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FMU hosted its annual FM A’Glow event alongside its Founders’ Day celebration on Oct. 21 in Parking Lot H across from the Grille.
Referred to as a Fall Festival, the event was a combination of the sixth-annual FM A’Glow and the annual Founders’ Day celebration. Just like previous years’ FM A’Glows, various student organizations on campus carved pumpkins and put them on display for event attendants to see. On the other hand, Founders’ Day typically varies in how it is celebrated; however, it always remains open to the greater Florence community.
As the first integration of the two events, the execution was a mix of typical FMU fare. As with the First Friday festival earlier in the semester, this event also saw record-breaking attendance of over 1,000 visitors.
“This year, we returned to a walk-thru event for the festival, as previously with COVID, we had transitioned to a drive-thru event,” Christopher Kennedy, vice president of student life, said. “It was great to see many people attending this year…We also had a record amount of student organizations and campus departments and offices participating, with 40 groups coming out to decorate their sites on the pumpkin trail.”
According to Kennedy, this year’s FM A’Glow featured more than just the annual pumpkin trail. Student Life decided to add a fall festival-style component of live music, children’s activities and food trucks leading up to the pumpkin drive-thru when FM A’Glow “comes alive.”
“The addition of the fall festival helped by adding a few new elements to the event,” Andy Matthews, student life specialist, said. “Elements like the face painting, pumpkin painting and live music made it even more special.”
Connor Conley, a sophomore theater major, described the highs and lows of his experience.
“I think the best thing about the event was the décor,” Conley said. “It was very nice. The only thing I’d like to see more of was maybe an incentive to dress up. It is Halloween, after all, but the pumpkins were still great.”
Conley said he enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the event.
“It was pretty chill and not too loud,” Conley said. “[The] music was good, a lot of rock with some other genres, but I like rock.”
On top of the live music and other activities to enjoy, the Student Government Association funded candy goodie bags that they handed out to visitors. Every organization received a Halloween bucket full of candy that they passed out to children walking down the pumpkin trail to mimic trick-or-treating for the local community.
As with any large-scale event hosted by FMU, the planning for the evening took months of preparation and incorporated almost every branch of the FMU faculty and staff.
“We in Student Life have actually been working on this event on and off since mid-March – booking musical acts, planning the route, and coming up with new and exciting ways to help make FM ’AGlow bigger and brighter than ever,” Evelyn Prosser, student life specialist, said.
Prosser credits the turnout to the marketing done for the event. While most events are usually advertised only on campus, due to the nature of the fall festival, FM A’Glow was also advertised to the greater Florence community.
“There was a great deal of sharing by word-of-mouth by our campus community,” Prosser said. “As well as the hard work by our communications department to put ads in our local papers, on billboards and even sharing through local radio stations. There were also flyers shared with local businesses in hopes of bringing attention to this festival.”
Just as First Friday has grown over the years, so too has FM A’Glow, and students and faculty hope to continue making every annual FMU event bigger and brighter with every year.