The Lawn saw a sea of extravagant costumes and bags filled to the brim with candy Thursday night at the University’s annual Halloween celebration — Trick-or-Treating on the Lawn. Lawn and Range residents, alongside a variety of University student groups, distributed candy to local families and University students of all ages between 5 and 7 p.m.
This year’s celebration marks the second year in a row of holding the event from 5 to 7 p.m. instead of from the previous timing of 6 to 8 p.m. Last year, the event was moved an hour earlier due to concerns about lighting and safety.
Lawn and Range residents first invited the Charlottesville community to trick-or-treat on the Lawn in 1987. Since then, the event has grown into a tradition where trick-or-treaters, ranging from local toddlers to current University students, receive candy from Lawn residents and members of student organizations across all 54 Lawn rooms and the South Lawn. Lawn residents and Housing and Residence Life hosted this year’s event.
In the weeks leading up to TOTOTL, all University Contracted Independent Organizations were given the opportunity to sign up to have their own table on the Lawn during the event. The student organizations present this year included acapella groups, multicultural CIOs and traditional student self-governance organizations, among others.
Cheryl Bai, U.Va. Club Figure Skating president and fourth-year Engineering student, helped distribute candy at Club Figure Skating’s table for its second year at the event. According to Bai, tabling has been not only a fun community-building opportunity, but also a great chance to bring more attention to the club and its activities.
“We got to meet a lot of new people, it’s really great,” Bai said. “I think it was great for our club too, because not that many people knew we had a figure skating club.”
This year, approximately 70 student groups and other organizations gave out candy during TOTOTL, including the University’s Office of the President and Office of the Vice President of Student Affairs. The event also receives event management and safety support from other University organizations including Facilities Management, Parking and Transportation and the University Police Department.
While student organizations sign up for spots to pass out candy, Lawn residents only have to take a step outside of their rooms to see the spooky festivities and give out candy if they choose. Christopher Joseph, Lawn resident and fourth-year College student, said he had been looking forward to the evening from the day he learned he would be living on the Lawn.
“Seeing the amount of people that come out — the costumes, too — it kind of makes me feel like a kid again,” Joseph said. “It’s so nice to give candy [and] see the smiles on [the kids’] faces.”
Pritika Modhukuru, Lawn resident and fourth-year College student, also distributed candy to trick-or-treaters at this year’s event and said that dressing-up is one of her favorite parts of TOTOTL.
“It’s another opportunity to wear a fun costume,” Modhukuru said, decked out in her Doctor Who-themed police box costume. “I just love that we have traditions like this and that so many people can be involved.”
TOTOTL invites a great variety of costumes each year. This year, a box of Crayola crayons, Wednesday Adams and a jumbo-sized Edgar Allen Poe were notable costumes donned on the Lawn.
Beyond individual costumes, family costumes were also a common occurrence Thursday. Robert Earle, Albemarle County teacher and Charlottesville local, attended TOTOTL for the third time this year accompanied by his wife and son. The family sported firefighter-themed costumes with Earl as a firetruck, his son as a firefighter and his wife as a dalmatian.
Charlottesville residents make up a large portion of the crowd on the Lawn each year. Earle said that TOTOTL offers a wide variety of people in the Charlottesville and University communities a chance to come together, building a sense of community.
“It's really great to see people of all walks of life interacting and just having a good time,” Earle said. “I think it's a good way to connect with the community, where the whole community comes out to be in one space … it’s something that makes U.Va. stand out in the area.”
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