 Students and community members gathered in Pikeville City Park as the U-Pike Kentucky College of Optometry hosted their annual Pumpkin in the Park event. So this is our annual event it's called Pumpkins in the Park so it's kind of a I guess like a double double diff and kind of thing we like to interact with the community and so we have base painting and pumpkin painting we have a bake sale we actually have a grill this time so that's new so hot dogs and something to drink we just like to have a Cornhole tournament as well and I think it's just a way to give back to the community and then we raise money as well because we go to a national conference the American Academy of Optometry so we just call it Academy it's kind of early go for it and it's just a great conference every year everybody comes together from the field and we learn new techniques we learn about new technology best ways to help our patients and it's just a great way to you know stay in the loop about what's happening so you give the best patient care. This event was beneficial to students by providing a much needed break from their studies and all the proceeds went to the Kyco's chapter of the American Academy of Optometry. I would say being a student you know especially a professional student we're not allowed to work so we rely heavily on grants and loans and we just focus on our studies and so so many hours a day we're studying and we're practicing in clinic but it's like this we get to interact with the community and actually see the patients that we're going to be helping in the future and then I also think that you know just interacting with people in general and I guess just building building that rapport and building those those communication skills you know forcing you to get out of your shell a little bit. I would just say like any event like this just come out and support the community just because you know when you come out to events like this events like this keep happening and then also you benefit so many different organizations I think last weekend there was March of Dimes you know and so many fundraisers especially they'll benefit future education or children just great causes I think you should get out and support your community. If you haven't got an exam this year you should get out and get your annual exam. Dialation is important especially if you're diabetic so I'm a big advocate for annual exams.