3 minute read
English department celebrates Bilbo Baggin's birthday
by Colby Hernandez, Media Editor
To help relieve the stress of midterms, the English department throws a Fall Frolic annually. Department Chair Dr. Michael Moir oversaw the celebrations this year, and, for the first time, this year’s celebration had a theme. “This is the first year we’ve chosen a theme,” Moir stated, “Some of us felt that an English department party ought to have some kind of literary theme, though. A few of my colleagues and I were looking up ‘literary holidays’ in the autumn, and we ran across ‘Hobbit Day.’ As a lifelong Tolkien fan, I remembered that Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’s joint birthday was in late September. So we were originally going to host the part on September 26th, but Hurricane Helene had other plans.” Thanks to our gracious visitor, the Fall Frolic was pushed back to October 10th.
When discussing why the English department throws the Fall Frolic, Dr. Moir explained that “[t]he ‘Fall Frolic’ is a party that the English department hosts every autumn, usually around midterm. We see it as a way to get to know students in a relaxed environment - and who doesn’t like homemade snacks?” One of the highlights of the party was the food that professors and students brought in. Senior English-History dual major Megan Ogden made Lazy Pierogis, a simplified version of a Polish recipe. “I wanted to make a dish that involved my Polish heritage,” she explained to me, “I had to triple the recipe, and it ended up taking me two hours to make. The recipe also called for farmer’s cheese but that was way too expensive, so I just used shredded cheddar.”
A myriad of people from the English department attended. All sorts of English majors, professors, and even alumni came to the party. Professor Penny Dearmin’s whole class came to the Frolic under the stipulation that they help set up for it. Nearly 50 people attended the event this year, but the English department hopes that more students will come to future events. When asked who is welcome, Dr. Moir answered, “anyone and everyone.” Don’t worry if you missed out on this oarty, Hobbits typically eat seven meals a day anyway. There’s always time to eat with friends!
