For a number of years, the St. Croix Falls/Taylors Falls Rotary Club has hosted the Rotary Youth Exchange students from District 5960 in St. Croix Falls for a weekend of Halloween fun.
The event starts at Interstate Park, on the southern border fo St. Croix Falls. There the kids have hike through the beautiful northwestern Wisconsin woods, and end up in a grassy glade where lunch awaits. After lunch, the students try their hand a carving Halloween pumpkins, a craft that many have never before experienced. The pumpkins then are transported to a local restaurant for judging that evening at the Halloween Party.
In the evening, dinner is served at Our Place Cafe, and then the students go back to their rooms at the local Holiday Inn Express across the parking lot. There, they change into their Halloween costumes for the traditional Rotary Halloween Dance Party at Our Place Cafe. The Cafe is closed for the evening for this great private event. At there party there is food, loud music and a photo booth for all who attend. After the party, it is back across the parking lot to the Holiday Inn Express for a short night (for some) of sleep. On Sunday morning they all head back to their home towns across the wide geographic span of District 5960. This encompasses northwestern Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota.
The Halloween Party weekend gives all of the Rotary Exchange Students the opportunity to get to know people form other countries and make new friends. It has always been a very popular event for the exchange students.