MOR monster mash

The dinosaurs may not have come to life, but the party definitely did. The Museum of the Rockies hosted their annual MOR After Dark event on Oct. 26, and it was a roaring good time. This event is always free for students and offers a plethora of fun activities.

 There were showings of “Hocus Pocus” in the Hager Auditorium, as well as an hourly planetarium show called “Experience the Aurora.” All the exhibits were open and accessible to partiers, and were strewn throughout with poker tables, giant jenga, a DJ, a photo booth and many other games. Live-action “Clue” was a big hit among the students, with clues scattered all throughout the museum. If students did well in these activities, they were awarded raffle tickets that they could use to try and win one of several prizes. These included gift cards, Townshend’s Teahouse tumblers and even ski lift passes. The raffle prizes were all donated specifically to the museum for MOR After Dark. Everyone had a shot at winning the prize though (even if they didn’t win any games) as all students were given raffle tickets when they entered the museum.

Students were encouraged to show up in costume, with the best of them crowned at the costume contest at the end of the night. The theme of the contest was “The Arctic,” and included categories for best individual, best theme and best group. The winner (or winners) of the contest were awarded an REI gift card.

There were students dressed in costumes hanging out with their friends, and there were students who just seemed excited to look at all the exhibits for free. All the guests had great things to say about the event, ranging from finding the party to be a good way to let their inner nerd out, to others who simply claimed that the party was “pretty rad,” or those that just wanted an excuse to visit the museum.  

The MSU Office of Health Advancement and the Museum of the Rockies host this event annually, so keep that in mind next year if you’re looking for something fun to do over Halloweekend. After all, MOR After Dark has free food and dinosaurs. How can you beat that?