The city is calling this the “Center Street Trick or Treat,” but because I’m picky about these things, I gotta wonder where, how and when any “tricks” will be involved here. Regardless, the city is promising local businesses and organizations are going to be manning tents and tables between 9 a.m. and noon Saturday, Oct. 23, at Mary Kyle Hartson Square Park to provide a safe environment for costumed kiddos of all ages to load their Halloween bags with treats and for the curious older folks to get a preview of the improvements being added to the park.
And this is only one of the Halloween-related events the city is sponsoring, many of which you can participate in without ever leaving your home. All you need is email and a camera.
The park event will also include age-appropriate pumpkin decorating (pre-decorated pumpkins are not eligible) and costume contests. The costume contest will be judged at 10 a.m. Pumpkins and paints will be provided for anyone up to the age of 18 who wishes to participate in the pumpkin decorating contest. The decorated pumpkins will be judged at 11:30 a.m. Each contest will award first, second, and third prizes in three categories: for those 6-years-old and under, those between the ages of 7 and 12, and for those between 13 and 18.
In addition, the Parks and Recreation Department will award a prize for the best Halloween-themed tent. Any vendors wishing to participate can find more information and registration forms here.
The city says it is expecting up to 2,000 “trick or treaters” to attend the Mary Kyle Hartson Square Park festivities and it appears, judging by the layout the city is providing to potential vendors, Burleson Street between Center and Miller streets will be closed to vehicular traffic during the event.
The city did not say who will be judging the various contests. (Updated 1:40 p.m. Thursday: A city spokesperson said today “The city Parks and Recreation Board members and Parks and Recreation Department staff members will be the judges of all the contests.”) It also did not shed any light on who will be giving the event’s “opening remarks,” which will include a self-congratulatory description of the park’s improvements, at 9:30 a.m., but it did provide advance warning that someone will.
But, wait, there’s more — four additional Halloween-related contests and a Halloween-type movie, to be exact.
First, the movie. That will be take place sundown Friday, Oct. 15, at Lake Kyle, and no, it will not feature any one of the myriad Halloween films — c’mon, this is supposed to be a family affair. The city says the film will be The Addams Family, but I’m still trying to pin down whether it’s going to be the 1991 live-action feature starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd, or the animated film from 2019, neither of which, to be perfectly frank, will ever make any critic’s best holiday films lists. (Updated at 1:40 p.m. Thursday: Turns out it’s going to be the animated one.)
Then there’s the contests, which include one to humiliate your pet as well as another to do the same thing to yourself or someone you care about.
All you need to do to participate in the pet costume contest is to take a picture of your pet looking absolutely foolish is some kind of costume and then email that photo, with the words “2021 PARD Pet Costume Contest” in the email’s subject line and the pet’s name, owner’s contact information and a brief narrative explaining why your subjected your beloved companion to this degradation and send it to agarcia@cityofkyle.com no later than 5 p.m. Friday. Winners will be notified by 5 p.m. Tuesday.
For the human version of the same contest, do exactly the same thing (except, if the photo is of one person, include that person’s age in the body of the email) and send it to the same address, except this time put the words “PARD 2021 Costume Contest” in the subject line and email it anytime before 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1. Winners will be notified 5 p.m. Nov. 3. Prizes will be awarded in three categories: 5-years-old and under, ages 6 to 17, and 18 and older.
The final two contests involve decorating pumpkins and yards. To enter the pumpkin carving and decorating contest, carve and/or otherwise decorate a pumpkin and email a photograph of said pumpkin to that same email address, this time with the words “PARD 2021 Pumpkin Contest” in the subject line, and the participant’s or organization's name, contact information and an explanation of the theme or back story behind your entry no later than 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17. Winners will be notified by 4 p.m. Oct. 20. And to participate in that final contest, again simply email a picture of your decorated yard, again to that same address, with “PARD 2021 Yard Decorating Contest” in the subject line and that same information and narrative in the body no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22. Winners in this event will be notified by 4 p.m. Oct. 27.
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