Special events planned for Carmichael dining hall

If you've eaten in Carmichael Dining Hall recently, you may have noticed the Giant Pumpkin or the blown-up Homer Simpson doll standing imposingly in the entrance. These decorations are a component of the special events planned this year to make Carmichael a more fun and exciting place to eat.

Some of these events include the "Giant Pumpkin Contest," "South of the Border," "Apple Harvest," "Tailgate Brunch," "Wing It," "Farm Market Day," "Beach Party," "Under the Boardwalk," "Grand Slam Baseball," "Texas Barbecue," and many more.

"Menus for each special event will be posted one week in advance to allow students the opportunity to come to Carmichael and enjoy our mini-theme special events, just relax, have fun, eat great food, and just enjoy our entertainment," Carmichael manager Dave Kelley said.

This month's events include "Trick or Treat," when students will be asked to guess the weight of the giant pumpkin in Carmichael within five pounds to win prizes. "Apple Harvest," which took place on Tuesday night, featured bushels of assorted apples to pick from, fresh baked apple pie with vanilla ice cream, apple cider, bobbing for apples, and caramel apples with assorted toppings. On Sunday, Oct. 27, there will be "Tailgate Brunch" with a menu comprised of all types of barbecued foods.

Future events will include a carnival theme dinner with cotton candy and popcorn machines and a "Gone Bananas Night" with all different types of banana-themed deserts and blow-up banana dolls to hand out to students.

Kelley implemented many of these events when he worked at Dewick-MacPhie Dining Hall before moving uphill. "We wanted to bring fun stuff to Carmichael," Kelly said. "We call these events 'monotony breakers' because we want to get the kids involved. We did a lot of things like this at Dewick in past years and we wanted to bring it up to Carmichael now."

These events serve as exciting additions to the already popular dinner specials such as Stir Fry Night, Omelet Night, Mediterranean Night, and Make Your Own Belgian Waffle Night.

Students have responded positively to the creative dining options.

"I really like the fact that they're trying so hard to have events for the holidays, and I love omelet night," freshman Cho Ling said. "They should keep it up."

The events demonstrate Dining Services' openness to meet student needs, Kelly said.

"We are now looking at putting organic food into the menu because the kids liked our 'Farm Market Day' so much," Kelly said. "We take that seriously. When the students respond well to one of our events we work with the dietician to add [it] to our menu." Students can look forward to postings advertising menus and events at the entrance of Carmichael starting this week.