This fall’s Monte Carlo will offer undergraduate students desserts, casino games, dancing, and more at The Vineyards in Simi Valley on Friday, Oct. 13.
“During the summer we visited and fell in love with [The Vineyards],” said Associated Students of California Lutheran University Senior Representative Victoria Lahney. “It’s such a beautiful venue. It’s so elegant, gorgeous, the string lights, the sheer curtains; it’s truly meant to be.”
This annual cocktail formal attire event will span from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. Lahney said that students will be able to play casino games such as Blackjack, Roulette, Texas Hold ‘Em, Craps and Big Wheel.
“As students, you’ll walk in and either go straight to the dance floor area or go to the casino table area and expect a lot of fun,” said ASCLU Programs Board Director Samantha Schindler. “There’s a lot of different areas to explore, so there’s something new in every room.”
The event is free and open to undergraduate students of Cal Lutheran. Students must bring their Cal Lutheran ID and may bring one guest. Guests must also bring a valid form of ID.
In addition, ASCLUG will offer 140 priority parking spots for $5 each on commerce.cashnet.com/CLULIF. These spaces are located on the property of The Vineyards, and students must present their receipts at the door.
Additional free parking is available five minutes away at St. Claver Church, and complimentary shuttles will bus students between the church’s parking lot and the venue.
“It’s just a little bit uphill, so we thought we would provide the convenience for girls in dresses and preparing for the event,” Lahney said.
ASCLUG has a $22,000 budget for the event, the same as the 2016 budget. And aside from the venue, casino games and photo booth, students at Monte Carlo will also be able to snack on chocolate covered strawberries along with other dessert treats.
This year, students can win raffle prizes with their “funny money” earned at the Casino games. This grants students a certain number of raffle tickets which they can then place into the lottery of the prize(s) they want.
“This year, we’re doing the raffle after the event is over, and people can pick everything up at the Homecoming Carnival instead of making it a huge rush at the end of the night,” Lahney said. “You don’t have to be present to win.”
Prizes include a Polaroid camera, an Amazon Firestick, a bluetooth shower speaker, a Razor scooter and a grand prize of a three-day, two-night trip to Las Vegas.
“I think all of [the prizes] are cool,” said ASCLU Freshmen Representative Thomas Singelyn, “[but] the scooter is cool just because nobody will want to buy it, but if they get it they’ll be like ‘I have a scooter now.’ And then obviously the grand prize that’s being donated through casino night is the three days and two nights in Vegas, so that’s going to be obviously a pretty sought after one.”
Programs Board members will also create a Snapchat geotag for the event which will be available on the Friday of Monte Carlo.
“Right now I’m working on the geofilter for the Snapchat for Monte Carlo,” Singelyn said. “I want it to be perfect, so I’m still kind of playing around with designs just trying to figure it out.”
Planning for Monte Carlo began in the spring and continued through the summer in order to ensure that the event would be finalized by Oct. 13.
“I’m just excited to see how people enjoy the event [and] what their reactions are,” Schindler said, “because [Victoria has] put so much effort into this.”
For any further questions contact Lahney at [email protected].
Rachael Balcom
Reporter