As Halloween rolled through the mountains again, Blairsville’s annual Boo Bash returned to Meeks Park more frightful than ever with some notable new additions for the thousands of guests who attended.
The event was so successful that folks found space beside the parking lots to leave their vehicles while young and old alike enjoyed a night of tricks and treats in the central field.
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AeroJump Inc. provided bouncy houses for smaller boys and ghouls to hop around in, and according to Ray and Melissa Singleton, the attraction was very popular. Although retired, they helped that night by manning the payments for bouncy house use; their grandson owns the business.
Aariyah Traig was present with two friends, and they lingered around the inflatables for some bouncy fun between their candy-gathering endeavors.
“I think it’s a very fun time of year, and I just like it because you get to dress up and get free candy,” admitted Kimber, with Anaiah agreeing that the day was a good time to get out and have fun.
“My favorite part of Halloween is probably seeing all the creative costumes people have – and obviously, the candy,” said Traig, calling the Boo Bash “amazing” with its themed booths, such as the Hinton Center of Hayesville, North Carolina, setup themed after Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.”
Many businesses and organizations followed suit with themes or clear goals in mind that made them stand out.
For example, the Union County E-911 Center showed up as Disney villains. The Union County Democratic Party handed out free food alongside their candy, and Find Outdoors, representing the wilderness surrounding Brasstown Bald’s hiking trails, sought to educate and inspire a respect for nature with grey fox and bobcat taxidermy.
Plenty of unique costumes stood out from the crowd, ranging from animated characters from the online show “Hazbin Hotel” to, in the case of Carter Gray, a DJ duck. His mother, Stephanie, was having a blast experiencing the Boo Bash after coming prepared to hand out totes of candy.
“This is awesome. I haven’t done Blairsville trick-or-treating since it was on the square,” said Stephanie, who noticed plenty of changes that she wholly believed were for the better.
Speaking of which, another addition this year was the movie playing over a projector from the brand-new stage. Several people – costumed and not – took advantage of the bleachers to sit a while and watch the big screen. Cornhole, too, was a popular choice for kids looking to do something in addition to collecting candy.
Meanwhile, the sorghum shed was transformed into its very own haunted house, complete with all sorts of spooky props and unnerving audio featuring eerie groans and wails. Boiling hot water steamed up the inside of the covered building, providing an eerie fog. Pennywise the clown waited in a sewer-like tunnel to pop out at passing visitors, and Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers lurked in and around the exit to snarl at the unsuspecting.
Utilizing decorations from home or otherwise cheaply acquired, it was relatively easy to set up an environment capable of scaring those brave enough to step inside. The lack of lighting after dark made it especially harrowing, and volunteers said they planned on coming back next year to haunt the “Sweet ‘N’ Spooky Sorghum Mill.”
As night fell and booth managers began to pack up and head out, some costumed guests stuck around, including Addison Rutan and Yazmin Hernandez-Ortiz. The local 10th graders have been friends since sixth grade and came dressed in matching outfits: sharks with blue lights lining their fins.
“We all dress up, and people don’t judge us,” said Rutan with a laugh, happy to tell the story of how she and Hernandez-Ortiz came up with their matching idea thanks to the name of their sports team after the aquatic animal. Halloween, to them, was about having fun with friends, and judging by the many others who attended Boo Bash, plenty of folks were of the same mind.
