Special Birthday Parties April 20 at Calvin

April 18, 2007 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Summary: Calvin College groups are planning a couple of fun and educational
birthday parties for April 20.

Full story see http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2006-07/birthday-bashes.htm

On Friday, April 20, the Calvin campus will be alive with birthday
celebrations courtesy of two different college groups.

That day, from 6 to 8 pm, the Calvin classics club SPQR will celebrate “Ab
Urbe Condita” -- Latin for “from the founding of the city” -- in honor of
the birthday of ancient Rome. And from 7 through 11 pm on April 20, the Mosaic
floor -- a residence hall community at Calvin devoted to anti-racism and
diversity -- will host the “Birthday Bash,” a carnival of birthdays from
different cultures around the world.

Both events aim to educate and entertain.

The Birthday Bash, says Mosaic coordinator Gloria Jea, is an opportunity to
play and laugh and learn about ways of saying Happy Birthday in other cultures.
 The $1 admission to the event (to be held in the Commons Lecture Hall) allows
the partygoer to celebrate her or his birthday according to four different
cultures. The bash will also feature birthday food, kazoos, birthday hats and
the traditional version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Meanwhile the celebration of the birthday of Rome, which actually will be held
the day prior to Rome's recognized birthday, will also feature fun, games and
birthday food. “I’m not sure what the bakers at Meijer are going to say
when I ask for a cake with ‘Happy Birthday, Rome,’ on it," says SPQR
president Kory Plockmeyer.

The black-and-white theme of the Roman bash, to be held in the Hiemenga Hall
courtyard, says Plockmeyer, dates back to the original celebrations of the
event. Among the games will be competitions like the javelin toss that
involves participants throwing a plunger across the Commons Lawn, a discus
throw using Frisbees, and a toga race. All events at Ab Urbe Condita are free
and more than a few are educational, an SPQR goal, says Plockmeyer.

The organization, whose Latin name stands for “the senate and the people of
Rome,” also holds movie nights featuring films with classical themes and
public readings of classical texts. The Mosaic floor typically holds a big
spring event, Jea says, such as last year’s salsa dance that attracted over
100 people.

-end-
Received on Tue Apr 17 23:05:25 2007