Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics

Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? He didn’t have any guts!  Either that, or he was already at Scare on the Square, and he would have no reason to go anywhere else.

Indeed, the LEAP Ambassadors and ten Pre-Law Society members found themselves at the Scare on the Square for the 15th straight year–probably the longest streak of participation in the community–once again assisting Huntsville Main Street with the 2,500 or so visitors who came for the fun and scares at the community’s premier Halloween event.

All of the Ambassadors dressed up in costume. Since there was no theme this year, costumes ranged from Tinker Bell to Wednesday Adams to Bob Ross and even a Minion.

Since “ghost bowling” was such a hit last year, LEAP decided to recycle the idea which, in hindsight, proved to be a good idea because everyone loved it this year as well!

Similar to bowling, the game consists of toilet paper ghosts stacked on top of each other in a pyramid and a lane made of butcher paper leading to it.

Although a few rebels insisted on throwing the ball at the pyramid instead of rolling it…

…and some thought it was a soccer game…

…most enjoyed playing and the candy prize that came afterward.

Pre-Law Society came prepared with an (and I am a bit biased in saying this) artfully decorated game of bean bag toss. The idea was simple: toss the bean bag into the hole and claim your candy for playing. We had many cute baby sharks, Elsas, and dinosaurs walk right up to the hole and drop it in…

…but a few confident contenders took it upon themselves to stand far away and still manage to sink both of the bean bags into the hole.

Either way, the prideful look on their faces when they played was a reward to us in and of itself.

Although I mentioned cute costumes, there were plenty of frightening ones as well. We were amused by the contrast but impressed by the creativity. There was a duo dressed in a two-person costume in which one of them was a wad of gum made of pink balloons and the other was a shoe with gum stuck on the bottom of it! All in all, pointing out the best costumes to one another was one of our favorite things to do.

Speaking of which, one of the real treats of Huntsville Main Street’s “Scare on the Square” are the games they provide to the young children in the community.  Not only is there a bounce house…

…they also partner with the Fire Department to provide hot dogs!

….And face painting.

But the highlight of the program is the costume contest…

…where kids are divided into age groups to compete for “best in show.”  They have to introduce themselves, which provides them with public speaking practice…

…and some of them really impress with costumes, such as this young winner.

Even dogs got into the act.

Although our volunteers’ costumes were creative, they weren’t necessarily unique.  Thus we had two Wednesday Addams…

….two “Incredibles,” who, in truth, were actually only pretty good…

…and, of all things…two Bob Rosses…

It was gratifying to see the many volunteers come out.  Indeed, our pre-law society provided 10 volunteers: Karen Rodriguez, Olivia Kelly, Ethan Stephens, Liz Moore…

…Sara Bonilla, Amanda Amway, Savannah Gonzalez, Summer Davis, Quinn Kobrin and Esme Mata.

And, as usual, we had 100 percent participation from our five LEAP Ambassadors.

Of course, most of the credit goes to Huntsville Main Street Director Tracy Chappell and intern Brittney Flores, both of whom did a great job.

As the event came to an end, and our candy bowls nearly empty, we packed away our tables and decorations with the happy notion that we made a positive impact on the many families that came to spend their evenings having fun. We would like to thank the Huntsville Main Street Program for putting on such a great program each year!