Monster March takes to streets on Halloween
Published 5:30 pm Monday, October 23, 2017
Trick-or-treaters will want to have their costumes ready for the annual Halloween Monster March downtown on next Tuesday Oct. 31 at 4 p.m.
“We are super excited about the Monster March,” Main Street Selma board director Danielle Wooten said. “Main Street Selma has hosted the Monster March for many, many decades. Every year on Halloween, children from across the city come out to the public library and they have face painting, play games and sometimes we have live entertainment.”
Sparky from the Selma Fire department will be the grand marshal for the march, and lead everyone from the Selma-Dallas County Public Library down Broad Street to the bridge and around to the finish line at the performing arts center.
“We do want to promote literacy and reading,” Wooten said. “We want children to know that the library is a cool, safe place for them to come. Having hundreds of kids depend on the public library is great exposure for the library, and the kids get excited to be able to go into the library and participate in the activities.”
Participating in the march is free, and the kids will get to enjoy themselves in a safe environment. Sparky and the marching monsters will be led musically by the Selma High School drumline, according to Wooten.
“The point is to try and get the kids downtown,” Main Street Selma board president Clay Carmichael said. “It was estimated around 300 folks last year, so we’ll look for that many this year.”
Registration at the library begins at 3:45 p.m. Kids can get their face painting and draw their number for the costume contests and prizes that will be given out at the end of the march. As the marchers make their way down Broad Street, the local business will pass out candy and other treats for them. Once everyone makes it to the performing arts center, prizes will be given out including the $50 “Miss” Kitti Windham Award for the most creative and original costume.
“We try to do things for downtown businesses,” Carmichael said. “We want people to feel good about downtown, and the downtown businesses are hometown folks.”
