audience between the first two acts. He successfully made the audience jump, and also drew a few laughs.

The men of Undeclared kept the night going with a few of their crowd pleasers and closed their set with a new song, “Happier.”

Next, Professor of English David Faldet took the stage to tell some local spooky stories.

Vinyl Roots, clad in seasonal scarves and brown shirts, closed the evening with a few jazz and blues numbers.

“I think Fall Fest is a low-key thing where people can hear good music, a couple jokes and scary stories,” Loeffler-Kemp said. “It was a good debut for most of the groups performing, too.”

“I think we had a great turnout and people seemed to enjoy it,” Long said.

Students came to Marty’s for Fall Fest for a variety of reasons. Some came for the music and others came just to break the monotony of Tuesday night studying.

“It was a good excuse for a study break,” Paul Meyer (‘11) said.

“Well honestly, I wanted a cookie,” Susie Clark (‘10) said.

Students always love to celebrate the changing seasons and live music is a tempting draw for many. Whatever the reason for attending, Fall Fest was a hit and SAC Special Events plans to continue it in the coming years.

SAC Special Events generally holds one campus event per month. Other events sponsored by Special Events include SAC Fest, the Soda Shoppe during Family Weekend and the upcoming Christmas in the Union.