Hundreds Of Halloween Goblins Haunt Main Street

By John Voket

Besides the occasional burned out jack ’o lanterns and a few wispy strings of cotton spider web adorning the homes and bushes along Main Street, you’d almost never know thousands of goodie grabbing goblins had returned for yet another Halloween circuit the night before.

But the layers of leaves that blanketed many of the walkways along Newtown’s historic avenue late in the afternoon of October 31 were pulverized into a fine brown powder by the next morning, testament to the throngs that flocked to the homes and businesses for treats.

The sight of a handful of costumed children moving from home to home around sunset gave way to massive crowds burgeoning along the sidewalks on and around Main and South Main, with the bulk of visiting trick-or-treaters concentrating their efforts between police headquarters and Hillbrow, or as it was commonly referred to by passersby, “the Spider House,” near the intersection of Main Street and Currituck Road.

That location was definitely the focal point on the north end of the Halloween route, as the Mulligan family once again displayed its talents for special effects, inviting lines of visitors in for some hometown spooking while those waiting patiently outside were thrilled by the giant six-foot spider that belched smoke and lunged at the gathered throng every few minutes.

At the new The Dana-Holcombe House B&B across from the flagpole, owners John and Jane Vouros opted to hand out raffle tickets instead of treats. And the winner, holding ticket number 448306 can claim the prize, a complimentary overnight stay.

By about 8:15 pm, the crowds had thinned to a few packs of mostly older but well-behaved adolescents who seemed more preoccupied with their dates than with boxes of Raisinettes or bite-sized chocolates that were distributed by the thousands during the previous three hours.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal and his wife, Michelle, counted 1,550 visitors, roughly 500 an hour to their home adjacent to the war memorial, and just south of the flagpole, Gordon Williams said he distributed about 1,350 treats and only a few tricks.

Smack dab in the center of all the fun, Halloween revelers got to briefly visit with not one but two local dentists, not to mention the tooth fairy, who distributed toothbrushes instead of candy to both current and future patients. The Newtown General Store was all aglow as employees there handed out small bags of chips, sharing space with Newtown GOP representatives who took advantage of the opportunity to remind local parents about the upcoming elections.

One local church took up temporary residence on the lawn at Edmond Town Hall hosting children’s games and a blaring day-glow puppet show that generated a number of complaints for its religious overtones, according to town hall staffers and the first selectman’s office.

But all in all, another Halloween passed without any significant incidents. Witnesses that plodded through the leafy powder on Main Street early Tuesday morning were challenged to find an errant candy wrapper or strand of toilet paper to remind them of the ghostly crowds that roamed the walkways and byways the night before.