Halloween is soon upon us and there is at least one home that has been ready for weeks preparing for the big special day for trick-or-treating.
The front lawn of the home of Kristen Spatz and her partner Tyson Thompson at 5003 – 39 St. is meticulously adorned with all the Halloween favourites – a big ghost, a huge mysterious scary cat, a graveyard and even bodies hanging from trees.
“It is more from my partner (Thompson) than me,” said Spatz, adding her home was done up pretty much the same last year. “He loves Halloween. It is his favourite time of year.”
Although the couple spent much time and effort on their Halloween project, they admit Oct. 31 is really for the kids, although adults also make a special effort to have fun.
“It is exciting and fun, and fun to dress up, especially something different,” said Spatz, pointing out the overall public enthusiasm for the annual day of ghost and goblins appears to be fading. “When I was younger we used to drive around looking at Halloween decorations, and in every block there was something different. Now you really have to look hard to find them.”
As for Spatz, she is not planning on doing anything special for herself on Halloween, other than meet little scary creatures.
“We are just going to stay put and hand out candy,” she said.
Meanwhile, there was a local prelude to the big day with the Halloween Festival at the Innisfail and District Historical Village on October 24 and 25.
Of course all the trick-or-treaters were safely confined to the village for the festivities. As for Oct. 31, Innisfail RCMP said it would be having a higher than normal presence on the streets to ensure everyone's safety.
“We have planned for that simply because there is an expectation there is going to be a higher than normal number of pedestrians and vehicle traffic in town as people go about the normal routine of collecting all that sugar,” said Innisfail RCMP Cpl. Jeff Hildebrandt. “Our message to all is to be safe, be aware of traffic, dress with reflective clothing and use common sense when crossing the streets, and most of all have fun.”
