Church Has A Less Scary Alternative
Ghouls too ghastly? Spooks too, well, spooky?
Six years ago, a group of parents at Pasadena Park Church of the Nazarene thought so. But rather than tell their grade school-age children that Halloween wouldn’t happen, they just scuttled the scariness.
The church then founded its annual Scarecrow Scurry. The event happens again on Saturday, Oct. 28, from noon to 2 p.m. Admission is just 50 cents. There will booths, all types of games, face painting, and cookie decorating. This year, organizers also added singing and a puppet show. Everything happens at the church, 8822 E. Upriver Drive.
“We wanted to do something for the kids that would be a safe Halloween experience for them,” says organizer Eileen Green. “It’s something I wanted for my own kids. They could bring their friends and all be in one contained space.”
Sunday school students from the church participate in pumpkin carving and art activities the week before, and the projects all get entered into a contest at the Scurry.
But that doesn’t mean the event is just for youngsters who attend the church. It’s for everyone who wants to go. And, go they do - its first year, there were 75 partiers there. Last year, there were 300.
With all those activities planned, it’s easy to explain why the Scurry is a hit. But what’s the explanation for that name?
“Everything has pumpkins, witches, spooks or scary things in it,” Green says. “Scarecrows, though, are such cute little people, and the kids scurry around when they’re there.”
Send us your events, prayers
As soon as the chill falls, folks start talking about the holidays. Well, we’re no different - we’ve not only got our respective gift lists to peruse, we’ve got special holiday deadlines to look forward to.
So, although the leaves are just hitting the ground, we need your schedule of special holiday events soon. Tell us the name, date, time, place and ticket cost (if any) of your event; and send us the name and number of a contact person.
The information is for our annual Thanksgiving Day religion section. But the events we need are all the special church activities happening from Thanksgiving Day through New Year’s Day, so send along all your Christmas and Hanukkah info, too.
Since we’re pitching our wish list your way, we have one other request. For this year’s section we would like to include prayers of thanks, too. In 100 words or less, let us know what you’re grateful for. It can be a person, a relationship, special event or memory - anything.
Here’s the catch: We need it all by noon, Nov. 1. Why the rush? We always face deadlines, but since Thanksgiving is early this year, our deadlines also come early. But we don’t want your church event or prayer left out! Please mail your submissions to:
Thanksgiving Section, Features Department, The SpokesmanReview, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane WA 99210-1615. Or, fax your prayers and event lists to: (509) 459-5098.
, DataTimes