Sororities provide fun evening for Gainesville community

November 10, 2009

Recently, princesses, super heroes and a dozen mini-Tim Tebows descended upon the University of Florida’s Panhellenic Drive from 5 to 8 p.m. for the annual event Ghouls, Goblins and Greeks.

Ghouls, Goblins and Greeks, which UF’s Panhellenic Council’s Junior Panhellenic division has organized for the Gainesville community for at least the past 10 years, is known as a safe place where children and adults can enjoy trick-or-treating together.

One group that attended this year was Best Buddies. The Best Buddies group matches university students with individuals from the Gainesville community who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as Down Syndrome.

The buddies are selected from different group homes in Gainesville and some are also individually entered by their parents who hear about Best Buddies.

Best Buddies is an organization that was founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver. It is now part of more than 1,400 college, high school and middle school campuses across 42 countries and six continents.

Typical UF activities include students calling their buddies for weekly chats on the phone, and taking their buddies to the movies, the mall, Lake Wauburg and various community events through-out the year. The buddies’ ages range from 14 to 70.

About 20 students in the group brought their buddies—dressed in Halloween costumes and had trick-or-treat bags in hand—to participate in all the different activities.

Amanda Chin, president of UF’s Best Buddies and a junior hospitality management major, loves taking the buddies to Ghouls, Goblins and Greeks.

“Our buddies know they are getting spoiled,” said Chin. “They all seem to love it, and being with everyone and the community.”

A couple of the buddies especially love the attention from the sorority girls and can be quite the flirts, Chin said.

The perfectly manicured lawns of the sorority houses were transformed for the night into themes such as Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and the Flintstones.

All 16 sororities spent hours leading right up to the start of the event decorating props, perfecting costumes and building fun-filled activities for the trick-or-treaters.

Children of all ages could be seen pulling their parents or guardians to the next house, so they could put one “last” piece of candy into their bags. Colorful streamers and paper monkeys hanging in trees, danced in the wind of a truly magical October night.

Streets were barricaded to keep vehicle traffic away to ensure safety for all who participated.

Carlene Chase of Micanopy brought her daughter to the event for the second year.

“I bring my daughter here because it is a nice and safe neighborhood to trick-or-treat,” Chase said.