No rain checks, but lots of cash from A-Day
The tradition of A-Day endured, despite a little cold weather and moisture.
“Every A-Day it never fails,” said Meghan Johnson, a freshman in social work. “It always rains.”
As part of the council that organized A-Day, sponsored by the Student Alumni Association, Johnson stayed in a booth with fellow A-Day council and Student Alumni Association member Michelle Anderton, a dietetics freshman.
Anderton said Friday’s festivities capped off a full week of activities to raise money for Ashley, 10, of Brigham City. The Rett’s syndrome victim will be the beneficiary of the Make-A-Wish foundation.
“Every year, we try to find someone in the community [who needs medical expenses covered],” said Patty Halaufia, associate director for alumni relations. “This year we decided to go with the Make-A-Wish foundation.”
Halaufia, the adviser to SAA, said she thinks the donations added up to about half of what they were hoping for Ashley’s dream trip to Disneyworld. Halaufia said those wishing to donate can still do so at the David B. Haight Alumni Center.
But most of the goings-on went on at the Quad.
One of the highlights of the day, according to many students, was the first ever outdoor concert by ’80s tribute band, Final Warning.
“I heard the noise and decided I should see what’s going on,” said Curtis Browning, a senior in public relations.
Wherever you were on campus, it was hard not to hear the blaring guitar riffs and wailing of the butt-rock group.
But Moises Acevedo, a mechanical engineering senior, liked watching the crowd more than the band.
“I like watching people having fun,” Acevedo said.
More than 30 clubs, businesses and organizations surrounded the Quad to attract customers. But some lamented that there weren’t more potential patrons.
“Usually this place is packed,” said Ryan Anderson, an international studies junior and an officer representing the International Studies Association.
Businesses such at Pita Pit, Café Sabor and others sold their goodies. Others just strutted their stuff.
Shane Shurtliff, a senior in mechanical engineering, got to bust some swingin’ moves with his posse, the USU Big Band Swing Club. They performed on a makeshift platform, made slightly slick by the light drizzle.
“We had to dry off the stage,” Shurtliff said.
He was also excited to get going after Final Warning played its final number.
“That was pretty loud,” Shurtliff laughed.
There were other hands-on activities for students to try.
Or maybe “bodies-on.”
People jumped into a Velcro wall … for fun. Others bounced up and down on a giant bungee swing. And many others watched their special Ping-Pong balls bought by donations drop from a crane that towered above the field.
Halaufia said No. 378 was the winner of a 20-inch television, but it hasn’t been determined yet just who that is.
Halaufia has been organizing A-Day for about nine years, but she says the tradition goes back almost 100 years.
“The first record I can find of it is in the 1911 ‘Buzzer,'” Halaufia said.
The “Buzzer” was the yearbook for what was then called the Utah State Agricultural College.
-marklaroc@cc.usu.edu