A Halloween encore
Popular community holiday event in Oak Lawn returns, with a few modifications
For the past few years, the Oak Lawn Park District has been carving out an evening in October to pack the pavilion at the Wolfe Wildlife Refuge with Halloween enthusiasts for a bit of pumpkin-carving, a bonfire with s’mores, candy and costumes.
This year, the packing partwas out of the question. But the Park District, determined to uphold a beloved tradition and give families something safe to do to celebrate Halloween, made some modifications to once again hold its Costumes, Pumpkins, & Candy, OhMy! program.
“We’ve had tomake all kinds of changes,” Recreation Supervisor ScottGray said.
First and foremost, the program last week was limited to 20 children and their families at the pavilion at 109th Street and Laramie Avenue. But it sold out so fast that Gray said the Park District added a second date the night before, with another 20 families keeping to their own picnic tables for most of the festivities.
While the event also offered crafts and candy, families spent the bulk of their time both evenings carvingpumpkins. Many also wore costumes to celebrate the holiday a little early, such as the Bettcher family, of Oak Lawn, who had a Pokemon theme going. Emily Bettcher said as this year’s Halloween is going to be undeniably different from years prior. She wanted to make sureher family could findsomethings to keep it fun while being safe. The Park District event checked all of those boxes.
“We came out last year for it, and it’s a
really fun event,” she said. “I knew this one was going to be spaced and outdoors, so that was why we picked this.”
Gray said that has been a constant refrain from families regarding Park District events in 2020.
“The outside events have been very popular,” he said. “The community is definitely wanting to get outside and do fun stuff again but do it safely.”
The first evening, families were unfortunately denied one of the other main attractions of the event. The bonfire had to be canceled because aRed FlagWarning that meant an increased risk of fire damage. But everyonewas still senthomewith the s’mores kits to enjoy the treats later, Gray said.
Participants who attended Oct. 15 had better luck, as volunteer Bill Palka stoked a bonfire alongside the pavilion, cautioned participants about the direction of the wind, and helped newbies with their marshmallow-roasting techniques. They were invited to come over at various times to keep a crowd from congregating around the fire.
Palka said helping out events like this has been a nice thing to do during the pandemic.
“This is my fun in life right now,” he said. “Helping the little kids out is fun.”
His wife, Sue, is a master gardener and master naturalistwhohas beenworking with the Park District’s special events for roughly a decade. She said it has been great to be out again and working events like this after a break fromactivities.
“I missed all the kids and my co-workers,” she said. “I was so pleased we could work around the COVID regulations.”