The 65th annual Family and Alumni Picnic: Harvest Festival, themed Fall-o-ween, brought together Harker families, students and alumni for a day filled with carnival games and performances last Sunday at Blackford.

Attractions this year included the Witch’s Flight, a 220 foot zipline and Hamster Dash, an activity involving human-sized hamster balls. The event is one of the two fundraisers for the school.

The festival began with the Student Show, consisting of performances by the Upper School junior varsity dance troupe, Downbeat, Kinetic Krew, Bel Canto and Jazz Band, along with Middle School dance and singing groups.

Students expressed excitement over their performances, as the student performances remain a memorable experience for those who have participated in it for numerous years.

“We’re going to be witches because the [picnic’s] theme is Halloween,” junior varsity dance troupe member Surabhi Rao (11) said. “The song is “I Put a Spell on You” by Hocus Pocus. I’m excited; I’ve been doing it every year since I came to Harker, and it’s been really fun.”

Kinetic Krew, the all-male dance troupe formed at the upper school this year, made its debut while dancing to a remix of “Spooky Scary Skeletons.” Members of the troupe looked forward to seeing the results of their hard work at the picnic.

“It’s been a while since I was on a team,” Kinetic Krew member Randy Zhao (10) said. “Performing is always fun because we get to show the community how hard we’ve all worked on the routine.”

Downbeat performed the song “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” For seniors who have participated in the picnic show for almost eight years, the performance came with mixed feelings.

“I’ve done this for seven years, give or take a year or so,” Downbeat member Rishabh Chandra (12) said. “In some ways, it feels like we’re doing it again; it doesn’t have the same grandeur to it as it does in fourth grade. At the same time, it’s the last time I’m doing it, and it’s something special to the school.”

Along with entertainment provided by performing arts groups, the picnic featured many upper school clubs who ran booths and activities for attendees throughout the day. A silent auction and raffle also took place throughout the course of the day.

The Upper School DECA organization ran the pumpkin patch, with officers working rotating shifts throughout the day.

“[We] sit there and interact with anyone who comes by and try and make it a good time so everyone can enjoy the pumpkin patch at the Harvest Festival,” Vice President of Competitions Alexis Gauba (11) said.

Upper school clubs ran booths to promote their mission to the entire Harker community. Green Team allowed attendees to spin a wheel and answer questions about the environment.

The wheel spins and lands on a question that has something to do with sustainable energy such as “‘What are three things you can recycle?’ or ‘How can you save water?,” Green Team advisor Diana Moss said. “We have some little prizes which are either water bottles or environmentally-friendly pencils made out of recycled materials. We are also giving out packets of seeds that are beet seeds, carrot seeds and winter pea seeds so that you can plant some vegetables.”

The annual Fall Festival brought together people of all ages from the Harker community, providing an opportunity for students to mingle and enjoy themselves.

“Well, [the picnic] is people from all the campuses, so some of these people, I’ve never seen before, but I’ve ended up talking to them because they say my costume looks cool or something like that, so you meet new people,” Bel Canto member Marina Logue (9) said.

The next major fundraiser for the school, the Harker Gala, will occur in the spring.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on October 16, 2015.