On campus the trees are slowly and subtly changing from healthy green to the autumnal gold that glows warmly in the soft sunlight.

A falling leaf is a sure sign that September is coming to an end, marking the beginning of a season that is aptly named. When fall is ready to dazzle onlookers with a myriad of painted trees, October Lovers know that their time has come.

“Everyone loves it,” said Jessie Pipal, October Lovers’ president and senior in AHS. “We have activities that everyone used to do while growing up, that they don’t have the chance to do anymore.”

October Lovers, a registered student organization, is dedicated to providing members with fall experiences everyone can enjoy, Pipal said.

The group was founded at the University five years ago by three students who wanted to create a “fun organization that celebrated October.”

Kelsey Maas, freshman in LAS, said she loves the month.

“There’s just so many cool things in October to do,” Maas said.

Val Kaskovich, freshman in LAS, saw the October Lovers booth at Quad Day this year. When Kaskovich went to the first event at the Illini Grove, October Lovers gave her a chance to make s’mores, a fall treat. She was hooked.

“I’m trying to figure out what I want to do, but I am definitely interested in having a bigger role in the organization,” Kaskovich said.

The event that evening brought around 500 fall addicts, Pipal said. She added that when the club was founded there were only 20 members, but today the mass-email member list exceeds 2,800.

“When you have a group this big, there’s a lot of new ideas that are coming in to the club,” Pipal said. “So we’re trying to expand on what we have going on.”

She said she hopes to eventually work closely with a charity and help “those in need”. The club does not have any fee to join, and relies solely on T-shirt sales to fund its activities. This fall, the club earned over $3,800 in sales at its first event.

With the money they made in profits, Pipal said she would like to donate the earnings to charity and hopefully raise more in the future.

Eric Modes, sophomore in LAS and a board member of October Lovers, agreed with Pipal.

“If we’re making money, it shouldn’t just go to the club, but people who really need it” said Modes. “I’m all for charities.”

Aside from all the good intentions of charitable donations, Modes and Pipal love October and want to share its joys with as many people as they can. Some October Lover activities they enjoy include visiting a corn maze, a pumpkin patch, a haunted house and going cold-weather camping at the end of October.