Fashion and ice skating at Calvin College
There will be two fun events for campus-bound Calvin students who are looking for a little entertainment throughout the January interim: a 24-hour fashion design show and a “Rink and Roll,” an ice skating and coffee party featuring Calvin musicians. Both events, promise organizers, will be easy on the budget.
The 24-Hour Design Show, sponsored by Calvin's Fashion Advisory Board or FAB, will commence at 4 p.m. on Friday, January 12 in the Gezon Auditorium. Participants will be given $20 and 24 hours and a source of inspiration— an accessory like funky tights or a piece of jewelry—to create an outfit.
“They're using the accessories because the problem with having so much leeway in so short an amount of time is focus,” said Erin O'Connor-Garcia, Calvin's student activities coordinator. Students will be encouraged to buy fabric or thrift shop clothes to assemble their design.
At precisely 5 p.m. the following evening, Saturday, January 13, the aspiring designers will re-convene for fittings and hair and makeup. At 7 p.m., the models (the student designers themselves or whatever friends they've talked into modeling for them) will take to the Gezon stage. The designers will follow them, explaining the genesis and creation of their outfits. Video footage of past FAB fashion shows will also be shown.
“They wanted it to be fun,” O'Connor-Garcia said. “The idea was that even with a little creativity, anyone can design and have a nice outfit to show. We talked about making it competitive and having judges who would make comments about the designs, but then we thought that that wouldn't help to encourage people to be bold or creative.”
The Rink and Roll will begin at 4 p.m. the following Saturday, January 20 at Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids . Students will pay a mere dollar to skate on the ice rink and will enjoy a 20-percent discount on all coffee and other drinks at the adjacent Four Friends Coffeehouse, 136 Monroe Center, NW.
Calvin musician/ composers Jeff Lawson and Nathan Leamer (and perhaps a few others) will entertain at the coffee house for the Rink and Roll, beginning at 8 pm.
“I'd like to get a good sampler of Calvin musicians there,” O'Connor-Garcia said.
The same event last year drew 200 people, she added, not surprising during the winter interim.
“January's a great time for that because people have a little more time to hang out and explore Grand Rapids ,” she offered. “This is a time that you can really have a night out for less than five dollars, basically. There's no drink at Four Friends that is more than three bucks at the most. You can ice skate and enjoy some music and a good drink, and it's pretty cheap.”
For more information on FAB events, please contact: Allison Walcher, aww3@calvin.edu , or Ruth Ribeiro, rtr2@calvin.edu For more information on the Rink and Roll or other student events, please contact Erin O'Connor-Garcia at eao4@calvin.edu