Smith students woke to the sounds of bells ringing on Sept. 27, signaling that Mountain Day had arrived. Despite the attempts to make this Mountain Day memorable, some upperclassmen expressed that this year fell flat compared to previous celebrations.
Mountain Day has been an annual tradition at Smith since 1877. Students awake to the ringing of bells, signaling a break from classes and giving students a chance to enjoy a fall day without the stress of schoolwork.
Traditionally, Mountain Day plans include students piling into buses and heading to orchards for some apple-picking. However, this Mountain Day was slightly different.
“Unfortunately this year, mostly due to worker shortages and COVID-19 related restrictions, our community partners were unable to offer the [apple picking] and buses were not available to make those runs,” Dean Julianne Ohotnicky said.
Although the apple-picking tradition was not fulfilled, there were other ways in which the historic day was celebrated.
Apple cider and donuts were served in front of President McCarthy’s house along with a tea on Chapin Lawn, where free Mountain Day t-shirts were also given to students.
These activities were appreciated by first-year students who got to experience Mountain Day for the first time.
“I had a really enjoyable Mountain Day … Tea on Chapin lawn was really fun because I got to see the whole school enjoying the day together,” said first-year Amelia Babb. “It didn’t really start to feel like fall until after Mountain Day.”
Though tea on Chapin lawn was a welcome change to tradition, others were not.
Typically, Mountain Day falls on a day in the middle of the week; different from this year’s Monday celebrations.
“It was surprising and no one expected Mountain Day to be on a Monday,” said Junior Alicia Argueta.
Babb agreed that having the celebration in the middle of the week might have made it more enjoyable and exciting.
According to Dean Ohotnicky, “the day of the week is not specifically planned according to a schedule but rather is dependent on the weather.”
The day did boast a high of 80 degrees but also provided a small spot of rain in the morning.
Argueta explained that the rain did add a gloominess to a usually sunny Mountain Day.
Monday exhibited higher temperatures than the rest of the week which was riddled with icier forecasts.
Overall, the Mountain Day efforts were appreciated by underclassmen, while the changes that were implemented to accommodate for COVID-19 left many upperclassmen dissatisfied.
“The energy wasn’t there that I remember from my first year,” stated Argueta.
