Over 200 local children invaded the Sigma Chi fraternity house on Saturday, hoping to become mummies.
Actually, that's toilet paper mummies.
West Philadelphia children and families celebrated Halloween early this weekend, courtesy of the Sigma Chi and Zeta Beta Tau fraternities and the Delta Delta Delta and Kappa Alpha Theta sororities, all of which worked together to sponsor a haunted house and carnival.
The participating Greek organizations converted the Sigma Chi basement into a haunted house, while the upper levels served as a carnival with different games, activities and, of course, candy.
The haunted house was quite popular with those in attendance. A large mob surrounded the staircase leading down to the haunted house, since only groups of 20 could enter at a time.
"The line down to the haunted house was chaos," Sigma Chi Philanthropy Chairman Graham Lyles said. "So many kids wanted to go in."
Mothers Sonia Bishop and Mary Dicks brought five children with them to the Sigma Chi house, and said that all of them were having fun.
The kids "are enjoying the haunted house the most," Bishop said.
"Face painting is always fun," Dicks added.
The doughnut race was also a hit.
"We have this doughnut race, with doughnuts hanging from strings, and five kids race at a time," said Theta sister Dana Vetter, a Wharton sophomore. "I think just about everyone here has played that."
"Hundreds of kids have been in and out," she added. "It's been great."
In other rooms, some children had their faces painted by Greeks, while others tried to win prizes by tossing small stuffed animals into a giant cardboard jack-o-lantern. Kids could also play musical chairs and decorate cookies.
ZBT brother Jon Schottenstein, a Wharton sophomore, saw the day as an opportunity to perform community service and have fun as well.
"We get so caught up in everyday life that it's nice to give back to the community," he said.
Tri Delta Philanthropy Chairwoman Jen Denlow agreed.
"It was just a good way for neighborhood kids to spend the day," the College senior said. "We all got to dress up, and we all enjoyed ourselves, so I think we all had as much fun as the kids."
Publicity for the event consisted of distributing flyers at the Lea School, located at 47th and Locust streets, but it turned out that children came from other schools as well.
"We distributed over 500 flyers to second- through fifth-graders," Lyles, a College senior, said. "There were about three main schools throughout the area that they had come from."
According to Lyles, many of the children brought friends and cousins as well.
"I think it went really well," Lyles said. "The turnout was a lot better than we expected. Even toward the end, there were more people than I thought would be able to show up."
"All four houses had a great turnout as far as the help goes," he added.
