Kids, parents take in the spoils of downtown trick-or-treating

Flocks of fairies, bundles of bumblebees and a skulk of skeletons filled downtown Corvallis streets Friday afternoon as members of the Downtown Corvallis Association welcomed trick-or-treaters into their businesses.

Each shop and restaurant was marked with a bright orange pumpkin sign letting kids know that candy was available inside. As an extra incentive, many businesses had employees dress up to add to the festive spirit.

Second Glance women’s consignment shop owner Nancy Kneisel wore a Dorothy costume, complete with red high heels, and stood outside her shop, carrying a large wicker basket with her small white dog, Maddie, inside. Maddie was doubling as Toto, and seemed perfectly content in her perch.

Kneisel had a good view of all the costumes coming by.

“There’s an awful lot of Spider-men,” she said. “But I haven’t seen any Harry Potters this year.”

Down the street at Block 15 restaurant, mom Connie Joki escorted her two daughters, Madison, 12 and Mallory, 7, and their two friends, Andrea Mitev, 10 and Annie Mitev, 13. The pack of princesses had yet to cover the bottoms of their candy bags with treats.

“We did just start,” Connie explained.

The family heads downtown for Halloween every year.

“We love it,” Connie said, “and it’s great with kids off school today.”

They were planning on hitting as many of the participating shops as possible, “as long as the weather holds,” Connie said.

At Red Horse Coffee, baristas Kelley Croco and Shawnti Peachey were a fairy and a masquerader, respectively, and were ready with a bucket of candy as a stream of “Star Wars” Storm Troopers, fairies and even Holly Hobby stopped in. Peachey tried to lean over the counter to put candy in the smaller ghouls’ bags, but found the reach too far.

“I’m too short!” she exclaimed through her peacock feather mask, before marching out into the shop to deliver more candy.

Little doctor Brian Steele, 7, came into the coffee shop escorted by his parents, Tom and Kelli, who were also in scrubs. Tom is a hospitalist at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. He said the family loves the downtown trick-or-treat event.

“We do more downtown trick or treating (than neighborhood) because of Brian’s age,” he said. “This is much more interactive. And there’s a real sense of community.”

Paul Yager and his son Henry, 6, were experiencing that sense of community for the first time. Having just moved to Corvallis from Rhode Island, the downtown event was a first, and Henry, dressed as the Incredible Hulk, was already pleased with his haul, which included giant Tootsie Rolls, his favorite.

He was also excited about the holiday itself. His favorite part of Halloween, he confided, was “that it’s spooky.”