Saratoga Springs
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1 MINUTE 12 SECONDS!!!!
Contents
Location
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs,NY Arguably one of the most vibrant and dynamic small cities in the USA. It has a real healthy upscale downtown and is a world class summer destination. It is also not only the place where Don McLean wrote American Pie, but the place where he first performed it (in Cafe Lena, just a block from where the students take their weekly town trip).
Town Trip Locations
At Saratoga, there are trips into town both Sunday afternoons. There are usually 6-8 routes, each containing 1-3 locations.
Ben & Jerry's
Most sought after location among Nevermores/people who have been to Saratoga before, primarily because of the Vermonsters. Nevermores go for the buckets, and most other people go to help them/hang out with a generally more tradition-heavy crowd.
Coldstone Creamery
In Saratoga Springs downtown, there is also a Coldstone Creamery in addition to Ben & Jerry's. Usually, both ice cream stores are not in one route, and one may have a route such as shopping, and then Coldstone Creamery.
Borders
Borders is a bookstore. Many don't buy books, and just hang out in the cafe portion. It is suggested to make sure Borders is the first location on a route containing Ben & Jerry's, because people tend to be covered in chocolate and prone to vomiting after that ordeal.
The Park
The park is right across from Ben and Jerry's. It is convenient to have this be a last stop on a Vermonster route, because it allows many activities conducive to finishing/recovering from a Vermonster, such as sitting on a bench to finish off the bucket amid staring strangers, or lying in the shade to control post-Vermonster nausea. It also is a good place to hang out and/or throw a disc around. There is also a popular carousel in the middle of the park. Brave CTYers surviving the rough ride earn a sticker claiming "I rode the Congress Park Carousel," which is often displayed on the cardholder portion of the lanyard. (I still have mine somewhere, and can confirm that they are in fact awesome). Nevermore grass orgies are also a feature.
Laser Tag
Laser tag is usually greeted with huge enthusiasm amongst CTYers who are at Skidmore for their first year, or don't follow traditions closely. However, many more veteran CTYers choose to save their money for Vermonsters, love tape, and other CVS staples.
CVS
CVS allows CTYers to stock up/restock items that they may find beneficial, such as sharpies for signing things, drinks, condoms (generally as gifts), make up for dances, snacks etc.
All Day Shopping
All day shopping involves spending the entire town trip shopping. At CTY.SAR.09.1, however, an incident involving a broken and very expensive guitar along with improper behavior on an all day shopping trip resulted in the removal of this option for the second town trip. It was replaced by a more specified route involving popular stores such as GAP and Last Vestige.
The Dorms
The girls' dorms, Howe-Rounds, are air conditioned, but the guys' dorms, Wilmarth, are not. Wilmarth, where most guys sleep, can overheat tremendously in hot weather. Bring a fan. For Howe-Rounds, bring a heavy wool blanket, as the thermostats are broken if they are installed at all, and it can get cold.
Each year, one floor of Rounds houses boys, while the other floors and all of Howe house girls. Each room is built for either one or two people. Many people complain that the mattresses feel like rocks and squeak too much.
The dorms are also extremely nice, with Howe-Rounds featuring window seats (Wilmarth has window seats as well, but not having been in a Howe-Rounds room, I can't say whether they're the same or not, although from the outside it looks like it) and suite-style dorms, with a shared bathroom (1 for every 3 rooms). Wilmarth has 1 bathroom for every 6 people.
Due to renovations of Wilmarth in 2008, the boys were relocated to McClellan. This was not much improvement, as McClellan did not have air conditioning either. They did, however, have rooms that could be unlocked with the swipe of a card instead of a key. As of 2009, Wilmarth has card-key entry identical to the systems in McClellan. This card-key system was not always as helpful as it sounds, as some people took their cards off their lanyards and forgot them in their rooms, locking themselves out.
The Food
Students eat in Murray Dining Hall.
Pizza, pasta and salad are served every day along with many other food items, ranging from chicken parmesan to Chinese food, which are different at each meal. Cereal, pancakes, waffles, and sometimes French toast are served for breakfast. Coffee, flavored or unflavored water, milk, soymilk, powerade and many types of soda are available at every meal. The desserts, including chocolate cake and lemon mousse, change day to day, but ice cream is always available (although the machine sometimes runs out or breaks). Specially made Kosher and Vegetarian meals are also available.
In 2006, the dining hall was undergoing major renovation. Students ate in Case Center, where students register on the first day. The waffle iron and soft-serve machine were chronically broken.
In 2007, the dining hall renovations were finally complete. Aikens was beautified, and there is now cheese on the ceiling.(Not literally) There are separate little booths, tables, a much coveted round table behind Emily's Garden,etc. The new plate cleaning system makes use of Tim Perry's so-called Alice in Wonderland holes which are about as non-Alice-in-Wonderland-esque as you can get. The quality of food had improved enormously, but the slight decrease in space caused the staff to set up a staggered breakfast system, where halls took turns having breakfast in certain time slots. This system was abolished in 2008, and now students can eat breakfast whenever they want. In 08.2, there was a staggered lunch system, where eating times were organized through classes; one or two classes would be in the cafeteria at the same time. The staggered lunches were organized in 30 minute periods. A staggered lunch system was used at 09.1 as well, with each class having an hour for lunch, but classes arriving and leaving at 15 minute intervals so that it was only full for a short period of time.
The food at Skidmore's dining hall is delicious and there is a huge variety of food. Although if you are strictly kosher, the food is terrible.
Traditions
- Nevermore Steals - plates or trays (new dining hall doesn't use trays, although it still has them. (Nate got a tray 09.1, years after the trays were put out of use) but most nevermores take the white plates instead, which leads to an acute shortage of white plates.)
- Mandatory Fun
- "In the case of (insert random event), how long does it take to get to the top of Jonsson Tower?" "1 MINUTE 12 SECONDS!!!!"
- Laser Tag
- Nevermore Shirts (bring different types of sharpies; 2009's were black)
- The Last Supper (Breakfast when something goes wrong)
- Water Day
- Casino Night/Lipsync "Contest"
- Talent Show
- Carnival
- Random Acts of Senseless Kindness (RASK)
- Lanyard Swinging
- Duct Tape
- CTYI!
- Monty Python
- The Princess Bride
- Ultimate Frisbee
- Sunrise
- Passionfruit
- Illegal Sleepovers (ISOs)
- Love Tape
- Varsity Catch (you're the worst!!)
- Dark Side of Oz
- Jon Good loves you
- Marriage Booth
- Rinas and Rinos
- "I like you, I love you, I CTY you"
- "Good night, go home, nobody loves you except Jon Good!" (shouted by nevermores/nomores on the stage [or elevated area] during the last meat market when it's time to go in)
- Free Lee-Kai!
- Stummy Lays (grass orgies, pregnancy circles)
- Quad Time (sometimes referred to as Meet or Meat Market)
- Glowsticking
- Fu-- that Lancaster Sh-- in response to "Orgy" in American Pie (Skidmore is tolerant of "orgy" shouts.)
- Nevermore Pages
- Vermonsters from Ben & Jerry's
- Clapping when someone breaks or drops a plate in the dining hall
Session 1 only
- Dib Dib Dib
- Napkin Eating Contests (no we don't actually eat the napkins)
- Snap your fingers while walking across the quad and say to everyone you pass "There's gonna be a rumble tonight"
- CTY-shaped grass orgy
- Aj's Hat (The gray striped one, who has a page on Facebook here )
Session 2 only
- DIPSHIT!
- Fruit
- Star Tripping
- Butt Wrestling during Passionfruit
- The Chillin Tree
- Louis Game
- Clap Lines (session 2 - started in '08)on the walkways on the quad
The Days
- Second Monday – Naughty Catholic School Girl Day
- Second Tuesday – Love Tape Day
- Second Wednesday – Crossdressing Day/Gender Bender Day/Drag Day
- Second Thursday – Superhero Day, second session only(?)
- Third Monday (or Second Friday) – Pajama Day
- July 1st (session 1)/August 1st (session 2) – Slap Your Own Ass Day (Appreciate Your Own Donkey Day)
- July 2nd (session 1)/August 2nd (session 2) – Slap Someone Else's Ass Day (Appreciate Someone Else's Donkey Day)
- Last Thursday – End of the World Day/Towel Day (Based on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
New additions (session 1 only) to "The Days" are:
- Clash Day – Third Wednesday (Replaced Goth/Emo/Rina Day)
- Rina Day – Third Tuesday as of 09.1
Squirrels
NOTE: This section, refers to small, furry animals of doom, not squirrels.
The squirrels at Saratoga Springs tend to hang out on the Case patio, where they can often be seen dragging their twisted, wretched little bodies across the ground with their legs splayed out in a disturbing parody of an army crawl. They have been known to bite people going into the Green Mountain Coffee Shop. Yup, the squirrels. They're rabid and violent. They don't walk. They lie on their furry little stomachs and DRAG themselves around. They're known to lunge at visitors and steals and then EAT their cigs. They also jump out of trash cans at people. Don't feed, look at, attempt to chase them, or talk to them.
In 2008, a few of the squirrels had some disease involving missing fur and being even more psychotic than the normal squirrels. In 2009, there were practically no squirrels. They might have all died out.
