Village Hosts 12th Annual Halloween Party

The village of Mineola held its annual Halloween bash at the community center Friday night, with over 300 children and their parents filling the gym and parking lot.

Costumed party-goes began lining up outside the village hall around 6:30 p.m. as a few refugee pirate ghosts from the Black Pearl – including a stilted undead Capt. Jack Sparrow - showed up to greet – and scare – some of the kids.

The village had a variety of activities set up for the pint sized trick-or-treaters, including a giveaway bag when they first entered the building, a face-painting station, cotton candy machine, food table as well as carnival rides like a bounce-house and slide, a dragon-themed pendulum swing and a circular swing ride.

Many volunteers from the high school were on hand to help with the festivities, including the face painting stations and cotton candy machines. Other volunteers manned one of the food stations handing out hotdogs and ice cream.

Several of the village trustees made appearances, including Mayor Jack Martins, deputy mayor Lawrence Werther and trustee Paul Pereira along with his family and children who immediately ran towards the community center gym and dance floor.

"Thriller" was a theme of the night, as well as the kid-friendly "Monster Mash" as the pint-sized ghouls played a game of limbo. "It's all about the kids," village clerk Joe Scalero said, smiling.