The Claremont Village hosted the event “Welcome to Claremont” on Thursday, Sept. 30.

Attracting mostly freshman, the village “Open House” celebration was a two-hour event, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at which free food and other prizes were given out to students of the 5Cs by a number of participating shops and restaurants.

Produced and co-sponsored by the Claremont Chamber of Commerce and the Village Marketing Group, the evening was intended to make students more aware of the vast array of stores in the village.

As soon as guests walked into the village, they were greeted by townspeople in front of City Hall and given a map and a bag filled with advertisements and promotions for many of the nearby stores.

Pizza ‘n Such, located on the corner of Second and Yale, was one of the shops offering a special—a $1.00 pizza that was delicious, as evidenced by the line that extended around the corner.

Just across the street, the Claremont Pharmacy was giving out “Be Healthy” bags filled with a random assortment of drug store products like toothpaste and lip balm—strange, but useful nonetheless.

Walking Southward along Yale, Some Crust Bakery indulged students by giving out free cookies.

Other highlights of the event were the free samples given out by King Wrap—baklava and a vegetable wrap—and Bert & Rocky’s Cream Co—free ice cream samples.

Jessie Welcomer PO ‘14 said she found it helpful to “try out” the different restaurants.

“As a freshman I had no idea that the village had so many different places to eat,” she said. “The Village open house was a really great way to sample the different restaurants and figure out which ones I wanted to go back to. King Wrap was certainly a favorite.”

The event was also notable for revealing the large number of salons competing in the Village. For many, the various salons’ samples and promotions were the highlight of the night, as they included everything from free hair and skin products to make-up to free waxing. For instance, the Aromatique salon gave out a free trial of Dermalogica’s CleanStart skincare products, and Bath Junkie invited event attendees to make their own lotion.

At the end of the night, village-goers returned home with a stacks of coupons, boxes of cookies, tons of lotions and hair products, candy, jewelery, bath products, and many more random items (plus, of course, a full stomach). The evening was certainly a success as, since most of the attendees from the 5Cs were freshmen, they all learned a little more about the village’s offerings.