Cordova celebrates Halloween with gusto, not in a day, but with numerous events taking place over a two-week period.
Staff from the Cordova Parks and Recreation Department, and A.C. Value Center kicked off the Halloween season Oct. 20 with a family-friendly Great Pumpkin Event at Bidarki Recreation Center. Crafts included carving or painting pumpkins, and rock painting with guest artist Jessicca Hoover, of the Cordova Rocks group on Facebook.
The U.S. Forest Service put on their annual Bat Cave Oct. 27, with games, an exhibition on bats, crafts, prizes and treats for the youngsters.
A new addition to the Halloween festivities lineup was the opening later that night of Harry Potter’s World: Renaissance Science, Magic and Medicine art show, at the Copper River Gallery in the museum. Many participants arrived in Harry Potter costumes, held wand duels, played games, drank butterbeer and ate chocolate frogs.
The Harry Potter weekend continued with two days of movies, providing muggles and young wizards with plenty of entertainment.
The Girls on the Run Costume 5K Fun Event kicked off at 10 a.m. Oct. 28, followed that evening by Bidarki Recreation Center and Current Rhythms Dance Studio’s Monster Mash, a costume party and dance for students in fifth through 12th grades.
Several local watering holes, including the Reluctant Fisherman Inn, the Alaskan Bar, and the Anchor Bar, held adult-only Halloween costume and/or karaoke parties that night into the wee hours of Oct. 29.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sycamore and the Coast Guard Spouses’ Association held the Haunted Ship event on the evening of Oct. 30, with a kid-friendly session through the haunted vessel for younger children from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by a guaranteed-to-scare tour for older children and adults after 7 p.m. Coast Guard personnel, their families and friends dressed up as zombies and other creatures of the undead, to scare those brave enough to venture onboard. Canned foods were collected as admission, to benefit local food banks.
On Oct. 31, most merchants on First and Second Streets handed out candy to trick-or-treaters, as did other businesses scattered around the community. The Cordova Public Library offered free books to costumed kids, and several churches held harvest festivals, with games, prizes, hot cocoa and hotdogs.
Members of the Cordova Volunteer Fire Department decorated the fire hall earlier in the day, to welcome visits from goblins and ghouls galore, and provided goody bags, and rides on the department’s fire engines.
Senior care residents and staff of the Cordova Community Medical Center joined in the fun, handing out treats to youngsters and their families in the center’s lobby on Halloween.
