Fun for all ages during Family Weekend, Sept. 22-24

This coming weekend is Family Weekend, which will be taking place from Friday, Sept. 22 to Sunday, Sept. 24.
Family Weekend is an opportunity for students of Minnesota State University, Mankato and their families to explore campus and the surrounding community. It is an event where students can spend time with their families doing fun activities.

According to the Family Weekend website, mnsu.edu/familyweekend, “Family Weekend is intended to have Maverick students, parents, and family members come together and celebrate. Come and enjoy the weekend with your Maverick. Whether you attend one event, all the events you can fit in, or just come and spend time with your Maverick, we invite you to join us! There are many activities for all members of the family.”

During the weekend, there will be sporting events to attend including soccer, volleyball, and football games. The Minnesota Vikings game on Sunday will be shown on TV’s in the Maverick Bullpen lounge.

Free cosmic bowling will take place in the Maverick Bullpen on Friday starting at 5 p.m. and Saturday starting at 9 a.m. The website states, “You can sign up for one hour blocks of game time starting 15 minutes before each hour. For example, at 4:45 p.m. you can sign up to play from 5-6 p.m. To allow for everyone a chance to enjoy the games, you cannot sign up for consecutive game times.”

Stomper’s Cinema will be playing Despicable Me 3 in the Ostrander Auditorium throughout the weekend.
On Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1 and 7 pm., and Sunday at 1 p.m., the Mahkato Wacipi will be holding their annual pow wow off campus at the Land of Memories Park. Their website, mahkatowacipi.org, states, “The Mahkato Mdewakanton Association is a gathering of nations to celebrate and honor our traditions and ancestors; to reconcile and build bridges between all nations through education, storytelling, and sharing Dakota Indian culture.”

The Family 5K Fun Run/Walk will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday on the fitness trail near the softball fields. This event is free and non-competitive. The first 200 participants will get a free t-shirt. You must register for this event separately starting at 9:15 a.m. at the 5K Fun Run/Walk site.

A complete list of events can be found on mnsu.edu/familyweekend/events or on page six of this issue.

Online registration for the event has closed, but you can still register on campus at the beginning each day. The Family Weekend website has pictures of last year’s events to help give you an idea of what this year’s events will be like. The website also has a link to a map of campus, which you can use for reference throughout the weekend.

For the convenience of the visiting family members, free parking will be offered during the weekend. The website states, “Free parking is available during Family Weekend in any lot (gold, purple, or green) on campus beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday. Overnight parking is only available in green lots. No camping is allowed on campus.”