'Centralpalooza' captures Little 500 spirit

With Little 500 festivities in full swing, the Central Neighborhood took its chances and held its own party for the event on Thursday afternoon.\nWith bright skies, smoky smells of a grill and the sights and sounds of a festival which included human foosball, a rock climbing wall, sumo wrestling, concerts and cotton candy, the first Centralpalooza event got underway well.\nThe event consisted of Wright and Teter Quads, Ashton Center and Eigenmann each holding separate events to pull together the Central Neighborhood campus dorms for the day.\n"It was truly a cooperative effort," said Jenn Leitner, former president Ashton Center president. "We planned it all in about three weeks and no one center went over the other in planning."\nOne reason the Central Neighborhood planned the event was to promote unity within the community Leitner said. People walking along Tenth Street were able to get out and get a free snow cone or bag of popcorn as they made their way through the numerous events.\n"It's a great way to start off Little 500 weekend," said freshman Emily Shafer who was outside of Teter watching one of the numerous bands perform in front of the quad.\nSophomore Nick Buck played in one of the bands on hand for the event.\n"I think Centralpalooza is a great event," Buck said. "We had a decent turnout for our concert -- I think it just gives people something to do at night."\nTo help staff the event, the centers offered free "Come get Lei'd" T-shirts for anyone who was willing to volunteer an hour.\n"This not only helped us with manpower, but also helped our shirt sales," Leitner said.\nThe event had volunteer cooking hotdogs and hamburgers, all of which were free, and staffing the games and events held, such as the nighttime outdoor movie at Teter.\nThe sunny, 70 degree Thursday weather also brought out many students like sophomore Shawn Charlton.\n"Good times, great weather, good people, good food and great girls," Charlton said. "I came out for the food; I didn't get any, the line was too long."\nBut the long lines showed the popularity of the first-ever Centralpalooza -- an event Leitner hopes will continue in the following years.\n"We definitely hope we started a great Central Neighborhood tradition that will carry on for years to come," Leitner said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Ryne \nShadday at rshadday@indiana.edu.