In the wake of this year’s annual Pumpkin Fest, off-campus student athletes comment on notices from landlords, coaches, damage to property and what the events from Oct. 18 mean for them as Keene State College students.
In preparation for Pumpkin Fest, landlords contacted some students early in the week.
Baseball player Keith Simpson, a junior, said that prior to the weekend’s festivities, he and his roommates received emails and text messages from their landlord.
“[Our landlord] even stopped by once, but he basically just told us to be safe and have fun,” Simpson said, “He said we could have a few people over, but if it got out of hand to call the police.”
Angela Silveri, a secondary education and mathematics major on the volleyball team, said that her landlord did not contact her or her roommates with notices regarding Pumpkin Fest.
“My landlord texted me on Sunday making sure we were all safe,” Silveri said.
Rick Grauer, a landlord of Keene Cribs, said that the regular precautionary steps were taken prior to the weekend’s festivities.
“[Keene Cribs] leases forbid common big parties,” Grauer said.
As for speaking to tenants before big events, Grauer said, “We meet with all tenants early in the week of Pumpkin Fest to remind them of acceptable behavior. Fortunately, most of our tenants continue to comply and don’t host parties.”
Though some off-campus student-athletes opened their homes to guests during this year’s Pumpkin Fest, none of the athletes spoken to said they hosted parties during the Saturday riots.
Upon hearing of the riots, Cheerleader and Junior Rachael Levy chose to take refuge in her home for the remainder of the night.
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“The only people in my home were people I knew,” Levy said.
She continued, “Strangers kept knocking at my door and trying to come in but I wouldn’t let them.”
Silveri also did not allow anyone into her home and kept her door locked.
However, she said that early Saturday morning she discovered an unknown person sleeping on the couch on her front porch.
“Thinking it was one of our housemates’ guests we proceeded to think nothing of it,” Silveri said. She continued, “We found out later that day the person was just some random kid.”
However, Simpson had more trouble keeping unwanted guests out of his home. “There was really nothing we were able to do … People were just hopping through our back yard whether or not we told them to stop,” Simpson said.
According to Simpson, the intruders only caused damage to the fence surrounding his back yard.
Grauer said that there were no findings of increase in damages from this year’s Pumpkin Fest compared to what had been experienced in past years.
“At some properties there was less [damage] than prior years,” Grauer said.
To reinforce the performance and safety of the athletes, Simpson and Silveri revealed that the 24/48-hour rule, which prevents athletes from going out prior to game day, was still in effect. Aside from emphasizing this rule, coaches also spoke to athletes before Pumpkin Fest weekend.
“Coach [Bob Weiner] warned us to be safe and not surround ourselves around harm because we could potentially be suspended from games,” Silveri said. “Everyone on the team took this very seriously and made sure we were responsible … Our team, thankfully, stayed out of trouble.”
Levy and Simpson said their teams, both baseball and cheerleading, were issued similar warnings by their coaches.
After the riots that occurred Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014, Silveri, Simpson and Levy said the coaches again addressed their teams.
“Coach [Ken Howe] told us that severe consequences were going to be handed out if anyone was seen doing anything illegal or morally wrong,” Simpson said.
Levy said that her coach, Chris Fecteau, gave her team time after Pumpkin Fest to have a discussion on how she and her teammates felt after hearing of the riots and seeing the damage.
“He talked about how we need to be examples for our community since we are a team at Keene State,” Levy said. She continued, “He wanted to make sure we were all safe and let us know that if we ever need help and didn’t know who to call that he would be there for us.”
Silveri said that her coach was pleased to hear of his team’s safety. “He was happy we all stayed away from trouble and was also glad that everyone on our team went out and cleaned the Keene community [Sunday] morning,” Silveri said. Silveri, Levy and Simpson all said that they did not receive any notice from the school concerning Pumpkin Fest other than the general notice every student received on Sunday morning asking anyone to come forward with information about those involved in the riots.
Coaches asked to interview about this Pumpkin Fest article declined to comment.
Claire Hickey can be contacted at chickey@keene-equinox.com
