Friday, Oct. 5, more than 100 students joined together in the third annual Mehoy Minoy at the base of the Campanile at South Dakota State University. 

The event had consistently brought in a crowd of roughly 300 people according to the event organizers, Dani Henkel and Sami Alfke.

“We made a random Facebook event and thought that no one would show up, and a lot of people showed up,” said Henkel about the start of the event three years ago. 

Mehoy Minoy is a reference to the children’s television show, SpongeBob Squarepants, from season 2, episode 34b. In that episode, SpongeBob, using a pencil dropped into the ocean, draws a character similar to himself known as DoodleBob. 

DoodleBob came to life and coined the phrase, “Mehoy Minoy.”

“I love SpongeBob, and I wanted to be around a bunch of other people who love SpongeBob, and it seemed pretty ridiculous and fun,” said event attendee Lucas Trooien. 

Over the three years of the event, a community has formed.

“We have developed a family under the Mehoy name,” said Henkel. 

In addition to the classic phrase, attendees chanted “my leg,” “is this the Krusty Krab” and various other popular phrases from the show.

According to the Facebook page created by Henkel, event attendees were encouraged to “Bring your pencils, raise them high, and DO NOT forget the Diet Dr. Kelp.”

This is the last year that Henkel and Alfke will be organizing the event. 

“We hope that the tradition carries on,” Alfke said.