Wednesday, Feb. 28 was the evening of the much anticipated Pirate Fest 2018, this year’s theme dinner sponsored by Dining Services. With different and exciting food options in the Marketplace and dessert and activities in the KAV, students had reason to exclaim, “shiver me timbers.”
If students were not awed by the decorations and mood lighting, dinner itself was notable. Instead of its ordinary fare, the Marketplace offered a larger selection of seafood options.
Students could eat shrimp, different types of sushi, calamari, fresh made octopus or mahi-mahi tacos and more. For those less keen on fishy foods, there was jerk chicken, thinly sliced sirloin beef, spinach pasta, mini Stromboli, premade sandwiches, a tropical fruit salad, a variety of breads and more.
“It’s kind of weird knowing I’m eating something about as smart as me,” first-year Noah Munn said about the octopus taco. In spite of the oddity of the situation, he did think the taco was good and a welcomed addition to the meal.
Students looking for something sweet to conclude their meal ventured to the KAV where they would find much more than just dessert. Students were greeted by music played by a DJ, colorful lights, a wooden pirate ship more than 40 feet in length and 15 feet tall and a large “sea” made of packing peanuts.
“It’s really fun when we get to do something different than normal. It’s energizing,” junior and Dining Services student worker Elizabeth Matrisciano said.
Energy was high in the room as students searched the packing peanut sea for water bottles containing a slip of paper announcing they had won tickets to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Other students waited in line to get free glitter tattoos or to get their picture taken in and around stocks set in front of a green screen, which would make it seem like students were on the deck of a pirate ship at sunset.
“It’s a lot more planned out than I thought, and there’s a lot more here than I expected,” first-year Kelly Paski said. First-year Emily Kupcho agree with Paski.
“Having the pictures was really cool,” Kupcho said.
The two girls said that at the last minute they decided to dress up and come to the dinner, but were glad they did.
The end of the evening was equally chaotic but in an entirely different manner. Dining Services staff members dressed in black event t-shirts and pirate garb worked together, using boxes and 20-cubic foot plastic bags to clean up the peanuts and other decorations of the evening. Thus ended another theme dinner, with teamwork among staff as if they were a crew out on the high seas.
The students of Elizabethtown College thank Dining Services for an evening full of entertainment and variety.
