It’s time for all the scary ghosts, ghouls and goblins to come out and play. Area communities are preparing for Halloween night, and with many events happening, there’s sure to be enough candy to go around.
Leading up to October 31, there is a scarecrow contest currently ongoing that is sponsored by the Winona Main Street and Modern Woodmen of the World. There will be two categories, business and residential and scarecrows, and they will be judged on appearance and creativity. Judging will take place Oct. 23, and the winners will be announced Oct. 25. The winners will receive trophies and citywide recognition.
Organizers are asking that scarecrows be left up through the Halloween festivities on Oct. 31. For more information, call Winona Main Street at 662-283-4828.
Vaiden Baptist Church will have its harvest festival from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28. There will be a trunk or treat, games, a men’s chili cook-off, cake walk, dunking booth and more. Proceeds from the event will go toward the church’s children’s ministry.
Also, on the Oct. 28, Moore Memorial will have its annual trunk or treat on Magnolia Street that will be followed by a light supper in the Family Life Center.
On Halloween night, multiple events are planned. There are trunk or treat events planned for Winona, Kilmichael, Vaiden and Carrollton.
In Winona, a community harvest festival and trunk or treat is planned and will feature approximately 120 trunks filled with candy. Small Town Hotdogs will give away free hotdogs for those 13 and under. North Winona Baptist will give away popcorn, and First Baptist Church will give away sno-cones. Businesses from around Winona will also have booths set up along Front Street with games and other activities.
The event, organized by Calbrina Woods, will be the first fall event Winona has held in a few years. Woods said with the recent school consolidation and the closing of Walmart, she wanted to do something that brought the community together and promoted fellowship with one another.
“This will be an excellent fellowship. Churches usually have their own private trunk or treat, and I thought why not bring it together,” she said. “It gives churches and businesses a way to reach out to the community.”
Woods said when she began reaching out to businesses, churches and non-profit organizations to help with the idea, the response was overwhelming.
“It’s bigger than I expected. I didn’t realize there was such a need,” she said. “I went around to ask if would they participate, and I was told ‘This is what we’ve been waiting for, this is something Winona has been waiting for.’”
Businesses and non-profits will set up tables along North Front Street from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., where children will be able to play games and win prizes. Woods said there will also be hay rides and bounce houses for the kids to enjoy.
At 7 p.m., children will be able to go from trunk to trunk collecting all the candy they can as cars will be parked along Summit Street. Woods said there will be also be a contest for the best decorated trunk. The winner will receive a trophy and bragging rights throughout the year.
“The trophy will rotate from year to year,” she said, adding that the trophies were donated by Modern Woodmen of the World.
There’s no cost to set up a booth or have a trunk. In order to participate in the trunk or treat, cars must be parked by 6 p.m.
Kilmichael’s trunk or treat will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the square, and the Christmas on the Square committee will have concessions.
Vaiden’s trunk of treat will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Lee Street.
In Duck Hill, there will be a trick or treating curfew at 8 p.m.
In Carrollton, there will be a trunk or treat beginning at 5:30 p.m.
“Folks get together and have trunk or treat at the courthouse or at the Baptist Church and decorate their cars,” Carrollton Mayor Pam Lee said.
Pretty-N-Pink, a local dance team, will host a haunted house that will be open Oct. 27, 29 and 31. The haunted house will take place at the team’s dance studio on North Applegate, next to Angel’s Beauty Supply. Admission is $5 per person and proceeds will go toward the upkeep of the studio.
