By Isiah REYES

The Montrose Shopping Park Association held its annual Halloween Spooktacular along Honolulu Avenue hosting thousands of trick-or-treaters looking to have a good time in a festive environment.

A three-block stretch of Honolulu was closed off to vehicular traffic as kids of all ages went from shop to shop looking for treats. Live bands such as Doug MacDonald Jazz, Doo-Rag Ragtime and Mark Towns Flamenco added fun music to the festivities. Food Network star Jon Neill was on hand to demonstrate his pumpkin carving techniques transforming ordinary pumpkins into ghoulish masterpieces.

Tim Melchior, president of the Happy Kids Club, was greeting kids who entered a kid-friendly haunted house located between Ocean View Boulevard and Market Street. Kids who entered played games along the way like spinning a wheel that determined how much candy they would win.

“We’ve had this kid-friendly haunted house for two years now, and its lots of fun,” Melchior said. “I think this event is fantastic for kids. It provides something that they can go to and have fun and it’s not scary and they don’t have to walk all over darkened places.”

“This event is great,” said Glendale Community College Professor Mike Allen, who was out with his family. “When you’re away from cars you don’t have to worry about the risk from that and it’s fantastic. There are lots of kids here and everybody’s having a good time.”

Children also learned how to give back to the community by donating spare candy to the YMCA Foothills “Healthy Halloween Candy Collection” booth where they had a chance to win a bike.

The one downfall was that the light drizzle made diners eating outside at nearby restaurants move inside, but the event still went on until the candy ran out.

  Isiah REYES