On Friday March 25, 2022 at 5 p.m. the Associated Students California Lutheran University Government (ASCLUG) Programs Board hosted Country Night in Kingsmen park. Programs Board partnered with the Line Dancing club to bring this event to campus, which included DJ Mike from Borderline Bar and Grill as well as a line dance teacher Kristal Lynn.  

The event provided students with a range of activities from being able to ride a mechanical bull, to capturing memories with friends in the photo booth, or grabbing some food and shaved ice. All Cal Lutheran students in attendance were provided with free food which included the Original Herbivore, a vegan food truck, the Rock and Roll cafe with burgers and chips, It’s In the Sauce barbecue food truck, and Tikiz shaved ice and ice cream truck. 

Country Night was the first time ASCLU senior representative Madison Karcich and ASCLU freshmen representative Sara Topliff would be given the title of co-lead. The two were in charge of planning, organizing, and running the event. 

“It’s definitely a bit challenging at sometimes to find the right vendor for our events, we have a lot of different options and who to pick and how to get the ball rolling and everything so just picking and choosing. But you collaborate with your peers so it’s easy to overcome those challenges through their help and support,” Topliff said.

Karcich said student interests in country culture is what sparked the idea for the event.

“It started with we wanted a mechanical bull on campus, and it went from there. I know a lot of students on campus like Canyon Club country night and theres a lot of history there with that, so we just wanted to bring that culture to campus,” Karcich said.

The Canyon Club, located in Agoura Hills, hosts country nights every Wednesday at 7 p.m. which features music and dancing. The Cal Lutheran line dancing club, which partnered with Programs Board for this event, frequently goes for line dancing on Wednesday nights at Canyon Club. 

“It was really fun, I worked with Madison and Nikki [Howell] the most. They had me come down to one of the meetings and got my input from a club perspective what we would like to see here. They were really inclusive, really excited, and fun to work with,” said Hannah Zega, co-president for the Line Dancing club.

The Line Dancing club meets at 7 p.m. on Tuesday nights outside of the Student Union. 

“Anyone that wants to try line dancing should. Nobody really comes into it with ‘oh yeah I’ve been wanting to line dance for forever’ it’s mostly people who just try it out and realize the community is really cool and very friendly, so don’t be scared to try it,” said Breanna Basmajian, co-president for the Line Dancing club. 

A dance floor was provided at the event so students could participate in learning how to Line Dance with instructor Krista Lynn. Not all the songs played were country songs either, with Lynn teaching one dance to Ed Sheeran’s song “Shivers.” 

Many students wore purple and yellow bandanas that were provided, and prizes were raffled off including gift cards, shirts, and a grand prize of a pair of Apple airpods. 

Students had the option at the photo booth to take photos with a polaroid camera to add to the country theme. Graduate student Sarah Hernandez said she enjoyed riding the mechanical bull.  

“It took me three tries to get on it because I am a little bit fun sized, so it was an adventure,” Hernandez said.

This event lasted until 8 p.m. ASCLUG’s Programs Board next event is Finding Neverland Spring Formal on Friday, April 8 at the Camarillo Ranch House.