Marion County Library gives community a night of fright
Oct. 31—FAIRMONT — From Ghostbusters to chickens, Fairmont families dressed up and flocked to downtown Saturday night for the library's Halloween Bash.
Monroe Street was packed with cars and trunks full of candy for kids of all ages to come and enjoy a safe environment for trick-or-treating as part of the Marion County Library System's annual party.
This year's celebration took on a bit of a new look from previous years. In order to provide parents and kids with a COVID-conscious environment, the library teamed up with the Tygart Valley United Way and Main Street Fairmont to expand the event and offer a bigger experience.
"The past few years we decided to turn [the bash] into more of a street carnival atmosphere," said Christian Cox, the library's children program coordinator. "We teamed up with the United Way and Main Street to accommodate more people because we outgrew the library."
Main Street Fairmont provided the library help with securing the street for the evening. They also offered use of the old downtown fire station — where students from Fairmont State University's Academy for the Arts performed various Halloween songs.
The United Way reached out to organizations and nonprofits who sent representatives to hand out candy and set up games for the kids to play. Organizations such as Family Services, the Soup Opera, and NECCO all had a presence at the event.
The city's first responders also made an appearance. Fairmont Fire Department had their ladder truck out on the street and were letting the kids climb inside the cabin. The Marion County Rescue Squad and the Fairmont Police were also handing out candy.
Michelle Peters with Family Services parked her car on the street and gave out sweets while her two kids ran about grabbing goodies of their own.
"It's a really nice event, getting to see all the cool costumes and my kids are enjoying it too," Peters said. "This is my second year doing this event. It's good to get out and share with the community what our organization does."
For many parents, controlled trunk-or-treat events are the only way their smaller children can experience Halloween. Tedd Taylor had his son and daughter out for the evening.
His son Owen was dressed as a knight and his daughter Emerson was dressed as a princess. Taylor said with the two kids being so young, trunk-or-treat events are a lot safer than going door-to-door.
"This is something nice to get out of the house with the kids, and they definitely seem to enjoy it," Taylor said. "They're at the age now where they could go [door-to-door], but a few years ago this kind of setup was ideal."
The library's events Saturday night weren't limited to just candy and games, but also puppet shows and a haunted house put on by the local high school students.
Taylor said he and his family come to the library for its programming all the time. Drawing more families into the library to take advantage of what it has to offer is a major part of why events like this are put together.
"The library is very much a part of the community and we really try to show that," Cox said. "We try to show the community that we're here for them and have so much to offer."
Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.
