A Four Diamonds child, in the lap of her student Thon friend, clutched the mic as she sang "Cowboy Take Me Away" by the Dixie Chicks to a full house at the Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon Family Carnival yesterday.

The solo was part of an afternoon meant to bring together students and families.

The carnival is the first Thon event of the year where Four-Diamonds children and their families can meet Penn State students participating in Thon.

All money raised for Thon is donated to The Four Diamonds Fund, which helps cover hospital bills for children suffering from cancer at Hershey Medical Center. Last year, students raised $4,122,483 for the organization.

The Four Diamonds kids were the stars of the carnival in keeping with the theme "Rocking the Red Carpet."

Kids ran throughout the gym, chased by student Thon friends, who encouraged the kids to dance on the stage with the rest of the students to songs such as "The Hokey Pokey."

Decorations of popular cartoon characters such as Dora the Explorer, Minnie Mouse and Buzz Lightyear were scattered across the walls amid cutouts of bright stars and movie reels.

Sponsored by Thon committees and various organizations, games and crafts covered half of the gym area. Whack a Monster gave kids the opportunities to take out their favorite villains, such as Darth Vader.

Numerous craft tables gave kids the chance to create crowns or to color pictures of their favorite Harry Potter characters.

Diana Conley said her four kids enjoyed anything that involved "gluing or stickering." It is her family's first year at the carnival and it was a great day, Conley said.

Nine-year-old Aric Smoker said his favorite activity was bowling because he was able to win a ball by knocking the pins down.

Although the day was fun, Aric said he would have preferred more games and fewer people.

It was really crowded, Aric said.

An overall party atmosphere reigned for the duration of the carnival as dancing filled most of the gym. Moralers danced the time away with kids and other Thon supporters.

Dancing only stopped for various entertainment groups such as the Penn State dance team, Penn State cheerleaders and hip-hop group Whiplash, among others.

The Thon Hospitality Committee created a separate area for Four Diamonds families to relax and to enjoy food and beverages. The Willy Wonka theme gym also featured a reading area sponsored by senior national honor society Mortarboard.

As the carnival concluded, the crowd gathered to see the unveiling of the 2006 Thon logo.

Jessica Bright of the Penn State graphic design department created the logo, which features the image of a child resting atop of an adult's shoulders to compliment the theme for Thon 2006, "Together We'll Prevail."

Bright said she wanted to display the hopefulness and good spirit that Thon encourages.

Public relations chair Jaci Christopher said that the logo represents looking ahead to the future.

"Hope is in the future and that we can get there together," Christopher said.

David Brownstein, special events chair, said that he was completely speechless about the day and that the entire event was absolutely amazing. Brownstein added that he loved seeing kids being carried on the shoulders of students.

"My favorite part of the day was seeing the kid's faces and smiles, as they forgot the pain for a bit," Brownstein said.