First, if you still didn’t do so, you should read about the more day-to-day traditions of the BMAC community. Most of the events in BMac can be considered ancient by the fact that they are based on the fact that girls cooked the cookies for the boys. Even if the event is called Milk and Cookies, there is another saying that Ballard lady’s drink, as any respectable lady’s, some tea. So, one of the recurrent small song is about “Mac’s gonna pour our tea”. Mac actually poor tea to the ladies to thank them for the cookies and also just for their presence.

So, the first traditional event, is simply called “Ballard tea”, and it’s a show that the Mac men set up for the Ballard lady’s somewhere along October. It’s a really fancy event, girls dress up in their most chic dresses and guys put on their most formal suits. Then the boys escort the girls to the chapel next door where they seated it up in a great ball room with some table to enjoy the show.

All the ladies are seated around the tables while the guys present them with all types of cookies and some nice teas. Then the boys start the show, all the Mac men that wanted to perform do it. It can be some group songs that someone write nice lyrics, some men also play some instruments alone or accompanied by one singer (themselves or a friend). Then some other men also do some humoristic performance. At the end of all that amazing show, we remove all the tables and start learning how to waltz. Then, we actually do one Waltz as in the old time and then the party convert to a typical modern dance party.

This event was super fun and so we keep on doing some similar events.

First, in November, there’s something really close to this Ballard tea, it’s called “MGPOT”, literally Mac’s Gonna Pour Our Tea, this is the same concept as before, a show created by the guys to thanks the girls, the only thing is that it is way less formal, it happens in the Ballard lounge and no one is dressed fancy but it’s still really fun and it is a good way to see all the talented people we live with.

Last, later, in January, the tradition asks that the cooking role switch and so during the whole Jan-term, guys are cooking the cookies for the ladies. Hence, the Ballardian needs to thank the Mac men in return, so there’s a BGPOT where Ballard put up a show for Mac in the same way.

Even if all this looks, in theory, old and seems as it could be updated, it’s all made with fun and it’s a really nice tradition to keep and as everything, it’s all opt-In so if you want to do it, that’s wonderful but if you don’t then just don’t and you’re still part of the community and everything, you just miss one nice experience.