Melissa Harris of Forest Park said her son, Blake Davidson, enjoyed Triton College’s annual Fall Family Fun Fest on Saturday.
“Kids get to do different, fun activities like decorate pumpkins and see chickens,” she said. “It’s educational.”
Harris and hundreds of other families attended the fest, located at the college’s botanical gardens.
“A lot of families have been to the fest before, so it’s become a staple for them,” said Rolando Martinez, assistant director for admission services.
Martinez said the event has grown. He estimated around 1,000 people attended the event this year, which is more than last year’s attendance. Families were encouraged to participate in The Great Triton Treasure Hunt that takes participants to visit different locations around the college.
“Everything is essentially free, minus the food that is sold,” he said.
According to Martinez, the event included 32 different activities, run by 32 different college departments.
“Everything is done entirely by academics, and they use their specialty in their areas that they think kids and families will enjoy,” Martinez said.
Activities for kids and families included pumpkin decorating and cupcake decorating, an obstacle course, face painting and a pumpkin patch. Culinary students baked treats for families to purchase. Maggie the Cow was back by popular demand allowing kids to “milk” a mechanical cow.
“Our fire science department brought out their fire truck and water hose,” Martinez said.
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As for Harris, she said her son, Davidson, decorated pumpkins, went to see the fire safety house, did some Zumba dancing, decorated cupcakes and participated in the obstacle course.
“The people running all the booths are really, really friendly and knowledgeable as to what their booth is about,” she said. “They did a great job explaining it.”
“This is fun because I get to be with my friend,” Davidson said. “I like fall because you can play in the leaves.”
Marcia McCloud said she attended the college while studying early childhood education. Today, McCloud said she has her own day care service. She brought five children from her day care to the festival.
“I attended Triton, and I’ve been coming to this festival [ever since then],” she said. “They’re loving it, and it’s going to be a tradition.”
Triton President Mary-Rita Moore said the festival “is just one of the many times of the year where we invite the community to come and join in on the [fall season].”
“[People] can see our students first hand and have fun and interact,” she said.
Maryann Pisano is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.