Tolbert hosts Mudfest

It gets everywhere: in your eyes, in your ears, on your clothes.

"You know what the worst thing is?" asked Regina Baptiste, Tolbert Area Council treasurer. "When it goes through your toes."             

Playing in the mud may be messy and gross, but for many at Mudfest, it also was a lot of fun.

Once a year, the Tolbert Area lawn at the University of Florida becomes Mudfest, a 60-by-30-foot mud pit created strictly for dorm residents to get completely covered in mud and play games such as mud polo and mud tug.

The finals, which took place Sunday, saw students in attendance cheering on their respective floors.

East Hall came away the event's big victor, taking home first place plaques in all four boy-and-girl events. They also won universally in mud polo and ultimate Frisbee. Tolbert Hall won for boys' volleyball and Riker Hall girls won for mud tug.

As part of a tradition since 1969, the mud used in the event is imported from Georgia in a huge dump truck.

But with higher gas prices this year, the cost of Mudfest's mud pit was $4,800, up $300 from last year.

"Three-hundred dollars doesn't sound like much, but that's 30 activity cards we have to sell," said Danielle Vitale, president of Tolbert Area Council.

Tolbert participant Meghan Trivunovich said she loved playing in the pit but hated getting out of the mud.

"It's fun when you're in there, but when you're out you're like 'OK, I want this off me,'" Trivunovich said.

Less water was deliberately used to create a sticker mud paste and that would not wash off as easily, Vitale said.

"It's much more fun to see someone covered from head to toe in this orange disgusting mud," she said.

Vitale said she worked more than 80 hours last week to keep the pit sanitized and safe.

On top of running the four events between the 22 floors - ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, mud tug and mud polo - the Tolbert Area Council Executive Board's 11 members were responsible for watching and guarding the pit in all-night shifts.

Members tracked and maintained each floor's spirit points, which added to the overall team scores. In addition, they maintained the pit by adding small amounts of bleach and removing rocks for safety reasons.

"It's a lot of stress, but when people come up and they say they are going to return to the area to live next year, that makes it definitely worth it," Vitale said.

Stephen-James Hosin, a Weaver resident, said although he felt weird about the mud at first, he eventually embraced it.

"Once you get over the weird factor, it feels kind of nice," he said. "A lot of people say it's good for your skin. It's exfoliating."

Adam Defrin, a junior history major, said he thought that even though mud looks gross, there's an upside.

"Only one word can describe mud all over hot chicks: heaven," Defrin said.

Editors Note: The finals took place Oct. 23, 2005 on UF campus. This story was published the following day in the Alligator.

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