‘Tis the season for holiday cheer. Drury Student Union Board will be hosting Hanging of the Greens to celebrate nondenominational holiday festivities. Hanging of the Greens features two events. The first event will be held before Thanksgiving break on Nov. 22, and the second event will be held Dec. 2 before winter break. Corbin Tarr is the Vice President of After-Darks for Student Union Board. He shared his feelings about Hanging of the Greens and his role in helping bring holiday cheer.

“Hanging of the Greens is a holiday celebration put on by Student Union Board meant to bring some festive joy and fun events during the Holiday season! It involves a day to decorate your very own ornaments and then a day where we get to put those ornaments on Drury’s own massive tree.” Tarr continued, “As the VP of After-Darks, I am working primarily on the event prior to Hanging of the Greens where we will decorate the ornaments themselves. As a member of Executive Council, overall my job is to make sure that everything goes swimmingly and that everyone has a fun time!”

The first event will take place in Findlay Student Center room 204, on Friday Nov. 22 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Students can decorate ornaments and enjoy free coffee as well as cupcakes from Amycakes bakery. The second event will take place in the FSC Commons on Dec. 2 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. At the Commons, students can decorate the Christmas tree that will be displayed for the holiday season. Additionally, Student Government Association will be providing stockings for students to decorate. SGA senator Haley Mueller explains SGA’s relationship with SUB.

“I am currently serving on the student life committee for SGA. We have planned a variety of events throughout the year, and this year we’ve been partnering with SUB. Last year, it was brought to our attention that there are very high attendance numbers for a variety of SUB events, and they were interested in partnering with us on some events. We gladly agreed because we love to interact with the student body, and this gave us a great way to do so. This year we partnered with them at the pumpkin painting event during Fall Fest and even assisted in providing more pumpkins since the event was so popular last year. We are planning on also helping with their annual Hanging of the Greens this year and providing stockings for students to decorate. This is great way for us to get more involved with the student body and be hands on. The student body can continue to expect more joint hosted events in the future,” said Mueller

Students may remember a time when Hanging of the Greens  was a little different. VP of Hanging of the Greens and May Ball, Alissa Boubel, explains the changes SUB made to the event.

“This year we are doing it inside. Last year was my first year to run it, and I had no idea how insanely cold it was going to be! This year we’re also providing a craft to do at the event, because last year it felt like once people came there was lots of standing around and not much to do,” Boubel said.

Hanging of the Greens features a tree, ornaments and stockings, but it is still a nondenominational celebration. In doing this, the event remains inclusive to everyone. Tarr and Boubel share what the event means to them.

“What it means for me is a way for the Student Body to get warm drinks and fun times during the cold and dreary finals weeks, plus it’s during winter so win-win! For Drury students, getting to set up a tree would be fun and homey, as many students may not get the chance to go home for the holidays and thus lose that opportunity,” Tarr said.

“I think the fact that Drury puts such emphasis on this being a nondenominational celebration really goes to show how seriously our campus takes the Drury difference. There’s this specific emphasis on our inclusivity, on our melding of cultures and backgrounds and beliefs and the strength in celebrating everyone and everything. Not every campus has that, so it’s pretty awesome,” Boubel continued. “Hanging of the Greens to me is just another way of celebrating the season of Christmas. It’s always been my favorite holiday, probably because of the lights. As for the student body as a whole, I think it’s a chance to come together and celebrate whatever this time means for you and sharing each other’s experiences of the winter holidays.”

Hanging of the Greens is a Student Union Board holiday tradition. The event brings together all religions as well as SGA and SUB to spread cheer and warmth for the winter season.

Article by Ciera DuBan