Editors’ Note: Coming from Northern California and Reno, Nevada, New Frontier USY always announces themselves by screaming “HELLA NEW FROOOOO!!!” These Golden State Warriors are incredibly enthusiastic about their closing circle. Avi Shapiro describes it today in our latest Regional Spotlight.
“Whenever I say ‘Warm Fuzzy,’ say ‘Awweeeee’ and whenever I say ‘Cold Prickly,’ say ‘Booooo.’” This line is both looked forward to and dreaded at every New Frontier convention, for it means that convention is almost over. The closing circle is one of the most memorable times during a regional convention and is filled with joy. There are many traditions involved in the closing circle that may exist across USY, but only in New Frontier are there the craziest, most memorable traditions.
The circle starts off with O’grams, an important tradition across USY. On the last day of the convention, USYers can donate money to SA/TO and receive O’grams. With the O’grams, they can write notes to other USYers to thank them for the awesome convention or how much they can’t wait to see each other.
After the O’grams, the closing circle in New Frontier starts to get a little crazy. Slowly, someone on Regional Board will start chanting “We want the goat! We want the goat!” and as everyone starts chanting, two people, the goats, step in. The goat tradition has been passed on from USYer to USYer for years, and involves the two “goats” singing El Hamayan repeatedly while running around the inside of the circle. Every time they finish the verse, they increase a level, and every time they increase a level, they get louder and louder and eventually get on each other’s backs and by the time they finish at level six, there is a goat on the other goat’s shoulders.
But the goat isn’t even the most memorable part of the closing circle. The most memorable part is thewarm fuzzies. This position of Warm Fuzzy Protector is highly respected in New Frontier, and may even be added as a Regional General Board position in the near future of New Frontier USY. The Warm Fuzzy Protector (this year, Tammy Amir holds this position) keeps the Warm Fuzzy Queen all year-round. She goes on to tell the story of the Warm Fuzzies, and always receives loud “Aweeeee”s and “Boooooo”s when talking about the Warm Fuzzies and the Cold Prickly. At the end of the story, everyone is given a small Warm Fuzzy, and invited to trade with others as a way to say “Until next time!” And as the convention draws to a close, everyone takes their Warm Fuzzies home and keeps them as a reminder of USY and the friends they can’t wait to see soon.
Avi Shapiro is a senior from New Frontier USY. He is a proud member of Mosaic Law’s Sacramento USY (SUSY) in Sacramento, California. He is currently serving as Regional Communications Vice President for the 2019-2020 programming year.
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