Shawn Kelly Memorial Holiday Party

12/06/2007

Kenyon Collegian

Gambier, Ohio

By: Sarah Friedman

Delta Kappa Epsilon's annual Shawn Kelly Memorial Holiday Party is in Gund Ballroom from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight. DKE partners with Knox County Head Start to bring about 150 underprivileged children from Knox County and their families to Kenyon to celebrate the winter holidays.

Head Start tells DKE how many children will be attending and what age they are and the DKEs buy a present for each of them, said DKE president Brian Hepp '09. According to Zach Shapiro '08, the DKEs spent last Saturday wrapping presents.

"I just love handing out the gifts and seeing the smile on their faces," said Shapiro. "It's such a great feeling, and even though I'm not Christian and never celebrate Christmas, I'm glad I get to be a part of the holiday spirit."

The event featured face painting, cookie decorating, a movie, card making, Santa Claus and an Owl Creeks performance.

The event, which has been held for over ten years, is held in memory of Shawn Kelly, a DKE and "one of Kenyon's best swimmers" who died in the early 1990s, according to Hepp. "When it first started out it was only a one night event," he said, but it was so popular that it expanded to two nights. "It's gotten bigger and bigger every year," he said.