News

Service projects, Jell-O and mud

By Adam Thibodeau

Posted on May 06, 2002, at 12:00 a.m.

Students will be up bright and early Wednesday, May 8. Classes may be canceled, but the University of Maine’s annual Maine Day means students will be awakened as the day kicks off with a rowdy parade, led by UMaine President Peter S. Hoff, which will wind its way around all of the residence halls starting at 7 a.m. at Hilltop.

Accompanying President Hoff on the parade route will be the Orono Fire Department, a marching band, student organizations and Bananas the Bear.

Once the parade has passed, students can make their way to the mall for a continental breakfast and sign up for service projects – the purpose of the day – beginning at 8 a.m. in front of Fogler Library. Similar to the first Maine Day initiated by President Arthur Hauck in 1935, students can sign up to work together with faculty, staff and administrators to clean the campus in a variety of projects, indoors and out. Even Hoff will be participating, taking a trash bag and a stick around campus to help clean up. To volunteer in advance, contact the VOICE office at 581-4194.

Campus service projects conclude at noon when all volunteers are invited to a barbecue at the Steam Plant lot sponsored by Dining Services, free for those with a MaineCard. If it rains, the barbecue will be held in the Field House.

A D.J., karaoke and beer goggles sponsored by Public Safety will all be available during the barbecue.

Students will have the opportunity to throw a pie in the faces of some campus notables from noon to 4 p.m., courtesy of the Alpha Omricon Pi sisters, with proceeds to benefit the American Juvenile Arthritis Organization.

Alpha Phi Omega plays host the annual oozeball at the Steam Plant parking lot, beginning at 12:30 p.m., where President Hoff will lead a team in a game of mud volleyball.

The annual triathlon, organized by Recreational Sports, will begin at 2 p.m. and features a three-mile run, three-quarters-of-a-mile canoe and a six-mile bike ride.

New this year, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Delta Zeta will host a Turtle Tug competition. Turtle Tug is tug-of-war, where the losing team is pulled into a Jell-O covered tarp. Proceeds will benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. The event takes place at 1 p.m. at the Sigma Phi Epsilon House across from Alfond Arena.

To make room for the barbecue and related events, the Steam Plant parking lot will be closed Tuesday, May 7 and Wednesday, May 8.

For information about Maine Day, contact Erin Blanchette, a graduate assistant at the Campus Activities Office, at 581-1736.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 6th, 2002, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.