For all of the procrastinators out there who didn’t get their special someone a gift ahead of time, SUNY Cortland’s Student Activities Board hosted a DIY bouquet and cookie decorating event for students on Valentine’s Day afternoon.
SAB Valentine’s Day Event
63 students attended this event in the Corey Union Exhibition Lounge, where they had the opportunity to create their own flower bouquets and arrange them in mason jars. Students also participated in a step-by-step tutorial led by drag queen, Plenty O’Cookies, on frosting Valentine’s Day-themed sugar cookies. The event offered a fun and inclusive way for all students, no matter their relationship status, to engage with the holiday.
Friday’s event was put on by Summer Roberts, SAB’s programming chair, and promoted through SAB’s Instagram page.
“Celebrate Valentine’s Day with SAB!” said the SAB Instagram post. “Create your own bouquet of flowers, to either keep for yourself or give to that special someone. You’ll also be decorating your own gourmet cookies!!”
Shannon O’Sullivan, a junior psychology major with a minor in forensic psychology, is the hospitality chair of SUNY Cortland’s SAB.
“We thought it would be a really cute idea,” said O’Sullivan. “A bouquet of flowers could be a nice gift to give and that’s why we did it in the middle of the day. If you didn’t have a gift for your partner yet, you could have frosted cookies and made a bouquet to give them.”
Faith Stone, a senior adolescent English education major, attended SAB’s Valentine’s Day event. Stone expressed her excitement about giving the flowers to her boyfriend later that day.
“Typically, I attend SAB events with my boyfriend, Kevin, because it is a fun way to stay on campus and do something outside of the dorms,” said Stone. “Kevin could not attend today so I am very excited to be able to give him the bouquet I made here for Valentine’s Day.”
SAB events are open to all SUNY Cortland students, whether they live on or off campus, as SAB is funded by the activity fee included in students’ tuition, O’Sullivan said.
Every SAB event is completely free for all students, except for the Spring Fling concert, which is the big event of the year.
This year’s Spring Fling concert will be taking place on Saturday, May 3. Students can look forward to finding out which big-name artist will be taking the stage this year in the near future.
Plenty O’Cookies
While at the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities (APCA) regional conference this year, SAB booked Plenty O’Cookies for the cookie decorating part of this event.
Plenty O’Cookies, also known as Plenty O’Smiles, is from Columbus, Ohio. O’Cookies shipped the homemade sugar cookies and icing kits and travelled to SUNY Cortland for this event.
O’Cookies is currently on a week-long, multi-state tour of cookie decorating gigs around the northeast.
“I had been teaching small [cookie decorating] workshops in Columbus at people’s homes,” said O’Cookies. “Then my friend introduced me to an agent who got me involved in workshops on college campuses.”
O’Cookies has had her cookie business for almost 13 years and was recently voted number six in “The Top 10 Columbus Desserts of 2024” article written by the Columbus Underground organization.
O’Cookies can be found on Instagram and Facebook @plentyocookies as well as on the website: https://www.plentyocookies.com/.
Future SAB Events
A list of upcoming SAB events is provided below. All listed events will take place on the first-floor lounge in Corey Union:
- Playlist bingo on Feb. 24
- Karaoke on March 4 (first Tuesday of every month)
- DIY craft night on March 12
- Karaoke on April 1 (first Tuesday of every month)
- Survey game show on April 7
- ‘Make Your Own Cosmetic Bags’ on April 9
- TBD event for national jellybean day on April 22
- Spring Fling week of events from April 28 to May 3
Connect with SUNY Cortland’s SAB on both Instagram and Tiktok @cortlandsab to stay updated on upcoming events.