It's one of those traditions that has been around for so many years that no one seems to know when it began. It doesn't include breaking out the Sunday best to go cheer the men in orange and blue, nor does it include running across the Lawn in your birthday suit.
While this tradition does involve the Lawn, it is a much more child-friendly occasion that only occurs once a year and draws in children from all over Albemarle County. The kids may, however, be difficult to identify behind their decorative face paint, disguising masks and homemade costumes.
These little goblins, princesses and Cavaliers will fill the grassy area on the south side of the Rotunda this Halloween from 4 to 6 p.m. for the annual trick-or-treating event.
"It's sort of like a football game," said Nursing School Dean Jeanette Lancaster, who lives in Pavilion II. "When the gun is fired, the kids start running. You don't open your doors until 4 o'clock and you close them at 6."
This year's Lawn residents are expecting more than a thousand trick-or-treaters, and the Lawnies are well prepared for such a large number.
"We have to buy lots of candy," said Medical School Dean Robert M. Carey, who lives in Pavilion VI. "We've never run out, but we came close one year. You have to prepare for that many kids."
Students who live on the Lawn usually spend more than $100 on candy.
"We went to local businesses and asked for candy donations," said fourth-year College student Trish Morrow, who wanted to lessen the cost. "Kroger donated candy, and the Charlottesville Women's Center has been collecting candy at their meetings."
But the cost of candy seems a small price to pay for such an exciting day of Halloween fun.
"Everyone except for the few people who are out of town will participate," Morrow said. "Others will skip class or meetings to hand out candy because it's one of the cutest days of the year. Everyone in the University community is encouraged to come out and see all the adorable kids."
With such extensive numbers of trick-or-treaters, the big question is, where do they all come from?
Many of the trick-or-treaters are children from Charlottesville. Others come from all over Albemarle County.
"It's sometimes the only thing that brings people to U.Va.," said Dana Baldauf, a Lawn resident and fourth-year Nursing student. "Some parents don't take their kids out trick-or-treating in the their neighborhoods, but bring them here because it's so much safer."
For some children, trick-or-treating on the Lawn is their first Halloween experience.
"They don't even know why they're here," explained Terry Elzinga, who lives in Pavilion IV with her husband, Economics Professor Kenneth Elzinga. "Their parents are telling them to go on up to the door and get a piece of candy. They're really cute."
Though a large majority of the trick-or-treaters are kids from Charlottesville and its surrounding areas, others are the children of faculty members and graduate students.
"It's exciting to see professors with their kids, to be outside of the academic realm for a little bit and to forget about midterms or theses," Morrow said.
For those faculty members who have been living on the Lawn for years, this event is an annual way of seeing just how big some of their co-workers' children have grown.
"I recognize a lot of the children because I work with their parents," said Lancaster, who has been living on the Lawn for 10 years. "You see them each year, and I've watched some of them go from babies to eight and nine year-olds."
Many students who are Big Siblings through a mentoring program with Madison House also bring their little brothers and sisters along. For 11-year-old Marquia Shelton, this will be her first trick-or-treating experience on the Lawn.
"I usually go trick-or-treating with my sister - my real sister, not Amy - in a neighborhood near my old elementary school," she said.
Shelton's big sibling, first-year College student Amy Van Deusen, said she is really looking forward to taking Shelton this year.
"She's made her own costume and everything," Van Deusen said. "I figure I better dress up too so I fit in. I don't want to be the only kid there without a costume."
The event is usually not publicly advertised in newspapers because of the already soaring levels of participation. Some community members discover the event through word-of-mouth, although most people recognize that it has been a tradition at the University for years.
"It grows every year," Lancaster said. "So there's no reason to believe that it's going to get anything but bigger."
Many faculty members who have lived on the Lawn for numerous years also acknowledge that the event was a strong tradition when they first moved in.
As the event continues to grow, so too does the creativity that students and faculty put into it.
Morrow explained that she and a friend plan to dress up together, while many Lawn neighbors also will pair up to create some kind of a theme together.
Baldauf added that the Lawn residents carved pumpkins with their parents for Family Weekend to decorate their door stoops.
Terry Elzinga said many students dress up or creatively decorate their rooms.
"One year there was a Darth Vader that actually scared all the little children," she said. "Another year, people had put up cobwebs and other decorations to make a spook house in front of their Lawn room."
Although participation is completely voluntary, "it's considered one of the privileges of contributing to the Lawn community," said fourth-year College student Jenny Rae Cortese, a Lawn resident.
Halloween on the Lawn is truly a day of fun and festivity, as hundreds of little trick-or-treaters fill Jefferson's original Academical Village.
"It's quite a spectacle," Lancaster said. "You can't understand what it's like unless you've been here."
Even students who don't live on the Lawn can participate.
"My friend, who is an RA, is coming over and handing out candy with her dorm residents," Morrow said. "First years and non-Lawn residents can all join in and hand out candy so that as many people can join in the experience as possible."
Trick-or-treating on the Lawn is a special occasion for many and provides students with the opportunity to meet their professors' children, as well as kids from all over the Charlottesville area.
"It's the best day to come by the Lawn," Baldauf said. "It's just cute to see all the little kids, and it will definitely put you in the Halloween mood"
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