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Making Halloween a safe haven for fun

Halloween evening saw a wide variety of characters going bump in the night. Hannah Neill, 4, costumed herself in a suit fit for a Pooh Bear. Neill spent Halloween evening at the home of her grandparents, Bill (pictured) and Charlotte Neill. Every year the Neill residence offers their home as a safe and fun place to spend the spooky holiday. The Neill's live on Third Street in Downtown La Verne. / photo by Tom Galaraga
Halloween evening saw a wide variety of characters going bump in the night. Hannah Neill, 4, costumed herself in a suit fit for a Pooh Bear. Neill spent Halloween evening at the home of her grandparents, Bill (pictured) and Charlotte Neill. Every year the Neill residence offers their home as a safe and fun place to spend the spooky holiday. The Neill’s live on Third Street in Downtown La Verne. / photo by Tom Galaraga

by Jennifer Contreras
Editorial Director

Only on All Hallows Eve with the perfect backdrop of a full moon would you be able to see an angel walking down the same street as a devil. Not to mention the walking pumpkins and the countless “Bozos.”

Oct. 31 is the day, and night, when the freaks come out to play. They flood the streets in search of tricks and treats and a good, safe time.

It is the time when little girls can be princesses and little boys can be women.

It is the time when teenagers test the streets to see if they are still allowed to “trick-or- treat.”

It is the time for parents to stroll the streets with their children and hope that the “Boogey Man” does not show up.

In downtown La Verne, along streets like Third Street, Bonita Avenue and F Street, Halloween is no screaming matter.

The folks take the event seriously enough to keep the ghouls coming back every year.

The home of Charlotte Neill, administrative assistant to the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and her husband, Bill, is annually bombarded with little ones in disguise in search of a treat.

“Every year we get about 300 or 400 kids. And when we run out of candy, we just turn the lights out,” said Neill.

The Neills, who have lived on Third Street for 14 years, say they carry about 1,000 pieces of candy every year.

“A lot of kids come here because the streets are lit and safe. It’s a fun place to trick-or-treat,” she said.

Bill Neill sits in his gazebo every Halloween like the god of candy and the children line up to meet him.

“Tons of kids just come up to me,” he said.

On Halloween they come with all sorts of adornments and props, making their costumes perfect. Kurtis Redman, 3, sported his favorite baseball team by joining the line up. Alex Neill, 2, was buzzing around grandma and grandpa Neill's house in his bumble bee costume. The kids went trick-or-treating in the streets of La Verne. / photo by Tom Galaraga
On Halloween they come with all sorts of adornments and props, making their costumes perfect. Kurtis Redman, 3, sported his favorite baseball team by joining the line up. Alex Neill, 2, was buzzing around grandma and grandpa Neill’s house in his bumble bee costume. The kids went trick-or-treating in the streets of La Verne. / photo by Tom Galaraga

Selene Madahi, 6, who visited the Neill residence said her favorite part about Halloween is the trick-or-treating.

Madahi, who was dressed as cat, explained why she chose her costume.

“Because it’s pretty,” she said.

Pretty costumes were seen all around, such as the rulers of the streets of La Verne, the “Pink Ladies” from the movie “Grease.”

“We wanted to do a group thing, and we like to sing the songs (from the movie), so we thought it would be cool to be ‘The Pink Ladies,’ ” said Chelsea Cox, 13, of La Verne who along with her group of friends, was instructed to check in with their parents every so often throughout the night.

Sonia Jimenez of La Verne brought her daughters (Destiny, 6, and Mariah, 2), dressed as Snow White, out to trick or treat, despite heightened concerns surrounding recent national events.

“I was a little worried at first, but I know the neighborhood and the people and the church, and we come around here every year,” said Jimenez.

Michael and Christy Lahey of San Dimas, whose daughters were the PowerPuff Girls, said that they were not taking any extra precautions this year about the safety of their children.

“We are not doing anything extra, we always check their candy and make sure they are safe. We come to this neighborhood every year, so we feel okay about it,” said Christy Lahey.

Dressed in all black with black make-up and all, 16-year-old brothers John and Brett Hargens who were on a visit to their grandmothers house, were wandering the streets of La Verne and said they planned to do a little trick or treating later on in the night.

“We aren’t too old to go trick or treating,” said John Hargens.

On F Street, churchgoers were celebrating a “Harvest Festival.”

The festival was a collaboration of the House of Praise, a Pentacostal church and Love and Faith, a Non-denominational church.

The House of Praise conducts the event annually, but this is the first year with the collaboration of the two churches.

“Everyone is so friendly and we are sharing the love of the Lord,” said Joan Suegay, a junior CAPA student at the University of La Verne and a member of the House of Praise.

“We want to have a nice time with our community,” she said.

The festival featured food, games, live music, pony rides, a piñata and even a mini-train ride.

“All of the proceeds are going to pay for the expenses, so they are going right back into the community,” said Pastor Krys Stankiewicz, the administrator of Love and Faith church.

Despite all of the events in Downtown La Verne on Wednesday night, the streets seemed somewhat bare.

The people who did venture out on that spooky evening however, experienced a howling good time, with a huge bag of candy to boot.

Jennifer Contreras, Editorial Director
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Tom Galaraga, Assistant Managing Editor
Tom Galaraga
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