Halloween Festival Fills Village of Washingtonville

An Evening in the Busy Village of Washingtonville's Annual Display of Totally Crazy Witchingtonville Fun

McLaughlin Square was filled to capacity all evening, with several monsters

and a huge black cat guarding the area. Foggers filled the air with eerie smoke.

There were an incredible number of people along the streets and main

intersection. A lot of teenagers were celebrating big time. They and their parents have been asking for more things their teens can do for fun, and they really had just enough halloween whooping it up to make memories, but staying out of trouble and spending time with their besties. Others were over in the the new basketball court practicing their tosses and baskets. The whole downtown was just shy of a sea of people, and it says something about this Village that there were zero negative incidents, especially given the fog bursts when you could barely see in front of or behind you. A good time had by all.

An enormous purple wolf overlooked the crowds. His appearance was

a perfect mix of scary and beautiful.

Something for everyone

Guilty Pleasures had plenty of their famous cider donuts and cheesecakes

Several men showed off their amazing Strength, and some adorable

young boys and girls did their best, though most could barely lift

the hammer. But Gabe gave the young ones pep talks, (picture below) and it turned

out that hangin' out with a guy who looked like an Astronaut was very cool...

maybe even better than ringing a bell with a hammer. The pic above

was probably the strongest of the adult contestants.

The giant black cat says "It's all fun...as long as you behave.

Three more beautifully designed monsters

Nope, not a pretty lady .... a pretty mannekin. So

well done that you had to look 2 or 3 times before

you realized she was not alive

SPEAKEASY VIBES

Meanwhile, at the SPEAKEASY in Firehouse's expansive new roofing business,

everything was RED...I mean really RED!...the building, the lights, even the

Password to get into the barn. The community inside was an easygoing Halloween mix, of young and older with the vibes resembling an old-time Speakeasy feeling, so much so that you might have felt like you briefly stepped into an alternate reality.

There was a steady stream of attendees, and even occasionally a small

line waiting at the door, eager to join the crowd mingling at the bar.

Did they paint the room with blood?

Wow, Excuse me...are you real?

You are never too young for some Halloween fun!

Aha..and there are the famous jazz musicians, Steve Kaiser on bass and

Sarah Jane Scion

on keyboard and song.

Steve can mellow a mood quicker than you can say, "Huh?" The lighting was very dark out on the dance floor, but isn't that couple sweet!

So great to see a dance couple trying a few new moves.

Sometimes the best costumes are beautiful and historic,

like this Pirate on the right.

Sometimes the best costumes are hiding in plain sight...

Lol, I swear, even if you know her and zoom in you probably won't recognize

the young lady at the left. She came over and talked to me for

5 minutes and took a picture. She is a good friend of mine and I had NO

idea who it was. In fact, since I did not have an elaborate costume on,

I wondered why she asked to take my picture. In a great costume twist, her hair was dyed a reddish black and shoulder length and big glasses covered much of her face. Now that was a fun Halloween-y surprise.

Five minutes later she came over to chat, and I immediately

Most of the music was delightfully mellow, and I really wanted to stay longer. There were a lot more performers throughout the evening (Sultry Ally Acapella, Flash tatoos by Lady Luck, Special effects Horror Makeup by Lauren Regelski, Full Bar with underground Hooch, Mediumship by Lighthouse Healing Connections, and Classic horror films on the big screen.) .But I still had visits to see what was going on at the LOT and at Amada's Mexican Kitchen.

AT THE LOT

There was a ton of craft booths and scary rides,

and what is that purple thing flying up the side of the white house?

A WITCH?

It was so busy there that I couldn't even find the Mechanical Bull.

I bet he was ridden so much earlier

that they took him back to the barn.

Talk about a scary ride!

Two long rows of enticing gifts by hard working craft vendors.

AMADA'S MEXICAN RESTAURANT AT FULTON SQUARE

On the Veranda - Amada's at Fulton Square

By the time I got to Amada's Mexican Restaurant the scene was

mellowing out a bit. On the Fulton Square Veranda it was a family

and friend relaxing vibe. There had been a fantastic dancing group

that I'm sure was fantastic, and I'm reallyl sorry that I missed it, but

Magdalena will surely have some images and videos of it up soon.

The art at Amada's Kitchen really sets the mood, and

few places have cultural celebration costumes as beautiful

as you will see when she has an Event.

The beautiful interior restaurant, and food and food and food! It is hard

to even compare her manu which has more recipes than any restaurant

I have ever seen. And this restaurant and veranda are always busy,

whether it's a Birthday, Wedding Party , a couple of friends or family outing.

It is nicely situated too, at the far corner of Fulton Square, and immediately

adjacent to the new Schunnemunk Trail, now under construction.

REMEMBER -WE'RE NOT DONE YET

THE 'BEFORE DARK' HALLOWEEN FUN

WAS RESCHEDULED DUE TO RAIN AND

WILL BE HELD NEXT SUNDAY 10/19

AT VERN ALLEN PARK

MORE DETAILS COMING DURING THE WEEK