Chaminade University held and all-day event on Monday, December 4 to help kick off the holiday season. The Twas the Light Before Christmas event took place in the Vi & Paul Loo Student Center in Ching Hall starting at 12:30 p.m., continuing well into the night.

Starting off the festivities was Christmas karaoke accompanied by free food and drinks. All the popular Christmas songs were sung, “Deck the Halls”, “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree”, “Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer”, and many more. There were also a few non-traditional Christmas songs like Chris Brown’s “This Christmas” or Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe”. Whatever the song was people were singing their hearts out. The snacks were Christmas themed as well. Christmas cookies, cakes and eggnog were there for anyone to take.

“It’s been really fun,” said Chaminade senior Pono Riddle, “A lot of people showed up and everyone’s just having a good time, getting into the holiday spirit.”

Later on was the Minute to Win it Christmas games. Short, one-minute long games with small prizes going to the winners like scented lotions, treats, and gift cards. There were also arts and crafts going on at the same along with writing Christmas cards. People were making all kinds of Christmas decorations out of construction paper and using many different paints, glues, and markers.

People could also write letters to Santa Claus asking him what they want for Christmas. This was not only in the spirit of the holidays, but every card written donated $1 to the Hawaii Children’s Foundation.

After that the gingerbread house building and reindeer games started (lowercase these words). Students could construct the gingerbread houses out of all the standard materials like graham crackers, frosting, and multi-colored candy. The reindeer games were just a continuation of the Minute to Win it games.

The day of festivities were brought to a close at 7 pm with Chaminade’s annual Christmas lighting in front of Ching Hall. The lights on top of the building were strung together in a way that made them look like a giant glowing Christmas tree. A large crowd of both teachers and students gathered at the front of the school to watch the spectacular display of lights come to life, marking that holiday season has truly begun. If you didn’t want to stop the party there, there was also a trolley from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m. that was taking people to the Honolulu Hale to see the Honolulu Holiday City Lights.

The holiday season is a time where everyone can come together and spend time with the ones they care most about, no matter where there from. The Twas the Light Before Christmas was just one way  to show that everyone is welcome to share in the holiday spirit and cheer.