Old Overton Gym Carnival Tradition Returns

By JENNI TOBIASSON

The Progress

It was a standing room only crowd at the Old Overton Gym on Friday, Oct. 29, for this year’s annual Halloween carnival.

Hundreds of participants spent the evening in old-time Moapa Valley fashion enjoying one another’s company whilst rubbing shoulders with the likes of witches, ninjas, dinosaurs, ghosts and zombies galore!

Families and friends filled the large room to the brim, eating chili and popcorn, chit chatting, checking out all the amazing costumes and just fully embracing the camaraderie of small town life.

Activity booths lined the gymnasium and had many eager kiddos bouncing with excitement for a chance to win sweet treats.

A bowling alley, and a tootsie pop ring toss gave everyone a chance to show off their stuff and be a champ!

Shrieks of delight could be heard from within the kid-friendly spook alley curtains, compliments of Teresa Holzer.

The air was electric with excitement as kids and creatures alike were zipping in and out of the buzzing crowds, trying to hit every booth and maximize their evening of fun!

The Old Overton Gym board of directors began putting the carnival on back in 2008, according to board member Anita Shanahan. But Shanahan said that she has been a long-time participant of a similar carnival, a tradition that stretches back to her childhood in the 1970s.

As head of operations for the spooktacular event Shanahan was busy on Friday night. But she was sweet enough to stop and share her stories.
“I love events like this that bring families together in a safe place, to enjoy the old gym and carry on traditions,” Shanahan said.

She was cheerfully reminiscent of a different time, when the most popular booth was the kissing/marriage booth, which was just a closet in the back of the gym where two folks were placed inside for a couple seconds for a quick smooch, to emerge “married”.

Those were the days of the beloved Pocket Lady, Ramona Crane, and her magical patchwork dress full of prizes for all the children to collect, Shanahan recalled.

This year, Shanahan’s family helped with the booths, put in lots of hard work to make sure things were up and ready. Preparations began two days prior and the results couldn’t have been better.

The lovely ladies supplying the crowds with fresh baked goods were also a bit shy when it came to interviews. But after some detective work it was discovered that Kay Robison and her girls, along with many other volunteers, had made sure everyone had their fill of tasty baked goodies. They had racked up over $450 in baked goods sales alone before the night was over.

“Overall the event was a huge success and we want to thank all the volunteers for their hard work and to everyone for coming down and supporting us and having a great time!” said Old Overton Gym board member Susan Whipple.