It didn't take long for spectators to clear the curbs and sidewalks of downtown Allentown Sunday, after watching the city's annual Halloween parade. Attendance was down, leaving plenty of sitting and standing room along the chilly parade route.
"I'm not sure if it's because of the weather or that the parade was postponed a week, but it wasn't as packed as usual," said Dave Fermato of Coplay, who played trumpet in the Union Band, the opening band of the parade.
Jessica Trexler of Allentown, who bundled up her 5-month-old daughter, Ivii, to see her first parade, was a little disappointed, too. But Ivii seemed to by mesmerized by all of the sights and sounds.
The Allentown Halloween Parade, like those of Bethlehem and the Easton/Phillipsburg area, originally was scheduled for last Sunday. But with residents of the region preparing for Hurricane Sandy last week, all three parades were postponed to Sunday, four days after the actual date of the haunting holiday.
Perhaps, by then, the Halloween spirit had simply slipped away. Or, maybe people were just worn out from a stressful, post-storm week that left thousands without power. And possibly, Sunday's cold, damp weather put a damper on the parade that began at 2 p.m. and lasted only slightly more than an hour.
But it seemed to affect even some of the people participating in the parade. Costumes were almost as sparse as the spectators. Many parade marchers were dressed in street clothes.
Those who went the extra mile, however, received a welcome reception.
Among them were Spider Man, Batman and a Care Bear, all of whom took time to pose for photos with kids.
Perhaps most impressive were the colorful costumes worn by members of a Puertorrique?os Unidos cultural group. Accompanied by Latin music, the group was a high point.
"One thing I noticed about the parade was that there were no Obamas or Mitt Romneys," said Mary LaDuca of Easton, who expected to see those costumes with the election only two days away.
Kathryn Fittery, who is visiting the area from Florida, brought her nieces, Jenayalis Caban, 10, Kassandra Chatman, 10, and Alexaundra Batista, 7. Dressed in costumes as the character from the movie "Scream," a NASCAR pit crew mechanic and a princess, the girls arrived too late to march. But they had a good time walking the route in the sidelines from the Allentown Fairgrounds to Ninth and Hamilton streets.
Children, especially the younger ones, ooh'd and aah'd as groups featuring animals ? everything from a Wells Fargo & Co. stagecoach pulled by four horses to alpacas, a donkey, goats and two great Pyrenees from Gress Mountain Ranch ? marched.
Other spectators moved to the marching beat of Allentown's high school and middle school bands.
"I've been marching in the parade since 1975, when I went to Harrison Morton Jr. High," said Fermata. "It's not like it used to be back then."
Still, he and his fianc?, Sharon Fox of Coplay, who sat and watched the parade with his granddaughter, Brok Fermato, 4, had fun.
Brok's favorite part of the parade? "Candy," she said. And, with spectatorship down, there was plenty of it to go around. Kids didn't even have to hustle from their curbside spots to gather up an abundance of sweet treats tossed by many of the approximately 60 groups participating.
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski also played a role in putting smiles on children's faces as he walked the parade route dropping candy into trick-or-treat bags and plastic pumpkins.
Brok left with a Halloween bucket filled with treats.
"What's really great is that we're the grandparents," said Dave Fermato, pointing to Brok's hefty haul of sweets. "They go home to their parents with all of that."
irene.kraft@mcall.com
610-820-6597
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Source: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-allentown-halloween-parade-20121104,0,3381547.story?track=rss
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