Charles City’s Spookwalk 2020 to be a drive-thru event on Oct. 29

To The Press

The COVID-19 pandemic has scared off a lot of public events in 2020, but Charles City’s annual Spookwalk for children and families is not one of them.

The free Halloween-themed event will take place from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29. It will just have a different look and feel this year.

“Instead of walking along a decorated riverfront trail from treat station to treat station, we will have a drive-thru event to try and provide some social distancing and limited person-to-person contact,” said Community Development Director Mark Wicks.

“We wanted to provide a way for the kids to have some fun and enjoy Halloween, while at the same time do so in a safe manner during these crazy times,” he said. “This way children and families can remain safely in their vehicles yet still get to enjoy the sights and receive a treat bag at the end.”

The Spookwalk drive-thru route will be along North Jackson Street to Central Park, from North Main to Blunt. That three-block stretch will be closed to regular traffic from 5-7:30 p.m. and become one-way for this event.

“The plan is to have vehicles enter from North Main by the bridge and slowly drive through a gauntlet of costumed creatures, displays and decorations,” Wicks said. “At the end of the route each child in the vehicle (ages 12 and under) will receive a free bag of treats donated by all of the participating businesses and organizations.”

Vehicles are asked to only go through one time.

Before or after the drive-thru, children are being invited to also stop by the local assisted living and nursing home facilities to show off their costumes to the residents there by walking past the front windows.

Due to COVID-19 precautions, children will not be able to go inside the facilities, but if they walk past the front between 5:30-7:30 p.m. they will receive a treat from the staff. The addresses of those facilities will be included in the treat bags that the children will receive at the drive-thru Spookwalk event.

As part of the Spookwalk fun leading up to the event there will be a coloring contest at the preschools and a Candy Jar Guessing Game in the elementary schools.

Homes and businesses in town are also being encouraged to decorate for the season and to let Community Revitalization know prior to Oct. 29th to be included in a listing of places for the public to drive by and enjoy.

“Keep watching for additional information on a soon-to-be-launched Spookwalk Facebook Event page,” Wicks said.

He said businesses and organizations that usually participate by hosting treat stations with costumed characters are being encouraged to do so this year as well. The difference is they won’t be handing out treats themselves and the route will be along North Jackson Street and Central Park rather than along the riverfront recreational trail.

“We hope to get as much display and costumed character participation as we can for the kids to enjoy, and with this format we can safely social distance,” said Wicks. “There is no fee to participate and with our ‘Classic Halloween’ theme this year businesses and groups are free to decorate however they like. Anyone interested in having a display or costumed characters participating is asked to please contact the Community Revitalization office.”

This marks the 25th year that Community Revitalization has organized the Spookwalk event. For more information, call (641) 228-2335 or email info@charlescitychsamber.com.

Community Revitalization is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization and Charles City’s Main Street Iowa program committed to making the community a better place to live, work and play.