More than 70 children visited The Free Public Library of Monroe Township for its annual Halloween parade on Oct 28.
Due to COVID-19, the parade was held outside, with children spaced safely apart while wearing masks and facial coverings.
“We normally do the parade inside … The staff members would be all around the library and the kids would walk around the library in their costumes,” said Katrina Hauserman, the children’s librarian. “But with the pandemic, unfortunately, we tried to change it up a little bit. We wanted to do something for the kids and still keep with the parade idea.
The children were asked to find a colored popsicle stick to stand on. Library Director Samantha Snyder spent the morning of the 28th setting sticks up 7 feet apart to keep everyone at a safe distance.
Children of all ages were invited to attend and were encouraged to wear their best Halloween costume. Some parents also got into the spirit of things with their own spooky shirts.
“We (had) a lot of kids, ages 1 to 13. We even invited teens,” Hauserman said. “If parents want to come and dress up too, the more the merrier.”
Participants held out their bags and buckets to receive all sorts of Halloween treats, including goldfish and pretzel snacks, easy crafts and candy.
“We put all the candy in a Ziplock bag,” Hauserman noted. “We got a paper bag where we put all crafty things inside for kids to do. So it’s not just candy.
“We tried to think of older kids and younger kids. We tried to do a variety of different things because we know not everyone celebrates Halloween.”
The next library event will include a new take-home bag for children who can go to the library to pick up their kit. Each one will include a stuff-your-own stuffed animal from Noah’s Ark Animal Workshop.
For more information about the library or other events, visit http://monroetpl.org or check out their Facebook page.
