Vitoria Medeiros and Leandra Arruda also contributed to this article.
Halloween is celebrated as a day full of fun. Although specific traditions may vary from country to country, most people agree that it is a day to enjoy with friends and family and participate in traditions such as carving pumpkins and decorating with spooky decor.
Students and staff at the Forestdale School enjoyed spending Halloween as a day filled with fun through trick-or-treating and dressing up in various kinds of costumes. The holiday serves as a way for students to wear their costumes and showcase their unique style and interests with creativity.
On Sunday, October 18th, the school transformed into a festive hub for its annual Halloween event. According to volunteer coordinator Lisa Porro, the gathering is a “tradition” that has “been going on for years.”
The school cafeteria and common areas were transformed into a Halloween wonderland. Towering inflatable decorations greeted attendees, including a large pumpkin flanked by friendly monsters holding “Trick-or-Treat” signs. Scattered throughout the room were classic eerie accents, from a grinning jack-o’-lantern bucket to a creepy inflatable black spider decoration and a dangling skeleton figure watching over the festivities.
Forestdale School principal Adam Weldai shared that he has “been helping with this Halloween party for 15 years.” He described the setup process as manageable and straightforward, noting that “everything that you see here just gets packed away into a couple boxes that live in a storage room down the hall, and then every year, around 12 o’clock, we come, we undo it all, put it back up on the walls, the DJ comes, and then, a little later, pizza comes, and it kind of runs itself.”
Providing the high-energy soundtrack for the afternoon was DJ Julie D’orio from Party on Productions, who shared that she has assisted in hosting this event for about a decade.” Over the years, she came to enjoy the celebration and found herself returning to help with the music. Setting up her professional laptop and mixing console right inside the hall, she kept the room buzzing with festive beats.
“I’m very happy to be helping because I know these people, and I’ve known them for a long time. They’re great, and I get to just play with kids for two hours,” Diorio explained.
During the event, children rotated through various activity stations set up along long tables draped in vibrant orange tablecloths. Clearly marked with handmade signs, the interactive tables included a “Pumpkin Magnet” station and a “Paper Owl” station, where kids gathered closely to glue together their crafts.
In another area, children sat side-by-side coloring festive pictures while proud parents and guardians joined them at the tables, helping with the tricky parts of the crafts and capturing photos.
The creativity of the community was fully on display through a colorful sea of costumes. Children ran around dressed as iconic characters while adults enthusiastically joined in on the fun— including Mayor Gary Christenson and Weldai, who rocked cool costumes. The lively mix of music, crafts, and community spirit made the day even more magical for the children, showcasing the tight-knit bond of the Forestdale community.
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