By Erin Freeman | Lynnwood Times Staff
The Lynnwood community found new ways to celebrate Halloween this year – with tricks and treats, and coronavirus precautions.
Lynnwood’s Halloween Drive-thru Hullabaloo hosted by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department was a new experience this year due to the ongoing pandemic. With trick or treating discouraged by public health officials, the department held a drive-thru trick-or-treating event for community members to safely enjoy the holiday.
“This is the safest way,” said Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Arts Director Lynn Sordel. “Families are together and they can still dress up and have fun.”
Weaving through a highly decorated Lynnwood Recreation Center parking lot, participant vehicles paraded through in costumes, stopping at 44 designated candy vendors, each decorated to fit a specifically themed subsection of the course.
City of Lynnwood staff, volunteers, and local organizations dressed up and masked up, handing out candy to the kids through vehicle windows, many of which wait all year for Halloween celebrations.
“I think kids look forward to Halloween each year, and this year was particularly important to have an event because they’re missing out on so much already. Keeping that normalcy and giving the kids something to look forward to is extremely important.”
Lining up on 46th Ave W, cars entered into the route, met with witch-themed tents, then moved into superheroes, Legos, and barnyard. The trick-or-treaters then drove through Halloween monster tents, then Dr. Seuss, and Minions. The Candyland Forest was also present, a staple in the department’s pandemic-free Halloween events in past years. Water and Pirate themed tents led participants to the end, where they exited on 44th Ave.
“We’ve gotten so much support and we’ve never done anything like this; this is a first for Halloween,” said Sordel.
Within two hours of the announcement of the event on October 9, 300 vehicles had already reserved their spots.
“We had to scramble to make more space, so we did,” said Sordel.
Throughout the three-hour event, 40-50 new cars would make their way through the trick-or-treat drive through in 30-minute increments.
“It’s all about bringing the community together, that’s what we do, we’re happy to do it.”
