Halloween events, complete with parades and costume contests, draw crowds

Children and families across Franklin County celebrated Halloween over the weekend, with trick-or-treating, parades and costume contests galore.

In Greenfield, festivities kicked off on Friday when the annual Rag Shag Parade, led by the Greenfield High School marching band, made its way from the Mohawk Mall to Energy Park, where a costume contest took place.

Emceed by Recreation Director Christy Moore, the costume contest judges included Mayor Ginny Desorgher and Greenfield School Department Superintendent Carol Kruser. As participants were lining up in their categories, the Greenfield High School marching band played Halloween classics such as “Thriller,” “Ghostbusters” and “Monster Mash.”

With Moore asking each of the contest participants to walk in front of the stage two times so that the judges could get a good view of the costume in full, first-place and second-place prizes were awarded in seven categories.

The winners of the costume contest in Greenfield are as follows:

• Best Homemade — London Parker of Greenfield in first place as a flying saucer; Sage Stone of Vermont in second place as a peanut.
• Funniest — Ben Thompson of Greenfield in first place as “Free Hugs;” Nyx Klaiber of Greenfield in second place as the Lorax.
• Scariest — Waylon Boutelle of Greenfield in first place as a creepy animal; Owen Gallant of Greenfield in second place as “Alien.”
• Cutest — Noah and Everett Conley of Winchester, New Hampshire, in first place as oompa-loompas; Anna Cuff from Erving in second place as a butterfly.
• Best Cartoon Character — Jordan Pinkham of Greenfield in first place as Wednesday Adams; John Distefano of Greenfield in second place as Foxy from the video game “Five Nights at Freddy’s.”
• Group/Family Category — Marmie Tibbetts and family of Greenfield in first place as a bug family; Myles Tuttle and family of Turners Falls in second place as hot dogs.
• Howl-o-ween costume — Wilbur Kurtz of Greenfield in first place with dalmatian.

On the bike path across the street from Unity Park in Turners Falls, the inaugural Trail or Treat hosted by the Montague Police Department got festivities underway on Friday. According to Lt. Peter Lapachinski, the first event was a success.

“It went pretty well for the first time. We had a good turnout,” Lapachinski said. “We had a lot of younger kids coming off the bike path.”

Lapachinski added that the best costume he had seen was Woody from “Toy Story.” He added, “Woody still being popular was [cool] to me.”

On the bike path was Crystal Garrity, representing The Brick House Community Resource Center. At her table, those looking for a sweet treat had to spin a wheel, either landing on a treat section or a trick section. If a person landed on “treat,” they could grab a piece of candy. Landing on “trick,” however, meant that the person seeking candy had to do one of three things. They would either need to show off their dance moves, spin around in a circle and squawk like a crow, or if they had been The Brick House, write down what their experience was.

“I’m almost wiped out of candy already and I had 170 pieces,” Garrity said about an hour into the two-hour event. “I did trick-or-treating at my house last year, and I probably got around 18 to 25 kids, but clearly this is a great turnout. It’s a great event.”

Lapachinski said he envisions the Montague Police Department doing the Trail or Treat every year, taking the experience from the inaugural rendition and improving it.

“We’re trying to [find] more ways to get the Montague Police involved in the community,” Lapachinski said.