Staff writer
Halloween festivities in Peabody will begin early for the spooks and zombies at Peabody-Burns Elementary School. The students will parade through the hallways in their costumes beginning at 2:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
Following the parade, students will go to their classrooms for Halloween parties.
Peabody Main Street Association will once again sponsor Trunk or Treat downtown. Participants can park their cars and set up displays after 4 p.m. when the 100 block of Walnut will be blocked off to accommodate the trick or treaters.
“Residents can decorate a car trunk, a mini-van, a pickup bed, or just sit in lawn chairs to share treats with the youngsters,” Main Street director Shane Marler said. “There will be a $100 prize for the best decorated trunk or display.”
Peabody Main Street also will provide three prizes for the best children’s costumes in the amount of $25, $50, and $75. All prizes will be in the form of Peabody Bucks.
Children should begin arriving to trick or treat downtown at 5 p.m. The event will end at 7 p.m. and parents will have an hour to take their children trick or treating elsewhere in the community.
“The kids might want to take in the haunted house and carved pumpkin contest at the American Legion Hall,” Marler said. “The Legion Auxiliary is putting that together and it also will be open from 5 to 7 p.m.”
One item of non-perishable food is the charge to get into the haunted house and to enter a carved pumpkin in the contest. Food items gathered will be donated to the Peabody Food Bank.
The haunted house is geared to children age 10 and younger. Pumpkins can be entered by individual children or by families. Certificates for free Legion Pizzas on a Friday night are the prizes for best pumpkin carving.
Children may also trick or treat at Westview Manor in the evening before curfew (enter at the south door) and at Peabody Care Center from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the activity room (enter through the northwest door).
Adults are encouraged to stop by the Peabody Fire Station at the corner of Sycamore and First Sts. and receive a free smoke alarm.
Local fire fighters will be on hand to pass them out and are willing to schedule installation of the alarms if someone needs assistance.
“We would especially like to see families who live in the rural parts of our coverage area come in and take advantage of this,” Fourth Fire District Fire Chief Mark Penner said.
The smoke alarms will be available as long as the supply lasts.
The city curfew for Halloween night is 8 p.m. for people younger than 18 years of age. Peabody Police Chief Bruce Burke added that once children are indoors, they cannot leave again until 5 a.m. on Nov. 1.
“We have enjoyed relatively quiet Halloween festivities during the past several years,” he said. “It makes a more enjoyable holiday for everyone.
“We want the kids to have fun, but to stay safe and not be destructive.”