Cowboy-style carnival kicks off spirit month

The Minnesota State University, Mankato Student Events Team hosted the Maverick Round Up Carnival to kick off the spirit month celebrationsn Tuesday, Sept. 29.

For admission to this event, all you needed was a free ticket obtained from the Events Team website. It was set up on the Performing Arts Center lawn from 5-8 p.m. There were a variety of games students were able to choose from with some great prizes to win.  

One of the first events in the carnival was the Power Bunge, where people could do flips while bungee jumping on a trampoline. Right besides that was the Bronco Lasso, where students could win a boot cup for capturing the stuffed rocking horse with a lasso. 

Up next was the Ping-Pong Shoot Out. This game had people trying to knock over the ping-pong balls on tiny pedestals using nerf guns, where the prize was balloon swords. 

Further down the lineup was the Fish Bowl game. To live up to the game name, students could win goldfish if they could score two out of three balls into the little fish bowls. “It was cool and I love fish. I’m so glad I came,” said MNSU student Chloe Kultgen after winning a new pet.

Another game participants could choose from was the Hole In One. Players had the opportunity to win a cowboy hat if they managed to hit the ball in one stroke in the hole. 

Guests capped off their visit by grabbing a caricature souvenir from the caricature artist. To help liven up the mood even more, a member of the team created a playlist of country music to be blasted from the speakers. 

“I thought it was interesting and was worth my time to come down,” commented MNSU student Weston Ardnt when asked about his thoughts on the event. 

The choice of events and prizes were decided by what the Student Events Team members thought would be fun and what was previously popular. 

“It’s meant to be a fun event to help brighten up the days of the students who are stuck in the dorms,” stated Hunter Whitmore from the MNSU Homecoming Competitions and head of this particular event. This enthusiasm was certainly noticed by the students.