Families enjoy costume contest, bounce houses and lots of candy at Taylor’s Halloween event
Cowboys, ninjas, and even a couple of appliances showed up for the 2022 Spooktacular scare on the square event to celebrate Halloween Oct. 31 at Heritage Square Park. Hundreds of attendees came to show off their costumes, visit with Sparky the Fire Dog, jump in the bounce houses, and eat lots of candy. Taylor police and fire departments were also on hand for tours of their vehicles and photos.
Vendors, including Baylor Scott & White, First Baptist Church, Taylor Independent School District, and Taylor Economic Development Corporation, handed out balls, other promotional items, and lots of sweet treats.
Library Director Karen Ellis said more than 100 kids participated in the librarysponsored costume contest, which had a dozen winners in different age categories.
“It was a lot of fun,” Ellis said. “There were lots of cute kids.”
“My favorite was a kid dressed up as a bush,” Ellis added. “We had a little row of ninjas, one of whom really had the moves.”
Other costume highlights included monsters, vampires and even a little girl dressed up as the late Tejano star Selena.
“The judges were having a lot of fun, and we were having a lot of fun up there,” Ellis said.
Gus Rydell, 11, came in a home-constructed chicken cowboy getup.
Dad Brandt Rydell, Taylor’s mayor, said his son’s costume was crafted from an unused inflatable chicken from a previous fundraiser his mom Julie Rydell had worked on.
“It is a holdover from the Good Life (Taylor 5K),” Brandt Rydell said with a laugh. “He repurposed it.” Ellis said costume contestants were given a bag filled with bookmarks, pencils and other library goodies. “We work really hard to make the event fun,” Ellis said.
