Garden Party: The Event of the Season
Written by Erika Kyba
When Homecoming season rolls around, students can look forward to a multitude of exciting events. One of these is Garden Party, sponsored by the Student Activities Board (SAB). On a Friday evening in September, students gather in the Slayton Arboretum for a fun night of dancing and socializing. This year’s Garden Party theme was La La Land, with decorations and outfits inspired by the iconic musical film.
The tradition of Garden Party dates back to 2005, according to Director of Student Activities Madelyn Clark, ’21. That year marked the establishment of the Student Activities Office, which created the campus-wide events of Garden Party, Welcome Party, Centralhallapalooza (CHP), and Fall Fest to bring students together outside of the classroom. Garden Party, Clark says, “has always been the same kind of idea: floral dresses, lighthearted, very fun…the first big dance of the semester.” SAB’s members “devote a lot of time and energy” bringing the event to life, and it always shows.
Much of the night’s entertainment, however, starts before Garden Party officially begins. Friends gather to prepare for the evening by doing each other’s hair and makeup. This year, one group of friends filmed a mini music video to “Someone in the Crowd” from La La Land as they got dressed up, in keeping with the night’s theme.
“As soon as I learned that the Garden Party theme was La La Land, those songs were immediately stuck in my head for the entire week,” said Meredith VanDerWeide, ’26, who organized the music video. She started thinking about the way the “Someone in the Crowd” scene was filmed in the movie, and realized that Kirn Dorm, where she resides, would be the perfect place to film the music video. She and five other girls gathered to recreate the scene, using different props while twirling through Kirn’s hallways.
“I’m always inspired by SAB’s creativity and their reels, and I thought, ‘I can be creative, too!’ And I had supportive friends who did it with me,” Meredith said.
After the bonding experience of getting ready with friends, walking into the Arboretum at 8:30 p.m. was magical. String lights illuminated the space as the sun set overhead, and swing music filled the air. Several swing enthusiasts gathered on the dance floor, enjoying the thirty minutes of swing dancing that always opens Garden Party.
By Garden Party’s official start at 9:00 p.m, students began pouring through the gates, many headed directly to the dance floor as the band began playing 2000s pop hits. Some groups of friends took pictures against the elegant La La Land-inspired backdrops set up for the occasion. Others headed for the food table, taking their fill of waffle and chicken skewers, which many students said was an excellent combo.
“It is a well-known fact that Hillsdale’s specialty at SAB events is the chicken,” Meredith told me. “The chicken never disappoints. I’m not even a chicken girl, but whenever I have chicken at SAB events, I love that chicken, and I go back for seconds.”
There was also banana pudding, Twizzlers, and popcorn, all highly enjoyed by the student body. The mocktail options for the night were delicious as well, with a choice between “The Sebastian,” a blue raspberry lemonade concoction named after one of the lead characters in La La Land, and an Orange Crush drink.
The mocktails “are a fun addition,” Paul Whalen, ’26, shared with me. “They make it feel sort of grown-up and fun, which is pretty cool.”
Beyond the food, students appreciated the general atmosphere of Garden Party.
“The venue is awesome,” Paul told me. “It’s upkept really well, and I really like the fact that it’s a sort of late night event, that’s lit really nicely. It’s pretty awesome.”
As the night went on, people met and chatted with friends and danced the night away. For many, Garden Party is the perfect place to catch up with people because of its relaxed environment.
“It’s a great way to wind down the first couple weeks of school,” said Paul. “The highlight was definitely running into friends and being able to spend time with them.”
“If I run into someone on the way to class, we both have somewhere to get to,” Meredith concluded, “but Garden Party, and events like these, are put on for the sole purpose of enjoying one another’s company and just being together as a student body.”
Erika Kyba, ’26, is a prospective English major from Saint Paul, MN. Outside of class, she enjoys reading the Classics, watching rom coms, writing fiction, and listening to 80s music.
Published in October 2023