A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Emily Roberts, 5, enjoys some candy corn bowling with the baby doll she won during Sunday's Halloween Party at the National Guard Armory in Cloquet.
It's costume contest time and guess what the prize is for participating? More candy, of course. A VFW Auxiliary member hands out suckers to the 4-to-6-year-old group on Sunday.
More than 10 dozen pint-sized skeletons, princesses, pirates, police officers and even dinosaurs made their way to the Cloquet National Guard Armory Sunday for some serious scares, games, crafts and even a costume contest.
The Halloween party is a longtime tradition for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3979 and Auxiliary, and moved to the Armory a few years ago when it got too big for the VFW building in West End Cloquet.
New this year was a "haunted tent."
"I scared more adults than kids, I think," the VFW's Rich Chasse said with a chuckle. Over the 20 years he's been involved, Chasse has also worn his share of costumes: he's been a pirate, a clown, a buccaneer, a king, a warrior and now a ghost.
The event was free, including the food and prizes, and the tent was donated by the Eagles.
"It's something for the kids," Chasse said. "We get donations from the community and share that. It's just a fun, safe place for the kids to go. I enjoy seeing those kids being so happy."
Auxiliary member Sandy Franke estimated that close to 180 attended, including parents, many of them also in costume.
Kids and grownups decorated pumpkins, donated by B&B Market, with markers and stickers.
"We needed shopping carts to haul them out, they were so big," Chasse said.
