Ghouls, goblins go on parade

A preview of Halloween fun to come in Jamesburg and Monroe

By: Stephanie Brown
   With All Hallow’s Eve just around the corner, Monroe and Jamesburg residents are invited to a hauntingly good time.
   Plenty of Halloween hoopla is in store for the upcoming weeks, including costume parades and contests, pumpkin-decorating contests, and haunted houses.
   The Monroe Township Mother’s Club and the Monroe Township Department of Recreation will co-sponsor a Halloween Parade, costume contest and baking contest beginning at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 28 at the Community Center on Monmouth Road.
   Parade line-up and registration are set for 10:30 a.m. Haunted gingerbread house and costume judging will take place at 10:45 a.m. Those who arrive after 10:45 a.m. time will not be judged but are welcome to participate in the parade.
   The haunted gingerbread house-baking contest is new this year. First-, second- and third-place trophies will be awarded.
   Divisions for the costume contest are Baby Buggy (babies in carriages and stroller); Toddler (walking up to 2 years old); Pre-school (3 and 4 year olds); Kindergarten; first- and second-graders; third- and fourth-graders; and fifth-graders and up; and Floats/All Other Wheels, such as wagons or bicycles.
   Costumes can be scary, pretty, funny, depict a character or animal, or be completely original. Ten trophies per division will be awarded. One Best-in-Show trophy will be awarded.
   First-, second- and third-place winners will be named in the Float Division.
   The parade begins at 11 a.m. starting at the community center, then down Sheffield Avenue, Forrest Park Terrace, Throop Avenue, Drexel Terrace, and back to the Community Center via Sheffield Avenue.
   Refreshments will be served.
   For more information, contact the Monroe Township Department of Recreation at (732) 723-5000 or Kitty Prendergast of the Mother’s Club at (732) 605-1522.
   In Jamesburg, boys and ghouls are invited to participate in the borough’s annual Halloween Parade and costume contest sponsored by the Jamesburg Recreation Department. The event is set for Oct. 21 at 10 a.m. in Veterans’ Memorial Park.
   Mayor Tony LaMantia said the parade will begin at the park, head up East Railroad Avenue to Augusta Street, then down West Railroad to the Jamesburg Volunteer Fire Department at 82 W. Railroad Ave. The costume competition will take place at the firehouse.
   Tentative divisions for the costume competition are 2 years old and under; ages 3 to 6; ages 7 to 10; and 11 years old and up.
   The Jamesburg Municipal Alliance will judge the costumes, and first-, second- and third-place prizes will be awarded in each division.
   Following the parade, the annual Pumpkin Festival will be held at the firehouse from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
   Families are invited to bring decorated pumpkins and enjoy the clowns, balloons, refreshments, cookies, amusements and fun.
   Prizes will be awarded for the funniest, prettiest, scariest, most originally decorated and DARE-theme pumpkins, said organizer Christine Gandy, president of the Jamesburg area Chamber of Commerce. First-place prize is $25; second-place prize, $20; and third-place prize, $10.
   The free event is sponsored by Gandy and Brown Realty, Mendoker’s Bakery, the Jamesburg Municipal Alliance, DARE and the Jamesburg Department of Recreation.
   Mayor LaMantia said the cooperation among each of the sponsors is a perfect example of the borough’s unity.
   "We’re a small town and the whole town is like family," he said.
   Those seeking some spine-tingling, make-the-hair-stand-up-on-the-back-of-the-neck fun needn’t look any further than Lakeview, the haunted Buckelew Mansion, located at 203 Buckelew Ave.
   The resident ghosts of the mansion as portrayed by the Lakeview Players — the Jamesburg Historical Association’s acting troop comprised of local high school and college students — will perform the third annual production of Haunted Lakeview.
   The half-hour performances are scheduled to run continuously from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 28, and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 29.
   Admission is $5. Proceeds benefit the Lakeview Players and the Jamesburg Historical Association. The show is not recommended for the faint of heart or children under 12.
   However, young children will not be left out of the festivities. The Lakeview Players will present a Halloween Story Hour at the mansion on Oct. 31 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
   Children in kindergarten through fifth grade can enjoy Halloween stories and other fun activities. Refreshments will be served.
   The event is free, but donations will be accepted.
   Information about Haunted Lakeview and the ghosts of Lakeview is available online at www.jamesburg.net/hauntedlakeview, or Information about the haunted house, the Jamesburg Historical Association and the Lakeview Players is also availableby calling (732) 521-2040.