Halloween fun promises spook-tacular time for all

Elaborate costumes will conceal the identities of those celebrating Halloween here next Thursday.

But there’s no hiding the fact there will be plenty of fun for those partaking of the local holiday festivities.

Oct. 31 looks to be a boo-tiful time for kids and adults alike, both in La Conner and on Swinomish Reservation.

Festivities kick off at 3:15 p.m. with the parade and always popular downtown trick-or-treating. First Street transforms from a tourist mecca into a gateway for Halloween enthusiasts seeking sweet rewards for creative costuming.

The good times won’t end there.

Following the waterfront candy haul, the La Conner Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA) hosts its second annual Halloween Carnival at the elementary school gym and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community launches its inaugural trunk-or-treat event at John K. Bob Ball Park.

Both are scheduled from 4-6 p.m., leaving plenty of time to attend each.

The carnival is successor to the storied La Conner Prankless Halloween Party, which for decades drew large crowds to the old high school gym as a safe alternative to night-time trick-or-treating and a means of curbing vandalism in town.

The community parties were eventually victims of their own success, becoming too much of an undertaking for a loyal corps of volunteers to stage. It didn’t take long, only a few brief years, for them to be missed.

Enter Beth Schmittou Bowles.

A La Conner native with fond memories of having attended the Halloween parties in her youth, Bowles last year spearheaded a campaign to resurrect the format, though on a slightly smaller scale.

She and PTSA members made it work – beyond expectations, at that, both in terms of turnout and enthusiasm. They provided a venue complete with games, food, cupcake walk, photo booth and costume contest.

Expect much of the same, and more, this time around, Bowles tells the Weekly News.

“We have a couple new carnival games being made,” she says. “We won’t be selling pizza this year, but we will have water and popcorn.

“It’s still a free, family-fun activity,” adds Bowles.

Ditto trunk-or-treat at Swinomish.

Popular in the southern United States, trunk-or-treat is a supervised activity that invites kids to safely meander between decorated vehicles to collect Halloween candy.

It was suggested for Swinomish by Brenda Williams and quickly endorsed by Tribal leadership, including Senate chair Brian Cladoosby, as a way to reduce the number of costumed children walking on busy streets Halloween night.

Swinomish offices will close at 3 p.m. to allow participating departments to set up for trunk-or-treat.

“I love seeing how excited the kids get at Halloween time,” says Swinomish Social Services Director Tracy James, “and I’m honestly just as excited this year to do this trunk-or-treat idea at the ball park.

“I can’t wait,” she says, “to see all those happy little faces on Halloween.”