Holy Halloween, Batman!

This year’s (2012) Halloween Parade and Trick-or-Treat fun in downtown La Conner begins at 3:30pm. Join us for a really fun, community event!

October 31 … otherwise known as Halloween to every kid in America… is already a pretty fun day. First there’s the hunt for the perfect costume, then the parties, then the trick-or-treating in the evening. What’s more fun than dressing up, being somebody (or some – thing!) else for a day, and getting a bucket of candy. Most of us have memories of Halloween’s past – I remember the year I was the beatnik – and tripped on the curb, tore my cool-daddy black tights in the knee, and skinned both hands.

Halloween was pretty fun when I was a kid. But it was a neighborhood affair.

Halloween in La Conner is an entire town affair. I did not know that. I’ve never been in La Conner for Halloween before. It is just a whole lot of fun!

First off, there’s a parade. And what kid doesn’t like being in a parade. Not only that, but lots of people besides kids dress up for the parade. People from town. People with cute dogs. The parents of the kids. The Grandparents of kids. It’s amazing!

They start at one end of town and walk all the way to the other end. Everyone waves to the parade viewers as they pass by, and there is lots of picture-taking going on.

Then, once they get to the end of the street, they come back. But they don’t just parade back, they stop at the businesses and trick-or-treat along the way.  How cool is that? In many cases, the business owners are also dressed up, which makes it twice as much fun.

I must admit, I was not dressed up in costume (which is probably just as well). What I was doing, however, was visiting with some of our business owners, chatting with parents and kids I know, and patting the occasional costumed dog on the head.

I also visited with 4 lovely women who absolutely made my day. Turns out they are from down south (that would be Everett, Snohomish and Mukilteo) and wanted to come to La Conner for a day to do some shopping and have lunch.

Roxy, Claudia, Binky and Dawn – Halloween Parade Watchers

One of them happened to look on the Chamber of Commerce website and noticed that on Halloween there is a parade. And who doesn’t love a parade?!

So they came specifically on Halloween, because they could only imagine how fun a small-town Halloween parade might be. Did our parade live up to their expectations? You bet. One of them said, “This was SO MUCH FUN. We’ll be back again in the spring, but we’re definitely coming back next year for Halloween. Nobody where we live has a Halloween Parade … this just makes La Conner even more special than it already is.” Ladies – you absolutely made my day. This is a special place. It’s a very, very special place.

Our Favorite Fairy

So here’s the bottom line: everyone always thinks of La Conner in spring and summer. As they should. We have flowers and water and mountains and it’s gorgeous. But there are way more things to do here – in any given month – than most people realize. Whether it’s spring or summer, or fall or winter – this little town is an awful lot of fun.

As for next year’s Halloween parade? Hmm. I’m already thinking about a costume. If you want to be in our parade as well, or just think watching a town Halloween parade would be a kick, come share in the fun. Wednesday, October 31, 2012. See you then.