Boo-tiful weather is hope for Halloween parade

It’s never too early to plan for a special event.

That includes Halloween, even as an unseasonably warm start to fall saw temperatures reach the upper 70s throughout Puget Sound when the calendar flipped to October.

Despite the summer-like conditions, there was no cold shoulder toward preparations for what has long been a favorite La Conner holiday.

The La Conner Parent Teacher Student Association members are organizing this year’s downtown costumed Halloween parade.

This year’s Oct. 31 parade is scheduled from 12-1 p.m. and coincides with an 11:35 a.m. early dismissal at La Conner Schools.

“We will meet at the north end of First Street behind La Conner Retirement Inn and walk down First Street and then trick-or-treat down the sidewalks to local businesses,” PTSA spokesperson Nicole Hagen told the Weekly News.

Between now and the big day, folks are encouraged to drop off Halloween candy at the elementary school.

“La Conner High sports teams will be volunteering to pass out candy,” Hagen said, “and goody bags will be made at the Braves Club for kids who can’t attend the parade.”

Participating children must be accompanied by a parent, she stressed.

Costumes, of course, are encouraged for parade-goers of all ages.

Leave the family vehicle at home, however. This is a non-motorized parade, drawing ghosts, witches, pirates and rock stars from all walks of life, in the truest sense of the phrase.

It is traditionally a time of community goodwill along with a major candy haul for La Conner area youth.

Historically, Halloween has been much anticipated here. Nearly 90 years ago, civic leaders launched what would become one of the oldest prankless Halloween parties in the nation.

In time it would become a bustling fall festival coordinated by volunteers who passed the baton from generation to generation.

There were costume contests, cakewalks, carnival games, haunted rooms, a witches’ brewing area and, starting in the early 1990s, rides on hover boards.

As with the old La Conner Tulip Festival, the Halloween Party was held in the since demolished school gymnasium built in 1948 by volunteer labor.

The party became less regular and more sporadic about a decade ago as the parade gained popularity. Then the COVID-19 pandemic shut down mass indoor gatherings.

The parade, meanwhile, continues to flourish with costumes becoming more elaborate and imaginative.

Once the parade is completed, organizers are asking parents and children to transition quickly to sidewalks for trick-or-treating as First Street will immediately be reopened to traffic.

All in all, regardless of weather, it promises to be a spook-tacular day in La Conner.