Family & Friends Weekend 2011

The Office of Student Affairs would like to thank everyone who participated and contributed to Family & Friends Weekend 2011! The weekend was a great success despite the surprising and undesired few inches of snow Mother Nature brought Saturday morning.

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The weekend kicked off Friday evening with Chatham's traditional Halloween Dinner, where ghosts and goblins, celebrities and witches, friends and foes all gathered in the dim lit Anderson Dining Hall to enjoy a delicious meal. This year's costume contest was judged in 4 different categories: Best Celebrity Costume, Best Group Costume, Best Sustainable/Recycled Costume, and Best Family Costume.

Our winners were:

Best Celebrity: The Olson Twins

Best Group Costume: Legends of the Hidden Temple

Best Sustainable/Recycled Costume: A Knight in Pop-Tab Armor

Best Family Costume: The Schmidt Family with their hand-made Crayola Crayon costumes

Congratulations to all of our winners and thank you to all families that participated – whether you were dressed in costume or not!

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Friday evening festivities concluded with the first ever Student Group Showcase! The Eddy Theatre was filled with over 200 spectators as the RA's took the stage to perform a traditional Vietnamese Fan Dance, celebrating our Global Focus Year of Vietnam. Following their performance, a group of Chatham Student Government (CSG) leaders, as well as Orientation Leaders, performed skits educating the audience on Song Contest, which is the concluding event for Battle of the Classes. BOTC is a week-long series of events that has each class year competing in several activities across campus. This tradition is a student favorite that always builds class and school spirit! Song Contest asks each class year to re-write lyrics to popular songs and perform for their classmate's competition style. Over the years, Song Contest has turned into somewhat of a mini-Broadway performance. The BOTC performance was followed by a member of the Chatham Music Club playing John Mayer and the Beatles with her guitar, as well as one student showcasing her voice a cappella to Bridge Over Troubled Water. The night concluded with the first-ever performance of the Chatham Dance Team!

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Mother Nature decided welcoming family and friends to President Barazzone's home with a couple inches of snow would say, "Welcome to Chatham" better than any ray of sunshine. Luckily, the snow didn't scare off too many families! The delicious breakfast spread served, with a bellini or mimosa, was the perfect way to warm up and get cozy inside Gregg House.

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Since the snow didn't slow down heading into the early afternoon our amusing Juggler, Mad Chad, was moved to the AFC gymnasium where he entertained a smaller crowd with his skills… of juggling… Now, this is not your ordinary act of juggling! Mad Chad was able to juggle knives while eating an apple, other objects while on a skateboard, AND juggle up to three chainsaws at once!

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The later portion of Saturday's activities occurred at our Eden Hall Campus, a 388-acre campus in Richland Township, just a 45-minute drive from the Shadyside campus. This marks the first year that Family & Friends Weekend has taken place at our Eden Hall Campus, and we are sure it won't be the last! With a petting zoo, balloon animals, life-like face paint, numerous games, several bottles of local wine and a fully local and sustainable food buffet – how could anyone not enjoy themselves?

Harvest Fun Fest is a community-based Chatham tradition, which reached out to the Eden Hall Elementary School to join us in festive fall-themed family fun activities. Several student organizations, as well as Chatham Activities Board (CAB), Global Focus, the School of Sustainability and the Environment each had tables with some activity for students of all ages! The event also included games and contests, such as the "Mummy Contest" and worm eating, as well as allowing guests to bowl in the traditional bowling alley located in the lodge of the Eden Hall Campus.

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The fun and games were followed by a local wine cocktail hour, which served wine from the Narcisi Winery, which is just a short ten minute stroll from Eden Hall Campus. During the cocktail hour Dr. David Hassenzahl, Dean of the School of Sustainability and the Environment, introduced the future plans for Eden Hall Campus and discussed how Chatham University is on its way to becoming the first fully sustainable campus in the country.

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Choosing to follow Chatham's theme of sustainability, the environment and wanting to eat local, dinner was served immediately following the cocktail hour featuring food with local ingredients. On the menu was:

Salad
Hearts of Romaine salad with Clarion River Organics Fresh Beets, local radishes and chives topped with Tait Farms infused Berry Vinaigrette

Entree
Rosemary-Garlic Chicken from Park farms Ohio, with roasted vegetables
Roasted Gala Apples from Kistacos' Farms Apollo, PA
Fresh Asiago Tortellini in Egg pasta (Tallutos' Philadelphia) with Yarnick's farms fresh Heirloom Tomato Ragout
Roasted Acorn Squash from Clarion River Organics with Red Quinoa and dried Fruit Pilaf
Russian Heirloom Fingerling Potatoes with Fresh Herbs from Penn's Corner

Dessert
Granny Apple Tart from Dawson Farms with Cinnamon Ice Cream

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All good things must come to an end… but not before a little more fun was had! On Sunday all families were invited to join us for the Pittsburgh: Black and Gold Day brunch. Even though all football fans were invited, the Steelers sure did have good representation! Families were treated to traditional Pittsburgh sandwiches (with fries on the sandwich, of course), pierogies, and other customary brunch items. With the excitement of the weather starting to turn for the better, the Steelers preparing to take the field against the Patriots later than evening, and the Chatham Ice Hockey team gearing up to take the ice for what would be their perfect 2-0 start to their season, we would say it was a perfect wrap-up to a great Family & Friends Weekend

Thank you again to all who participated in Family & Friends Weekend! We look forward to seeing you all next year!