This year’s third annual Juniper Halloween festival was hugely successful and it continues to grow more every year thanks to generous donations from the community, help from the Parks Dept. and the 104th Police Precinct.

We estimate that over 1,000 kids were delighted with bags of candy, face painting, crafts and hayrides. Thanks to Parks, many games were provided that kept the costumed ghouls and boys busy. Storyteller Catfish Jim, who has been with us from our humble beginnings, joined us again this year and regaled the kids with his spooky tales. Parks also provided a DJ who was outstanding… until of course he announced we ran out of candy and got us booed!

A little baby alligator won our best costume prize (chocolate from FunStuff) and we awarded 10 other costume contest winners with face painting kits, disguise kits and
Halloween flashlights. Because of charitable contributions, this year we were able to add Halloween crafts, which were reflective necklaces worn for safety on Halloween. JPCA also bought an 8-foot-tall blow up witch, complete with cauldron, which was a big hit; we hope she’ll be with us for many years to come.

This year, we were pleased to have Architots join in the fun and provide a table for haunted house designs – with winners for the best pictures. The new kids civic, Juniper Jr., was just amazing, doting on the younger kids and handing out goodies.

Thanks to the contributors, we were able to provide the free festival in the park.