Second annual Pumpkins on Parade a spooky fun time

The Webster Recreation Center hosted its second annual Pumpkins on Parade Saturday the 23rd, and it was even bigger and better than last year.

For more than an hour and a half after dark, thousands of people strolled along the mile-long Chiyoda Trail winding behind the Rec Center, which was lined with hundreds of extremely creative, illuminated jack-o-lanterns. The designs ran the gamut from traditional and whimsical to spooky and just plain weird. I saw Olaf and Ernie, the Lego man, spiders, ghosts, unicorns, and lots of toothy grins. For added enjoyment, two of the homeowners whose houses back up to the Rec Center property were playing spooky music for the families that strolled by.

This year the Rec Center also created a separate, much shorter path for seniors and small children, which wrapped around the back of the Rec Center for about 200 yards.

Recreation Director Chris Bilow estimated that about 500 pumpkins had been placed along the two paths, about 100 more than last year. They included 200 or so created by community members, which is also more than they received last year.

That was a pleasant surprise, Bilow added, because by Saturday morning they still hadn’t received too many. “I was a little concerned,” he said. “But then today they started (dropping off) around 11:30 and it was a solid line of cars.”

Like last year, at the end of the pumpkin parade everyone was treated to donuts and cider, served in the Rec Center’s expansive playing fields.

Pumpkins on Parade 2020 was designed as a Covid-friendly outdoor event for families itching for SOMETHING to get them out of the house at the height of the pandemic. After this year’s success, it’s clear the event has already become tremendously popular, pandemic or not, and I’m sure I’m not the only one hoping that the Webster Recreation Center brings it back every year.

Click here to see many more photos from the evening, including many especially cool jack-o-lanterns.

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Tags: Missy Rosenberry, town of webster, Village of Webster, Webster NY, Webster Recreation Center