INNISFAIL - The town’s remedy to not have the pandemic spoil the magical fun of the season of ghosts and goblins was to form a partnership.
Staff at the Innisfail Public Library and volunteers from the Innisfail and District Historical Society put their heads together last summer and insisted Halloween must go on despite the ongoing threat of COVID-19.
And then there was the weather, which turned nasty two weeks ago, and giving the chills to everyone that Old Man Winter would gang up with COVID and put the final nail in the coffin to an early All Hallows’ Eve.
But when 6 p.m. on Oct. 24 rolled around at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre, with snow falling heavily, the cars began to roll in with excited children in the back seats enthusiastically dressed in the their best ghost and goblin attire.
It was a moment of triumph, just like the scene from Field Of Dreams when Terrence Mann uttered his inspiring words to Ray Kinsella, ‘people will come, people will most definitely come.’
“I am so excited. This is amazing,” said Tara Downs, the library’s manager as she watched the cars still arriving 40 minutes after the two-hour event started. “I had no idea what to expect with everything being the way it is. It could have been two people, and who knows? We may run out of things.”
When it was over, library staff estimated more than 230 citizens attended the Halloween Hop.
Downs attributed its success to the COVID safety protocols organizers implemented. “They feel safe coming here, hopefully,” she said, noting organizers were encouraging everyone to wear masks and practise social distancing. “They might not necessarily feel as safe going out on the regular Halloween trick-or-treating route.”
Downs said it was last August when Anna Lenters, president of the local historical society, approached her about ensuring their was a safe Halloween celebration in the community.
“We didn’t know what it was going to look like in terms of kids being able to trick-or-treat,” she said. “We said ‘yes, we can do something. We can have a family-friendly and safe event where kids get to do something.”
What they created was the Halloween Hop with a loop around the parking lot and through the foyer of the library. The loop started with a family photo op, and then kids and families moved to the stations, which included three community tables and Halloween-themed stops featuring pirates, witches, aliens, skeletons, and royalty, the latter which included the knighting of kids. Trick-or-treaters then received a big bag of treats. And Sparky was there too; triggering many more giggles and smiles.
“It was a design and collaboration, given that this is not my home base,” said Lenters, who in previous years meticulously created a magical Halloween setting at the historical village. She said this year’s setting presented its own challenges, including not being able to do hand-on crafts for the kids due to COVID.
“When Tara and I first met we realized that we shared the same concerns about our community and we were worried that our children weren’t having positive experiences because they have been robbed of them,” said Lenters. “This way we are trying to give them something that is fun, and something that is not normal but at least they can look back at it and say, ‘yes I did do something for Halloween.”
