By Rashaad Darling, Contributing Writer
Saint Leo University’s Fall Family Festival is an event hosted every year to bring families and students together to enjoy different events on campus. This year, the school decided to join both the annual Homecoming and the festival, meaning double the fun for all that attended. Over the course of three days, many events took place, like the student talent show, the alumni baseball game, the Lions Rally, the family fest, and so much more.
“It was such a great idea for the school to combine both events into one weekend. It seems like it brought more people together at one time,” said a satisfied Saint Leo parent.
For me, as a first-year student starting college, one of my dreams was to attend a college homecoming. For the first time, I got a chance. It was truly a satisfying feeling to see so many people, including alumni, come together and just enjoy campus life.
As you would expect each year at Homecoming, multiple people ran for homecoming king and queen. The anticipation around who won and the amount of effort that goes into running for these titles makes it even more exciting.
Contestants were giving out campaign flyers, candies, and cookies, and there were even life-sized cutouts of the candidates around campus. At the end of the day, though, the winners were none other than Earnest Alexander and Ashley Griffith, both seniors majoring in hospitality management. It was truly an amazing experience to see them win, knowing how hard they worked.
For the first time, the Caribbean Tropics Dance Team performed at the event, and it was a wonderful experience. They turned heads with their energy and spirit and had the entire festival’s undivided attention.
In addition, there were numerous food trucks with options that did not disappoint. For example, grilled cheese sandwiches, tater tots, nachos with cheese dip, and a few others were highlights on the menu.
“The tater tots were amazing,” said Widna Simon, a junior at Saint Leo who didn’t mind giving the food a review.
Another big event that took place over the weekend was the alumni versus current students’ basketball game. Unfortunately for the alumni, the current students came out victorious.
Some of Saint Leo’s very own were playing, including Francis Sio, a senior getting his MBA in sports business, Marty Jackson, a senior majoring in psychology and minoring in communications, Grant Disken, a sophomore majoring in psychology with a minor in marketing, and Kanon Koster, a senior pursuing his MBA in data analytics.
Overall, the Family Fall Festival and Homecoming together in one was an enormous success. For the future the best has yet to come, it will only get better as each year goes by.
