Charles City turns out for a record breaking Spookwalk

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

Hundreds of kids paraded through Riverfront Trail on Monday, Oct. 28, for the 29th annual Spookwalk.

Organized by Main Street Charles City, this year’s theme for the Spookwalk was “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charles City,” challenging participating groups to come up with a Peanuts-inspired stop.

“It went really really well,” said Community Development Director Mark Wicks. “We had a huge crowd and everybody seemed to have a good time.”

The annual Halloween event saw a record number of 33 treat stations lined up along the trail, eager to distribute goodies to all the trick-or-treaters coming through.

Spookwalk mainstays like the Charles City Fire Department and Comprehensive Systems were there, alongside new participants like All About Cheesesteaks, Cedar River Pizza, Beard and Beauty Bar, Nightmare Authentics, and State Farm Insurance.

“It’s exciting,” said Wicks. “It shows what a tremendous community event this is.”

The free event started at 4:30 p.m. with a line stretching all the way to City Hall and beyond as families waited for their turn to go through. Wicks estimates 1,100 children and 3,000 people overall came out for the Spookwalk.

“A lot of parents were wearing costumes too, so everybody was having fun with it,” said Wicks.

Of course, beyond just handing out candy there’s a competitive element to the Spookwalk.

Earning bragging rights for the year with the Best Overall award was Floyd County Medical Center.

Hy-Vee was recognized for being on theme with the Best Use of Theme award while Zoetis won the Most Creative award.

Mayor’s Choice went to Pizza Ranch, President’s Choice went to First Citizens Bank, and McDonald’s was the kids’ favorite with the Kids’ Choice award.

Other than a bit of Halloween wind harassing some of the inflatable decorations, Wicks says the night went smoothly thanks to all of the community support.

Along with each participating station bringing their own decorations and goodies, the Spookwalk also benefited from Perry Novak Electric donating a generator for the light and a donation of pumpkins from Reiff’s Farmstand, which were carved into jack-o-lanterns by the Llost Llamas 4-H group.

Beyond that, nearly two dozen committee members and volunteers came together to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be.

“We had tremendous volunteer support tonight,” said Wicks. “Which just makes things easier for everybody.”