Howdy y’all! The time of Fall is upon us quicker than a fly on honey, and Enactus and SPA held events to celebrate! Cairn’s first Fall Fest started off in the afternoon. Supplies for pumpkin painting, thrift items, delightful stickers of soup, and plates of whipped cream (for pieing students later) decorated tables along the walkway. Smiling faces from the Enactus team greeted us at each station and served walking tacos and Duck Donuts to fight off hunger (but not the Freshman Fifteen). Each station had a pumpkin sign on it that gave hints for a scavenger hunt as well! Sadly, I did not win the Chick-fil-A gift card from that hunt but it made someone else’s Fall Fest better. 

Although the noon sky darkened, the light from the festivities only got brighter and Hoedown started after dinner! Because it was my last one, I rustled up three flannels and wore all of them: One as a shirt, one over top of that, and one around my waist. Even though I couldn’t find a cowboy hat to match, the cold at least couldn’t touch me!

When I arrived, it was already in full swing (or square, they do square dancing, not swing dancing), people twirled, clapped, and stepped in time to the caller’s instructions and the folksy music. Tables stacked with hot apple cider and pumpkin or apple pie sat to the right, next to the tent, while firepits and hay bales sat to the left. Friends and folks alike chattered around the fire pits or outside of the dancing tent bedecked in all kinds of flannel, and a few wore hats of all shapes and sizes. One of my friends even wrapped a rubber band around a sun hat for days to make it take the shape of a cowgirl hat with an upturned brim. Another man strolled around barefoot, with the red and white checkered sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his shoulders.

I (of course) made a beeline for the pie. I knew hordes of people would come streaming from the square dancing to snatch a slice, so I took my chances and grabbed one before the dancing stopped. The hot cider burned my taste buds off but the apple pie fixed that quickly! Then, the dancing started up again.

The caller brilliantly led the groups of country rip-off dancers in a couple rounds of square dances and group circle dances. Then, she changed the music to a classic. The Cotton Eye Joe. Every college student turned to run to the tent as if drawn by an invisible call. The song was an anthem, a lure, the tune of a siren for every student dressed in flannel to come and obey its orders. I only shudder to think how quickly someone could take over America with only that song — but those are thoughts for another time. We danced our hearts out. A second wind rushed over the group when the caller swapped to a Taylor Swift song, and we danced like there were squirrels in our pants that we needed to shake out!

The caller saved the best for last. She painstakingly took ten minutes to teach us the dance for a song called the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”. We would tap our toes, brush our boots against the gravel, and side step into a turn to boogie to the tune! I definitely mixed up the timing for the turn and the shake.

Once we boogied out our energy, the night with a pie eating contest! One student from each class volunteered to smash their faces into pie and try to eat as much as they could without their hands. It was a close and gross race, but the Sophomore representative won!

I left that night rushing with endorphins, a little sore, and full to the brim with pie and warm apple cider. Thank you Enactus and SPA for hosting such incredible events!
“Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!” ~Psalm 149:3