It is a dark night in Mem East. From her window, an anonymous senior sees a light in the distance. The snow and ice outside contribute to the cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. She looks up; the light intensifies as the voices of merry Williston students echo across the pond. Her eyes begin to sparkle as she remembers what today is: Willy Wonderland. With a childlike joy and a pair of hand-me-down skates, she rushes to the pond to join her friends for a night of merriment in this endless winter.

A light snowfall and not-too-chilly conditions were the perfect atmosphere for the first Willy Wonderland on January 24^th. From ice-skating to hot chocolate and a good deal of Taylor Swift, the event was a resounding success.

Williston’s pond was decked out in lights and, due in part to cancelled off-campus activities after the day’s snowfall, turnout was high.

Senior Alec Bickerstaff, one of the organizers of the event, comments, “We were happy to do it. The pond is a fantastic resource for us to use and we were happy to utilize it. We’d like to thank the incredible efforts of Mr. Zewinski and Physical Plant, Kevin Donahue and Security, and Mr. Spearing and the Activities office.”

Sam Geschickter ’16 attended the event and says, “It was a nice time, especially with all the food.” He continues, “I thought ‘snowfa’ was fun,” referencing the sofa John Kay ’15 and others sculpted of snow near the bridge and covered with the rug from the entrance to Ford Hall.

It is the opinion of this editorial board that an annual Willy Wonderland would be conducive to campus camaraderie during the dreadful, awful, terrible, and, says senior Kenzie Possee, “real-bad,” New England winter. We should make this event a Williston tradition.​

A version of this article appears in the March 2015 print edition with the headline “Willy’s Winter Wonderland.”