Halloweenie is an annual tradition in Columbia, where local businesses become the neighborhood doors children knock on to get their candy. With the shift towards a virtual event this year, downtown businesses are finding creative ways to interact with locals online.
The Alpine Shop is leading a class on building your own leaf person out of foliage. Speckled Frog will also be providing other types of Halloween themed crafts. DogMaster Distillery will even teach parents how to make “Hallow-Tini” Cocktails in their Adults Corner.
Elise Finn will be hosting the Alpine Shop’s class and hopes that all of the kids will be able to feel the Halloween Spirit.
“I just hope that the kids walk away feeling special and feeling like they did get to have a sense of Halloween today,” Finn said. “We just want to make sure this is their day and that people recognize it’s important that they still have an opportunity to show off their fun costumes and also to interact with other kids in the community.”
The entire event is being organized by The District, who spent the last week collecting different treats from different businesses and stuffing 300 goodie bags for the kids to come and collect.
Nickie Davis, the executive director of the District, hopes the event will help the community reconnect.
“All of our businesses miss their customers and all of our customers miss our businesses,” Davis said. “So we just wanted to do something to show that we’re still thinking about them, we’re still here.”
The event was held from 5-6 on Friday night and was streamed live through the District’s Facebook page.