Community Corner
Drizzle Fails to Deter Spirit of Halloween Parade
Draws families for the first time and for generations.
Luke Bogholtz stood on one side of Main Street yesterday afternoon for more than an hour, in the misty drizzle, in costume, his attention drawn to the marchers, musicians, floats and vehicles—especially the trucks, some with horns and sirens blaring—that paraded past him.
In spite of the weather, a crowd estimated to be larger than last year’s turned out for this year’s Halloween parade.
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Luke, who is 2, came as a firefighter—useful, his father, William noted, to ward off the rain. Luke particularly likes trucks, his mother Maria, told Patch.
Luke’s family moved to the city last month, Luke’s dad, William, told Patch. So this was their first parade here.
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Across Salem Street from the Bogholtz family, members of the Colucciello family also watched the parade.
Three generations of their family have been spending the last Sunday of October at the parade, according to Linda (Colucciello) Covert. This year, cousins Giovanni Colucciello and Marc Covert continued the family tradition along with their parents and their grandmother, Josephine Colucciello. Josephine came to the parade when she was a child, Linda Covert said.
The parade was a big deal for the next generation, too, according to Linda.
“We waited for it,” she said.
This year, Marc, 3, was eager, his mother said, for parade day to arrive.
He was “mesmerized by what went by” yesterday, she said.
Giovanni’s dad, Joe, said his company, Colucciello Construction, pulled the Goodyear School float.
The parade is organized and funded by the Woburn Host Lions Club. The club started the event in 1955, Chairman Bryan Murphy told Patch last year, to deter Halloween vandalism, including false fire alarms. All the money the Lions collect during the parade goes to the Massachusetts Lions Eye Research Fund.
The 2.2-mile parade, which has become a local tradition, is, according to club organizers, one of only a handful of such Halloween jaunts in the United States.
Like the Colucciello family, the Ratto family also considers attending the parade a family tradition. About a dozen family members took their position near the intersection of Main and Salem Streets again this year. Some of them come from as far as Salem, NH, to watch.
Woburn Police Officer Dennis McGrath said he was surprised at the number of people who stood or sat along Main Street near the intersection of Salem Street yesterday.
Turnout was lower last year, commented Officer Charles King, who stood at the intersection with McGrath during the parade, because last year’s marchers and drivers wound down Main Street the day after a blizzard.
Two years ago, parade day was cold and windy, Linda Covert recalled. By comparison, “This year’s rain was not so bad.”
Add your own photo to our Gallery. Check out the Patch photo and video gallery for sights and sounds from the parade.
