Did you see the Halloween parade?

By Dawson Raspuzzi Herald Staff

While it’s witches, ghosts and goblins that come to mind when some think of traditional Halloween themes, this year there will be a fair share of other themed floats filling the streets during the Rutland Halloween Parade Friday, including Willy Wonka, Batman, penguins and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

“Halloween is everything — you see princesses, you see bats, you see witches — Halloween is whatever you want it to be,” said Rutland Recreation Director Cindi Wight.

“One year we did superheroes as a theme and it was sort of boring in a way, everything was about the same … so now it’s just a Halloween theme.”

The Rutland Recreation and Parks Department has received about 90 entry forms to participate in the traditional Halloween Parade that starts on Strongs Avenue and ends at the Rutland Shopping Plaza.

In its 49th year, the downtown parade has been dubbed the largest Halloween parade in the state and one of the longest-lasting parades in the country to be held on Oct. 31 each year, said Anne Blake, the department’s marketing and promotions coordinator.

Blake said with the spookiest night of the year coming on a Friday, the attendance at this year’s parade should attract a large crowd. In years past, 10,000 to 15,000 people have made their way downtown to check out the festivities.

On top of the thousands of onlookers lined up on the sides of downtown streets, others will be able to catch the festivities live on PEG TV Channel 15 and online on the community access television’s Web site where live footage of the parade will be streamed for the first time.

Wight said this year’s parade will be similar to past years, although one thing that will be noticeably different is the absence of one man who helped create the parade in 1959 and worked to make it the event it is today.

After Tom Fagan died last week at 76, Wight said, organizers were working out the details on honoring Fagan in the procession by naming him the honorary grand marshal.

While the tradition remains similar to previous years’ parades, the variety of floats, dancers, other vehicles and music from a half-dozen marching bands will definitely not all be the same.

“We have a float with a Fenway Park theme with the green monster seats, the Citgo sign … and keep your eyes out for Wally,” Wight said.

The spookiest celebration of the year doesn’t end when the last float parks in the Rutland Shopping Plaza though, as Center Street will be filled with vendors and entertainment and the Paramount Theater hosts the Freakers Ball.

For $10, the public can catch four local bands starting with the Jim Gilmour Band taking the stage at 8:30 p.m., followed by Crazyhearse, with a self-described “psycho-folk-a-billy” style, and the rock, jam, pop and funk sounds of the Bona Fide Dregs.

Headlining the Freakers Ball is Duane Carleton and his band, The Backwoods Messiahs, singing songs about working-class struggles to live the American dream. Carleton, who won a Tammie Award for “Best Vermont Rock Album” in 2007 with his release “Once Lost, Then Torn Down,” has announced his newest album “American Boy” will be on sale first at Freakers Ball.

Paramount Executive Director Bruce Bouchard said the event, which runs from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., was intended to not only showcase some of Vermont’s best musicians, but to make it available for anyone interested in going.

“When I first came to town, I kept hearing there was an elitist moniker on the Paramount, and I thought, ‘We have to do something about that, we have to be a theater for everybody,’” Bouchard said.

Along with offering a wide variety of events, Bouchard said, by making tickets to certain events less expensive the Paramount is accessible to everyone, and with tickets to the Freakers Ball at $10, he called the Halloween event the “strawberry on the shortcake.”

With the doors open into the early morning, Bouchard said he expects the Paramount to stay filled until the last strum on Carleton’s guitar.

“From what I’ve heard about Halloween in this town, I think they will stay until the end.”

Bouchard said he expects tickets to remain available until Friday evening, although for tickets in advance contact the Paramount box office at 775-0903 or online at www.paramountvt.org.

As well as the downtown festivities, many Halloween celebrations will be happening simultaneously around the state. One of the most popular is the annual Halloween Party at the Wobbly Barn in Killington.

With live entertainment provided by Joey Leone’s Chop Shop starting shortly after doors open at 8 p.m., Wobbly Barn bartender Bobby Peterson said he expects the capacity of 606 to be met early in the evening.

The 44th annual Halloween Party is also the opening of the Wobbly Barn for the season.

“I don’t care about what people say about when the mountain opens, the Halloween Party is the unofficial opening to the ski season at Killington,” Peterson said.

A $10 donation at the door benefits the Sherburne Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad and all entrants must be in costume. Prizes will be awarded by judges for costumes, and the best costume receives a season ski pass at Killington.

For a list of other Halloween events, check out the event calendar on the Herald’s Web site.

Contact Dawson Raspuzzi at dawson.raspuzzi@rutlandherald.com.