Blue Diamond Society (BDS) and Colgate Athletics, along with the Office of the Dean of the College, the Student Government Organization’s (SGA) External Affairs Committee and Class Affairs Committee, Colgate Photography Club, Sidekicks and the Hamilton Business Alliance hosted Gate-Town Connection on Sunday, April 13.

The event featured multiple events for Hamilton residents and Colgate students to participate in. According to senior Lauryn Kobiela, who became involved with the event through the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, the planners wanted to offer activities that all ages could participate in.

“We offered food, ice cream, bouncy houses and athletic booths in order to catch the attention of all groups,” Kobiela said. “Our goal was to offer games that would attract little kids, such as face paint or water balloon toss, and games to attract students, such as sumo wrestling and tug of war.”

According to junior Cameron Costa, who is a chair of the External Affairs Committee of the SGA, the event serves to promote a connection between Hamilton residents and Colgate students.

“I think the whole purpose of the event is to treat the community as just that: a community,” Costa said. “Gate-Town is a reminder that Hamilton residents and Colgate students are neighbors that have the potential to collaborate, grow and have fun together, rather than two separate worlds who attempt to inhabit the same space.”

Junior Tyler Mark, who also helped coordinate the event, believes that Gate-Town Connection was successful in helping build these relations.

“The goal of the event is to unite the Colgate students and Hamilton residents for a fun day of food, music and activities,” Mark said. “I think this event does a great job at strengthening the bonds between the two communities that are often too distant. As students and residents mingle over delicious food or by wrestling each other in sumo suits, connections are created and the communities are brought closer together.”

One highlight of the event was a pie-eating contest.

“30 participants, many of them Sidekicks, went head-first into chocolate cream pies with a large crowd cheering in the background,” Mark said.

According to Kobiela, many also enjoyed playing with water balloons.

“We weren’t sure if they’d be a big hit, so we only made about 40, but boy were we wrong,” Kobiela said. “Little kids and Colgate students couldn’t get enough of the balloons.”

With the help of beautiful weather, Gate-town was able to bring town and college together.

“Towards the end of the day, I sat on my friend’s blanket and we chatted in the sun over free sandwiches,” Costa said, “We were watching one of Colgate’s administrators eat ice cream with two of her children: I definitely felt a part of an integrated, happy community.”