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<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; They billed it as &#8220;Things That Go Boom in the Night.&#8221; Well, nothing actually went &#8220;boom.&#8221; But there were things that went &#8220;gloop, gloop, gloop&#8221; and some things that glowed.</p><p>There was a blue bowl that served as a cauldron with its steamy dry ice fog. There were glowing fluorescent tubes.</p><p>And the hit of the night was the glowing, electrified pickle.</p><p>The annual event offered by the Dead Alchemists Society at Misericordia University Wednesday evening fascinated a crowd of nearly 100, ranging in age from grandparents to 3-year-olds with a lot of Halloween-related chemistry. It all looked like spells cast in a witch&#8217;s forest glade. But, thanks to a day-long rain, most of the fun went on in the lounge of the Banks Student Life Center.</p><p>The hands-on fun interested lots of the youngsters.</p><p>&#8220;I like the foam stuff that grows,&#8221; said Cameron Wiernusz, of Forty Fort, who needed a stern word from his mom to keep from tasting it.</p><p>His brother, Brett, at the ripe old age of 5, said he preferred the demonstration where cabbage juice changed color. Their mother, Tiffany, who works in the university&#8217;s career center, said she loves to bring the boys to the annual event for the fun.</p><p>The boys were a bit too little to really understand the mini chemistry lessons that went on at each of the tables. But for anyone who wanted to know more about what was going on, the Dead Alchemists Society members in their Halloween-orange and black t-shirts were only too glad to explain what was happening.</p><p>&#8220;You put salt in a dish and add methanol,&#8221; said Ashley Wilkins, of Shickshinny, a sophomore with a biology major and chemistry minor. &#8220;And you set it on fire. Depending on the salt that you use, you get a different color flame.&#8221;</p><p>She held the lighter to strontium chloride to get a yellow flame and coaxed a light orange flame from the dish of barium chloride. The crowd-pleaser, though, was the lithium chloride that burned a satanic cherry red.</p><p>The crowd did get to go outside briefly between rain showers for some fun with pumpkins. After a short countdown, society members got a set of pumpkins to &#8220;barf&#8221; green and orange foam. And later, they managed to get some jack-o-lanterns to spit fire.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s some advanced chemistry going on,&#8221; said Thomas Scott, a junior from Huntingdon Station, New York, who wants some day to be a chemistry teacher. &#8220;But a lot of this happens with stuff you have in your own kitchen.&#8221;</p><p>He was referring to the dish soap, water, borax solution, vinegar and salt that can be found in most cupboards.</p><p>Even the university&#8217;s president, Dr. Tom Botzman, got in on the fun.</p><p>&#8220;The pickle is definitely the coolest thing,&#8221; he said. He watched fascinated as the pickle, suspended between a spoon and a fork, absorbed an electrical charge and began to glow like a dark green light bulb.</p><p>&#8220;But even cooler is seeing all of the kids here getting excited about science,&#8221; Botzman said.</p><p>He was talking about the university students as well as the wide-eyed youngsters in the room.</p><p>&#8220;And, maybe, some of these kids will get inspired and one day study chemistry and the other sciences,&#8221; he concluded.</p><p>He might get that wish soon.</p><p>Logan Price, age 10, of Mountain Top, couldn&#8217;t get enough of the demonstrations. While his brother, Jacob, 7, just enjoyed the fake blood, and his dad, John, got a laugh from the barfing pumpkins, Logan took a more sophisticated approach to the whole thing.</p><p>&#8220;I really like science and chemistry,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I love those classes. It&#8217;s fun to see what you can do with the chemicals.&#8221;</p><p>And while this was the boys&#8217; first visit to the annual event, it probably won&#8217;t be the last.</p><p>&#8220;This is a great time. And the boys are learning so much and having fun at the same time,&#8221; said their mom, Barb. &#8220;I might even come up with some of this stuff for Halloween at our house. But, really, we&#8217;re definitely coming back again.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Chemistry student Leonard Watson starts the show off with Dr. Beth Haas, chemistry professor, at a special presentation of experiments for children at Misericordia University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_boom-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Chemistry student Leonard Watson starts the show off with Dr. Beth Haas, chemistry professor, at a special presentation of experiments for children at Misericordia University. </caption0><photoCredit0>Charlotte Bartizek | For Dallas Post </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_boom-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Glowing, sparkling pickles were a specialty at a presentation of chemistry experiments for children at Misericordia University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_boom-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Glowing, sparkling pickles were a specialty at a presentation of chemistry experiments for children at Misericordia University. </caption1><photoCredit1>Charlotte Bartizek | For Dallas Post </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_boom-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David and Sophie Hoover, Dallas, along with their parents Alison and Michael enjoyed at a special presentation of chemistry experiments for children at Misericordia University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_boom-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>David and Sophie Hoover, Dallas, along with their parents Alison and Michael enjoyed at a special presentation of chemistry experiments for children at Misericordia University. </caption2><photoCredit2>Charlotte Bartizek | For Dallas Post </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_boom-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Misericordia University chemistry students held a special presentation of experiments for children at Misericordia University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_boom-4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Misericordia University chemistry students held a special presentation of experiments for children at Misericordia University. </caption3><photoCredit3>Charlotte Bartizek | For Dallas Post </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Misericordia University students perform in Halloween science show</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Gina Thackara</p><p>For Dallas Post</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach the Dallas Post newsroom at 570-675-5211 or by email at news@mydallaspost.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Misericordia University students perform in Halloween science show Oct. 28