Expect food and fun at Saturday's Linda Friend Memorial Spooktacular

From Halloween activities to bike giveaways and plenty of food and candy, hundreds of kids and their families will be heading to Aumiller Park from 3 to 6 p.m. on Saturday for the annual Linda Friend Memorial Spooktacular event.

According to Bucyrus City Service Safety Director Jeff Wagner, the event was founded by the late Linda Friend, who was part of the city employee’s union, AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees).

“Without Linda, Spooktacular would have never started,” Wagner said.

The event was held each year near the Bucyrus Fire Department but grew quickly.

“Spooktacular has grown tremendously over the years and is now held out at Aumiller Park,” said Shay Schnabel of AFSCME who works as a computer supervisor for the city’s utility department.

The event was relocated to the park in 2015.

“This will be my third year helping plan Spooktacular. I never had the opportunity to meet Linda Friend, but I have heard Spooktacular was near and dear to her,” said Schnabel. “When she started Spooktacular, it was held uptown in the Zeigler Electric parking lot. It was a perfect spot for local kids to walk there and have a fun and safe way to participate in some Halloween activities.”

He said this year surrounding communities are invited to join in the fun at Aumiller.

“We plan on feeding around 1,500 kids and parents this year. We will have lots of activities for all ages and lots of candy to be handed out,” said Schnabel. “Halloween is my favorite holiday so I would love to see everyone dressed up in their spookiest or cutest costume.”

A community event involving local businesses and county schools

Wagner said there are a lot of local businesses that occupy all the shelters, and all of the county schools now participate.

“I can’t wait to see how everyone is decorating their shelters and who will receive the traveling award for best decorated,” said Schnabel.

Wagner said the local AFSCME union is the driving force behind the event, along with WQEL Radio that promotes the golden pumpkin giveaway.

“There are numerous donations that are given to the AFSCME union. The AFSCME union will be giving away 12 bikes that you can register for a chance to win at the event. The pavilion will be the place to eat as we have numerous goodies,” said Wagner.

He said Spooktacular is a fun and positive event for families to attend during the Halloween season.

“We hear about the negativity in the world today, let the children and the adults have some fun. We need to thank all the sponsors and all the people that have volunteered to help with this event, without them it would not be possible,” said Wagner.

Schnabel said he hopes Linda Friend would be happy with how much the event has grown over the years.

“And how many happy kids there will be this Saturday,” said Schnabel.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Aumiller Park to transform for Linda Friend Memorial Spooktacular