Madison Fest brings JMU, Harrisonburg together
Posted on March 17, 2008
Music, games, crafts and other activities filled the Godwin Hall at JMU on Saturday afternoon for Madison Fest. The JMU and Harrisonburg communities came together for an afternoon put together by the jMubilee committee. There was a variety of people participating in the events, ranging from students to parents to small children. Everyone seemed to find some activity that was intriguing.
Senior Drew Richard, president of jMubilee, said the purpose of Madison Fest was for “families [to] come out and have fun.” After the festivities were canceled last year due to bad weather, this year the event was brought inside.
The activities included cakewalks, face painting, arts and crafts and a ball toss. They were hosted by various sororities, SafeRides and other organizations. Many of the organizations indicated the success of the event in saying that they had a good turnout throughout most of the event. Richard said that these organizations are an integral part of the success of Madison Fest.
Senior Beth Rudloff said that her favorite part was the ball toss put on by Delta Sigma Pi. At this event, they let the contestants choose between a prize of either a bag of candy or a fish. The children seemed particularly enthusiastic about the arts and crafts. Zeta Tau Alpha, a regular at the jMubilee events, seemed to have a steady flow of participants throughout the day. They cut out crowns and let the children decorate them.
SafeRides came to the event to inform the community of its services. They even offered a cakewalk to draw in community members.
Music filled the air bringing an enjoyable atmosphere to the event. Exit 245 sang at the festivities and appeared to be quite a hit.
“I really enjoyed the singers,” said freshman Alexandra Whitkowski.
Free food also drew in many people. Drinks, hot dogs, cotton candy and popcorn were offered. “My favorite part was definitely the cotton candy,” Whitkowski said.
In summarizing the whole event, Rudloff said, “I thought it was a cute idea. I thought it was nice how they brought the community out.”
Students can look forward to another jMubilee event later in the semester. Richard said that they have planned to throw a bigger event on April 25, the last day of classes. This event will be held on Godwin field with various activities, including a movie on the Hillside field. Many of the organizations participating in Saturday’s event said that they planned to come back out for the next one.
