MERIDIAN - The fate of the Meridian Fire Department may currently be up in the air, but the annual children's Halloween party was still going strong Saturday afternoon as more than a dozen children gathered at the Meridian gazebo for the kickoff parade down to the firehouse.

The Halloween celebration has been a tradition in the town for at least the last 50 years, according to organizers like Rosemary Donnelly and Mary Perrotta.

“This is something the women's auxiliary has always done,” Donnelly said. “I've been doing this for at least the last 30 years. It is just one of the things we do for the kids and the people in the community.”

For a lot of children in the area, the Halloween party has been a long-standing tradition, where friends get together for a fun afternoon of costumes and games.

“I've come here almost every year,” said Bethany Prell, 11. “It is always a lot of fun and there is lots of candy and games and friends and everything. It's really always a lot of fun for me.”

Members of the women's auxiliary have always gone the extra mile to make this event something children and parents alike have eagerly anticipated.

Games like a saw-dust pit filled with coins to dig out, bean bag toss and costume contest have always been a big part of the

celebration.

“Everybody gets something,” Perrotta said. “Every one gets a prize and bag of candy and I think that helps make it fun. I've actually had people come up to me who say they remember coming here when they were little and now 15 years later they are bringing their children and I hope years from now they are bringing their grandchildren. This is just a really big and fun thing for these kids and something they really remember and keep with them the rest of their lives.”

And, of course, candy and drinks and all the usual Halloween accessories were not forgotten.

“Everything is donated,” Donnelly said. “People are really supportive and do a lot to help us get this together year after year.”

Misti White, who brought her 5-year-old triplets Hunter, Griffin and Gracie, has made the party a part of their children's lives since the very beginning.

“I've been bringing them here since they were born,” White said. “I just think it's great. It's so much fun and they do such a nice job of putting everything together and making sure everyone gets something, it's just a great thing that they do for the kids here.”

With the future of the fire department as yet undecided, so too is the future of the Halloween celebration and other events the women's auxiliary does within the community.

“Things like this will be gone,” Donnelly said. “The things we do for hospice, the Red Cross, the food pantry, the firemen's home, I could go on. This could be the end of all of those things and we don't want to see that happen.”

As the parade wove its way from the gazebo to the firehouse, the fire truck and many of the cars along the route were baring stickers urging people to help save the Meridian Fire Department.

“We really do want to be able to keep things like this going,” Perrotta said. “It is a tradition and it means a lot to everyone here and we don't want to see that end.”

And neither do the kids, for whom this and other events have come to mean so much.

“It would be sad if they couldn't do this anymore,” said Cassandra Terpening, 15. “It has always been a lot of fun, the costumes and friends and everything and I like to see the little kids here have fun now too. I hope they can keep it going.”