Sand Bay celebrated an early Halloween as a closing summer event for the cottage community this Saturday. The Sand Bay community came together to decorate their houses in a spooky fashion and give out Halloween candy to the dozens of children trick-or-treating in their Halloween costumes despite the unfavourably wet weather.
“This is our second year doing Halloween in Sand Bay,” said Stacey Thomson, member of the Sand Bay Association who co-organized the event with Jackie McBane. “We have trick-or-treating for the kids, and we have a haunted house that I’ve set up at my place.”
She said the outdoor movie screenings also scheduled for the evening were cancelled due to the rain.
Thomson explained the reason for such an early Halloween celebration is to give the Sand Bay community a chance to celebrate holidays together. The community also celebrated Christmas in July on July 20.
“There’s way more kids here in the summer, because they’re here at the cottages. There’s not as many in October, because everyone usually leaves on Labour Day weekend to go home,” she explained.
Thomson’s haunted house was one of the main attractions of the Halloween event, which according to Thomson, took three days to set up with the help of volunteers. But for her the effort was worth it.
“It’s my favourite holiday,” she said. “I hate horror movies. I hate being scared, but I love to hear the screams and the laughter of the kids.”
