Lots to see, do and enjoy at new Family and Friends Weekend 

A thoroughly eclectic assortment of activities, events and attractions has been crafted for everyone’s enjoyment for the campus’ popular fall gathering that’s been renamed Family and Friends Weekend.

Actually, weekend festivities get underway on Friday, Oct. 27, with the Welcome Dinner that boasts an added twist at the Williams Center Multipurpose Room and then wraps up Sunday evening, Oct. 29, with Rocktoberfest, a showcase of live music, food and fun, also in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room.

“We're very excited to welcome family members and friends to campus this October,” said Department of Campus Life Associate Director Rachel Martin. “Numerous departments and student organizations have worked hard to put together a fun-filled weekend for guests.”

The weekend’s highlight will be the Welcome Dinner featuring Mix Tape Bingo in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room on Friday, beginning at 6 p.m. “It's a delicious dinner that includes Bingo, but with a twist!” Ms. Martin added. Extensive doesn’t even begin to describe a playlist teeming with one-hit wonders and assorted mixes of old-school rock, disco, duets and favorites from the '60s through the 2020s. The Office of Campus Life is partnering with School of Music Professor Jill Reese for the event.

“We’ll give you a bingo board with the names of 25 tunes (and the artists). When you hear a song on your board, check it off; the first one to get Bingo wins. It's sure to be a great time for everyone!” Dr. Reese commented.

“Numerous departments and student organizations have worked hard to put together a fun-filled weekend for guests.” – Campus Life Associate Director Rachel Martin

Registration is required; dinner tickets are available for purchase online.

Great Ghostly Games will be played at Fredonia Radio Systems in McEwen Hall Room 115, hosted by Fredonia Radio Systems, on Friday beginning at 6 p.m. Participants will split into teams of four and venture across campus to take photos according to a quest sheet. Prizes will be awarded and a costume contest held.

Public open ice skating will be offered at Steele Hall Ice Arena on Friday, beginning at 7 p.m. Children must be with a parent or guardian at all times. Skate rentals will be available for $4 per pair. Public skating returns on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1912,” touted as electropop opera ripped from a slice of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” will be performed at Marvel Theatre in Michael C. Rockefeller Arts Center on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Another performance will be held on Saturday, also at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased for both performances online. 

The Residence Life staff is hosting the “Monster Mash,” a dance and costume party, in the Williams Center on Saturday night from 8 p.m. until midnight. Tickets, which are $5, are available online. 

“Terror in the Trees,” an outdoor, walk-through horror experience created by members of Fredonia Immersive Theater who stage “Twisted Fairy Tales,” delivers a gruesome twist to favorite childhood fairy tales in the campus wood lot on Ring Road on Friday, from 8 to 11 p.m. A return engagement is on Saturday night. Tickets ($3 for students with FREDcard, $5 general admission) are cash only and will be available at the event.

Four food trucks (LuGia’s on Wheels Buffalo, Best of Buffalo by Byraon, Cheesy Chick and Moneybags Dumplings) will be stationed in the Jewett Hall parking lot on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., courtesy of the Faculty Student Association.

A STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) open house, with majors that include Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Physics/Cooperative Engineering, Geology and Environmental Sciences, Molecular Genetics, Exercise Science, Medical Technology, Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, will be held at the Science Center on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. Pre-Health Professions and Adolescence Education programs in Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics and Math will also be represented. A breakfast buffet and optional campus tour are included.

Spectrum’s Fall Fun will be staged in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Spectrum Entertainment will offer, for free, create-a-creatures, airbrush tattoos, a photo booth and a try-your-luck-at-the-pick-a-prize table. Churros, donuts, hot cider and hot chocolate will be served.

“THRIVE: Colors of Conversation, Paint and Sip,” a free painting activity to relax and unwind with family and friends, will be held at the Williams Center Blue Lounge on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. The Counseling Center is the host.

“Not Gay” – an art exhibition that charts the energy and vitality of trans identifications across a range of art works spanning post-World War II to the present – will be open at the Marion Art Gallery of the  Michael C. Rockefeller Arts Center on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

Men’s and women’s swimming and diving vs. Baldwin Wallace will be held in the Steele Hall Natatorium on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Safe Halloween, a trick-or-treat in the hallways of Mason Hall, will be held on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. Children must remain with parents/guardians at all times.

A wellness class, Stay Joyful as You Study/Teach What You Love, for all students and taught by Dr. Merideth Hite Estevez, author of “The Artist’s Joy,” will be held on Saturday at Mason Hall Room 1080 from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Students will face off in a Super Smash Bros Ultimate Tournament at Williams Center Room 204 on Saturday at 6 p.m. Food and smash bros coloring pages will be offered. Registration is available online.  

“Monster Mash,” a Halloween-themed dance for Fredonia students, their friends and family, will be held at the Williams Center Multipurpose Room on Saturday, 8 p.m. to midnight. A costume contest, music by DJ Majik and refreshments will be offered. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased online.

On Sunday, Oct. 29, a woodland hike, with tree and plant identification, will get underway at 10 a.m. Faculty and students from the Department of Computer and Information Sciences will lead the one-mile trek. Participants will use cellphone technology to identify various trees and plants encountered along the trails. There is no registration.

Rocktoberfest, a Halloween party/concert featuring local and student bands, along with a costume contest, will conclude on-campus Family and Friends Weekend on Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room. Fredonia Sound Systems is the host.