At 4 p.m. on Saturday Aug. 27, Sonoma State University hosted a picnic on the Weill Lawn at the Green Music Center for the viewing of The Mighty Ducks.  The weather was perfect for an outside movie, with breezy temperatures of about 70 degrees and clear skies. Dozens of local families came out to the event and spread out all across the lawn. Many students were present for the film as well and kids were running wild, throwing footballs and baseballs and having a blast. Food vendors such as Sol Azteca and Trader Jim’s Dole Whip were there selling burritos and ice cream to those who attended. 

The anticipation for this event was extremely high. Senior and business major, Nick Harraka, was one student who couldn’t tame his enthusiasm, “I am really excited about going out to watch the movie and enjoy some food with other seawolves. These last two semesters have been relatively normal but this semester feels like it did my freshman year. I also think it was perfectly timed. After the first week of school, some freshmen or new people to campus don’t have a lot to do or don’t know a lot of people and I think events like these are perfect for them.” 

Mo Phillips is the head of student involvement at SSU, and was the mastermind behind the event. When asked about how she planned the event, Phillips said, “We spend a little time in the spring trying to figure out what films to show. Mostly the summer films are for the families, but once the students get back we try to find films to suit both the community off campus and on campus. First we look at the kids’ movies, then other family films and/or anniversaries of films etc… We try to do a mix of double feature and single feature nights. After we get the films, the GMC Staff make the magic happen for the showing of the films, [with] security, parking, ticketing, marketing and staffing the event etc…” 

When I asked Phillips how it feels to have planned an event with even more students living on campus compared to prior COVID-19 semesters, she said, “It does feel good to have more people back on campus and to do large scale events, but also we are trying to be cautious and think about what we are doing and how we can keep people safe.” 

Overall, the movie at the green event seemed to be a huge success and there was lots of smiles and laughter. 

There are many events taking place next week; on Sept. 7, the club fair is being held in the Seawolf Plaza, and on Sept. 10 there is a a getaway trip to the Oakland Athletics game from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All upcoming events can be found on SSU’s website.