Ghost and ghouls come to St. Regis on Halloween
<p>Austin Hotchkiss tries to toss a Frisbee® into the basket during a game at St. Regis Public School's Halloween Carnival. The night included other games, a haunted house and a trunk or treat event later in the evening.</p>
ST. REGIS – The day had finally arrived as Halloween settled upon Mineral County and St. Regis Public Schools held their Halloween festivities in the halls of the school building.
The event was arranged from a collaborative effort of the St. Regis Public Schools, the Community Council and other organizations. According to Amy Cheesman, a preschool teacher at the school and a volunteer at the event, the school’s Future Farmers of America and the Business Professionals of America members helped set up the event as well.
“Rather than parent volunteers, the Community Council has stepped in to organize,” said Cheesman.
The night featured games, candy and a haunted house for the enjoyment of kids dressed as ghouls, fairy tale princesses, heroes and more. The event was a little cramped within the halls as kids played games while traffic moved around them, trying not to get in the way.
The games were mostly tests of accuracy and involved throwing a ball or ring at a target. Due to the wide age range of participants from preschool to middle school students, most games had two marks for throwing distance. The prizes were different types of candy.
According to Cheesman, for the last few years, the party was held in the St. Regis Community Center. However, due to a scheduling conflict the building was unavailable and the event had to be set up in the school with a few cut backs on how many games were available.
“Once the Community Center was built and established [it moved to the new building].” said Cheesman.
Later in the evening, the kids were able to get their fill of candy, in the traditional Halloween fashion, during the Trunk or Treat event around the school’s football field. The Trunk or Treat is a safe-street style Halloween event for kids to trick or treat without the need to go door-to-door. According to Cheesman, the separation of houses in St. Regis makes door to door trick of treating impractical.
“The houses are just too few and far between,” she said. “Rather than sit at home and wait for kids to come that way, they just bring their candy down and do it here.”
The final event of the evening was a pep rally for the high school athletics on the sports fields. With the football team moving into playoffs and the volleyball team going to the regional tournament this was a fun way to congratulate the players and send them off. According to Cheesman, this was the first year for the rally.
The pep rally was arranged by the newly formed St. Regis Fan Club and included a bonfire and hot dogs. With team members under a curfew of approximately 9 p.m., the rally did not go too late into the night.
According to Cheesman, all of the events, from the party to the rally, were designed as fun ways for kids of all ages to enjoy Halloween safely.
“We just wanted to make sure there was something fun and free for the kids to come do instead of being out on the street during Halloween,” Cheesman said.