No trick: Volunteers still needed for Douglas Halloween parade

Erin Wilkinson is looking for a few more volunteers to help make sure thousands of costumed partiers make it through the streets of Douglas at the annual parade for adults at 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. This year?s parade will have a few new twists, more barricades and a bittersweet feel for the organizer.

Wilkinson worked for years with her mother, Ginger, the parade?s founder, getting people lined up. Ginger died earlier this year and her daughter agreed to handle the wildly popular parade in her honor.

?It?s like her legacy,? Wilkinson said. ?I?m glad to be doing it but with a heavy heart. She won?t be here.?

When the parade started more than 15 years ago, about a dozen costumed people walked along Center Street. In 2010, the parade topped 2,500 people ? some say more than 4,000 ? catching city officials and the two police officers off guard. The following year, five uniformed police officers monitored the crowd of thousands and 16 orange-vested volunteers made sure the marchers flowed smoothly and nothing got out of control. Barricades were used for the first time along the parade route.

?Every single year, I?m blown away at how many people are there,? Wilkinson said.

This year, Wilkinson is looking for about 20 volunteers to get the marchers onto Beery Field, a new starting point for the parade, at 9:30 p.m. Marchers will move across the field and exit at the basketball court onto Center Street into a staging area where the Queen of the Parade will release them onto the parade route in front of Everyday People Cafe at Center and Main streets.

The parade will have a longer route as well. It used to end at the post office at Center and Union streets. Now, it?s heading to the library at Mixer Street and around the block on Freemont Street back to Beery Field.

For a map and more details, visit gingerswhimsy.com.

Two key traditions will remain the same for the parade: No vehicles allowed and no candy throwing.

The Douglas Downtown Development Authority is assisting with the parade this year.

Source: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x470405299/No-trick-Volunteers-still-needed-for-Douglas-Halloween-parade

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