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| Aroostook Republican photo/Theron Larkins Gaige Eivers, of Caribou, takes a shot at the mini-basketball hoop set up by Loring Job Corps students who volunteered at the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department’s Halloween Costume Party on Friday, Oct. 31. |
By Theron Larkins
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — The gymnasium at the Caribou Parks and Recreation Department was the site of a Halloween Costume Contest on Friday, Oct. 31, which was, of course, Halloween night. After mustering enough of a sugar-buzz, local trick-or-treaters took a break from collecting candy and burned off some of their excess energy by taking part in a fun-filled night of fright.
The Halloween Party kicked off at 6 p.m. and included a bevy of games and activities for the contestants to take part in. Students from Loring Job Corps volunteered at the event, coordinating and officiating the various games set up at the party including a mini-basketball shoot, a hula hoop toss and a well-kept leaf pile for the kids to dive around in, which was periodically raked throughout the night by Jonathan Olivera, who volunteered at the event, alongside a number of his fellow Job Corps students.
Recreation Program Director Neal Sleeper and Rec Superintendent Gary Marquis were both in attendance on Friday, however, the two were not simply sitting by the door passing out candy. Instead, Sleeper, donning his biking attire as his Halloween costume, welcomed trick-or-treaters in from the cold and ushered them into the warm gymnasium, where games and ghouls were both in abundance.
“The party went very well,” said Marquis. “The weather plays a big part in how many kids will come in. If the weather is lousy then we have a lot more people coming into the wellness center, if the weather is nice, as it was on Friday, then the numbers are a little lighter, but all in all, the kids that showed up had a ‘Spooooktacular’ time.”
As for the process of actually hosting the party and putting together all the games and activities for the ghouls and goblins in attendance, Marquis added that the rec department had a lot of help, which makes the prospect of hosting the event a little less frightening.
“This year, we had many volunteers from the community, as well as Job Corps students who came to help run the games,” said Marquis. “That makes putting on an event like this much easier.”
At the end of the evening, the Halloween Costume Contest was examined by the judges and the contest winners were announced by age group. Winners were chosen from four different age groups, ranging from Pre-K to Grade 6, with creative costumes that encompassed an array of characters from ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ to ‘the Headless Horseman.’ Winners from the Pre-K age group were Nella Love, Mackenzie Holton, Lydia Saunders, Owen Hale, Emylee Drost, Addilyn Powers and Kolby Lacasse. The Kindergarten and First Grade group of winners included Avery Thibodeau, Jake Dehhahn, Colby Ouellette, Jane Toll, Gretchen Meritoll and Sadie Violette. The winners from the third age group were from Grades 2 and 3 and included Alexia Huffman, Abby Haney, Jillian Zeigler, Mackenzie Lagasse, Haley Dumond, Christian McDougal and Zoe Locke. Lastly, the oldest age group winners from Grades 4, 5 and 6 were Jaden Picard, Konnor Huckins, Jazmine Robinson, Connor Soucy and Jessica Soucy.
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| Aroostook Republican photo/Theron Larkins Alexia Huffman, of Caribou, and Patty Paradis work together as a team to win a round of Jenga during Friday night’s Halloween Costume Party at the Caribou Rec Department. |
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| Aroostook Republican photo/Theron Larkins Halloween Costume Contest winners from the grades 4, 5 and 6 age group at Friday night’s Halloween event at the Caribou Rec Department are, from left, Jaden Picard, Konnor Huckins, Jazmine Robinson, Connor Soucy and Jessica Soucy. |
