Halloween comes early at Great Pumpkin Celebration

ROUND LAKE – Unexpected snow flurries didn’t stop the line of eager trick-or-treaters and their families from stretching down the walkway and wrapping around the front of the building at the Round Lake Area Park District on Oct. 20.

Pint-sized police officers, princesses, dinosaurs and other Halloween creatures and characters happily braved the cold to attend the park district’s 22nd annual Great Pumpkin Celebration.

Sue Butler is the registration manager for the Round Lake Area Park District. She stands in the Robert W. Rolek Community Center on Oct. 20, wearing the same “Great Pumpkin Celebration” T-shirt she’s worn every year since the event’s inception and smiles at the line of trick-or-treaters slowing making their way through the chain of community businesses that have signed up to hand out candy.

“I’ve been here 32 years at the Park District and this is one of our favorite events,” she says. “It’s controlled trick-or-treating, so the children are safe. That’s what it’s about: keeping the children safe. No worries on the candy or anything.”

More than 20 local businesses and organizations create the trick-or-treat walk through the community center, handing out candy for the kids and flyers for the parents. Forest Orthodontics even threw in toothbrushes to fight any Halloween-induced cavities that might pop up when the spooky season draws to a close.

Three thousand guests attended the 2017 Great Pumpkin Celebration, and Butler speculated this year’s event should match that number.

Round Lake Area Park District Board Commissioner Christine Gentes stands off to the side of the community center, observing the crowd. For her, the Great Pumpkin Celebration holds sentimental value.

“My daughter who’s 28 years old used to come and trick or treat here,” she says.

Despite the cold, families are already climbing into the tractor-pulled hayride and exploring the outdoor maze erected near the park district’s aquatics building. Other families have wandered downstairs to participate in the games and other activities set up for them.

This year, the park district has transformed the Children’s Neighborhood Museum into a “not-so-scary” trick-or-treat walk: Families weave their way down the path, collecting candy from familiar villains from classic family movies, including Peter Pan’s nemesis Captain Hook, the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz” and “Sleeping Beauty”’s Maleficent.

The walk concluded with a special (and brief) live performance by the Sanderson Sisters from the Halloween cult classic “Hocus Pocus.” The “sisters” lip-synched the final verses to the film’s iconic musical number, “I Put a Spell on You,” originally sung by Bette Midler in the film.

A bounce house, temporary tattoo and face painting stations and carnival games round out the rest of the downstairs activities for the event.

Jessica Desens, park district recreation supervisor, has been running the Great Pumpkin Celebration for the past 20 years and says about $3,000 is spent each year on candy and prizes for the children. She tries to be conscious of any health factors that may prevent children from collecting the candy handed out on the trick-or-treat walks – both upstairs and downstairs – and makes sure to include something for everyone to enjoy.

“So there’s spider rings or pumpkin necklaces or safety pops for kids who are 3 and under,” she says. “I try to get every group involved so kids who are still under 3 can still come and have a good time. And kids who are older can still come and get their face painted or get a tattoo, so there’s something for everyone.”

The Great Pumpkin Celebration is the park district’s final fall event. Its winter series will begin with the Winter Wonder Walk on Dec. 1.