Off the heels of winning a state award, Bette Worth and Bobbi McCracken were at it again with Spooktacular, a trick-or-treat event in downtown Aberdeen.
Downtown Aberdeen Association hit it out of the park with Spooktacular.
The duo had plenty of peers to make this happen as Rick Moyer and Amy Moyer — from Moyer Multi Media LLC. — were shooting free, professional photos for families, and Wil Russoul was doing his usual public relations gig and having a ball with everybody. And then there were many other volunteers
Business such as The Music Project, Game Freaks, Steam Donkey, The Tap Room, Tinderbox Roasters and Messy Jessy’s, among others gave out thousands of pieces of candy.
Some of the best costumes were easy to spot. The results from a very small straw poll concluded The Simpsons were a favorite. The adults were dressed as Homer and Marge Simpson and the child was dressed as Bart. And then people also enjoyed seeing Sonic the Hedgehog, Mike Ditka, a young child dressed as a JAWS victim, and two parents dressed as Cookie Monster while their toddler was dressed as Batman.
Salvador and Sunshine, the two Cookie Monsters, shared what they enjoyed about Spooktacular.
“It’s been pretty fun for sure,” Salvador said. “It’s our first time, so we’ll see how it all finishes out, for sure.”
The parents’ favorite costume was Ms. Rachel. She’s a YouTuber for little kids.
“That’s probably his favorite show to watch,” Sunshine said as she and Salvador smiled and laughed.
“There’s a lot of cool (costumes) out here, lot of cool ones,” Salvador said.
Sunshine seemed to enjoy the fact there were so many people out on Wishkah Street.
“It’s really busy out, actually,” Sunshine said. “I feel like, definitely, it’s better to do this during the day than at nighttime for the kiddos.”
The energetic couple proudly held their son Gianni as they scoped out other fun costumes.
Nearby, Jameson Nebel was handing out candy with her mom, Kimmy. They handed out several buckets full for all of the fun and the scary characters and characters.
“It’s fun to be out here, it’s nice seeing all the costumes, it’s fun,” Jameson said. “I like being able to see what they’re dressed up as. I really should have dressed up. I woke up like 15 minutes before we came out here. Mom was like ‘we gotta go,’ so I kind of rushed and didn’t get my costume. But it’s OK. It’s fun, I like seeing all the costumes and all the kids are really sweet.”
The pair were enjoying being able to spend the time together.
“We both have been kind of sitting back and handing out the candy,” Jameson said.
Then, Jameson brought up the turnout.
“There are so many people, I’m surprised. We’ve already gone through like four buckets,” Jameson said. “There’s got to be at least, I want to say, 150 (pieces) in each bucket.”
While that sounds like a lot in theory, when there are so many people lining the streets and holding up their buckets, the candy goes quick.
“When they come in a big group, I’m giving out like five pieces of candy at a time,” Jameson said. “There are just so many people.”
Jessica Knutson, one of several business owners, was having a great time handing out Halloween favorites such as Reese’s, Butterfinger, Kit-Kat, and other chocolate brands. She was dressed as an alien named “Hammerhead” who was dragging away his human being victim.
“Spooktacular downtown, I think it’s fantastic, it fills the streets with kids, it’s my favorite,” Knutson said as her daughter Emma Dean and her husband Dustin helped her in greeting the trick-or-treaters outside Messy Jessy’s Bar and Grill.
Emma Dean even made her own kitty cat mask, according to Jessica. She spoke about the holiday and season.
“Oh man, I love everything about fall and Halloween,” Jessica said. “I like carving the pumpkins, eating the pumpkin seeds. I like the candy, because lord knows anybody loves candy. I like dressing up, I like all of it.”
Jessica guessed she went through about 1,400 pieces. She was down to the last 75 to 100 pieces they had.
Aberdeen firefighters were taking a break to say hello to trick-or-treaters who were in line for either the popcorn, pop and candy Downtown Aberdeen Association’s volunteers were giving out or for the free photos from Moyer Multi Media. AFD Capt. Ryan Cline spoke about Spooktacular.
“There are much more people to see than we were thinking,” Cline said. “We’ve seen some good costumes, good creativity.”
Cline said he thought Saturday was his first time being there for Spooktacular.
Cline then shared a message of safety as well because Halloween is on Thursday.
“We want to remind people to be smart and safe when they’re out trick-or-treating,” Cline said. “If they’re out then, be careful of traffic.”
Russoul also weighed in on the day’s success.
“For what appeared to be a rainy event, it wasn’t,” Russoul said. “Families turned out right at noon and our popcorn machine was in hyper-drive. Everyone loved the fire truck, first responders and the two photo booths. The (Aberdeen) Lions (Clubs) gave away 2,000 candy treats. The Music Project had everything popping and I felt Aberdeen was alive in laughter, friendship and a lot of volunteers. I was once again reminded how small towns hold hundreds of faces I got to catch up with and then spook them with my scary face.”
Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com.
