Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Halloween is a Real Treat in Coronado

There’s no doubt that Coronado knows how to host Halloween on a grandiose scale! As I was walking out my door in the morning, debating on whether or not to wear a costume, I saw a Thing One (or Two) zip by on a bicycle and I took it as a sign that I had to dress up in my Twister costume for the day.

Downtown Goes Ghostly

The Harrison family captured the baby shark theme perfectly and made me start humming the song
The Matthews-Pettit family were all looking for Waldo.

Rita Sarich, Director, Coronado MainStreet, estimates that 1,500 kids and adults took to Orange Avenue between 3:30 and 5pm donning their creative costumes to trick-or-treat; but I must say it seemed like even more this year. The revelers filled the sidewalks from 8th Street to The Del, visiting the local businesses along the way to snag their favorite treats.

The Groth family went all out to capture the Aladdin theme.
Rowan and Ryleigh were garden fairies on a mission to find candy.
The Kimball family was complete with Toby as a hot dog!
The festivities proved too much for one of the De Vasconcellos family.

“Downtown Goes Ghostly” has been a Coronado tradition, sponsored by MainStreet, for more than 20 years. Mainstreet also had a cauldron at Rotary Plaza to collect entry coupons that were distributed to the Coronado preschools and elementary schools. The winners received Coronado Currency, MainStreet’s gift certificate program, which can be used at local businesses. Prior to the holiday, the Coronado Junior Woman’s Club organized budding artists to decorate the windows of Orange Avenue businesses for this festive event, which draws people from all over.

Coronado Vintage went all out to distribute treats.
The Crane family captured Alice and The Mad Hatter.
The Olimon Family epitomized Cat in the Hat.
The gals at Fair Trade Decor were decked out to give treats.
Willis Allen got in the minion spirit!
Diners dressed up and enjoyed the view along Orange Avenue.

From littles to teens to adults, everyone got in the spirit with familiar, and some not-so-familiar, television, movie and pop-culture costumes. Dozens of dinosaurs and sharks roamed the streets, while my favorites were the family-themed costumes like jellyfish, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Where’s Waldo and a host of other imaginative creations.

 

Later, Down on Margarita Avenue…

This scary old man has been a staple on Margarita Avenue for decades!

Another not-to-miss locale for Halloween haunts is Margarita Avenue, where the street is cordoned off for pedestrians only, with almost every house decked out for the holiday and families handing out gobs of candy. The exact number would be hard to guess, but Margarita residents reported going through 1,000 pieces of candy in less than two hours and some even went out to buy more after handing out 3,000 treats. Light shows and music added to the ambiance of this family friendly annual treat.

Other Haunts

800 H
Apocalypse was the theme for this year’s block at 800 H Avenue where residents created a walk-through asylum to celebrate Halloween in screaming scary fashion.

For a more elegant Halloween affair, hundreds of party-goers gathered at The Del’s annual Hallo-Wine party on the Saturday prior to Halloween. This year’s theme was ‘Night of A Thousand Clowns.’ Costumes ranged in style from happy and cheerful to downright frightening interpretations of masked and marvelously made-up clowns and creatures.  Guests enjoyed great eats, wine tasting and cocktails in the Garden Patio. Dessert, drinks and dancing followed in the Ball Room.

While handing out candy on my porch, my youngest trick or treater was a three-week-old Mickey Mouse, and I enjoyed all the creativity the teenagers put into their costumes. A national survey of Halloween candy ranked Reese’s, Snickers and M&M’s among the top choices, while Smarties, Tootsie rolls and Candy Corn were among the least favorites. I found that smarties were snatched up more quickly than M&M’s and the pencils I got for kids with food allergies were popular.

To keep our city looking its best, “We love a clean Coronado” was the motto of the Emerald Keepers and Coronado Jr. Woman’s Club first annual “Treat Sweep” where residents were encouraged to come out the morning after Halloween to clean up any left-over debris and then meet at Spreckels Park. Students in all the schools were also asked to participate on their walk to school, with chances to win one of 10 lucky golden tickets for surprises.

 

Who you gonna call? The Pettit family

 

 



Jennifer Velez
Jennifer Velez
Jennifer fell in love with Coronado as a teenager while visiting a college friend. She vowed that someday she would make it her home, and that dream has recently become a reality. Fast forward through completing college with a BA in Journalism, Public Relations and Communications, she then went on to work with a variety of clients. She also taught Journalism and coordinated fundraising for her children’s school, and was a staff writer for San Diego Family Magazine and contributed to other parenting publications. Have news to share? Send tips, story ideas or letters to the editor to: [email protected]

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