Thousands turn out for Halloween events

By Sarah Cavacini and Brandon D. Oliver

Droves of people, most of them in costume, embraced spooky season Tuesday as they attended Halloween events in Crescent City and Palatka.

Although traditional trick-or-treating in Putnam County took place from 6–8 p.m., Halloween festivities kicked off earlier in the afternoon in Palatka. Boo on the Avenue, an annual event where children traverse St. Johns Avenue in downtown Palatka to receive candy from businesses in the area, occurred from 3–5 p.m. After that finished, families walked one block over to the Palatka riverfront, where the Palatka Police Department hosted its eighth annual Trunk or Treat from 5–8 p.m.

Police Chief Jason Shaw said more people have attended Trunk or Treat since its inception, but the numbers skyrocketed once the event was moved from the Palatka Mall parking lot.

“One big thing has been moving it down to the riverfront so you don’t have to travel after Boo on the Avenue,” Shaw said during Trunk or Treat. “And it puts everything in one central location. Our reasoning behind it was finding a way to have safe trick-or-treating for the city.”

Shaw said traditional trick-or-treating has waned over the years, partially because of safety concerns. So the city of Palatka wanted to have an event to provide a fun and safe trick-or-treating event, he said.

With Boo on the Avenue and Truck or Treat happening in the same area of the city, Shaw said, families could maximize their time at the two Halloween events. And for everyone’s peace of mind, he said, there were law enforcement and emergency services workers throughout downtown to ensure safety.

Before Trunk or Treat began – and well into the event – there was a line of people leading from the riverfront to about halfway down the 100 block of St. Johns Avenue. Shaw felt confident this year’s attendance would be higher than in previous years.

“We did over 800 in the first 45 minutes,” Shaw said. “We usually (have) over 3,000 people every year. I’m almost positive we’ll surpass that just by the number we did in the first 45 minutes.”

Shaw said Palatka’s Trunk or Treat got so popular that it branched out into South Putnam.

The city of Crescent City and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office hosted the third annual Trunk or Treat at the former Middle Middle School in the city’s downtown.

Kids and their families – many of whom dressed as princesses, superheroes, clowns and more –  lined Prospect Street for hours to grab candy. Sheriff Gator DeLoach said he couldn’t even count how many children walked the street to go trick-or-treating.

“You know, the looks on these kids’ faces is priceless to me,” DeLoach said.

The sheriff’s office brought its large Humvee truck for the kids to see, and the agency’s K-9 officer Jaegor got in on the fun by dressing as Robin from the movies, TV shows and comics.

Community organizations decked out their vehicles with blow-up decorations and got in the spirit with themes like Toy Story. A group of people later broke out into the Thriller dance from Michael Jackson’s 1983 music video to keep the festivities going.

Events like the one in Crescent City are all about the kids, DeLoach said, and giving them a chance to forget the cares of the world and have a great time.

“What we want to do is we want to provide a safe environment like you see here, where families can come together and just be carefree, worry-free, on a fun family evening,” DeLoach said. “We love to support programs like this. It’s something we’re very passionate about.”