COSTUMED CRUSADERS
Group spreads Halloween cheer every day from Clintonville corner
As a cyclist rode through the intersection of Milton Avenue and West North Broadway in Clintonville one evening last week, she couldn’t help but laugh at what she saw on the sidewalk. A gorilla was playing bagpipes while someone else had a plastic television on her head. A raven conversed with what looked like a tiara-wearing beauty queen. h “We’re saving Halloween,” shouted Sarah Reinhart, who donned the tiara along with a tulle skirt and pink wig.
Preserving the spirit of the ghoulish holiday — despite what else the pandemic may have canceled this year — was the precise mission of the costumed group gathered on the busy street.
The brainchild of Brenda Arnold, dressed that evening as what she called a “rockabilly bride of Frankenstein,” the scene has unfolded similarly – albeit with different characters – every weeknight this month and will continue through Oct. 30.
Arnold, 58, loves Halloween. October is her birth month and she’s always been a fan of the macabre.
But even more, she said, she adores her community.
Arnold has lived in the house, which she decorates with skeletons yearround, on the southeast corner of Milton and West North Broadway for almost three decades. The thought of neighborhood children not experiencing trick-ortreat to the fullest because of COVD-19 saddened her.
And she knew that everyone, no matter their age, could use a pick-me-up these days.
“Halloween is not divisive,” Arnold said. “We just wanted to be a bit absurd and get out there and wave.”
Dressed as a clown on Oct. 1, Arnold went out onto the sidewalk to shout “Happy Halloween” from 5:30 to 6:30 to anyone who would listen. She was joined by a few friends that first night and now she’ll typically have about a half dozen others with her each weeknight during that hour, depending on the weather.
“It will happen even in the rain, snow, sleet, alien abduction – we’ll be here,” said Arnold.
Longtime friend Doug Yost has been there most nights, whether he’s come dressed as Wendy (of fast-food fame), Frankenstein, a surfer or a police officer.
He’s not surprised that Arnold decided to try this stunt of four weeks of Halloween.
“I love her passion, her energy,” said Yost, who lives just a few streets over. “Whenever she does something, it’s just infectious.”
Plus, he said he couldn’t help but want to be a part of something so needed right now.
“Given what is going on around us, this does not have a political agenda,” Yost said. “We’re making people laugh on their way home from work.”
People honked last Friday as Yost, dressed as a police officer, chased two prisoners (the costumes were a coincidence). The beeps and hollers from passing cars were nearly constant throughout the hour.
Runners stared for a minute trying to decide what was going on before smiling with a friendly wave. Neighbors with children stopped by to say hello while songs from “Beetlejuice,” “Ghostbusters” and other ghost-filled movies played over a speaker.
Arnold and her festive Halloween gang toasted cocktails and cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon – something that Arnold said continues in the backyard most evenings – while the host shouted out public service announcements to passersby: “Wear your seatbelt!” “Wear your
mask!” “Vote!”
Michael Ranney and Greg Nutter, who live on the northwest corner of the intersection, watch the Halloween spectacle unfold from their front porch most nights.
“Brenda always livens up the neighborhood,” Ranney said. “She decided we
all needed uplifting.” “Especially this year,” Nutter added. Arnold, who hasn’t repeated a costume since starting the nightly events, insists this effort isn’t about her but rather the community’s willingness to come together to spread some Halloween cheer.
She’s had all sorts of friends and acquaintances come out of the woodwork to ensure that she doesn’t have to stand on the corner alone. Neighbors donated costumes to those who might want to participate but don’t have one.
The hour she spends out on the sidewalk each day – plus the time it takes to get into costume – is worth it for the reactions she’s getting from her fellow Clintonville residents and those driving through, she said.
“One mom, she drove her van around the block three or four times,” Arnold said. “One guy rolled down his window and yelled, ‘I had the (crappiest) day at work and you cheered me up.’” award@dispatch.com @Allisonaward