Toms River Halloween Parade To Honor Health Care Workers

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The 83rd Toms River Volunteer Fire Company 1 Halloween Parade is just over a month away.

While some people have been planning their floats or working on their family's costume theme for months, there is still time to make plans to be part of the annual event.

The parade is scheduled to be held on Monday, Oct. 31, with a rain date of Tuesday, Nov. 1. With the parade on Halloween, Toms River Township officials have announced trick-or-treating in the town will be held on Sunday, Oct. 30, following the tradition that has been in place for most of the parade's years of existence.

The grand marshal of the 2022 parade will be the front-line health care workers, parade officials announced in August.

The parade, which is a fundraiser for the fire company, has been heralded as the second-largest Halloween parade in the world with thousands of participants and spectators filling downtown Toms River every year. The parade, which started in 1919, has only been canceled a handful of times. In addition to the cancellation in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the parade was canceled in 2012 because of Superstorm Sandy, which slammed Ocean County just two days before Halloween. It also was canceled during the Great Depression due to lack of funds, and again during World War II due to labor shortages and blackout rules.

The parade starts at 7 p.m. and the fire company will have firefighters collecting donations along the parade route. The donations help offset the cost of the parade.

There are no major changes to the parade for 2022, including the categories that were in place for participants in 2021.

Walking participants will line up on Highland Parkway before the parade, while vehicles and floats will stage in the parking lot of the Toms River Shopping Center.

You must be in costume or, if participating in a motorized division, your vehicle must be decorated, to participate. There are awards given out for the person who travels the farthest to participate, for the youngest participant in line and for the oldest participant in line.

Registration is held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. the day of the parade at the firehouse, 26 Robbins St., so you can decide even at the last minute to hop in the line. Further details on the rules and the divisions can be obtained at the firehouse.

Here are the divisions:

• Best Decorated Baby Carriage or Express Wagon – Children under 4 years of age; in costume and in a carriage or wagon.
• Best Costume, Children younger than age 12
• Best Group in Line — Scouting Organization
• Best Decorated Motorized Float — Scouting Organization
• Best Decorated Motorized Float — Volunteer Fire Company and Volunteer First Aid Squads
• Best Group in Line — Junior Organization, for youth organizations other than Scouts
• Best Decorated Motorized Float — Junior Organization
• Best Group in Costume — Non-Affiliated Family 3 or more; can be family members or not, everyone must be dressed in a consistent theme.
• Best Group in Costume — Non-Affiliated/Family 3 or more Motorized (for floats)
• Best Couple — Any two individuals who wish to march in the parade together in an original/ comical theme.
• Best Appearing Motorized Vehicle— up to 1979
• Best Costume — 12 to 18. This division is for young adults. Costumes may be anything of an appropriate nature.
• Best Decorated Family Pet (walking). Pets must show proof of vaccination and must be leashed throughout the parade. It is YOUR responsibility to clean up after your pets.
• Best Decorated Family Pet (motorized). Pets must be secured on the float.
• Best Costume — 18 and older
• Best Group in Line — Community Organization; entrants may be in uniform or costume. (Examples of community organizations are the Elks, Kiwanis, Rotary Club, Moose Lodge, PTO/PTA School Association, etc.)
• Best Decorated Motorized Float — Community Organization
• Best Group in Line — Commercial Business. Must be in uniform or costume.
• Best Decorated Motorized Float — Commercial/Vo-tech. Entrants must be in costume or company uniform. Floats are expected to be decorated accordingly and made by amateurs.
• Best Appearing Motorized Vehicle — 1980 to Present. Any vehicle that can under its own power travel the parade route. Vehicles must be significantly decorated.

The fire company also will answer questions about the parade by sending a message through the parade's Facebook page.