The Kiwanis Club’s annual Halloween Costume Exchange remains a hit with the community’s parents and kids.
A good-sized crowd had gathered Saturday morning in advance of the event’s start on the sidewalk of the Great Bend Public Library, so Kiwanis members Barb Esfeld and Dan Soeken gave the go-ahead to start before the planned 10 a.m. opening.
After the initial rush, the racks and tables of boxed items were still getting a good look-over through to the noon hour.
The event is in its second decade after beginning with a little girl’s wish, Esfeld said.
“The daughter of one of our members had come home crying because some members of her class weren’t going to be able to dress up for a party at school. ‘Can we go get them some?’” Esfeld recalled.
“So member Bill McKown proposed a costume drive back in 2011.” It’s been going strong ever since, Esfeld noted.
“That first year we had people bringing in homemade costumes. Every now and again we get some of those, but mostly individuals and businesses buy some and donate and the club members buy some. We’ve done it in conjunction with the library every year,” she noted.
Esfeld noted that some of the purchased outfits are made so they are pretty much good for one wearing, so the donated items are screened before they are put on the rack.
Esfeld said that she prefers the home-crafted outfits for wear. “These newer outfits are so expensive and some are just not made very well,” she said. “Some don’t survive that first washing.”
She could tell that one particular dog costume went home pretty early. “I could tell that it was homemade, I know the lady that made it. It was so cute,” she said. “We have some crafty people that can make some stuff.”
Meanwhile, parents were picking and choosing and sizing for the kids. Sometimes, however, the kids would beeline just for the one they wanted.
“One little girl, maybe she was just 2 years old, grabbed up a witch costume while her mom was looking things over. She carried it around the whole time they were here,” Esfeld noted.
“She’s probably going to be wanting to wear that from now until Halloween.”
Speaking of Halloween, the Kiwanis Club’s annual Halloween Parade is next Saturday, Oct. 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. beginning at Jack Kilby Square in downtown Great Bend. Kids will have the opportunity to dress up and gather goodies from participating business all around the business district.
As the kids were picking up their costume, Soeken was making sure that they knew to wear it for the parade. “You have to know how it looks for Halloween,” he told one young shopper Saturday. “We will see you there, right?”
Most likely so.
