Party in the Park named best all-campus event

The Party in the Park took the gold for best all-campus event. The annual gathering brings together student groups in a festival atmosphere.

On the first Friday of each school year, you can count on free food, live entertainment and an array of student groups lining the South Park Blocks of campus.

The Student Activities and Leadership Programs Office always does a good job of organizing the event and making it a success.

��������� ������ And it grows each year. There were 90 student groups present this year, as opposed to last year’s 60.

Not only does the office gather all the student groups into one event, but it feeds more than 1,500 hungry college students. But every student who wants free food must get a passport stamped by at least five student groups.

Kudos to the one who came up with that plan. College students will do anything for a free meal. What a great way to get students involved.

Every year students are overwhelmed by the live performances that range from fire dancers to drum circles. The party has been livened by bands such as the Torres Band and Obo Addy, both of which are 10-piece festival bands.

Thanks to the Student Fee Committee, the Diversity Action Council, the Portland State University Alumni Association and College Housing Northwest – the main sponsors of Party in the Park – this event is an assured annual success.

Salmon runs a close second

The Salmon Bake was a close second. The annual bake-off occurs every spring as part of Native American Cultural Awareness Week.

Thanks to United Indian Students of Higher Education, the campus gets to enjoy a taste of traditional Native American foods.

Open fire pits, with fresh salmon baking in the flames and fresh homemade fry bread, are the hallmarks of the annual salmon bake. The salmon is smoked over a fire of alder wood.

-Kara Kelley