The SUNY Oswego campus and the greater city of Oswego area have several Halloween-themed events coming up for the weekend of Oct. 29 to 31. These activities give college students and families the chance to get out and socialize this Halloween, after last year was bogged down by COVID-19 cases and restrictions without a vaccine yet approved to fight the illness. 

The current 14-day rolling average of COVID-19 cases for SUNY Oswego students and personnel sits at nine, according to the SUNY COVID-19 tracker. A year ago, the total number of cases for the rolling 14-day average for Oct. 24 through Nov. 6 was 22. With 37 more cases in the following 14-day period. 

Giving optimism that the vaccine mandate on campus has eliminated the risk of a COVID-19 surge for the campus community and with that there has been a vast amount of activities for students to participate in over the course of the weekend. 

On Oct. 29, the following groups are meeting for a Halloween-themed activity. 

The Human-Computer Interaction Organization is gathering in Shineman room 306 for its Spooktober Design Challenge at 4 p.m. The club said on Laker Life, a website based around sharing SUNY Oswego events, “Join us learning how to put the fun in functional web and application design in our first entry of our portfolio series! Take cool designs as a team and make them into working wireframes and get critical feedback on them.” 

The African American Males’ Empowering Network is also hosting a Halloween “Paint & Sip” event in Marano Campus Center room 232 at 4 p.m. The Bold Black Beauties will host a haunted maze at 6 p.m. in The Space, located in the Marano Campus Center from 6 to 9 p.m. According to the organization, entry will be $3 for anyone wearing a costume and $5 for those who show up plainly clothed. 

Oct. 30, the Shaun Cassidy Fan Club, the college’s improv comedy club, will be meeting in the Marano Campus Center Auditorium. The club has thrown a Halloween improv show in recent years for its meeting on Halloween weekend. The meeting is from 8 to 9:30 p.m. according to Laker Life. 

To finish off the weekend, the SUNY Oswego Student Association Programming Board (SAPB) is continuing its weekly hosting of Open Skate inside the Deborah F. Stanley Arena and Convocation Hall from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 31. The theme for the Open Skate will be catered to Halloween and SAPB President Aiden Burns verified via email that the movie “Hocus Pocus” will be playing on the JumboTron inside the arena. 

The big event going on in the city of Oswego runs from Oct. 28 through Oct. 30, as the riverwalk will be transformed into a spooky trail for “The Creepy Crawl on Oswego Riverwalk.” The event runs from 6 to 10 p.m. each of the three nights and starts behind the Pontiac Hotel before proceeding along the river. “Creepy Crawl” will feature Halloween characters, face painting, rock climbing wall, a haunted trail and live music,” according to the Oswego community events calendar. A food, beer and wine garden will be provided by Canale’s restaurant. The event is suitable for all ages.

For more information on these events, visit the Laker Life and city of Oswego website.

Image via Laker Life