Despite the high temperature that engulfed Fresno over the weekend, Bulldog spirit was as vibrant as ever in the 39th celebration of Vintage Days.
Each spring Vintage Days promotes campus tradition and invites members of the community to the Fresno State campus to participate in weekend-long activities complete with family, friends, food and fun.
Photo by Christopher Costello / The Collegian
However, the renowned weekend would not be complete without the 34 food booths and 15 game booths run by student clubs and organizations. These booths make up what is known as Boomtown.
“Basically Vintage Days is a time for all of the clubs and organizations to come together and really build as a campus and as a community and get all of the younger ages involved,” Mark Springer said, Boomtown co-coordinator.
The majority of food booths ran by student clubs and organizations were located in Boomtown South, which was situated east of the music building. Additionally, various other food and game booth were located southeast of the Satellite Student Union in Boomtown North.
“Vintage Days gives them [student clubs and organizations] an opportunity to fundraise and get their name out in the community,” said public relations and marketing coordinator Katchen Anderson.
Each student club and organization sold different items including tri-tip and pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, shaved iced and fruit cups.
“It is really great to see what everyone has to bring and what they have to offer for Vintage Days,” said Kaitlyn McNicholas, another Boomtown co-coordinator
In order to run a food or game booth at Vintage Days, each student club and organization is put into a lottery earlier in year, Anderson said.
“All clubs and organizations like to come back each year, which makes it really consistent for the most part,” Springer said.
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers has raised money for their organization by selling burritos at Vintage Days for the past 32 years.
Participation in Vintage Days is a fundraiser for all student clubs and organizations. The profit made from each food and game booth acts as direct revenue for the various student clubs and organizations, McNicholas said.
The Organization of Physical Therapy Students (OPTS) has between twenty and thirty volunteers throughout the weekend.
“We really like participating in Vintage Days,” Amanda Orr of OPTS said. “A lot of our members participate in building the booth and making the food.”
In addition to promoting and fundraising for their club and organization, Vintage Days allows student clubs and organizations to build their Bulldog spirit by building relationships with other student groups, interacting with the community and creating Fresno State history.
“It is an event for all ages, which is really nice and it brings together the spirit of Bulldog nation,” Springer said.