With the arrival of the fall comes the return of so many wonderful traditions – homecoming weekend, parents’ weekend, and Halloween parties galore! It’s also a good time to look at some older, forgotten traditions. Whether you’re looking for ideas for a new tradition, or you want to resurrect an old one, looking at past traditions is also a great way to learn more about the University, and how the community has changed over the years.

Until around the 1970s, the majority of activities for students on campus were organized and sponsored by the fraternities and sororities on campus (if you would like to know more about what Greek Life on campus used to look like, check out the Archives’ online exhibition!) From the inter-fraternity football league, to the winter ball, Greek Life was responsible for providing the fun, social aspect of college life.

One such fun student activity held in years past was Harvest Weekend. A weekend separate from other fall weekend activities such as Homecoming, Harvest Weekend involved the election of a Harvest Queen (later called Miss Pumpkin!), hayrides, and apparently plenty of pumpkins (some of which were donated to children at Holyoke Hospital).

The event was later renamed Harvesters Weekend in 1970, but mention of the event disappeared from the newspaper after that year. 1977 saw a Harvest Moon Ball at Homecoming weekend, and the ball appeared again in 1983 as part of The Community Festival. Fall weekend activities have evolved many times over the decades, and if any readers out there have a favorite memory or activity from their days on campus, please let us know!

So which of these fall activities would you like to see come back to campus? Our vote is for the giant pumpkins!

Welcome back to all returning students, and welcome to all new students! And also, welcome back to our beloved Golden Bear!

If you’re just joining us now, here’s the story.

About five years ago, a generous alum donated the original mascot costume of our Golden Bear from their personal collection to the University Archives. It was an incredibly exciting donation! It represents the first time the Golden Bear appeared in mascot form on our campus. The costume dates to 1970, which is when intercollegiate football first came to WNE, so it makes sense that a mascot would appear at this time.

Long thought to be handmade by a student’s mother, the costume actually bears the tag of “Broadway Costume”. The Boston shop, which only recently closed its doors, was a staple in costuming and mascot needs in the area. However, the origin story isn’t completely debunked – perhaps the mother of a student actually worked at the costume shop!

When the costume arrived it was musty and in need of some TLC. Thanks to a generous grant from the Alumni Association, our Golden Bear was sent out to New York for professional conservation treatment this past spring.

The Golden Bear returned to us just last week, spot cleaned, vacuumed, stitched up, stuffed, and boxed in custom made archival boxes. It is also smelling much better too. If you’re interested in the art of textile conservation, check out the great work of the conservator who fixed up our bear!

The costume will soon be on display in the exhibit case at D’Amour Library. So keep an eye out, and say hello to the original Golden Bear!