Wow. Just wow. The Halloween Parade Reboot was spectacular; an example of community-wide collaboration at its finest. Starting in September with a call to Officer Larry Brown and then Jen, BHML Children’s Coordinator, going door to door to the downtown businesses to see who’s “in” for the parade, the event got its bones back after a two year pandemic pause.
With the downtown businesses excited for a reboot, we got even more excited to add in a trunk or treat section. Our neighbor Bath Savings Bank enthusiastically agreed to turn over some parking spots. We hollered at a few organizations and businesses to if they’d like to participate: the American Legion Post 36 signed on, and First National Bank, Hannaford’s agreed, and Newcastle Reality came and brought Action for Animals into the fold, Sue Burge recruited Big Al, and Alyssa Allen looped in the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service. It was really something to see the chain reaction, very quickly the trunk-or-treat spots we’d planned for were filled!
And since the library closed on Mondays, why not haunt it? Jen and Bethany recruited LEGO and Gaming Clubbers to create dozens of Halloween decorations from bats to tombstones to weird little LEGO creatures. Girls Who Code club produced spooky animations that visitors could peer through a crack watch for a fright. At the library the weeks preceding the parade were messy with paint and cardboard from Halloween maker-space sessions. Harolyn and the volunteers could barely hear at the circulation desk over raucous sounds of the tasked young artists. I previewed a few scary animations by Girls Who Code members and then had to sleep with the light on.
On the morning of the parade, we decorated with props and items loaned from Slick’s Boutique, Bonnie Ginger, and Betsy Dunton, and all the Halloween maker-space decorations the clubbers produced. Abby Dunlap, Barbara Scorcia, and Elaine Ricci came to help us set up. At 2:30 Imij, Gretchen, and Chris Armstead swooped in for action.
For 3:00 we had Beetlejuice roaming the library and a creepy little bunny. Desiree Scorcia and Anna Rogers haunted the stacks as a soulless moaning remote worker and a dead fairy, respectively. The Children’s Room was festive, but sane, and Pam Utley read barely spooky stories to little ones and the fright-adverse. Lisa and Ben with the Boothbay Region Chamber of Commerce served cider on the lawn, and finally at 4:00 pm the parade began, led by Jen Betts and Meg Donaldson (or: a penguin and a unicorn).
The Boothbay Region Police Department kept the route safe. Townsend Avenue businesses from Two Salty Dogs down to First Methodist Church passed out a bazillion pieces of pieces of candy to a thousand costumed residents and visitors from neighboring towns. This was the biggest parade yet! A heartfelt thank you to all of those who made it happen, and to all those who came. It was quite a show! We can’t wait until next year.
Sincerely,
The Library
TL;DR
Thank you so much: Library Club Kids (you know who you are), Bath Savings Bank, American Legion, Action for Animals, Newcastle Realty, First National Bank, Hannafords, Big Al, Boothbay Region Chamber of Commerce, Boothbay Region Police Department, Boothbay Region Ambulance Service, Slick’s Boutique, Bonnie Ginger, Elaine Ricci, Abby Dunlap, Barbara & Desiree Scorcia, The Armstead Family, Anna Rogers, Betsy Dunton, Pam Utley, all of the downtown businesses and the paraders that make day!
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Biergarten
October 13, 2022 
