Winter Wonderland at HWS

By Abby Leyson ‘22 Staff Writer

On January 29, 2022, the Campus of Activities Board hosted the Colleges’ annual Winter Wonderland, an event that welcomes students back to HWS for their spring semester and embraces the winter season in Geneva, N.Y.

This year, CAB kicked off Winter Wonderland with skis, sled rides, and tubes to take advantage of the recent snow that fell upon campus. The quad was covered in thick layers of icy snow made for students to flock and enjoy their inner-child spirits in the snowfall with fires nearby for s’mores to be enjoyed.

Assistant Dean of Students Engagement Kristen Tobey shared that Winterfest is

“a celebration of our winter experience in Geneva” and this year it definitely was.

Over 450 students attended Winter Wonderland to enjoy the recreational activities and food offered. The event was spread across campus, so students are able to visit 6

places like JPR and gather in popular spots on campus, such as the Quad and Scandling Center.

Each designated area had activities and food trucks with hot cider and hot chocolate to brace the cold.

JPR’s parking lot was converted into an outdoor skating rink and curling rink for students to enjoy a latenight skate and pair it with a classic HWS meal of piping hot mac-and-cheese from Macarollin Food Truck.

Senior Emma Cusanelli raved about the Macarollin Food Truck and shared, “100% Macarollin was what I was most looking forward to due to them not being at Haunted Houghton last semester.”

The iconic HWS Quad had fire pits set up for marshmallows to be roasted to each student’s liking. Charred, lightly burned, oozing marshmallows placed onto graham crackers with chocolate for delectable s’mores. The Roc City Sammich Truck, which came previously to Haunted Houghton, made a return to HWS due to popularity amongst the Colleges’ community.

By Scandling, multiple events were taking place including horse drawn carriage rides, an HWS ice sculpture, an HWS winter hat giveaway, and the fan favorite food truck: Tony’s Wood Fired Pizza Truck.

Tobey shared, “It was a beautiful night with fresh fallen snow to enjoy a ride in a beautiful carriage across campus.”

“The best part about the carriage rides is that I can enjoy campus from another point of view,” said Cusanelli. “I enjoyed being able to bundle up for warmth inside the carriage while looking

out at this campus I’ve been on for so long and take in its beauty during the winter.” One way to have a happy student body at HWS is to provide good food, and CAB delivered at Winter Wonderland. Hot food was served all night with recreational activities for students to indulge in before the spring semester begins to pick up. “The temperatures this year were Students enjoying the Winter Wonderland event on January 29th Photo Courtesy HWS Office of Communications especially cold, so we appreciate our student staff and student attendees braving the frigid air,” Tobey exclaimed. “I believe that Winter Wonderland is a special event because it helps students to embrace the cold weather and enjoy making memories with friends on our beautiful snow-covered campus!” Indeed, Winter Wonderland is a lovely event for HWS students to create memories with their friends outdoors and welcome the brutal cold to enjoy something as simple and delectable as a s’more.