What a fantastic indoor Halloween Parade we had last week!

For those of you who weren’t among the hundreds who turned out for our annual extravaganza, we moved the Halloween Parade into the Boothbay Harbor Town Hall and Fire Station.

The forecast was for an absolutely miserable Halloween; the high winds and pouring rain sounded like no fun, even for us seasoned Mainers. On Tuesday afternoon we started talking to the town office, fire station, and participating businesses, churches, and nonprofits. By Wednesday morning, we had confirmed the location switch and were in full-on new plan mode.

We did another round of PR blasts and business sweeps to confirm details like table count and set-up time on Wednesday afternoon. We’re sorry we didn’t get to everyone, but so thankful that those we did miss sought us out to get the information they needed. What a great example of community teamwork.

Thursday was decorating, decorating, and more decorating. Our wonderful trustees and volunteers spent the morning heating up cider and keeping the library doors open. The Harbor Public Works department cleared out the Fire Station, hung lights on the ceiling, and set up the tables. And finally, the Methodist Church brought their end zone fun and games to the new end of our shortened parade route.

Meanwhile, BHML staff transformed the meeting room in the town hall to a witch’s lair, complete with a library graveyard (“Here lies Spoyler Alurt, Who Read the Last Page First”) and creepy Halloween touch boxes (where kids could feel “Komodo dragon tongues” or “eyes of newt” and marvel over bottles of “unicorn tears” and “blood of a live oak.”

Thank you to the Boothbay Harbor Police Department, Town Office staff, Fire Station, and Public Works Department for your hard work. Thank you too to the businesses, nonprofits, and churches for your generosity and flexibility.

Ironically, the indoor parade happened during a break in the rain. Thank goodness though—it turned out that our location switch didn’t totally solve the weather problem, as the line to get in to the Town Hall at one point stretched all the way to the library!

Then again, it’s all about lifelong learning...

Upcoming events

Monday Night Book Group: Mon., Nov. 11, 7 p.m., “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens.

I Love a Mystery! Book Group: Sat., Nov. 9, 10:30 a.m., “Purgatory Ridge” by William Kent Krueger.

Books and Bites: Wed., Nov. 20, 2 p.m., St. Andrews Village.