OPINION: No tricks here, just a bunch of treats
Nov. 2—Norwalk is alive and well.
If you don't think so, you should have been here Saturday afternoon for the annual Halloween/Pet N Pup Parade.
The streets were packed with children young and old on a perfect fall afternoon.
The fun all started at Main Street School, where participants in the parade were judged.
At 2 p.m. sharp, a police car with flashing lights led the way down Main Street, followed by the Norwalk Middle School marching band.
After that, there were people and pets dressed up in everything from road cones to pumpkins to a dancer in a jewelry box. One lady had a little dog wearing a green jacket that said "I'm kind of a big dill."
On this day everybody was a big dill.
After the parade, children went up and down Main Street trick-or-treating. The sidewalks were packed for a couple of hours.
It was a great time for the merchants to open their doors and let people see what was inside.
At Suhr Family Park, there were stands were set up with crafts and all sorts of items. There was food and, of course, plenty of candy.
It's events like this that help this city shine.
The big three events each year are the Norwalk Lions Club Fourth of July Parade, the Halloween/Pen N Pup Parade and Light Up Norwalk on Thanksgiving weekend.
Norwalk Mayor Dave Light is the city's biggest cheerleader and he said days like Saturday make it all worth it.
"This is great," Light said with a big smile when the parade was over.
And he didn't want it to end, as he went around finding everybody involved in putting the day together.
Like the Fourth of July Parade and Light Up Norwalk, these are the times you have to shine.
There is plenty of bad news to go around — especially now with the election less than a week away and everybody taking their last cheap shots at each other. So when you have something good, you need to take advantage of it.
Jody and I set up shop in front of the Reflector office at 34 E. Main St. It wasn't long before we realized the 460 pieces of candy we had wasn't going to be enough. (Disclaimer: that number actually went down to about 455 before the event started because I had to make sure the candy was safe).
Before the event even started, Jody had to run up to Drug Mart for more candy, and I'm glad she did.
With that being said, I never realized they could make a candy bar so small.
You really can't call it a candy bar. I remember the old days when you had the regular candy bars for 5 cents and the giant candy bars for a dime. When you found a house with the giant candy bars it was like hitting the jackpot.
With another successful event in the books, it is time to look forward to Light Up Norwalk.
Come on down and take a look at what uptown Norwalk has to offer.
I think you will like what you see.
Joe Centers is Reflector community editor. He can be reached at jcenters@norwalkreflector.com.
