MARYSVILLE Families around town got a jump start on Halloween last Saturday during the Trick or Treat festivities at the Marysville YMCA on Oct. 27.
The Halloween Carnival drew hundreds of kids dressed in a variety of costumes for fun activities in a safe and controlled environment.
The Y gym was filled with visitors playing games, diving for prizes in a confetti-filled kiddies pool and displaying their outfits to the public.
The Pratt family from Lake Stevens was the hit of the ball, as the quintet dressed as a choo-choo train, with dad as the engine, and mom and the kids as the boxcars. Chris Pratt said it took him and his brood four days to build the train, which they wore over their individual costumes that went along with the circus train theme.
For example 2-year-old Caleb was dressed as a ferocious tiger and his boxcar was a cage with bars and everything, including warnings about the beast inside. Their other children were Savannah, 7, and Jillian, 5, with mom Niki along for the ride too.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider made an appearance too, courtesy of Chloe Langdalen. The Marysville 2-year-old was there with her mom and dad, Jennifer and Scott.
Jennifer said they came to the YMCA for Easter celebrations and while they will still trick or treat in their neighborhood, it was a safe event for their toddler.
This is a lot of fun, Langdalen said.
About 600 people thought so too, according to YMCA health and wellness director Caroline Brown, who supervised the cake walk near the center of the gym. This year the event tried to stay away from sugary treats as much as possible, with mixed results. One attempt was offering Satsuma oranges as a prize, because they looked like little pumpkins; most kids chose the decorated cupcakes instead, but they did go through two boxes of oranges, according to Brown.
So maybe theres hope for Marysville kids after all, Brown laughed.
The days events also included the Trick or Treat Fun Run earlier in the morning. It included a two-mile walk/run, a five-mile run, and a 50-yard kiddy dash. It was the 17th annual fun run, but the carnival has been going for many more years, Brown said. All of the events were put on by volunteers, she noted.
Were providing an alternative to neighborhood trick or treating, Brown said.
Many families have concerns about taking treats from strangers and so the carnival is a huge plus for them.