Winter begins extravagantly

photo by Amy Babin

Christine Lewis and Wilford Claiborn shared a dance and his hat at the University of La Verne's annual Winter Formal, held at the Sheraton Fairplex hotel, Nov. 22.

by Alejandra Molina
Assistant Editor

More than 300 University of La Verne students gathered around the Grand Ballroom of the Fairplex Sheraton Suites for the fourth annual Winter Extravaganza on Nov. 22.

Travis Berry, vice president of ASF, believed the formal had a good turnout and said he has received positive feedback.

"It went very well, I got a very positive response," he said. "People enjoyed it in a smaller room."

Other students thought otherwise, though.

"I had fun, the food was good but the dance floor could have been bigger," said sophomore Melissa Castillo.

This was senior Hugo Valencia's fourth year attending the event, and he believed this year was the best.

"I loved it; the meal was splendid and the music was the best part," Valencia said. "The variety of the music was a lot better than other years."

Valencia was surprised of the number of people who attended formal. Also, he found it surprising that a lot of people did not leave until it ended.

Sophomore Antonette Manabat also enjoyed herself at formal. "Everyone was out there to have fun; everyone was dancing," Manabat said.

The event took more than three months of planning. Berry began planning the event over the summer. In mid-September, Berry along with committee continued with the plans.

Twenty-five thousand dollars was put aside for the expenses, but not all was used.

The total cost for the event was approximately $21,000, Berry said.

This year the Sheraton charged by the number of people who actually attended the event, as opposed to last year, when they charged for the estimated number of people who would attend the formal.