Morgan Markley

Senior Reporter

A Keene State College Spring Weekend is never complete without the annual carnival put on by the Student Government on the Young Student Center lawn and along Appian Way.

Students have the opportunity to enjoy the campus in a new way while eating the fan-favorite fried dough and riding rides such as the Zipper or the Tilt-a-Whirl.

Student Body President Kelly Welch said students enjoy the weekend for its variety of festivities.

“I think a lot of students really like Spring Weekend because of all the different activities that student organizations are putting on, and I think we continue to do that just so to bring the campus closer and make it more of a community and homey feeling.”

Freshman Emily Mayerson agreed with Welch and said, “Seeing a whole college come together and have fun, there’s so many people just a good experience.”

She added, “The fried dough looks wicked good.”

Meghan Healy, a junior class representative and treasurer of student assembly, said she thinks bringing the whole campus together is a great idea. “We think it’s just a great opportunity to bring our campus together as a whole; we really build our spirit and whatnot, especially for Spring Weekend,” she said.

Welch commented on the energy of the crowd. She said, “I think definitely the atmosphere. I think it’s very upbeat, it’s friendly, it gets people happy, smiling, just a typical carnival, you know, where you have a good time and you get to be outside and enjoy the weather and go on all the rides and I think that’s really what the students enjoy.”

Mayerson said after her first carnival she will definitely come back next year, “It just seems like something on campus that everyone gets excited about and you get to see new faces.”

Senior Kate Cordner said she continues to come to the carnival because she has ever since she was a freshman, “Because it’s a tradition and I feel like I should be here, and it’s my last year here.”

Junior Stephen Day said his favorite part about the carnival is,  “The Zipper by far,” he added, “I feel like there were more people last year because it was nicer, but I’d say it’s a pretty big hit; there’s definitely a lot of people here.”

Welch said she thinks the event ran smoothly, “I think it went really well, I think definitely, I saw a lot of students out there which is great; we love to see students getting involved.” she added, “I heard there were students in line before 3 p.m.”

Welch said the tradition of the carnival continues because, “The joy that people have when they’re on the rides, you know, getting to enjoy with their friends and to smile and to have a good time and I think that’s really why we continue to put on carnivals because it is such a big part of the campus. Students really love to get out there and get involved, have a fun time.”

And every year the favorite carnival fried dough is offered, Welch said, “Definitely the fried dough, that’s hands down I think a favorite.”

Day agreed and said his favorite food was, “Fried dough, I like the lemonade as well.”

Welch added that Student Government did not change much about the carnival, “We’ve kept the same rides as we did last year because I really enjoyed that and I know that a lot of students have really enjoyed the rides and I definitely look for student feedback and also members of student government, what they think, and I think a lot of students really like what we had last year.”

Welch added that the most popular rides in her opinion are, “Tilt-a-Whirl or the Sizzler, those definitely have the longest lines when I’ve been out there … and I think people really enjoy those because you know you get to spin around, you can look at each other and laugh and have a good time.

One thing students noticed that was different this year was no free food along Appian Way.

Healy said, “The food, which unfortunately we weren’t able to schedule on the same day as carnival this year, but we will be having it.”

Welch said, “We still really wanted to have both of the events so we put carnival on one Thursday and then Chalk Talk on the next Thursday.”

Chalk Talk will be Thursday, April 26 from 4p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and the theme is Around America. Welch said there will be “delicious food.”

Healy said overall the goal is to make sure everyone has a good time at the carnival. “We try to enjoy it too but also make sure that everything goes smoothly and that everyone’s enjoying themselves.”

Welch added,“I just love the rides, I love being able to sit there with my friends and just laugh and watch other people too, I love to people watch and just seeing others have a good time makes me laugh too.”

Day said he just thinks the carnival is cool, “I love that they do this [carnival] here, it’s awesome.”

Morgan Markely can be contacted at

mmarkley@keene-equinox.com