AURELIUS - Linda Rushak does not normally dress up in rhinestones, red satin and a platinum wig to go to the mall. But Saturday, Rushak came as the Vaudeville bombshell Mae West to help her get in the spirit as she doled out candy at the Fingerlakes Mall Halloween Parade.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Joan Neuman gives some candy to Alexander Sturgill, 4, who is dressed as a transformer outside of Jo-Ann Fabrics during the Fingerlakes Mall's trick-or-treat parade on Saturday afternoon.
Joan Neuman gives some candy to Alexander Sturgill, 4, who is dressed as a transformer outside of Jo-Ann Fabrics during the Fingerlakes Mall's trick-or-treat parade on Saturday afternoon.
Dozens of children dressed as princesses, pirates, rock stars and dogs Saturday made the rounds at the mall's parade, a 25-year tradition of safe, well-lit trick-or-treating. Organizers expected the event to attract even more trick-or-treaters than previous years, after eliminating the registration fee. What they did not realize was that Mother Nature would be on their side.
“Rainy weather,” said Trisha Clark, of Auburn. “We don't know if we're going to get out later.”
By “we” Clark meant she, her husband, Scott, and their three sons, Tristan, 1, Logan, 3, and Sabin, 4 (and a half). The family circled through the mall Saturday in costumes inspired by a recent trip to New Mexico.
Sabin and Logan wore the wide-brimmed hats, red bandannas and fringed leather pants of Western sheriffs. The five o'clock shadows around their chins suggested they meant business and were going to take this candy stand for what it was worth. But their pony, Tristan, was calm. He drank a bottle in the family's shopping cart.
The mall was filled Saturday with traditional Halloween get-ups - witches, monsters, skeletons - as well as pop culture-inspired costumes - a Transformer, a comic book superhero, Kanye West.
Karissa Kehoe's costume was resourceful.
“I'm a firefighter,” said Karissa, 7, her statement muffled by a gas mask that used to belong to her father, a fire chief. Her mother, Ronda, ordered a child-size fire fighter suit to go with Karissa's authentic fire fighting accessories.
Kehoe said she brings her daughter to the mall parade every year. “It's just safer,” she said. “You don't have to worry about checking the candy.”
Many of the stores at the mall sent employees to stand outside the entrance with a bowl of candy to hand out to children as they passed.
“It's our way of giving back to the community,” said Nicole Longway, who worked the parade scene outside MasterCuts.
Children shuffled in a loop around the mall, collecting licorice, bubble gum and chocolate at each storefront.
Martha and Tom Piorun brought their five-year-old daughter Allie to the parade not as a substitute for trick-or-treating elsewhere, but in addition to a romp through their Auburn neighborhood planned for later that night.
They even had a Halloween party, where Allie and her friends dressed up in mummy swaddling.
Allie was dressed this year as Batgirl, with rhinestones at the corners of her mask. Her two blond pigtail coils bounced when she shook her head in confirmation that yes, she was having lots of fun.
But even with all the costumes and candy and excitement, Allie did not forget her manners. She was a polite Batgirl and thanked the leprechaun who dropped a lollipop in her plastic candy bucket outside Avicolli's Pizza in the food court.
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
“Rainy weather,” said Trisha Clark, of Auburn. “We don't know if we're going to get out later.”
By “we” Clark meant she, her husband, Scott, and their three sons, Tristan, 1, Logan, 3, and Sabin, 4 (and a half). The family circled through the mall Saturday in costumes inspired by a recent trip to New Mexico.
Sabin and Logan wore the wide-brimmed hats, red bandannas and fringed leather pants of Western sheriffs. The five o'clock shadows around their chins suggested they meant business and were going to take this candy stand for what it was worth. But their pony, Tristan, was calm. He drank a bottle in the family's shopping cart.
The mall was filled Saturday with traditional Halloween get-ups - witches, monsters, skeletons - as well as pop culture-inspired costumes - a Transformer, a comic book superhero, Kanye West.
Karissa Kehoe's costume was resourceful.
“I'm a firefighter,” said Karissa, 7, her statement muffled by a gas mask that used to belong to her father, a fire chief. Her mother, Ronda, ordered a child-size fire fighter suit to go with Karissa's authentic fire fighting accessories.
Kehoe said she brings her daughter to the mall parade every year. “It's just safer,” she said. “You don't have to worry about checking the candy.”
Many of the stores at the mall sent employees to stand outside the entrance with a bowl of candy to hand out to children as they passed.
“It's our way of giving back to the community,” said Nicole Longway, who worked the parade scene outside MasterCuts.
Children shuffled in a loop around the mall, collecting licorice, bubble gum and chocolate at each storefront.
Martha and Tom Piorun brought their five-year-old daughter Allie to the parade not as a substitute for trick-or-treating elsewhere, but in addition to a romp through their Auburn neighborhood planned for later that night.
They even had a Halloween party, where Allie and her friends dressed up in mummy swaddling.
Allie was dressed this year as Batgirl, with rhinestones at the corners of her mask. Her two blond pigtail coils bounced when she shook her head in confirmation that yes, she was having lots of fun.
But even with all the costumes and candy and excitement, Allie did not forget her manners. She was a polite Batgirl and thanked the leprechaun who dropped a lollipop in her plastic candy bucket outside Avicolli's Pizza in the food court.
Staff writer Sarah Gantz can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or sarah.gantz@lee.net
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