Alex Buettgen ’22

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On Sunday, March 6, Strake Jesuit held our annual carnival, Spring Fling. Started as a fundraiser during the school’s financial crisis in the early 1970’s, Spring Fling has become a time-honored school tradition dedicated to helping fund our financial aid program while also providing students and neighborhood residents alike the opportunity to play some fun carnival games in the fresh springtime weather. 

The entire school, from the Breezeway to the Competition Gym, was decked out with colorful decorations, fun carnival games, food stands sporting all different kinds of cuisine, a car show where students and parents got to show off their incredibly cool cars, and even a gambling section where students could play their luck and hopefully earn more doubloons or even gift cards. 

There was an incredible student response to the games. Students were spread out everywhere, toting around various prizes won from these carnival games, the most popular being giant Liter sodas and bags containing goldfish. Smiles weren’t the only thing painted all over the faces of students, parents, siblings, and friends. Many students had their faces painted from designs like cat whiskers to full-on tiger decals! If you saw anybody walking around with huge, freshly baked cakes, then you were looking at a lucky winner from this year’s Cake Walk/Spin. If your doubloon was sitting on the number that the spinner chose, then you had your pick from many absolutely delicious cakes and sweet treats generously donated by SJ families. 

The most popular games, according to the students, were Blackjack in the Casino (aka Competition Gym) and the Dunking Booth, situated just outside of x, next to the infamous Strake Jesuit Moose. “My favorite activity was by far the dunking booth. I got to dunk a ton of my teachers and deans,” said sophomore Jackson Priesmeyer. Among the many faculty members dunked were Father Wegenka, Mr. Lopiccolo, and Dean Nunez. 

“My favorite activity was the whole Casino in general, but if I had to choose one it would be BlackJack,” said senior Ben Norvell. “I enjoyed getting to win a bunch of doubloons, since I don’t lose.” 

The Car Show, hosted by the car club, was an absolute hit. Students flocked to go see the amazing vehicles driven or owned by families of Strake Jesuit students or alumni of Jesuit. All different types of supercars, luxury cars, old classic cars, new electric cars, and even an old, baby blue, police cruiser were shown off. “It was so cool to see all the different cars and even get to sit in some of them. My favorite was the BMW M5 Limited Edition brought by Mr. George. The engine on that thing was so cool. I think I found my new dream car,” said senior Patrick Lyons. 

Spring Fling 2022 was an incredible experience for all. I can’t wait to see if Spring Fling 2023 can beat it!