Houlton’s All Shires Eve alive with witches and hundreds of Jack-O-Lanterns

2 weeks ago

HOULTON, Maine – The witches were out in full garb on Saturday evening in Houlton, an Aroostook County town with historic ties to the witches of Salem. 

As part of the inaugural All Shire’s Eve Witches Walk that began just before sunset at Riverfront Park in downtown Houlton, about 50 or so witches, warlocks and other goblins walked through the wooded trail. Along the way, they stopped to complete the famed Wolfshäger Hexenbrut witches dance that began several years ago by a dance troupe in Germany.

Kim Nice of Houlton, along with her daughter and granddaughters, knew about the witches dance and said they had fun dancing it along the walk. Other witches who claimed their names were the Green Witch, Winifred and Sarah Sanderson, said it was just what they had hoped for as they walked off, capes blowing in the cold evening air. 

The Oct. 26 All Shires Eve was spurred by several community groups including the Community Impact Alliance, a grassroots group of local business owners and leaders, the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce, the Carleton Project, Living Innovations and many other area businesses and nonprofit organizations. 

“This collaboration was born from a desire to engage the community beyond the annual trick-or-treating events and to stimulate commerce,” said Johanna Johnston, executive director of the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation. 

This was the first time the town hosted such a big, multi-event Halloween bash that was ringed by the first ever lighted Jack-O-Lantern Trail. The downtown was awash in parties, corn mazes, candy, free movies, costume contests with cash prizes, trunk or treating and costume parades. 

More than 265 outdoor carved pumpkins ringed the downtown heading over the bridge and to Riverfront Park. Local business windows, filled with lighted carved delights, helped light a downtown path from Serendipitous Dragonfly to the edge of the Riverfront Trail.

HOULTON, Maine — October 26, 2024 — Witches, warlocks and other goblins completed Houlton’s inaugural Witches Walk and official Witches Dance starting and ending at Riverfront Park Trail in downtown. (Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli | Houlton Pioneer Times)

“It was a really good community project,” said Danielle Lane, manager of KeyBank who was the organizer of the Jack-O-LanternTrail. “My dream is to have it double in size next year.”

Just before dark, Lane was lighting the hundreds of pumpkins along the town’s gateway bridge. Many had remote control lights, but because there were more pumpkins than she anticipated she had to also use balloon lights that had to be changed each day for the three days of the Jack-O-Lantern Trail. 

The pumpkins were donated from more than 20 local businesses, organizations, schools, clubs and the community, she said.