Colton cafeteria serves up the food and the scares
Christian Nuñez shares his love for Halloween with Colton High students on the “Scary Meal Service Line”
Cafeteria worker Christian Nuñez has been sharing his love for Halloween with the students of Colton for the last 15 years on the “Scary Meal Service Line.”
Colton, CA—Christian Nuñez loves horror movies.
For the last 15 years, Christian has been serving up nutritious food and a lot of screams with the “Scary Meal Service Line.” Each year, the Colton High lunch line service area is decorated with an array of terrifying animatronics and scary decorations in celebration of Halloween.
“Fifteen years ago I used to have another boss, Paula Collins, and we started talking,” Christian explained. “‘Why don’t we start decorating to give the kids something to see,’ because not a lot of the kids are able to see these Halloween things.”
Without a district budget to work with, Christian invested his own money into creating this lunchtime labyrinth of terrors. “I started buying animatronics. As time went by, buying one every year or two, it just grew!”
The exhibit is a labor of love for the Halloween enthusiast, who enjoys the student reaction to all the creepy decor. “You get a response. They film it, they take pictures, and it’s just something . . . different.”
“Different” doesn’t even begin to describe the exhibition. It is an elaborate collection of horror decorations, from basic cobwebs all the way to a giant inflatable sandworm from “Beetlejuice.”
And of course, as kids check out with their food, they are bid fond farewell by none other than Freddy Krueger, the knife-fingered dream assassin from the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise.
“I really love the first one,” Christian shared. “It was always my favorite.”
This exhibit just ended its 15-year run at the CHS cafeteria. “This year was significant,” said Eric Enciso, director of Nutrition Services, “since the CHS team will be working in their new MPR by next Halloween, and this will be the last year the decorations in the serving line reach these levels.”
With the new facilities opening soon, new possibilities—and terrors—await the students of Colton High.
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