The NMU Special Events Committee is hosting their last event of the year, a holiday open skate on Friday, Dec. 9 at 8:30 pm at the Lakeview Arena – Russell Rink.

This event intends to keep students active and positive the week before finals, said Ali Deutsch, Special Events Committee president.

“When it gets so dark so early, sometimes it’s easy to fall into that seasonal depression trap, so this is meant to get students out, get connected and raise their spirits,” Deutsch said.  

Holiday open skate is free to NMU students and is intended to be a casual event, allowing students to come and go at their own leisure.

“Come do as much as you want to as little as you want, and just have a fun time,” Deutsch said.

In years past, holiday open skate has had a large turnout of students in attendance, including last year in which the arena sold out its skates.

“We know this is something we wanted to bring back since students are really eager about it, and we’ve been really encouraging people to bring their own skates if they have them,” said Nichole Sandoval, advisor of the Special Events Committee. 

The Special Events Committee will be hosting three more open skate nights next semester, one for each month in January, February and March for NMU students. The open skate nights will be a part of Winter Fest under the theme of Stay Tuned: Sitcoms in the Snow. 

“We are going for a TV theme as we kind of play into that situational comedy and those feel-good feelings that we may not always get in the winter months,” Deutsch said.

Traditionally Winter Fest at NMU was a weeklong event similar to Homecoming week, but over time this tradition has become a semester full of events, Deutsch said. 

“I think it’s really important to spread events out so that we can get that continuous movement of students who are coming to our events, getting involved and staying happy in those dark days of February and March,” Deutsch said. 

For Winter Fest, the Special Events Committee is planning a semester of fun by bringing back a few fan favorites, including Singo, Mocktails on Canvas with the Art Therapy Club, the Lip Sync Battle with the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and a Dive-in Movie at the PIEF with Campus Cinema. 

In addition to these fan favorites, there are a few other projects in the works for the Special Events Committee. These include events in collaboration with Hot Plate and the Outdoor Recreation Program, with an emphasis on hands-on or artistic events, said Sandoval. 

“What the Special Events Committee does is they try to provide a lot of different kinds of events for students,” Sandoval said. “The Special Events Committee can really brainstorm and bring these ideas to life.”  

By doing events in collaboration with other student groups, the Special Events Committee hopes to bring awareness to these other organizations at NMU. 

“A lot of student organizations are really working on collaborating together to help other student groups grow too, so a lot of people have been working together on these events,” Sandoval said. 

Sandoval encourages anyone with an idea to reach out or join the Special Events Committee to see their event happen on campus. 

“If you have a really fun event idea, you can bring it to the table and we can help see your events through,” Sandoval said.