Halloween Parade 2009
Long before the Halloween Parade takes place, works are in
motion to insure a good time and safe time for the children who come to march
in the parade. The permit to use
Legion Park and close the streets for the parade is submitted. Letters are sent to neighbors whose
parking will be restricted on the day of the parade, and then “No Parking”
signs are purchased and posted the day before the parade. Flyers are distributed to the schools
and local papers, and neighborhood churches are notified about the
details. Many thanks to Ray Meyer
for getting the flyers printed up and to ALCOSAN for providing the candy bags
(for years and years!).
Gert Long, Pete & Joan Bellisario, and Jill McGlothlin
had the most fun picking out the toys and candy and hauling them back to
Brighton Heights to store until the parade. Tim McGlothlin even helped us transport the van full of
candy and snacks.
The candy packing party took place on Thursday, October 29th
at the Senior Center on McClure Ave.
Sixteen volunteers counted out candy and snacks and packed bags for the
parade. Kudos to our packing
volunteers: Bill & Sandy
Lazzara, Tom & Mary Ann Kaylor, Janice & Roy Engelman, Pete & Joan
Bellisario, Jill McGlothlin, Gert Long, Irene Jacubowski, Ray Meyer, Ron Lindow,
Jess Mooney, Allison Notaro, and Donna Kramer. Tom Kaylor stored the loaded candy bags for us in his truck
until the day of the parade.
Although the threats of harder rain kept participation in
this years’ parade lower than usual, Judy Bendtsen and Jo Harding registered
the 125 hardy children who didn’t mind marching in the light rain. Peggy Urzua handled registration of new
members, and although she didn’t get any takers that day, she was a great
advertisement for the enthusiasm of the Brighton Heights Board of Directors. Perhaps we will get some new
registrations sent in the mail.
Jill McGlothlin took pictures of each of the children in their costumes. She put them on the web site, so be
sure to check it out.
While they waited for the parade to start, the children were
entertained by the giant puppets of our neighbor Cheryl Capezzuti, and they
were manned by Brooke Zangaro, Julia Partridge, and new Brighton Heights
neighbor Dan. These are the same puppets that appear
all over the city for various events and downtown for First Night every year.
The Pittsburgh Police and the County Mounties led the parade. We were lucky to have the Junior ROTC
from Oliver High School brave the rain to march with the children again this
year. Our banner carriers were:
Shon Kelley, Braydon Haun, Jeffrey Reese, and Kalil Reeves.
Our Judges for the day of the parade were Dan Keller, Rita
Meyer, and Jessica Mooney. It’s a
tough job to pick out 15 winners from all the wonderful costumes that come to
the parade, but they worked hard to come up with a list. …and the winners are:
# 1 City
of Champions Float Timothy, Isabella, Anthony, & Alaina
Kunsak
# 2 Vending
Machine
Jaelyn Porter
# 3 Elvis
& his backup Singers
Anja, Nika, and Katya Michlik
# 4 Olive
Trinity Bowker
# 5 Bus
Kalil Reeves
# 6 Cupcake
Maria Swab
# 7 Pumpkin
Alyssa Strosnider
# 8 Medusa
Lucia Lazzara-Goodrich
# 9 Kitty
Cat & Witch
Kiley & Alectra McNeal
# 10 Fireman,
Dalmatian &
Fire Hydrant
Zachary Schmitt, Mykela Conners, &
Serenity Chretzler
# 11 Police
Car
Travis Novotny
# 12 Frog
Prince
Niko Kunsak
# 13 Spider
Victim
Julia Steele
# 14 Geisha
Girl
Elizabeth Wells
# 15 Lightening
Bug
Kaci Pail
Working hard to get all the toys and candy bags set up in
Legion Park and then give out the candy and toys were more volunteers: Gert Long, Irene Jacubowski, Ray Meyer,
Brendan Cloonan (who used his truck to transport the toys to Legion Park for us
and helped set up the tents to keep the toys out of the rain), and Jeanne
Buchmann who also helped get the number tags off the children as they came to
claim their prizes.
View photos from 2009 Halloween Parade
View photos from 2008 Halloween Parade
View photos from 2007 Halloween Parade
View photos from 2006 Halloween Parade
