Families, students and local businesses came together for a festive evening to kick off Halloween.

By Mona Abou, by the Community News Service

WINOOSKI — Rotary Park flickered to life last Saturday as 1,000 jack-o’-lanterns illuminated downtown Winooski for the city’s annual Halloween celebration. 

Hosted by Downtown Winooski, the event featured scavenger hunts, trick-or-treating at local businesses and live music that kept the crowd dancing through the evening. 

Leading up to the event, community members spent the week carving pumpkins and preparing Rotary Park for the display. 

Sarah Lallier, who helped organize the celebration, said her favorite part of Halloween in the Rotary is seeing everyone’s efforts to come together. 

Lallier loved watching community members “putting in the effort to get one thousand pumpkins carved, and then all coming together to celebrate, enjoy some music and get in the spirit of Halloween.” 

Families wandered around the park to admire the many carved pumpkins, with designs ranging from sea creatures to sports teams. Kids trick-or-treated at local spots around the rotary, like Retro Galaxy, The Monkey House and Autumn Records. 

Jon Chadurjian, there with his family, said he returned after enjoying the event last year. 

“It’s really an unreal amount of pumpkins,” he said. “And it’s also cool to stop into the businesses we haven’t had a chance to see over the summer.”

Families filled Rotary Park in colorful costumes. Two young Star Wars fans dueled with their lightsabers, while a little boy in a bee suit buzzed beside his beekeeper dad. Even a few dogs joined in the festivities, with two dressed up as a skunk and a cow. 

Chadurjian said events like Halloween in the Rotary keep Winooski’s sense of community strong. 

“It’s great to get everybody out and to see your neighbors, to interface with the businesses and get all of your social muscles worked out before winter hits,” he said.     

Among the visitors were Megan and Tom Mays, who said they drove 80 miles from Woodsville, New Hampshire. The couple accidentally stumbled upon the event last year and returned to enjoy the festivities. 

“I love seeing families out being families,” Megan said. “These are some trying times, and it’s great to see people having fun.”

She added that inclusion is something she has noticed in Winooski, one of the reasons she and her husband keep returning. 

“This area of Vermont has a lot of interesting things that try to include a lot of people and age groups,” she said. “When we started doing all this stuff, we were younger. Now that we’re older, we still see that our age is included, too.”

The Mays were especially looking forward to seeing DJ Craig Mitchell perform. Tom took DJ lessons from him years ago, and the couple said his set was one of the reasons they made the drive back this year. 

Mitchell, who serves on the Downtown Winooski board, has been part of the city’s Halloween celebration for years. He kept the energy high as families and friends danced along to the music. 

“I just love making people happy,” he said. “Seeing people out here smiling, dancing and enjoying each other, that’s what it’s all about.”

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship for The Winooski News