The Employee Council held its annual Employee Appreciation Picnic on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023, at Preciado Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. To honor the Halloween celebration, the event offered a pumpkin and costume contest that encouraged all attendees to participate. New Mexico State University’s faculty did not disappoint.
The event was animated with live music from DJ Tommy Black. Crowd favorites included the “Cha Cha Slide” and Selena Quintanilla’s songs, seeing as how their upbeat tune often encouraged people to get up and line dance.
“I am honored to serve at the Academic Tech. Department,” said Sonia A. White who has worked in NMSU’s technology department for 20 years. “Seeing all NMSU faculty is amazing,” she expressed.
White was dressed as a sumo ringer and made sure to amp up the spirit at the event, where she assisted in prize giveaways for all contests and set an example on the dance floor for other attendees.
Flavours by Sodexo provided catering services, while this year’s picnic was made possible through donations from the College of Business and the College of Agriculture among others. Chairs and tables were provided by the Student and Marketing Services.
Awards were also gifted to faculty and staff to thank them for their support and contributions to the university. Victoria Bañuelos took home the “A” Mountain Staff Award while Jessica Raquel Muñoz from the Stem Outreach Center was awarded the Ralph B. Crouch Memorial Award for her outstanding contributions to the NMSU Community. “I feel very thankful and very blessed,” said Muñoz.
Among the many attendees, Provost Dr. Alan Shoho and President Dr. Jay Gogue participated in the contest panel to award faculty and staff for their creativity and eagerness to participate in this event.
Although the tables were divided into different sections, faculty and staff gathered as a community to enjoy this fun event organized for them.
Cheerleaders from the College of Agriculture also livened the event, along with faculty’s pets since the event was dog-friendly and family-oriented.
Next to the podium, a table of gifts was visible for some winners to select their prizes through raffles done through tickets provided at the beginning of the picnic. This year’s pumpkin contest winner was the pumpkin carved and decorated as an ice cream cone. The pumpkin belonged to TRIO Student Support Services Administrative Assistant, Assoc., Kelsey Zufelt.
The Halloween spirit of NMSU’s faculty and staff was made evident through different costumes such as emojis, “Adventure Time” characters, periodic table of elements, fungi and “Encanto” characters among many, many others that decorated Preciado Park.
“I am happy I won,” said Hannah Jackoski, who took the win for best costume through an applause meter for her “Toy Story 2” Jessie costume. Jackoski’s cowgirl costume was hand painted. “It took me a couple of days,” said Jackoski. Her Jesse costume was entirely custom-made, including the lasso. She also mentioned her boyfriend’s costume was, of course, Woody.
The second place was awarded to the “Exorcist” double costume while third place was won by the Noche de Luminarias double costume.
The Employee Council is an advisory body whose purpose is to serve the chancellor and president to ensure the well-being of NMSU employees. It is led by a chair and vice-chair that serve on the executive-level administrative and policy making councils and boards at the university.
The next Employee Council meeting will be held on Nov. 9 at Milton Hall, Room 85 and via Zoom.
