‘Collinsfest’ celebrates end of the year

Students celebrated the annual Collinsfest\nSaturday afternoon, complete with great\nweather, a Jurassic Park bounce house, live\nmusic and a giant balloon arch over the main\nsteps of Edmundson Hall .\n“It’s a giant Nerds rope,” said junior Ben\nClaghorn when the arch came detached on\none side, fl oating in the air for a few minutes\nuntil senior and Collins Vice President and\nDirector of Programming Gretchen Sneegas\nfi xed it. Claghorn’s band, The Giggles , was\nperforming at the time, preceded by Alexander\nthe Great and followed by 2 Mics and a\nKit and The Delicious .\nThis was the last of the four annual Collins\nevents planned by the Collins board of programmers,\nSneegas said.\n“This is the biggest one, clearly,” she said,\ngesturing at the crowd and activities around\nher. “I was engaging bands in February.”\nHowever, she was scheduling them for April\n19, the original date for this year’s Collinsfest.\nThe event was moved back a week because of\npoor weather conditions and only two of the\nbands being able to perform on that date.\nBesides the Jurassic Park bounce house –\nwhich Sneegas said she chose over her other\noption, a clown-themed version – attendees\ncould decorate themselves and each other\nwith face paint that ended up on backs, stomachs,\nchests, arms and legs. Other activities\nincludes cornhole, sponsored by the resident\nadvisers, cotton candy from the Collins Arts\nCouncil , the Collins Judicial Board’s tie-dye\ntable and the Board of Educational Programming\n’s Collins knowledge quizzes. Along\nwith cookout basics like hamburgers, an aluminum\nfoil “dish” several yards long was set\nup and fi lled with ice cream and bananas to\ncreate a giant communal sundae.\nSophomore and Collins Judicial Board\nchair Monica Debbeler said she was happy\nto see board members and students who have\ncome before the board interacting in a relaxed,\nsocial setting.\n“I’m glad that we have that friendly relationship\nwith the Collins community,” she said.\nThe rainbow arch included 50 balloons of\nvarious colors and a lot of preparation, Sneegas\nsaid.\n“It took us about an hour and a half, but it\nlooks great,” she said.\nSophomore Tyler DeLong spent much\nof the afternoon wearing a crown made by friends that consisted largely of beer-bottle\ncaps, lottery tickets and condoms.\n“My friends just decided they\nwere going to crown me king of debauchery\nand vice,” he said, explaining\nthat the title was not sanctioned\nby the event’s board of programmers\nnor subject to a vote.\nLike many IU students, sophomore\nMargaret Weiser said she looks\nforward to the event all year.\n“I made sure I would be here today,”\nshe said as her black Labrador/beagle\npuppy, Seamus, received some attention\nfrom Weiser’s friends. “It’s a great\nexcuse to be outside with your friends,\nhanging out and listening to music.”\nSenior Cati Reynolds , a former\n“Collinsite,” said she came in part for\nthe social atmosphere.\n“I know a bunch of people here,\nand everybody I don’t know is friendly,”\nshe said. “There’s ridiculously\ngood food, and you get to paint people\n– I love everything.”