Students and volunteers set up booths to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters Saturday night. Photo by Amy Phan/Columbia Basin Herald
By Amy Phan
Herald staff writer
MOSES LAKE — Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga and Snow White formed a line outside of Moses Lake High School Saturday night.
They were joined by plenty of fairies, wizards and ninjas.
More than 2.300 kids dressed in costumes waited eagerly to walk through the halls of the high school for its annual Halloween carnival.
“I was really surprised by the turnout. I think a lot of families wanted to come inside away from the cold,” said Jordyn Darling, a senior who organized the carnival as part of her culminating exhibition project.
The carnival asked guests to bring at least one can of food to be donated to either the Moses Lake Food Bank or UNICEF.
An early count revealed more than 500 cans of food and about $800 in cash donations were collected, according to organizers. Last year, the carnival generated about $600 in cash donations.
Once inside, guests were treated to games, trick-or-treating around classrooms with various themes, photo opportunities and a haunted house.
The decade-old carnival has become a staple Halloween event for some families.
“We’ve been coming here for a long time. Every Halloween, it’s almost like a tradition to bring our family here,” said Paul Taylor, of Soap Lake.
To get into the Halloween spirit, the Taylor family transformed themselves into a ninja, wizard, Spiderman, fairy, lady bug and Transformers character.
“There’s not much to do in Soap Lake. There aren’t any appropriately-themed events for kids. We make sure to bring our kids here so that they can be warm and enjoy the candies,” he said.
He said his family has attended the carnival for the past eight years.
Rosario Bacilio brought her 17-month-old daughter to walk through the haunted house and decorated classrooms.
“I really enjoy looking at what the high school students are going to be. They always get into the spirit and their costumes are always a treat,” she said.
For Moses Lake High School foreign exchange student junior Wiwi Tabert, the carnival was the first time she dressed up in a Halloween costume.
“We don’t celebrate Halloween in Germany. I like how everything is scary-themed. I love to hand out candy to the little kids,” said Tabert, who lives near Koln, Germany.
She was dressed as Alice from “Alice in Wonderland.”
Darling said it was important for the students be involved in the community.
“I wanted to organize this in a way that everyone who attends this carnival gets a sense that everyone wants the kids to have a safe and fun time,” she said.
Attendees spilled onto nearby streets to find additional parking after filling the high school parking lot quickly, according to Darling.
Darling said she started to organize the Halloween carnival last year.
“I worked really hard to get the event on the radio and newspaper and just spread the word about the event. This is an important way for me to give back to the community and contribute something positive to Moses Lake,” said Darling, who aspires to be a teacher in the future.
