Brownsville weathers storm
BROWNSVILLE – With cold, rainy weather blanketing the area, Brownsville’s first Halloween parade in more than a decade didn’t quite go according to plan. Usually, when planning a parade, the actual parade part is pretty important. On Saturday, however, when a heavy downpour of freezing rain and sleet drenched the area just as the parade was about to start, a few adjustments had to be made.
“The snow and sleet hit right at the time we were forming up,” Mayor Lewis Hosler said. “We just told the people to stay in their cars and that way we could still proceed through town.”
So instead of costumed kids, the parade of cars followed the fire trucks down Water Street to the First Christian Church. Once inside the warm and dry confines of the church social hall, the kids were given treats and some took home prizes for their costume creativity.
“The kids were outstanding,” Hosler said. “The costumes were really outstanding. They put a lot of effort into it.”
Ironically, after the wet weather cancelled the parade, the sun came out just as they had finished passing out the treats, the first-term mayor said. “It was the first time in about 15 years that we had a Halloween parade for the kids,” he said. “It’s unfortunate the weather didn’t cooperate.”
Around 100 children and their parents braved the downpour to take part in the festivities at the church. Had it not been for the wet weather, Hosler said the number could have easily been 200 or 300.
“Before the storm came in there were a lot of trick-ortreaters in the borough,” he said. “I think we would have had quite a few hundred, but unfortunately it is the end of October and sometimes we do get some bad weather.”
It’s safe to say that most of the parents weren’t pleased with the heavy rains, but not all the kids seemed to mind.
“Kids will be kids,” Hosler said, laughing. “You’re only a kid once. They grow up too fast and Halloween is part of being a kid. I think they all had a good time.”
While the first Halloween parade in 15 years turned out a little differently than planned, Hosler still considered the event a success – and important for the community.
“I think parades are part of being an American and part of being a community,” he said. “It brings the community so much closer together. This community needs all the help it can get, it needs all the people pulling together to make it work, and make it the great community it once was.”
And when this time rolls around next year, Hosler said next year’s plans already include one thing: clear skies.
“Hopefully next year we’ll have a nice October day and it’ll be 60 degrees,” he said. “At least we hope so.”
Hosler said the event was co-sponsored by the borough and the Brownsville No. 1 (North Side), South Brownsville, Hiller and West Brownsville volunteer fire departments.