By Vernon Robison

Moapa Valley Progress

Costumed youngsters fill their bags with candy at a trunk or treat activity held during the Halloween Party at the Logandale Fairgrounds sponsored by local Parks and Rec staff. Photo by Trent Robison.

The spooks came out en masse on Halloween night and attended a community party at the Logandale Fairgrounds hosted by the local Parks and Recreation Department. Hundreds of kids and their parents came, in costume, to enjoy the festivities.

Parks and Rec staff estimated that over 1200 people attended the October 31 event. That is the most that they have seen yet attending the annual party.

The price of admission was one bag of candy per family. This kept the long line-up of about thirty car trunks well stocked. The well-decorated trunks, lined up along both sides of the walkway into the Fairgrounds, provided a grand entry into the festivities.

Costumed kids went from trunk to trunk gathering candy from the volunteer participants at each stop. Most kids went around the circuit several times to fill their bags to the brim with the sweet stuff.

Other activities also beckoned the youngsters. A rock climbing wall, bungee jump and Poseidon’s Bubble pool were all set up for the kids’ enjoyment; all free to the participants.

“This one is so much fun,” said 9 year old Tyler while waiting in line for Poseidon’s Bubbles. “This is the whole reason I wanted to come here; to do this.”

Tyler eventually had his turn, as well as hundreds of other kids, rolling around inside the large plastic bubbles that were floating in a wading pool filled with water.

A spook alley was put on by the members of the National Junior Honor Society and Beta Club at Mack Lyon Middle School. The spook alley was the only activity at the event that had a suggested cost to enter: $1 donation to assist the two school organizations.

“It was totally worth it,” said eleven year old Ashley upon exiting the spook alley. “Not too scary, but pretty cool.”

A meal of hot dogs and chili was served to the crowd of ghosts, ghouls and monsters who were dressed up for Halloween night. Over 1,000 hot dogs were served up to the crowd through the evening, Parks and Rec staff reported.

The event, beginning at 5:30 p.m., allowed time for participants to enjoy the fairground activities and still be able to trick or treat in the community. Many residents in some local neighborhoods reported an increase this year in trick-or-treaters coming to their doors.

“That is kind of what we wanted to have happen,” said John Stastny of the local Parks and Rec. “This event was really designed just to get people primed to go out into their neighborhoods on Halloween night and enjoy their community. It is definitely not to replace that experience.”

Stastny expressed appreciation to all the volunteers who helped make the event a success.

“Basically, we have only four paid staff now,” Stastny said. “The rest are all volunteers. We couldn’t do a community-wide event like this without those volunteers helping us.”

Stastny also recognized local businesses that made donations for the event including Lin’s Marketplace and Sugar’s Restaurant.