Vassar community celebrates childhood

Emma Epstein Life Editor

It’s tough being a college student. You stay up late at night studying, spend weekends trudging to and from the Town Houses, and constantly face that life-changing decision of what to do after graduation.

But tomorrow, you can go back to the good old days of playing with finger paint and Play-Doh.
Together Opposing Neglect and Child Abuse (TONCA) will hold the 29th annual I Won’t Grow Up Day on March 31 from 12-4 p.m. The event will bring together Vassar students, staff, and the Poughkeepsie community for an afternoon of fun, child-themed events. Admission is free, but t-shirts will be sold and donations will be accepted for the Child Abuse Prevention Center (CAPC) in Poughkeepsie.

The day’s activities will include arts and crafts, games, a bouncy castle, face painting, and much more. Various Vassar Student Association organizations will sponsor booths, such as pinning the tail on the donkey with Vassar Democrats or building popsicle stick houses with Habitat for Humanity. The Town of Poughkeepsie Police will also sponsor a booth with information about lost children and child fingerprinting. The Barefoot Monkeys will perform twice and the day will end with a cappella serenades.

Secondary Education Certified English major Leslie Evans ’80 started the entirely student-run event in 1978. Professor of Education Robin Trainor said that although the event was originally envisioned as “a day in which Vassar students could return to their childhood,” students expanded the event only a few years after its initiation to include the greater community of all ages.

Fundraising for the CAPC began a few years later. Last year, I Won’t Grow Up Day evolved into TONCA, and expanded their activities, adding events and participating in Big Brother/Big Sister.
TONCA Co-President Sarah Hanson ’07 estimated that that over 200 people attended the last TONCA-sponsored carnival. “I really see it as a community building event,” said Hanson.
Swimming Head Coach and parent Lisl Prater-Lee said that IWGUD is an opportunity for parents to spend time with their kids and let them choose between activities. “You feel good allowing them to feel like they have some freedom,” she said.

Trainor said a woman once called her to make sure that her grandchildren would be in town for the event, because they had enjoyed attending previously. “Every year is a wonder,” she said. “We talk about community, this is a community event.”