Halloween is arriving early this year as Ag Week 2000 holds a traditional costume dance tonight at Hunky Dory’s Night Club, 300 S. 17th St.

The costume dance is the first big event for Ag Week, which is sponsored by various agricultural clubs on campus.

The dance begins at 8 p.m. and costs $3. All participants will be judged on their costumes, and the top two winners will win gift certificates to Hickory Park Restaurant, 1404 S. Duff Ave.

“This year we are trying it at Hunky’s [instead of the Zone] because students want to have more parking space,” said Halloween Dance Co-Chair Danielle Brimeyer, junior in dairy science. “People also had to wait outside to get into the Zone and Hunky’s is bigger so it can accommodate more people.”

Another event is the annual career fair sponsored by the College of Agriculture. The fair will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

The ISU agricultural clubs vie for points during Ag Week to help increase participation in the events. “Clubs get to compete for points which are based on the number of activities the club participates in and the number of people who show up from each club,” said Laurie Hueneke, Ag Week co-chair. “The winner gets the club name on a plaque and bragging rights for that year.”

New Ag Week events include the “Kick Off to Ag Week” at 11:50 a.m. today in Curtiss Hall.

“The kick off is like a pep rally for Ag Week,” said Hueneke, senior in animal science. “We’re raffling off gift certificates for airfare. It also gives people a chance to come and find out what is happening during Ag Week and pick up a schedule of events.”

The Agronomy and Farm Bureau Clubs will sponsor a free barbecue Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the lawn of Davidson Hall. During the barbecue, the rodeo club will sponsor a ground roping contest.

“We’re trying to increase participation in Ag Week this year by doing the point system and by getting the word out that it will be a lot of fun,” Hueneke said. “It gives College of Ag students the chance to get to know each other better and compete with each other.”

Teams wanting to participate in Tuesday’s volleyball tournament may register by contacting the Ag Council representative. Registration is due by 5 p.m. Monday.