We once again find ourselves taking time to relax and recharge after our annual overnight event. On March 1-2, we hosted our third annual charity all-nighter titled “Tropic Fever” and raised $26,000 for three local charity recipients.

The celebrations began on the evening of Friday, March 1 as student participants filtered in from across the city, checking in and receiving a commemorative t-shirt with the Tropic Fever logo and charity recipients listed on the back. Participants were greeted with a brightly decorated hall, decked out in tropical hangings and even a small beach with real sand! After checking in, participants were treated to a high-energy opening ceremony to kick off the 25-hour event, featuring the Westfield High School Band, Master of Ceremonies Harry Rock (who, for the record, did a phenomenal job!), and the big surprise: Red Sox Mascot Wally! Wally joined in on the fun, including the band’s rendition of “Sweet Caroline” and lots of fun games, such as limbo and dancing with the student participants to the Cotton Eye Joe, Macarena, and more.

Once Wally headed out, the core of the event began with the introduction of Dominic Monti, Tropic Fever’s all-night all-day host. The festivities began with minute-to-win-it games, lots of karaoke, just dance, and of course, a spectacular countdown to midnight with large confetti cannons and a tasty midnight feast to celebrate. After refueling on Mac & Cheese and chicken nuggets, some low-energy activities took place to keep the participants going throughout the overnight hours. A two-hour karaoke session from 2-4 am kept many of the participants awake before crashing for a power nap in the early hours of the morning. Rejuvenated, the dance floor lit up again with fun and games, such as trying to feed partners blindfolded, balloon relays, and more!

After a few more hours of high-energy activities, the overnight participants went to get some more sleep as the daytime participants checked in and kept the energy up by rocking out some incredible dance moves - jamming to classics and new songs alike! Once the overnight participants woke up feeling much more rested, group games filled the next several hours, leading up to Bingo, which lasted much longer than anyone expected, taking almost an hour and a half of the morning, but resulting in lots of fun memories. Lunch was a big hit- tacos! They fueled the participants for the next event, the middle school hours!

Early Saturday afternoon, middle school students checked in and the games kept going. Ping pong, hula hoop toss, more limbo, jump roping competitions, pool noodle fighting, and so many shenanigans kept both the middle school students and high school students having a rockin’ good time, right before the conclusion of the event: the closing ceremony. A quick bite to eat for dinner, and then out on the floor one final time.

As the closing ceremony drew near, the energy in the room skyrocketed! Our 2024 charity recipients joined participants on the dance floor in group numbers (such as the Cupid Shuffle and YMCA) and our DJ taught the participants some older classics too, like the Wobble and Hokey Pokey, as event volunteers prepared the youth team for the closing ceremony festivities. At 7:00 pm, the ceremonies officially began with host Dominic Monti signing off, thanking the organization for all their hard work, and turning the mic over to the master of ceremonies Rich Tettemer (yes, we had a 22 News anchor there!). Rich began by introducing the organization, the youth team, and the steering committee, and then highlighting a video recap with photos from the past 25 hours of fun. A quick presentation to our founding director, Paul Federici, took place too. Then, the charity recipients introduced themselves and featured emotional testimonials that touched the hearts of everyone in the room, reminding us of how big of an impact we are making in the Western Massachusetts community. Finally, we concluded our event by presenting $26,000 to the three charity recipients and enjoyed a dessert bar prepared by the hardworking kitchen staff.

We’d be lying if we said the aftermath was cool, calm, and collected- in fact, it was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. But at the end of the day, the exhaustion turned into euphoria when we heard how impactful our work would be for our recipients, and how grateful they are for our support. We can’t thank our community, volunteers, and participants enough for their support of our organization. Now it’s time to really relax, recharge, and dream up bigger ideas for 2025!