WEST CARLETON – Kinburn, Carp, Fitzroy Harbour, West Lake, Kinburn again, Carp again, everywhere you looked in West Carleton this weekend there were ghouls, goblins, witches and zombies. Mostly they were pretty cute.

The beautiful thing about celebrating Hallowe’en on a Thursday (Oct. 31) is you will probably get to celebrate Hallowe’en a few times the weekend before too. In West Carleton there were tons of places and events to try out that Hallowe’en costume at. West Carleton Online visited five Hallowe’en events over the weekend and got help from a correspondent to cover one more.

Saturday morning (Oct. 26) West Carleton Online dropped by the last Carp Farmers’ Market of the regular season (more on that in an upcoming story) and it was also the market’s annual Hallowe’en Party. On top of the great products produced by the vendors, stalls were giving out candy to kids dressed in costume, and there were plenty.

“Last year my neighbouring vendor bought a box of 50 bags of chips,” Saucy B Sauces’ Bahareh Tabrizi told West Carleton Online from the mayhem. “Last year she had leftovers. This year they were all gone in an hour.”

The market hosts a haunted house that is now a 24-year tradition created by Rosanna and Victoria Salter.

The weather was beautiful, and it was a great day to visit the market.

“It’s insane,” market manager Ennio Marcantonio said. “There are kids everywhere. They’re having a great time. The costumes are really, really nice. Parents have spent a lot of time.”

A popular costume, at the market at least, seemed to be that of the Baby Shark.

“As long as they don’t play the song, we’re good,” Marcantonio said.

Just a bit down the road is the West Lake community, a small neighbourhood just off McGee Side Road near Carp Road.

Every year since 2011 the community has hosted a Hallowe’en parade.

“No one comes around here for Hallowe’en so we decided to do our own thing,” Tabrizi told West Carleton Online.

The event is organized by resident Tammy Scantlebury. Kids dress up in costume, and as a group, travel around the road where neighbours are out with their candy at the end of their driveways. The parents go for the walk as well and enjoy “adult treats.”

“Someone always volunteers to host a potluck afterwards,” Tabrizi said.

Later Saturday evening, there were two parties to hit – the annual Fitzroy Harbour Hallowe’en Party and the Kinburn Community Association Hallowe’en Dance.

In Fitzroy Harbour, Anna Hutchinson and Kim Heydt have been organizing the popular party for the last five or six years. It’s an event for all ages with crafts, games, treats and prizes for the kids and a bar for the adults.

This year the organizers brought the NGB Nerf Battles Glowsport to the party.

“We tried it this year and I think we’ll do it again,” Hutchinson told West Carleton Online from a very loud community centre floor.

Hutchinson says they have a lot of fun organizing the event.

“We both have really young kids,” she said. “They love it and we love it. We’ve been doing this for the last five or six years. Kim and I are great friends and were neighbours. We just love to get the community together.”

Hutchinson says they wouldn’t be able to organize it without the support of the community and the Fitzroy Harbour Community Association.

“We just get so much support from the FHCA,” Hutchinson said. “And it’s a way for us to give back to the community.”

Hutchinson says they have about 20 volunteers helping out including some students from West Carleton Secondary School.

In Kinburn the dance was also a hit. The Kinburn Community Association had a DJ spinning tunes but many of the young kids preferred to play dodgeball in the hall, taking a brief break to pose for a photo.

There was no time for a Hallowe’en hangover on Sunday (Oct. 27) because there were still things to do.

The Parish of Huntley’s sixth annual Pumpkin Carving event was a great way to spend Sunday afternoon. There were about 10 kids working on their Jack o’ Lanterns when West Carleton Online dropped by. Young organizer Shayna Puchalo said, “it’s going well.”

The event used to be held in the evening, but organizers decided to change the time to shortly after the Anglican church’s Sunday service.

“It started as a church thing and grew in to a community thing,” Puchalo told West Carleton Online. “It’s just a time to get together, be creative and have some fun.”

Back in Kinburn later that afternoon the fourth annual Kinburn Trunk or Treat was taking place. Kinburn community members gather in the parking lot of the Kinburn Community Centre and park in a bit of a circle. Residents decorate their cars and provide treats for the neighbourhood kids.

The kids go car-to-car filling up their loot bag. This year they had to battle a touch of rain, but water does nothing to dampen a sweet tooth. West Carleton Online was unable to attend but did get an on-site report from organizer Heidi Greer.

“Everything went great yesterday,” Greer told West Carleton Online today (Oct. 28). “Even with the rain we had a great turn out with approximately 50 kids in attendance. This year the event was organized by myself and Debra Barrett and raised funds for the West Carleton Skating Club, a non profit organization.”

The team also got an assist from the Kinburn fire department.

“Our local fire department Station 61 attended this year again as well which is always a big hit with the kids,” Greer said. “We are still calculating proceeds raised however it was a great turn out and successful event.”