Onondaga field started to fill quickly with students a little before 1 p.m. on Saturday in preparation for Laker Fest, which has been put on by Residential Life and Housing since 2004 and includes a multitude of activities.

According to Jacob Gardner, who has directed Lakerfest for two years, ResLife spent approximately $14,000 on Laker Fest this year.

Students had their pick at playing a giant game of human Hungry Hungry Hippo, participating in a game of bubble soccer and riding the waves on a mechanical surfboard.

Other options included trying to hit the bull’s-eye for the dunk tank. Students could also find therapy dogs a bit further down the field.

According to Gardner, about 1,000 people came out to participate in the various activities they provided. Gardner, who referred to Laker Fest as a retention event, said it helps build the Oswego State community.

“We want them to have experiences where they’re like ‘Oh I did that at Oswego,’” said Gardner. “This is like OzFest. It is kind of meant to be the opening event to students on campus, whereas OzFest is the bookend.”

Some of the activities available have historically been seen only at OzFest, including card reading, caricatures and Stuff-a-Buddy.

Of the activities Gardner mentioned, there were two that stood out as student favorites: The zip line, which was recently brought back this year, and Stuff-a-Buddy. During the event, the line to make a stuffed animal formed quickly and remained lengthy throughout the duration of Laker Fest.

The zip line had students strap on the gear and walk up several feet of stairs, where they were hooked to the line before descending to a worker waiting to disconnect them below.

Other long lines formed for caricatures, where students got a cartoon drawing of themselves done, and for street signs, which could have almost anything printed on them as long as it fit to size.

At one point, there were so many signs that needed to be made that the workers had to have people stand in line to get a spot on their list before continuing with production.

One of the lesser-packed options available was the massage station. With three masseuses going at a time, Mackenzie Tabolt, a sophomore, patiently waited in line for what she said was a necessity and a refreshment after the first few weeks of classes.

Residential assistants could be seen helping navigate activities and providing people with snacks throughout the event, including lemonade, slushies, popcorn, cotton candy and nachos.

Chase Van Duyne and Celleste Stafford walked around Laker Fest, checking out all the different choices while munching on snacks and holding their new stuffed animals.

Van Duyne is a junior at the Rochester Institute of Technology and was visiting his girlfriend for the weekend.

“Laker Fest is awesome and I wish my school did something like this,” said Van Duyne.

Many students said they had a great time at Laker Fest, but sophomore Claire Millington said the long lines for certain activities and the fact that they ran out of lemonade were her least favorite parts.

“I thought they had a wide variety of things to do and food to eat,” said Millington. “I really enjoyed the therapy dogs and the Stuff-a-Buddy.”

Photo: Residence Life and Housing via Facebook