[1]Jenna Watt at the same spot where she stood in line in the wind and rain on Halloween pub night. She eventually gave up trying to get in. Photo by Shelden Rogers.
By Shelden Rogers
BELLEVILLE – Students at Loyalist College are getting frustrated with the latest lineup to get into pub, but when it comes to a solution, they may be out of luck.
Some students said they waited for over an hour to get into the Halloween pub night hosted by the Shark Tank Pub last Thursday. Weather conditions didn’t make the wait any better, with cold winds and constant rain.
Jasmine Papoutsis waited for just over an hour before she got into pub. By the time she got in, her spirits had already died.
“By the time I actually got in I was freezing cold and soaking wet and I was just not in the mood to even be there or dance. And I’m normally so jacked up to be there and I was not in the mood, so I left after being there for 20 minutes,” said Papoutsis.
She showed up to the pub wearing her costume. After the wait, she felt the effects of the cold winds and rain.
“I was wearing my costume and let’s just say that I wasn’t wearing very much that night and I was freezing cold. I actually got sick from standing out in the rain.”
Jenna Watt was also stuck waiting in line for well over an hour, and she didn’t even get in to see the party.
“I did wait in line for over an hour before giving up because security said my chances of getting in were slim to none,” said Watt.
When she got to the pub there were 70 to 100 people in front of her, she said.
She and her boyfriend spent over $50 each on their costumes and didn’t get to show them off.
Spirits among other people in the line were not high, Watt said.
“My boyfriend was complaining about how much of a pain the line was. Everyone was in a bad mood and it just kind of ruined the night.”
After Watt and her boyfriend gave up on pub, they took off their wet costumes and called it a night.
Watt said she would recommend some sort of shelter for people in line next time the weather is ugly.
Courtney De Pippo was another student who didn’t get to see the dance floor last Thursday. But unlike Papoutsis and Watt, she didn’t even bother with the line.
“I turned the corner and was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go back.’ ”
De Pippo said the weather played a big part in her decision.
“It was mostly because it was raining and I’m just like, ‘I’m not standing in that line to get in.’ Everyone was just standing there soaked,” she said.
De Pippo doesn’t go to pub often, and said she was disappointed when she found out she couldn’t get in to one of the pubs she was looking forward to.
The president of Loyalist College’s student government, Chantel Johnston, said she understands students’ concerns, but there isn’t much that she can do about the long line.
“I feel bad truly, because I want them to come in. But when it comes down to it, this facility, just like any other facility has a fire code. You can only have so many people in here – for legal reasons, alcohol restriction reasons, for many legal purposes we cannot have over a certain amount of people in here,” said Johnston.
The lineup this year was no different from previous Halloween pubs, she said.
She and her staff do all they can to make sure everything goes smoothly on a busy night, Johnston said. That includes making sure the lineup moves as quickly as possible.
“I do assure them that we are doing our jobs, we’re working as fast as we can. We are ensuring that we aren’t holding up the line – the only thing holding up the line is the fact that we are at our max.”
When the pub reached its cap, Johnston tried everything she could to make the best of the situation, she said.
“On Halloween I felt so bad. I came inside, I gathered as much jackets, sweaters, umbrellas as I could, and I went up and down that line. Anyone whose costumes were ruined, makeup falling down their face, or people who were freezing cold, I would give them a jacket of my own, or someone else’s that I borrowed.”
When it comes to the weather, Johnston said, her options are limited for creating a shelter for the long line.
“It is very costly. Especially with the winds – awnings would not have stayed out there. There is only so much we can do, especially with the fact that it’s all concrete. We can’t really fasten anything. There isn’t a lot you can do in that spot.”
Johnston said she and the student government are considering all ideas and opinions from upset students.