The first annual Finland Halloween Carnival, held at the Clair Nelson Center in Finland, had a great turnout last Saturday evening.
The carnival offered a wide range of activities for attendees to partake in. The youth could test their skills at ax throwing and the ring toss to win a prize. Others had the option to play some of the classic carnival games such as pick a duck, the lollipop tree, and the fishing pond game. Some brave souls even dared to enter the haunted house. While in the haunted house, they ran into some scary witches holding Frankenstein brains, eyeballs and other oddities for them to touch, squish and look at. Many kids went into the haunted house multiple times because they enjoyed it so much. If you wished to have your fortune told, that was also a possibility in the magical fortune telling tent.
During the carnival a costume contest was held with fifty three kids participating. The costume contest winners were: Most Original Costume- Henry Ashford; Scariest Costume- Phoenix Williams; Cutest Costume- Jocelyn Tharalson. Each won special trophies made by Pat Ramsdell. A wide variety of costumes swirled about the room, ranging from a giant rubber chicken, a kid dressed up in regular clothes with cobwebs who said he was a neglected child, many movie characters, princesses and witches. It was difficult to choose winners with so many wonderful and impressive costumes. After the costume contest the Cake Walk opened up for participants. There were a lot of goodies for everyone to try to win. The cake bakers who volunteered their time and baking expertise were Sisa Nikula, Laura Kallinen, Stacy Breden, Betsey Mead, Teresa Nelson, Laurie Melby, and Lisa Tibbetts.
Of course, there were plenty of snacks and food for everyone to munch on. You can’t have a carnival without some tasty treats. Greg and Cindy Hanson brought and ran a snow cone machine, with hot dogs, chips and juice boxes also available for the hungry ghouls and goblins.
A lot of planning went into organizing and setting up the Halloween carnival. Weekly meetings were held with many volunteers involved in the planning and brainstorming process. Volunteering were Arlene Conzelman, Stacy Breden, Senja Ahlbeck-Bates, Sisa Nikula, Laura Kallinen, Sarah Carter, Betsey Mead, Krista Starkovich, Wendy Caroon, Julie Meyers, Kelly Ulrich, Jenni Yandrasits, Natalie Sundvick, Chrissy Haselow, Harper Breden, Debbie Ahlbeck, Patty Houle, Teresa Anderson, Joan Anderson, Greg Hanson, Cindy Hanson, Alan Weiss, Pat Ramsdell, Cory and Liz Wilde, and Penny Jo Hudson.
The Finland Halloween Carnival was made possible by the many generous sponsors this year that donated and contributed to the holiday event.
The Finland Halloween Carnival Committee is already meeting to discuss plans and how to improve next year’s carnival. What a great new tradition to look forward to each year. Have a Safe and Happy Halloween everyone!
