BALDWINSVILLE — The town of Lysander Parks and Recreation Department is once again pairing its annual Baldwinsville Halloween Window Painting with the Greater Baldwinsville Chamber of Commerce’s trick-or-treating event. Both take place Saturday, Oct. 22, in the village of Baldwinsville.
“For the businesses that participate, the kids are already there so it’s an ideal time for those businesses to offer trick-or-treating,” said Director of Parks and Recreation Kevin Merrill.
Also Oct. 22 is Orange and Olive’s Spooky Hollow Festival, which takes place from 3 to 9 p.m. at Lysander Town Park on Smokey Hollow Road.
The festival will feature a haunted house, movie showing, trick-or-treating, face painting, local craft vendors and more. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Purpose Farm. Tickets are $2 per person and include one raffle entry.
Participation in the Halloween Window Painting is open to Baldwinsville-area residents ages 8 and older.
“We had about 175 last year, mostly kids. We had a few adults. It is open to everybody, so there’s no age limit,” Merrill said.
Merrill did away with the age limit last year when parents and grandparents reminisced to him about their own memories of painting B’ville businesses’ windows for Halloween.
“I had parents that when registering their kids [they] had mentioned that they were glad to see the event return and they were glad to see the tradition continue,” he said. “It’s a family event, so why shouldn’t the entire family be involved?”
Lysander Parks and Rec took over the event in 2016 after the Baldwinsville Optimist Club dissolved.
The town provides washable tempera paint and assigns a window to participants, who are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes and partake in trick-or-treating at local businesses after completing their masterpieces.
Registration is required for the Halloween window painting. Visit https://bit.ly/LysanderHalloween to download the form. Please return the form to Lysander Parks and Rec no later than Oct. 14. For more information, visit townoflysander.org/departments/parks-and-recreation or call 315-635-5999.
Painting takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 22, and GBCC trick-or-treating takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the same day.
The paintings will stay up for one week. Volunteers from Baker High School will then scrub the artwork away with an assist from the Baldwinsville Volunteer Fire Department’s low-pressure hoses.
