Chicoween #Winning

We are fast approaching one of the coveted and most vibrant times of year: Chicoween. The leaves are changing, the crisp fall air puts a spring in our step, and the local coffee shops are pumping out pumpkin spice beverages by the gallons. In the midst of this jubilation, the traditions for locals celebrating this holiday vary from binge-watching scary movies, to prancing through the streets at night with your friends. What makes Chicoween special is the sense of community and celebration it brings to people of all ages. Among all the favorites also come some fumbles when showing your Halloween spirit, so we have dug into the depths of our celebratory souls to find the best ways to “win” this Halloween. The “do’s” and “don’ts” of dancing demons day, one could say, from favorite activities, to top picks for costumes.

Activities:

Corn Mazes

Maze runners, assemble! It’s time to show your stuff with your ability to weave through “waves of grain” in our area’s masterful haunted corn mazes. The top two are Orland’s “Country Pumpkins” haunted corn maze at Urban Farm, and Anderson’s “Historic Hawes Farm” haunted maze and theme park (*cough* VIP tickets for this regularly priced at $40 can be found at Costco for $21 *cough*).

Costume Bowling

AMF Orchard Lanes bowling offers College Night on Thursdays, with $2 shoe rentals! What better way to celebrate than rolling out in your best Halloween dress and striking down some ghostly pale pins!

“Booed” and Drinks:

Sweet Drinks

It’s not like you need me to tell you to celebrate the best way possible (guzzling pumpkin beverages). But some other favorites drinks are things like slime punch (7up and lime sherbet), ghost hot chocolate (cocoa with ghost peeps marshmallows), and hot apple cider! More haunted recipes can be found on Allrecipes’ Halloween Drinks page!  Favorite foods can range from Chex Mix “muddy buddies,” to popcorn balls, to scarfing down the whole tray of baked Pillsbury Halloween cookies. #noshame.

Boo’ing!

Remember the old thing people would use to do where they would “Boo” each other? That was a great time… but the tradition hasn’t died! A fun, cheap, way to bring this back from the dead is hitting up your local dollar stores for candy galore and goody bags, printing out a good ‘ol “You’ve been Booed” sign, and hitting up your friends’ apartments to play a trick with treats!

Adult Trick or Treating

If this is too much, you can whip out “adult trick or treating,” where you and your friends dress up and designate areas of your apartment with bowls of different candies, fill your pockets with treats, and settle in the living room for a movie night streaming of “Hocus Pocus”, “Halloweentown”, or anything Tim Burton! Raising a classic from the tomb, you can also watch “Under Wraps,” a Disney classic filmed right here in Chico! (*cough* full movie can be found free via YouTube *cough*).

Alternative Treats!

If you are planning on handing out candy to youngsters this year, keep in mind some alternative options so everyone can get candy crazed! Keep some possibilities on hand for any pirates, ponies or princes/esses with peanut allergies. Have gluten free options such as Reece’s PB cups and Skittles, or dairy free options such as bags of kettle corn, Smarties, or Jolly Ranchers. The list goes on and on!

Costume Crunch Time:

The most exquisite part of Halloween is the expression of our alter egos; another chance to get dressed up! The 21^st century has paved the way for astounding and lavish new designs, ideas, and mediums for costumes, from full body cosplay, to full faced makeup (thank you YouTube tutorials). Any excuse to dress up as your favorite TV show characters, or beat your face with beauty, is fine by me. The way to “win” this Chicoween costume contest is by going all out, but also putting your mind to it! If the costume you picked out (although “fresh and fabulous”) feels at all racist, don’t do it! Cultural appropriation is a real thing, people. In addition to race, we have to be conscious that dressing up as anything transphobic, homophobic, or sexist is also not acceptable. The only “scary” part about those costumes is showing people how insulting you can be! Remember, Halloween is for everyone.

Wildcat Way:

This year, the WREC takes a full body spin on bobbing for apples with the “Pumpkin Splash,” Friday October 28^th 3-5 p.m. Students can take a dip in the floating pumpkin patch pool, pick the perfect pumpkin, and hop out to decorate!

If all else fails, just remember that Chicoween the Wildcat Way means:

-Respect yourself

-Respect Chico

-Respect diversity

&

-Respect others!

Happy Chicoween, Wildcats!