Halloween Celebrations Announced
Parades, Parties Planned in Local Communities

Area communities have planned Halloween activities for children beginning Saturday, October 28, and running through Tuesday, October 31.

City of St. Ignace

Halloween trick-or-treating in St. Ignace will begin at 5 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. Tuesday, October 31, with the fire siren indicating the beginning and end of the festivities.

A Trunk or Treat Halloween Celebration will be offered Sunday, October 29, at the Quality Inn. Participants may decorate their vehicles, line up, and give out candy to trick-or-treaters beginning at 5 p.m. A costume parade, hayrides, a walk through the Haunted Woods, and apple bobbing will take place. A prize will be awarded to the best decorated car trunk. There is no admission fee.

In St. Ignace Area Schools, parents are invited to attend parties in kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms on Halloween day. Depending on individual class schedules, some parties will take place in the morning and others in the afternoon. Also on Halloween day, kindergarten through seventh grade students will parade through the school. To avoid congestion in the hallways, parents are to meet in the middle school gymnasium at 1 p.m., where they will see students marching in costume.

St. Ignace area churches are sponsoring Hallelujah Night, an alternative to traditional trick-ortreating, at the St. Ignace Middle School cafeteria Tuesday, October 31, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Games, prizes, stories, and candy will be offered. All children are invited to attend. The churches are asking children to refrain from scary or gory costumes.

A Halloween skate party and costume contest will take place at Little Bear Ice Arena Monday, October 30, from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The event will include music, snacks, games, and prizes. The cost is $5 per person.

Les Cheneaux

At Les Cheneaux Elementary School, classroom parties, a costume parade, and tours through the school's haunted house will be offered Tuesday, October 31, throughout the day. Parents, relatives, and friends are invited to attend any of the activities, which are expected to start at 1 p.m.

The Cedarville High School Student Council will trick-or-treat for charity Halloween night, October 31. This is the eighth year students have collected staples to stock the Cedar Post Emergency Food Pantry in Cedarville. Students will visit several houses Halloween night, but anyone who wants to ensure pick-up of donated goods should make arrangements by calling Cedarville High School at (906) 484-2256, extension 218, to speak with Student Council Advisor Beth Rye.

Each year, the Council circulates a list of items the Emergency Food Pantry needs most, based on inventory. This year, the Cedar Post is most in need of canned soup, fruit, tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, juice, tuna fish, and stew; boxed meals like macaroni and cheese; boxed baking mixes; condiments and desserts including syrup, Jell-O, and pudding; toiletries, including shampoo, deodorant, after-shave lotion, moisturizing lotion, razors, and toothbrushes, and paper products such as paper towels, tissue, and toilet paper.

Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island Public School will open at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 28, for a Halloween party. Afterwards, children will be able to trick-or-treat at downtown businesses from Windermere Point to Doud's Mercantile. A photograph will be taken of the group at the steps of the Haunted Theatre following trick-or-treating.

Pickford Pickford Township's suggested trick-or-treating hours are 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Pickford Elementary School will start its costume parade at 2 p.m. Friends, relatives, and parents are invited to come watch the parade. Classroom parties will follow. Kindergarten students will start carving pumpkins at 12:30 p.m.

Mackinaw City

Official trick-or-treat time in the village is 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) of Mackinaw City Public Schools will host a haunted house for kids above Anna's Country Buffet on Huron Avenue Saturday, October 28, and Sunday, October 29, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $4.

For more information, call (231) 436-5800 or (231) 436- 5748.

Brevort Township

The Brevort Township Fire Department will host its annual Halloween party for area children Saturday, October 28, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Brevort Township Community Center. Tickets for games will cost 25 cents each, or five for $1. Each game requires one ticket. The event will feature a spook house and cake walk, which require two tickets.

Since Halloween falls on a school day this year, children will start trick-or-treating at 5:30 p.m., said Township Clerk Susan Stelzer.

Moran Township

At Gros Cap School, parents of kindergarten through fifth grade students are invited to individual classroom parties Halloween day from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The school's younger students will parade in costume through the school at 1:45 p.m.

Garfield Township

Students in costume will parade through Engadine Consolidated Schools, trick-or-treating from room to room on Halloween day, as part of a school party organized by the local Parent Volunteer Organization (PVO). The PVO will organize games and hand out prizes. The event is open to parents.

Portage Township

Curtis Elementary School students will march through town at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, October 31. The parade begins at the Curtis Post Office.

The Curtis Ladies Aid Society will host its annual costume party for children and teenagers at the Curtis Community Building Tuesday, October 31. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Society will provide cider, doughnuts, a cake walk, and games, and for $3 participants can have photographs taken in costume.

Newton Township

The Newton Township Fire Department will host a party for the young residents of the township at the town hall in Gould City Tuesday, October 31, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The cost is $1 per person. There will be a spooky room, games, prizes, pizza, and juice.

DeTour Village

DeTour Area Schools and the Parent Volunteer Committee will host a Halloween Carnival Sunday, October 29, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the school. The event is open to everyone, and tickets will be sold for admission to games and activities. The DeTour National Honor Society will host a haunted house. Other activities will include a bungee run, cake walk, bounce house, fortune teller, the Pocket Lady, a sucker tree, and a Scary Hair Salon.

Proceeds from the carnival will go toward student and classroom activities.

The event will also feature a pumpkin contest, and everyone is invited to bring their carved or painted pumpkins in for judging and prizes.

Classroom Halloween parties at DeTour Elementary will take place Tuesday, October 31.