In The News

Halloween Parade A Success Because Of Community
Originally printed in The Westerly Sun
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Westerly Sun Commentary

Each year the Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force and the Downtown Business Association partner to present the Downtown Halloween Stroll, and each year the colorful and entertaining family event gets bigger and better. The Halloween event wraps up Red Ribbon Week, the annual week-long national drug and alcohol awareness campaign. Now, after six years, it's become a muchbeloved Westerly tradition, another of a long list that makes this a wonderful place to raise children, especially when we all work together to make it special, and safe.

Last Saturday, Oct. 31 (a perfect Halloween evening, balmy and breezy) hundreds and hundreds of costumed kids, from toddlers to teens, trick-ortreated at decorated businesses along High, Broad and Canal streets downtown. The Sixth annual Downtown Halloween Stroll is a festival where moms and dads, aunts and uncles, and grandparents join their kids and really get into the spirit (pun intended). From babies in strollers dressed as pumpkins or tiny cows, to the family from the Wizard of Oz, the Halloween party, costume parade and costume contest continues to be a terrific event always with a positive message: fun without substances.

But this fantastic event couldn't happen without the support of many, many in our community, many volunteering.

These are hard economic times, so a special thank you to all the downtown business owners able to participate for their generosity of spirit and candy!

Substance Abuse Task Force volunteers handed out stickers and Red Ribbon Week bracelets and helped with the parade and contest. Youth Task Force teens wore character costumes, thrilling plenty of kids who wanted to have a picture with Dora or Spiderman. These volunteers believe strongly in the Task Force's substance abuse prevention work and we thank them for always being there. And a big thank you to The Westerly Band!

Thank you as well to the Town of Westerly for its continued support and Westerly Town Councilor Kenneth Parilla for helping to judge the costume contest. And to the various businesses that donated contest prizes including Pizza Lady, McDonalds, Alley Katz and WBLQ and also to Chris DiPaola of WBLQ for airing the event.

We're also grateful to the Westerly Police Department, especially to Task Force liaison Lt. Stano Trombino, for their support of the Halloween event over the years. (You too, Batman!) We'd also like to thank the Westerly Fire Department for its support.

It's the commitment and spirit of countless volunteers at this and any number of Task Force-sponsored events that truly demonstrate the meaning of the word community.

The Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force is committed to providing education and awareness about alcohol and substance abuse prevention and keeping our community healthy. This is work that we simply cannot do alone. We believe that working together we can make a difference. And it's community events like the Halloween Stroll and parade that help bring us together.

Mary Lou Serra Westerly The writer is the Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force coordinator.