SATURDAY

• Arts and Craft Booths open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Quilt Show 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• 5K run at the Golf Course 8 a.m.
• Kiddie Parade 10:45 a.m.
• Parade – 11 a.m.

SUNDAY

• Arts and Craft Booths open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Quilt Show 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

ALSO

Train rides at the historic Santa Fe Depot on West High Street

Carnival and Kids’ Zone

More than 20 food booths

Free Country music both days.

The Black Jack cabin, located in the roadside park at 2011 N 200th Road (E Hwy 56) will be open both days from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Students – brace yourselves. Nearly 40,000 visitors will soon descend upon Baldwin City for the annual Maple Leaf Festival.

“For students it may feel a bit overwhelming,” Dean of Students Cassy Bailey said. “For them, what feels like their home becomes overrun.”

This year’s festival will be held Oct. 17-18 in accordance with the third weekend of October tradition. More than 350 booths will be sprawled out along Eighth and High streets ready to sell food, arts and crafts.

With the university located in the middle of town, students who stay on campus for the weekend will definitely be affected.

“Baker is right in the center of things during the festival, and it’s just awesome,” Bailey said.

Several booths sponsored by Baker organizations will be interwoven within the mix of various vendors. These include the women’s basketball team selling hot dogs, Kappa Sigma fraternity selling turkey legs, Mungano selling candy, Zeta Chi selling fried pickles and candy bars and the baseball team selling homemade cherry limeades.

“The limeades are so good,” Donna Curran, a Maple Leaf committee member, said.

The Baker alumni organization, admissions office, bookstore and Veterans Affairs will also have booths specifically located in front of the alumni center ready to hand out small giveaways and Baker swag.

“Go support everybody,” Coordinator of Student Affairs-Residence Life Kelly Burns said. “There are so many student groups that have booths, so go and see all there is to see and support the other students who are doing their booths.”

Students should be prepared for parking congestion around campus. Some Baker parking lots will be shut down for the weekend, but some will remain open for visitors.

“Students should find a parking spot that weekend and stay put,” Bailey said.<br/>

Baker’s fall break and the festival often fall on the same October weekend, but this year they are on different weekends.

The festivities begin with a parade on Saturday morning that usually includes Baker-related floats and the university’s president.

Visitors will also be walking around and enjoying the college’s beautiful campus, Director of Campus Safety Roger Hamilton said. For heightened security, the majority of buildings on campus will be closed to avoid people wandering through.

Extra people on campus also mean additional safety and security concerns. Students are reminded to stay vigilant about locking their cars and closing residential building doors.

“We want to have the buildings safe for our students,” Burns said. “Residential hall bathrooms are not open to the public.”

Students are encouraged to call campus security with any concerns.

“Students can call us 24-hours a day if they feel uneasy and we will escort them back to their dorms,” Hamilton said. “It’s nothing to call us. We will be happy to help.”

The festival was inspired by Ivan Boyd, who was a professor of biology at Baker. The third weekend in October was, in his opinion, the perfect time to see the changing colors of maple leaves and celebrate fall harvest.