Celebrating the Great Pumpkin

Two ponies, a flutter of fairies, a flock of vampires (mostly boys, one girl) and a host of superheroes streamed into the Spooky Fest Halloween party at Magruder Park Saturday night.

The Department of Recreation and the Arts hosted the event, offering face painting to the children waiting patiently in line as others played on the slides outside. Inside a park building just off Hamilton St., popcorn, cookies and another face painter was available in a room decorated with pumpkin balloons.

The crowd swelled to about 200 people, compared with 40 last year, when there was bad weather. Parents talked amiably while excited children ran and jumped -- there were a lot of Spidermen but no climbing of tall buildings was reported. 

Joan E. Myles made a white plush pony outfit and an aqua mermaid costume for her girls.

"Whatever they want to be, I make them," she said proudly. "My mother did the same for me so I have to do it for them."

As the temperature dipped, no one seemed to mind, including the girl with the pony head to keep her warm.

Inside a full-to-bursting yellow building, a disc jockey was urging partygoers to dance while some children were having their faces painted and collecting popcorn or cookies to munch on. A Hyattsville Police car stopped by to keep an eye on the traffic where children were crossing the street.

Elizabeth Concha of Riverdale said she heard about the event by word of mouth and brought her two children Mateo (Spiderman) and Alexander (skeleton costume).

Jacquay Plummer, recreation supervisor, and
 Terry Kenny, recreation coordinator, made the event possible along with Cheri Everhart, an administrative aide for the recreation department.

At the end of the evening, costumes were judged by age group and categories such as originality. Treats handed out to the children. If comments by parents are any judge, the event was a smash. All of those who were asked said they would come back next year.