Giving students, faculty, staff and their families an opportunity to socialize and have fun, Nicholls will host its 18th annual “Fˆte de la Famille” event Saturday next to John L. Guidry Stadium.
Festivities for Family Day, as it is translated, will begin at noon and end at 3:30 p.m., when the Colonel band, cheerleaders and Colonelettes will lead a pre-game pep rally before the 4 p.m. kickoff of the Colonels’ football match up with Texas Southern.
Tickets for the game will be available on either side of the stadium for a discounted price of $5 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. After the deadline, normal prices will be charged.
“Family Day is a great tradition and distinguishable event at Nicholls,” Brenda Haskins, Family Day committee chairperson, said. “It’s also a celebration of all the people that support us, and it’s a great time to celebrate our families and all they’ve done for the University.”
More than 40 student organizations and academic departments will host several activities, games and contests geared toward parents, students, future students and children. Many booths will also give away information about their organization or department. Among the highlights of the event will be the live musical performance by the Lafourche Cajun Band, a Cajun/Zydeco band from Thibodaux.
Food booths will serve various types of food including jambalaya, hamburgers, Godfather’s pizza, cotton candy and more. Representatives from the Nicholls bookstore will also be at the Stadium selling Colonel football merchandise.
While the University and Student Programming Association provide most of the funding for the event, participating organizations and departments supply the resources. “It’s great because the event gives students and their families a chance to see how close the Nicholls community really is and how we work together,” Tisheata Curry, SPA spirit and travel chairperson, said.
Family Day also allows other community organizations to enjoy the college and family atmosphere. This year, 250 members of the Bayou Region Cub Scouts of America will be camping out on campus anticipating Saturday’s events. Many local parish recreation youth football teams and coaches will attend wearing uniforms as well.
“If we get students on our campus, no matter what the age, hopefully they will choose Nicholls later on in life,” Haskins said.
Weather is a concern for Haskins and the committee since the past two Family Day events have been dampened by inclement weather. Just a year after being cancelled for the second time in its history, last year’s event went on but was threatened by a forecasted storm. Only about 700 people attended.
“It ended up being a nice day,” Haskins said. “But so many people didn’t come because they were expecting the storm and thought we would cancel. Hopefully, we’ll get back on track this year.”
Haskins said the event, which takes more than six months of planning and organizing, has averaged about 3,000 attendees per year. Almost 10,000 invitations are sent out each year.
Marcus Broussard, family and consumer science junior from Franklin, said he would encourage all students, prospective students and their families to attend Family Day. “Come on out,” he said. “It’s a good way to get to know people you’ve never met before. I think it’s a great time to get to know your peers, faculty and your peers’ families as well.”
Family Day began in 1986 when a couple hundred students, faculty, staff and their families gathered in the Ballroom. Over the past 17 years, Family Day has developed into possibly the largest and most popular event at Nicholls, Haskins said.
In the event of inclement weather, the festivities will be cancelled.