Cal Poly Open House: Good for Prospective Students, Local Businesses - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

Cal Poly Open House: Good for Prospective Students, Local Businesses

4/15/10

CAL POLY -- Unfamiliar faces are roaming the streets of San Luis Obispo.

Thursday marked the kick-off of Cal Poly's Open House weekend.

From future Mustangs and their families to Cal Poly alumni, as many as 40,000 people will be visiting, this weekend.

Hundreds of people took campus tours, Thursday.

Open House is a chance for the more than 11,000 admitted students to explore the university.

In addition to long-standing traditions, event organizers are trying out some new things, this year.

For example, they've made it a priority to reduce waste.

"One of the main things that we are doing is trying to eliminate food waste at our event," said Matthew Justus, Open House Committee Co-Chair. "At our Campus Showcase Saturday, you'll see in each of our four booth zones, you'll see green balloons on one booth and that will be our composting booth."

Open House is giving hotels and motels a boost.

In fact, it will be tough for visitors without reservations to find rooms, since most establishments are fully booked or are nearly filled up.

The Apple Farm Inn is booked solid until Saturday.

"We've just come through Spring Break and had a really good Spring Break," said Kim Wykoff, Apple Farm Inn. "We were full for the better part of both weeks, so that's good, but then it quiets down a little and then Open House follows that up pretty closely -- It's a nice way to finish out the month."

On Saturday, the community is invited to check out the campus.

Events include the Poly Royale Parade and the Truck and Tractor Pull.