UWG’s Spooky Safe Treat 2022

UWG’s big Halloween event, Safe Treat, has come and gone and was a big success. Every spooky season, The University of West Georgia opens their campus to the entire Carrollton community for a trick-or-treating evening. Hosted by Housing and Residence Life, Safe Treat took place between Love Valley and the Campus Center on Oct. 27 from 6pm. to 8p.m. 

Campus organizations were allowed to register to set up a table. Organizations were instructed to keep it family friendly for all. There were also two small contests going on throughout the evening. The first contest was pumpkin carving judged by President Kelly. The awards were the spookiest, best activity, most original and best overall pumpkin. The second competition was on which organization had the best table.

“Being part of the Carrollton community is so special, so to see our students get to welcome the community on campus truly makes this event stand out among all of the events,” said Cassidy Nelson, UWG Housing and Residence Coordinator. “The community gets to see the talents of our students through the carved pumpkins, then get to interact with our student organizations and departments at the tables. It’s truly a showcase of what it means to be part of the UWG and Carrollton Community.”

The event would not have been as successful without the preparation going into planning the event. Organizations have to be registered and volunteers have to sign up. Kona Ice catered snow cones and a DJ kept the crowd going with upbeat tunes. UWG’s community coordinated and collaborated to pull off this annual event.

“More than 80 departments, teams and organizations registered to have tables this year. This was the most tables we’ve had in the last four years,” said Nelson. “The Residence Hall Association (RHA) really takes the lead on our committee efforts. We start in August with reserving spaces, marketing, making the run of the show, event mapping and deciding if we want to add any new elements. This year we added the Kona Ice truck for the first time based on the committee’s recommendation.”

The event truly shined this Halloween with around a thousand people from all over the community enjoying the festivities. Safe Treat was able to swing for the fences and they hit a big home run with the Carrollton Community.

“Next year I would love to see us utilize more of Love Valley or the Campus Center with inflatables, a not so spooky movie or a concession stand with Dine West,” said Nelson. With more than 700 children that came through check in stations this year, we can find ways to engage them in other activities to help with waiting times.”