By ROBERT TIMMONS
Fort Jackson Leader
Little policemen, firefighters, ballet dancers and the occasional ghoul or goblin will be out in full force this weekend as Fort Jackson celebrates autumn with a festival, 5-kilometer run and trick-or-treating in housing areas.
The "frightful" weekend will kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday when Child, Youth and School Services offers a fall festival at the Solomon Center. All activities, games, prizes and treats will be free.
The festival is all about letting children have fun in their Halloween costumes, said Cindy Andre-Noel, CYSS outreach director.
"We spend all this money to buy costumes, so they should (be able to) wear them more than once," she said.
Costumes worn to the festival shouldn't be scary, she said, "because we have little ones there, and we don't want to give anyone nightmares."
The festival is one of many family-oriented events held each month.
"There will be games and activities for all ages," she said. A haunted house will be available for teenagers.
Other activities include creating Halloween-themed crafts, decorating pumpkins and bowling, as well as hayrides outside the Solomon Center.
Candy and other items will be given out as prizes and bonuses for completing games and tasks.
"Children can win candy as a bonus" for doing well, Andre-Noel said, but they will not earn candy for finishing a craft item -- they'll take the creation home.
"For instance, if they are decorating a pumpkin, they will take the pumpkin home with them," she said.
Some posts hold so-called trunk-or-treating events to ease Halloween concerns, but Fort Jackson's festival is meant to complement traditional activities.
"This is not a replacement for trick-or-treating," Andre-Noel said.
The next morning, the Halloween Howl 5K run will start at 8 at the Twin Lakes Recreation Area.
Registration is ongoing, with late registration occurring from 6:30-7 a.m. the day of the run. For more information call the Fort Jackson Sports Office at 751-3096.
On Saturday evening, little ones will be scouting for candy and haunting housing areas. Both trick-or-treaters and drivers are cautioned to be aware of their surroundings while crossing streets.
The Army Family Morale, Welfare and Recreation office recently posted a website article that gave tips to keep "Halloween frights strictly be of the make-believe variety."
It says parents should inspect their children's candy for suspicious items and make sure children don't gorge themselves on candy. FMWR also advises that trick-or-treating children should stick together and be escorted by adults.
To read more, visit www.armymwr.com/halloween-safety.aspx.
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