Connoquenessing Park hosts annual fire department Halloween parade
CONNOQUENESSING — Princesses and Power Rangers alike paraded down the path of Connoquenessing Borough Park as part of the municipality’s annual Halloween parade on Sunday, Oct. 26, hosted by the Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Company.
This marked the sixth year the annual Halloween parade was held at the borough park instead of its traditional home at the fire station.
“In the COVID year we weren’t able to have it hosted at our station, so we hosted it here,” said deputy chief Matt McConnell. “It’s a beautiful park and way underutilized. We do like to have it here, if nothing else, just to raise awareness that this park is available.”
Shortly after the parade, the costume-wearing children stood up to be evaluated for the costume contest, which picked three winners each from groups for ages 3 years and younger, 4 to 6 years, 7 to 9 years, 10 to 12 years, and 13 years and up.
Judges for the event were Tyler Friel, of Butler Radio Network; along with Mark Williams and Ray Kroll, who are both running for Connoquenessing Township supervisor in next month’s general election; and Barb Tanski, who has judged the contest for decades.
While most of the event was free, the fire department did raise money through two prize raffles — one to give away a 2015 Harley-Davidson and the other to give away an 85-inch Philips 4K TV.
“Those funds go to daily operations of the Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Company,” McConnell said. “Otherwise, this is a free event. This is just for the community.”
The fire department is also in the midst of planning for a new fire station and is seeking grant funding for it, but those plans have been put on hold by the federal government shutdown.
“We’re kind of in the middle of the underwriting for our station and we’re just kind of sitting on our hands at this point,” McConnell said. “Once we have our new station completed, we’ll move (the parade) back to the fire station and parade down Main Street.
