at the Johnson

Great Gatsby Night

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby himself scoffs: “Can’t re-peat the past, of course you can!” Indeed the Johnson Museum Club did just that at their “Gatsby” themed soiree. From the A Cappella concert and the ballroom dance showcase to the ‘speak easy’ reminiscent attire and Mocktails, the night truly resembled something out of Fitzgerald’s vibrant mind. With around 700 people in attendance during the night, the competition for best period costume of the night was stiff. Who knew that college age students would love playing dress up so much? Obviously my own costume, a makeshift flapper dress constructed from a long, sparkly, square collared tank top and short skirt, paired with a long silver bolo- tie- esq necklace, left all the competition in the dust. Of course to be fair, other than my own superb outfit, there were some extremely classy and creative costumes from both guys and girls that night. From tuxedo clad men to plumed feather topped women to sparkly head band aficionados, almost everyone in attendance dressed up to some extent. Besides the festive atmosphere, two of the best parts of the Gatsby night were the refreshing Mocktails hand mixed by the lovely Beverage Club and scrumptious bruschet-ta and cheese laden food spread. If you ever thought about going to one of the Museum Club’s student night and decided not to, the free high- brow hors d’eouvres, should be reason enough to go their next event. In full disclosure, I am a part of the Museum Club and I did help organize the event, but even with the all stresses of making sure the food trays were full (making sure, of course, to taste–test all of the food to “ensure its qual-ity”), finding more ice for the beverages, and counting every single person who walked through the front doors, the club members and I gleefully manned the night. The biggest complaint I had about the night was the fact that it turned out to be an incredibly popular event- I thought I would hipster by going to Gatsby Night! The best comment I heard about the night, you ask? Hearing about all the boys’ girls brought as dates enthusiastically and playfully stamping away art deco themed images in the crafts room. And they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Wrong I say! It’s by reliving childhood activities at awesome 20’s themed Museum Galas. As a Museum lover, a book lover, and English major, my night at the museum certainly was ‘Roaring’ fun. The words of my friend Moniek’s genius facebook status: “Finally went to one of Jay Gatsby’s parties. English major goal=achieved.”

A ‘Roaring’ Night at the Museum Casey Ebner