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November 2018
Lakeland Halloween Festival is a Spook-tacular Good Time
By Kim Odom, Special Events Coordinator, City of Lakeland.
Photo by AHS AP/PAVE student Abby Rose
A peacock, a pineapple, a pair of lady
bugs, a firefighter, and The Claw, were
among the many costumes decorating
IH Park, Sunday, Oct. 21, as
approximately 1,000 guests joined
Lakeland’s annual Halloween Festival.
Cool temps and sunshine made for a
record turnout for the festival, as
youngsters made their way around the
park visiting local vendors setup and
serving as trick-or-treat stations. Each
vendor gave away candy and/or prizes
throughout the event, and many offered
games for added excitement.
The 340 pumpkins in the staged
pumpkin patch were all picked within
the first hour of the event. Those lucky
enough to pick a pumpkin with a sticker
on the bottom were given a ticket for a
drawing giveaway and a chance to win
one of four family prizes donated by
Children’s Museum of Memphis, Bluff
City Escape Rooms, and Memphis
Incredible Pizza Co.
Ghouls, goblins, princesses and
superheroes,
filled
the
LAMP
(Lakeland’s Amphitheater) to compete
in the Costume Contest divided up into
six age categories. Hannah Malone and
Madison Dinwiddie were among several
student volunteers from Arlington High
School working the event. They had the
challenging task of judging the contest.
“It was so hard picking winners,” said
Madison. “There were so many really
good ones.” All first, second and third-
place winners took home a trophy.
Faces got a bit messy during the
“licking good – no fingers allowed,”
Pumpkin
Pie
Eating
Contest.
Competitors dove in face-first with
hands behind their back for a minute and
30 seconds. When time was called, a
winner was announced based on who ate
the most pie in the allotted time frame.
There were two separate pie eating
contests for kids and one contest for
adults. Winners in the kids contests were
Cha’Rell Love of Memphis, and Sadie
Scoggins of Millington, each received a
trophy. Michael Haines of Millington,
was face-deep in pie to the very end
earning the trophy in the adult category.
Additional activities included a huge
inflatable slide, Mr. Mike the Balloon
Man, face and pumpkin painting by
Arlington High School National Art
Honors Society students. Games and
various activities were manned by AHS
National Honor Society students, and
other student volunteers with Volunteer
for Lakeland.
“My wife (Michelle) and I were able
to attend and had a great time,” said new
City Manager, Shane Horn. “It was neat
to see so many families enjoying the
beautiful afternoon. These are certainly
the type of community events that we
want to continue to promote.”
The event was hosted by Lakeland’s
Parks and Recreation Department with
help from Public Works staff. Sponsors
were Lakeland Lions Club, Trustmark
Bank, Four-Way Insurance, and Bartlett
Pediatric Dentistry.
Below: Sadie Scoggins of
Millington was face-first in pie
during the “licking good – no
fingers allowed,” Pumpkin Pie
Eating Contest. Scoggins took
home a trophy for her efforts.
Photo courtesy of City of
Lakeland.
Photo by AHS AP/PAVE student Abby Rose
Photo by AHS AP/PAVE student Abby Rose
Left: Three-year-old Maleah
Faaita tossed the bean bags
towards the target in a round of
Corn Hole at Lakeland’s annual
Halloween Festival, Sunday, Oct.
21, at IH Park. Photo courtesy of
City of Lakeland
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