It’s hard to believe that we are already well into November and that Halloween 2019 has already gone by. I wanted to take a moment to thank the community of Bowen Island for its generosity for contributing so many elements that make for a marvelous and memorable Halloween night for all ages. The community donated more than 20,000 pieces of candy as well as cash at the General Store. A huge thanks to the General Store, Nancy Lee and all the employees who helped to accept, mark and box the donations so they were easy to pick up and distribute to the 45+ households around the Loop and in the Cove that handed out candy to hundreds of trick or treaters, as well as the alternative treats so that there was something for everyone, including non-edible treats, gluten and peanut-free treats and more!
The winner of the pumpkin carving contest is: the multi-eyed two-tiered monster Xanathar and Sylgar carved by the Florendo family. The Florendo received a $50 gift certificate from Phoenix.
Thanks to Carolynn McDonald for the donation of an over 100lb pumpkin along with many mini pumpkins that she grew on Bowen. These fruit created a wonderful pumpkin display that parents used for photos. Thanks also goes out to: the hospitality of the Pink Fairy Jesse Lynn (Perry), who made her own costume and dyed her hair pink for the event; Helen Wallwork for decorations and volunteering for more than ten hours; Aubin Van Berkel who grew, harvested, processed and heated up the apple cider; Rosie Montgomery who donated Home Farm pumpkins for decorations, helped with activities, the Pumpkin Open House fun and much more. Bowen Rotary also helped with the new Pumpkin Open House and handed out high visibility bands and reminded everyone to stay Bright on Bowen as the nights get darker. Special thanks to Ross Patterson for connecting Bowen Rotary volunteers to the event. Thank you to David Collings for providing sound tech support. It was the first year we’ve had so many local pumpkins to display and that added a special element to the event. I took some pumpkin home and am making Halloween soup because it’s important to remember pumpkins are a great decoration but they are also a delicious food!
Thank you to all the houses in the Loop (Melmore and Lenora Road) that spend days dreaming up new ways to decorate their homes for Halloween. There were at least two silhouette theatres, three video projections, a light and laser show, a live band, and so much creativity and fun for all to experience. Thank you to the many people who helped at the Haunted Yard at my house: Jen, Glen, Tess, Kat and Cam, Kat, Kyle, Cordell and David. For four people at my place, it was their very first Halloween on Bowen, and they found it was an amazing, high-energy event.
Thank you to everyone who helped to keep the Halloween good, safe fun: thank you to the Bowen Island RCMP for helping to calm traffic in the Loop and to the Volunteer Fire Department for the fireworks display that lit up the night skies above the Causeway for the hundreds of people. It was a perfect autumnal evening to celebrate Halloween, as only Bowen Island does, as best we can: spookily, happily, collectively and with lots of Halloween community spirit.
So wraps up another Bowen Halloween!
