Hundreds of households stuffed Fountain Square Saturday afternoon for this 12 months’s Scare on the Square.
Costumed children and adults lined the streets to trick-or-treat at cubicles supplied by native companies and neighborhood members.
Justine Hester, a 17-year-old senior at Greenwood High School, ran a sales space to present out sweet and acquire kids’s books as part of her Eagle Scout challenge. She stated the challenge was her technique to cross on her personal love of studying.
“Ever since I was a little kid, you would always find me with my nose in a book,” Hester stated. “I thought this was the best way to introduce kids to reading and promote literacy in the Bowling Green area.”
There had been bouncy castles, and a stay DJ performed Halloween music and held a fancy dress contest for youths at 3:30 p.m..
“It’s nice to have an event where all of our kids can have fun together, and then we can have fun as grown-ups,” stated Kristin Daniel, a 33-year-old Bowling Green resident. “Some events are too big, like the Harvest festival, to manage with little kids. This is super manageable and there’s plenty of activities to keep you busy.”
To shut the afternoon, Ryan Dearbone, WKU assistant professor of broadcasting, led Bowling Green’s third annual neighborhood “Thriller” dance, that includes the 1982 Michael Jackson hit single.
Dearbone stated he was impressed by Lexington’s annual Thriller Parade, a part of the town’s Halloween Festival.
“I was going to take my oldest daughter up there to be a part of that, but my wife said, ‘Well, why don’t you just do that here in Bowling Green?’” Dearbone stated. “I was like ‘Don’t tell me stuff like that, because I’ll find a way to make it happen.’”
Dearbone stated he reached out to Downtown Bowling Green coordinators, who stated the dance could possibly be added to Scare on the Square festivities. He then reached out to the WKU theatre and dance division, which helped choreograph the dance.
“Most people, when they hear Thriller, it’s almost like Mariah Carey on Christmas; it’s like the Halloween theme,” Dearbone stated. “To be able to do it here, and have a little fun with it, I think it’s awesome.”
The dance cohort included WKU college students, senior residents from the Silver Sneakers program, and another neighborhood members, who practiced twice the week earlier than the occasion. Bonita Dearbone, Ryan Dearbone’s spouse, was additionally a part of the dance, and Ryan Dearbone stated their daughters joined the enjoyable as effectively.
Community members stated they loved the chance to get out and benefit from the firm of their neighbors whereas they celebrated the season.
“There’s very few things to do in Bowling Green that are communal like this,” stated Kyle Daniel, a 40-year-old Bowling Green resident. “You run into people you forgot about, it’s nice, it’s just a community day.”