Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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Nekhi Preston, 8, of Greensboro, takes a break from collecting Halloween candy Saturday afternoon at Liberty Fair Mall. He went there with his grandmother, Martha Fuller of Carver for the festivities. |
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Sunday, November 1, 2009
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
Henry County and Martinsville looked like Halloweentown on Saturday as ghosts, goblins, ballerinas, princesses and other creatures visited Jingling Brothers Carnival and Candy Circus at Mt. Calvary Church, Liberty Fair Mall’s Malloween and “trunk or treats” in other areas.
Some of the creatures had a taste for candy; others preferred something far more sinister.
“I can keep all the other monsters away just by eating them,” said Nekhi Preston, explaining why he decided on dressing as Dracula.
He brought his grandmother Martha Fuller, of Carver, along to help at the mall. “Originally, I wanted to be a werewolf,” he said.
Frightful witches, goblins and skeletons hobbled alongside princesses, fairies and ballerinas.
Maggie and Morgan Sechrist, daughters of Eddie and Melissa Sechrist of Collinsville, showed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the book “The Cat In The Hat.”
Perched on their parents’ shoulders, the twins gathered their sweets in pumpkins while their 6-year-old brother, Cannon Sechrist, wore his best Luke Skywalker outfit and used a lightsaber to help guide the way.
“This is our first year to come to the mall,” Eddie Sechrist said. The family saw a flyer advertising the Malloween and decided to go there before going to a trunk or treat at their church.
Jeb and Crystal Bowles also said the mall was their first stop.
“We’re just getting started” with youngsters 1-year-old Autumn Bowles and 3-year-old Demerius Bowles, Jeb Bowles said.
Cheerleaders, gypsies, rock stars and hobos blended with genies, cats and cowgirls. Dorothy showed up from Oz, as did a family of witches, a scarecrow and a sunflower.
Twins Isabella Hood and Aidan Hood of Martinsville left the garden just in time to ride around the mall in their blue wagon pulled by their father Tim Hood. Their mother, Andria Hood, said she borrowed inspiration from the garden to make the costumes.
Rain did not deter the 1,500 to 2,000 people who attended the circus at Mt. Calvary Church in Axton.
Stacy Moore, 18, of Axton, attended the circus “mostly for the rides,” she said.
Brianna Jenkins, 11-year-old daughter if Edward Jenkins and Teresa Merriman, could not decide what she liked best at the carnival. “I like it all,” she said.
Pastor Gary Robertson said the carnival, which started in 2001, is a crowd pleaser each year.
“We usually have had 3,000 to 4,000” people attend the free event that is sponsored by businesses, church members and others, he said, attributing the smaller crowd rainy weather.
“It is a good way for us to show God’s love to the community,” he said. |
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