On Saturday, Sept. 8 the Student Life Programming Board held the first ever Augie Carnival on the soccer/lacrosse field outside PepsiCo with cotton candy, dunk tanks, inflatable obstacle courses, and more.
“We’ve been working on this event since over the summer. I believe Lauren and I both reached out to different companies for games and other attractions in June,” Ryan Rivard, a senior and co-chair of the carnival, said.
After raining for most of the week, the weather for the night was a concern, though Julia Janis-Ryan, a freshman and International Business and Spanish major attending the event said, “I’m very confident that we will be set tonight.”
With games such as a milk pail toss, a prize wheel, and bucket bonanza, students had the opportunity to win tickets to enter into a raffle to win prizes such as an Apple watch or a Beats Pill. It was what Rivard called “the pinnacle” of the event.
At the literal center of it all was a dunk tank. Students in various organizations across campus signed up ahead of time for the opportunity to get dropped into a giant tank of ice cold water.
“It’s cold. It’s a lot worse when you get out, because outside is freezing,” Belle Hartman, a senior and vice president of the Student Government said.
Some other participants included Adam Gronewold, the president of the Student Government, and Kyle Boss, a member of the Augustana track team. With some yelling insults from the “safety” of their enclosed perch inside the tank, people were lining up to have the opportunity to dunk students of various years and roles.
Along with games and prizes, there was also a long, winding line for concessions including snow cones and cotton candy. Just like a real carnival, there was a line of volunteers with huge basins, catching strands of sugar onto a paper stick, slowly forming it into a pink puffy cloud, before handing it to a waiting student with the line sometimes interfering with the lines for the games. “[It was] really good, very sugary,” Ava Smitt, a freshmen and English and Political Science major said.
Students raced each other in the inflatable obstacle courses to win a ticket at the finish line, sometimes pairing up with absolute strangers to try to wiggle through, almost losing articles of clothing. Many commented on how they almost lost socks or even their pants.
“My co-chair and I, Lauren Endress, spent a lot of time brain storming at the end of last year. One thing that we stress in the OSL is being inclusive to everyone on campus, so we thought a carnival was a good idea because we could incorporate a lot of different things to appeal to everyone,” Rivard said.
 
Photo Above: Lauren Endress is dunked in the water during the Sept. 8 carnival on the Lacrosse field. Photo by Christina Rossetti.