The organizers for Walk of the Undead faced some challenges throughout the day in downtown Aberdeen on Saturday. But a couple of the businesses that were involved in festivities enjoyed some success because of the day.

One of those businesses was Messy Jessy’s Bar and Grill — 212 S. I St.

One of the fun events the bar hosted throughout the day that brought people together was the Bob Ross paint-and-sip, which Danielle Howard hosted.

Howard, who was wearing a black Bob Ross wig, hosted the session with a happy and helpful disposition. She hosts paint-and-sips from Ocean Shores to Elma. Howard hosts all-ages and 21-and-over sessions. Howard explained why she does them.

“It’s just a fun little side gig, I like to teach art and get people (to) be creative,” said Howard, whose business is Craftdeeco. “It helps relieve stress. A lot of people don’t realize when they’re creating this painting, they shut down their thinking of everything else and it just kind of fades away all your stresses. You have fun, get creative and just hang out with all your friends.”

Howard talked about The Flying Dutchman painting.

“We chose this Flying Dutchman one because it was a spooky ship,” Howard said. “We wanted to go with the theme of the Undead and have something kind of spooky, so that way everybody can have a little spooky on their wall for the Halloween time. This one was just different. And with it being out here with the ocean and Westport nearby, I figured it would be fun to kind of do a little ship going through the water, so (I picked) The Flying Dutchman.”

The painting included a full moon and a green sky. There’s a little more to it than that.

“Our windows will glow,” Howard said. “I have black light reactive paint. We’ll have a black light so they can see if they do hang it up and they have decorations with black light, (the painting) will actually glow in the black light.”

Howard’s next paint-and-sip is at Messy Jessy’s on Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.

Kayla Tarrence, one of the painters for the afternoon session, spoke about the session.

“I think it’s fun, I enjoy being crafty,” Tarrence said. “So, having something for me to paint is fun. (Danielle’s) doing a good job.”

Kayla said she doesn’t really paint, but she’s crafty.

“I like to draw sometimes, I like to mix colors,” Kayla said. “I’ve kind of done it all my life.”

While she was still painting, Kayla said she was “satisfied” with the painting at that point.

“It’ll need to dry and then (I’ll) add more detail to it and things like that. You can only blend so much when it’s all wet,” Kayla said. “It’ll be fun to go back through and make things pop and come to life.”

Live Music

Another popular part of the day was the musical lineup, which featured Justin Kautzman, Bandet Spouk, and Gonzo’s Attic.

Kautzman provided fun covers, such as The Foo Fighters’ classic song “Everlong.” Bandet Spouk played original tracks that went over several sub-genres of rock and metal. Gonzo’s Attic, which has a different lineup from when the punk band last played at Messy Jessy’s, offered up originals to the 21-and-over crowd.

At Mount Olympus Brewing Company (MOB), the band “Stone Jack Ballers,” was a hit for the people inside.

Wil Russoul, executive director of Downtown Aberdeen Association, enjoyed himself immensely at the show. He was dressed for the occasion with a scary mask and he went along on a mini-pub crawl. There were several businesses, such as The Tap Room, Steam Donkey, Mount Olympus Brewing and Messy Jessy’s that were on that crawl.

“After haunting the streets of downtown and terrorizing the downtown establishments during the pub crawl, I took in two music events,” Russoul said. “Mount Olympus Brewery has the best Grateful Dead band from Olympia oozing out music. My undead bones just wanted to revive and flow in their sound.”

Katie Gonsalves, MOB’s manager, had some positive comments about the band and about Walk of the Undead.

“Stone Jack Ballers, a local band out of Olympia, gave a stellar performance here at Mount Olympus Brewing on Saturday for the Walk of the Undead day in downtown Aberdeen,” Gonsalves said. “(It gave) all the zombies and undead creatures that roamed the streets a great way to start the evening.”

Gonsalves spoke about a couple specialties MOB provided to celebrate the occasion.

“(We offered) our ghoulish goulash and specialty drink concoctions like our ‘spider venom,’ (which was) a delicious beverage with hints of lime, coconut and a touch of heat, were some of the fun contributions that we as a business were able to do,” Gonsalves said.

Gonsalves also noted MOB did “see a bump in sales for the evening,” and “yes, it was because of the Walk.”

Russoul’s crawl led him to Messy Jessy’s in order to see the bar’s “music euphoria” from the local artists who played there to close out the night.

“I have to say Justin Kautzman playing acoustic in I think a puppy-bear-not-so-sure costume was tops,” Russoul said. “I found myself cheering him on as his costume heated him like a baked potato. But hey, I love baked potatoes. Good job Justin.” Then, unexpectedly Gandalf from Lord of the Rings took the stage where Justin left off. .. It was an energetic and raw blast of complex guitar and drums and the room hopped. It was hobbit magic for sure. What a fun night. My only regret was not having any energy left to stay for Gonzo’s Attic.”

While Russoul missed the punk set, Gonzo’s Attic provided plenty of energy to the people who stayed for the trio’s set. Combine the music and stage presence from the band with a Jello shot “vaccine” and some fried food made by Messy Jessy herself, it made for a successful night for the bar.

Appreciation post

Jessy Knutson, owner of Messy Jessy’s, made a cheery post about Walk of the Undead on Tuesday afternoon.

“Thank you Deb Blecha and everyone who worked so hard, rain or shine, through the Walk of the Undead event and all the work that went into it,” Knutson said. “Big thanks to the bands Gonzo’s Attic, Bandet Spouk (and) Justin Kautzman, the performances rocked. My crew kicked butt and the audience was a blast. Thank you everyone for keeping Aberdeen pushing in the right direction. It takes a village.”

Steam Donkey Brewing Company

Jon and Stephanie Bennett who were inside their Finch and Bull food truck on Saturday seemed to be having a good time as they prepared meals for their customers inside. They spoke a little bit about business Saturday.

“It’s kind of hard for us to tell just because we can’t tell who’s coming from (Walk of the Undead) and who are some of our normal customers just because everyone just sort of walks up,” Stephanie said. “We’re not having a special. We’re just doing our normal shindig… But it’s been pretty busy.”

Jon spoke about attendance for the Science and Suds event that the bar hosted as part of Walk of the Undead.

“We were pretty full up for our Science and Suds with PNW Cryptic,” Jon said. “He talked about all the local stuff, such as Sasquatch and something about Donkey Creek and stuff like that. We were full up for that and we had a lot of people we don’t normally get, so that was nice to see. It’s been pretty steady all day.”

Jon said it was hard to tell how many people showed up specifically for Walk of the Undead, unless people were dressed up and in face paint.

“But, it was fun,” Jon said.

Stephanie said she wished it was nicer outside.

“The weather was not friendly today,” Stephanie said.

But, as Jon said, the inclement weather was appropriate for a day marked for haunting characters.

“It helps set the scene,” Jon said. “Because you don’t want zombies and stuff running around when it’s 80 degrees outside. That doesn’t really fit.”

Stephanie said it’s a “fun little event” that they’ve been doing. Stephanie gave her thoughts about future events.

“I hope they do it again,” Stephanie said. “It’s fun to see different groups come downtown. I think the more diverse events that happen, it pulls different people down here, brings a different crowd and gets people seeing what else is going on over here. I hope they do it again. I hope they get better weather next year.”

The last couple years, Stephanie said there has been better weather. Jon said in the Pacific Northwest “you’d have better luck winning the lottery instead of praying for sunshine.”

“This year I feel like they really got shafted,” Stephanie said. “I love that they came around a couple months early to let us know what was going on, which is great. I think sometimes, you know, that part of the planning is so hard for people. Getting everybody involved early was a big success for that.”

Stephanie reiterated her hope that Walk of the Undead returns in 2025.

“I love seeing different groups come downtown, for sure,” Stephanie said. “Having been here for eight years, it’s nice to still see new faces. (That’s) really cool.”

Gonsalves is glad about what such events like Walk of the Undead do commercially.

“It’s always great to see the community come together and support all the small, local businesses whenever there is an event in town,” Gonsalves said.

Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.