Pumpkin STEMs at Fall Festival

Wearing costumes of all shapes and sizes, families flocked to the Fall Festival at the West Lafayette Wellness Center. Unafraid of the rain, they shuffled into lines eagerly awaiting candy.

For the first hour of the mostly outdoor event, the skies opened up with light rain. This didn’t deter trick-or-treaters though.

Over 40 vendors lined the field adjacent to the wellness center and passed out candy to children who stood in a long line that wrapped around the building.

Crystal Seibert, senior global compliance officer for Purdue, attended the festival with her family who were all dressed up as Waldo from "Where’s Waldo?"

“We do family costumes and pumpkin carving (every year),” Seibert said. “We’ve done Minecraft, superheroes, Pacman and spiders.”

Maureen Timko, a West Lafayette local, sat dressed as a horse with her son by a fire pit, holding a marshmallow over the fire and cooking a s'more.

“We live nearby looking for stuff to do with our toddler,” said Timko. “We’ve been having fun all month doing the different fall activities.”

Though plenty of fall-related activities were at the Wellness Center, STEM was a big focus at the event.

Brianne Wrede, the assistant director of the Women in Engineering Program, welcomed families with smiles and activities when they came into one of the rooms of the wellness center. Inside of the room were several Purdue students sitting down with kids and families demonstrating and helping with the various STEM activities.

“We come to give students in this area the opportunity to interact with engineering activities,” said Wrede. “It’s an opportunity for the Women in Engineering to come into the community and talk to students and spend time with them.”

Ashley Yang, a junior at West Lafayette High School, wore yellow antennas with several other students while passing out candy for the trick-or-treaters with the rest of her club, Westside Robotics.

To her right was a massive robot with brand names like Caterpillar and Arconic printed on its sides and to her left was a diorama of a UFO. The theme was inspired by their team mascot, which is an alien.

When asked what her Halloween plans were, Yang said she was planning on staying home and studying.

The event was also accompanied by music from fifth to twelfth grade band students. The band played several Halloween related songs, like "Ghostbusters" and the "Monster Mash," to those still waiting in the line.

At 7 p.m., the rain slowly began to let up and a rainbow formed across the sky, giving families and trick-or-treaters alike a great view as they began to finish their night at the Fall Festival.