Rollins Park Gets Spooky at 20th Annual Halloween Festival

The sun set and ghosts, ghouls and goblins, joined by princesses, superheroes and farm animals, came out of the woodwork Thursday, Oct. 31-Halloween-and converged on Grand Terrace's Richard Rollins Park for a night of spooky entertainment during the 20th annual Grand Terrace Halloween Festival. The festival, hosted for the second year by the Foundation of Grand Terrace, saw more than 1,000 residents dressed in their best costumes to participate in games, a trunk-or-treat event hosted by the Grand Terrace Lions Club, listen to music, participate in costume contests and purchase food and beverages from the Grand Terrace Woman's Club. This year vendors included The Foundation of Grand Terrace, the Grand Terrace Dog Park Committee (a subcommittee of the Foundation of Grand Terrace), Calvary Chapel The Brook, Sandals Church, Azure Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fiesta Village, Grand Terrace Basketball, the Grand Terrace Community Soccer Club, the Grand Terrace Lions Club and the Grand Terrace Woman's Club. "We had a lot of support this year," said Richard Loder, a member of the Foundation's Beautification Committee and one of the event organizers. Around the park fields, children and adults tried their luck in various carnival games, including basketball shooting, balloon popping and ring throwing. At 6:30 p.m., the Foundation of Grand Terrace's Dog Park Committee held a dog costume contest for the furry Grand Terrace residents who came dressed in costume, awarding gift cards for various local eateries and dog groomers to the contest winners. Thursday evening's event welcomed both first-time and returning participants, like Sylvia Gonzales and Yvette Kecskes, who brought their children, dressed as the "Batman Team," as their mothers affectionately referred to them, to the event this year. Both Kecskes and Gonzales are returning members to the event. "We used to come to this all the time, even when it was at Pico (Park)," said Gonzales. "The kids like to see their friends," Kecskes added. "It's a really child-friendly event," Gonzales said. First-time Halloween festival-goers and longtime Grand Terrace residents Krisztina Lindsley and her husband Aaron brought their children, Kristofer, 2-dressed as a construction worker-and Tisza, 4-dressed as a fall fairy-because, Aaron said, "they were getting to the age where they want to enjoy Halloween." Sisters Heidi, Randie, Kerry and Tracey Ortloff come to the festival every year, and this year brought along two little ones. The four siblings were dressed alike as witches. "We really like the trick-or-treating and the carnival," said Kerry. "We want as much Halloween as possible." Children participated in games and received candy through the evening until about 8 p.m. [END] The sun set and ghosts, ghouls and goblins, joined by princesses, superheroes and farm animals, came out of the woodwork Thursday, Oct. 31-Halloween-and converged on Grand Terrace's Richard Rollins Park for a night of spooky entertainment during the 20th annual Grand Terrace Halloween Festival. The festival, hosted for the second year by the Foundation of Grand Terrace, saw more than 1,000 residents dressed in their best costumes to participate in games, a trunk-or-treat event hosted by the Grand Terrace Lions Club, listen to music, participate in costume contests and purchase food and beverages from the Grand Terrace Woman's Club. This year vendors included The Foundation of Grand Terrace, the Grand Terrace Dog Park Committee (a subcommittee of the Foundation of Grand Terrace), Calvary Chapel The Brook, Sandals Church, Azure Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church, Fiesta Village, Grand Terrace Basketball, the Grand Terrace Community Soccer Club, the Grand Terrace Lions Club and the Grand Terrace Woman's Club. "We had a lot of support this year," said Richard Loder, a member of the Foundation's Beautification Committee and one of the event organizers. Around the park fields, children and adults tried their luck in various carnival games, including basketball shooting, balloon popping and ring throwing. At 6:30 p.m., the Foundation of Grand Terrace's Dog Park Committee held a dog costume contest for the furry Grand Terrace residents who came dressed in costume, awarding gift cards for various local eateries and dog groomers to the contest winners. Thursday evening's event welcomed both first-time and returning participants, like Sylvia Gonzales and Yvette Kecskes, who brought their children, dressed as the "Batman Team," as their mothers affectionately referred to them, to the event this year. Both Kecskes and Gonzales are returning members to the event. "We used to come to this all the time, even when it was at Pico (Park)," said Gonzales. "The kids like to see their friends," Kecskes added. "It's a really child-friendly event," Gonzales said. First-time Halloween festival-goers and longtime Grand Terrace residents Krisztina Lindsley and her husband Aaron brought their children, Kristofer, 2-dressed as a construction worker-and Tisza, 4-dressed as a fall fairy-because, Aaron said, "they were getting to the age where they want to enjoy Halloween." Sisters Heidi, Randie, Kerry and Tracey Ortloff come to the festival every year, and this year brought along two little ones. The four siblings were dressed alike as witches. "We really like the trick-or-treating and the carnival," said Kerry. "We want as much Halloween as possible." Children participated in games and received candy through the evening until about 8 p.m. To view more photos from the 20th Annual Halloween Festival, visit www.citynewsgroup.com > Grand Terrace. ============= GT Halloween Festival Date: Thursday, October 31, 2013 Time: 5:30 p.m. Google Map Event Location: Richard Rollins Park Address: 22745 De Berry St. Grand Terrace CA 92313 Description: Trunk or treat, food, & games! Come dressed in costume! GTWC selling hotdogs, chips, drink for $1. Thru about 8 p.m.