Thousands thronged Main Street Thursday for annual Children’s Halloween Parade
By Damian Mann for Ashland.news
A rousing Halloween parade through downtown Ashland on Thursday surprised even regulars of the annual gathering of witches, vampires, zombies and other creatures of the night.
“It was huge,” said Ashland police officer Jason Billings, who has been to most of the parades for the past 20 years. “I’d say it was two to three times bigger than last year.”
He said that for the past few years the Ashland Chamber of Commerce’s Children’s Halloween Parade, which starts at 3:30 p.m., had petered out by 4 or 4:30. This year the crowd thinned out closer to 5 p.m.
Billings, who was on duty but donned a black halo above his head, said Ashland appears to be finally working its way out of pandemic-era lows for the parade.
“This felt longer than pre-COVID days,” he said.
Billings said city crews strategically parked large dump trucks to block Main Street from vehicle traffic.
The parade, which featured the Ashland Middle School band, starts at the Ashland Public Library and continues to Ashland Plaza, though it’s far from an organized event.
Anyone can walk in the parade, even if they’re not wearing a costume, including families, dancers, musicians and even five people who worked together to animate their dragon creation.
Many people meandered in and out of the parade route, stopping to talk to friends or stopping for coffee.
Businesses along Main Street passed out candy to children. Even streets near the downtown were packed with excited trick-or-treaters.
Tim Elder, a self-described dragon wrangler, said, “We’ve got a collection of folks to make this dragon special.”
The effect was similar to the Chinese dragons seen at some parades.
Plastic pipes helped raise the black dragon high above the crowd, and Elder pointed to his engineer who helped flap the wings.
Just as eye-catching, 30 women dressed as Cruella de Vil from “101 Dalmatians” performed a synchronized dance. They only starting practicing their routine in early October.
“We started doing this last year,” said choreographer Audrey Flint with Dancing Broadway. “It’s totally a blast.”
Flint, who said last year’s theme was “Ghostbusters,” said they plan to do flash dances in the downtown through December.
The parade, which has been held since the 1990s, featured a motley group of people dressed in costumes of all styles.
There were the usual assortment of witches, sorcerers, skeletons and zombies.
But there were a number of people dressed as bananas and a group of women waddling in duck costumes.
Superman and Superwoman showed up, along with pumpkin people, angels, scary clowns, Princess Leia and, of course, the ever-popular Spiderman.
“It’s just something that makes life more fun.”
“Gandalf,” otherwise known as David Dilling, was possibly the tallest person in the parade. “What I like about it is the spontaneity,” he said, towering above 6-foot-tall men around him.
Dilling, said he and his wife, Sandy, dressed as Gandalf’s helper, are newcomers to Ashland and have been coming to the parade for the past two years.
“We’re just getting in the groove of Ashland,” Sandy said.
At least two “Mona Lisas” showed up for the parade, but only Monalisa DiAngelo had the name to match the painting.
“I thought of it last year,” said DiAngelo, who bought a copy of the painting, cut out the face of it, and fitted it over her own head.
“The little kids said, ‘Oh, it’s the Mona Lisa,’” she said. “It’s just something that makes life more fun.”
Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com.
Nov. 1: Corrected Torin Layton’s name.
