Ashland Children's Halloween Parade 2015

After several Halloweens of utter devotion to Darkwing Museum and Morguetorium, now closed but firmly ensconced in vivid history for thousands, I felt like a zombie adrift this past Halloween. Sure, there were a number of other haunted houses to join, but many of them featured scary clowns and chain-saw wielding villains. Not my cup of tea. I had been part of a spectacular, award-winning haunt with a Victorian theme, updating and perfecting my Victorian Lady Zombie costume every year, much like a “Rennie” does for each Renaissance Faire event.
 
Wayne was busy recording all day, so I decided to “zombie up” for old time’s sake and head over to the Children’s Halloween Parade in nearby Ashland to take pictures. I still have a bit of a limp, which I can attribute to a recent chiropractor-prescribed “hit it hard” approach to my beloved Bikram yoga. Although I’m vigorously committed to getting my body back after The Great Fall of 2014, the zombie-stagger comes easily to me.

This “Children’s” parade takes place every Halloween. I say that with a bit of irony, as it turns out to be a whole community event. Sure, they’ve tried asking only children with accompanying adults to lead the parade. The Chamber of Commerce actually tried to cancel it in 2011 due to complaints about adults showing up in scary costumes. This move was met with such emphatic opposition that the parade was quickly reinstated.
East Main Street is closed to traffic so everyone can line up at the library and march down to the plaza lead by Ashland's resident samba band, Samba Like It Hot. There’s even a special presentation of “Thriller” by a local dance group, on a side street. The children get to trick-or-treat at the stores, and then everyone mills about in the plaza grooving to the samba band. Since Ashland is notoriously a “theater town” due to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and numerous “Off-Bardway” concerns, the costumes are often brilliant.

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Not just for children!

My personal favorite, The Wizard of Oz family. The guy on the left is the tornado.

Later in the evening, when it gets dark, this same plaza and surrounding streets are filled with Halloween-loving adults roaming around in stunning costumes, bar-hopping and dancing. I’d like to say, “This is my town, that celebrates Halloween with such veneration,” although we’re slightly north, tucked away in the hills and don’t pay property taxes there. Still, I feel proud to live near a town whose Chamber of Commerce takes the time, money and energy to sponsor a proper Halloween.