Ohio University - Athena Yearbook (Athens, OH)

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nly in Athens could Jesus Christ meet the devil himself in a spirit of fun and good times. Only in Athens and only on the night of the now annual Halloween party, held Saturday, October 27. Approximately 5000 people jammed the uptown area, forcing the closing of Court Street between Union and State streets. However, no official party was planned for uptown, because city and university officials agreed there would be too many problems involved with the large crowd it would attract. Meanwhile, about 4000 people attended the offical university party, held in the Convocation Center, featuring the Marching 110. After the band show, the crowd dwindled to about 500 and was almost evenly split between students and parents in town for Parent ' s Weekend. The Convo party offered a rock ' n ' roll band, a costume judging contest, a pizza- 14

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Although uptown costumes sometimes involved a great deal ol time and money, a little la cial paint or hair die could turn just as many heads. 13

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Far Left - Dressing up and pretending to be someone else is part ot the fun of Halloween at OU. Left - As the hours dwindled on, it was not uncommon to see gouls recovering from the evening. Bottom - Watching Court Street from above was just as much fun as being on Court Street as students forgot their inhibitions for a night. eating contest, and food, beer and kisses for sale. Big Bird, won the costume contest and the runners- up included one student whose costume was a portable television over his head. Uptown, the mood was more rowdy and less inhibited. And confirming everyone ' s fears, a large proportion of uptown partiers were from out-of-town. Of 141 people arrested that night, only 26 were university students. As the evening progressed, police overlooked open container violations, and the smell of marijuana was noticable at times. Several of the costumes worn uptown were of dubious taste, such as the people that went as toilet seats. Many were simply strange and creative combinations of paint, aluminum foil and cardboard. The bars were jam-packed. The many unlucky ones who could not get in had to content themselves with parading down Court Street and gawking at the decorated masses. The added hour gained from the switch to standard time took its toll and by the time the bars closed most people had gone home, and the streets were again opened to traffic. Soon, the city crews were out in the rainy, early-morning hours, s cleaning the mess, thus signalling J the end of this year ' s Mardi Cras of 5 the Midwest. I 15