Glen Ellyn celebrates Halloween with parade

Glen Ellyn resident Bill Folkmar and his 5-year-old son William, who was dressed for the day as a red Power Ranger, had a plan.

"He wants to do the parade. Right after the parade is when they have trick-or-treating at all the downtown stores," the elder Folkmar said.

"We'll go from store to store and get some loot."

The Folkmars were in downtown Glen Ellyn on Saturday morning for the village's daytime Halloween Fun celebration, hosted by the village's chamber of commerce.

The annual event is one the Folkmars make a point of attending each year.

"Last year, he was Santa Claus," Folkmar said, grinning at his son's sense of humor.

While the parade took several hundred people -- including toddlers, children, teens and parents -- through a few downtown blocks, other families competed in a pumpkin-decorating contest at the Glen Ellyn Civic Center.

As a blustery wind whipped through costumes that transformed tykes into pumpkins, flowers, butterflies and superheroes, a contingent from the Glenbard West High School marching band played tunes such as "Rockin' Robin" to warm up the crowd.

Like their younger counterparts, high school band members didn't look like themselves Saturday. The band leader appeared to be a wizard, a horn player looked positively skeletal and another musician, dressed in a suit, bore a strange resemblance to Vice President Dick Cheney.

The four members of the Houghtaling family of Glen Ellyn were gathered on the sidewalk with other parade marchers, waiting for the parade to begin.

Dave Houghtaling had turned his 6-year-old son Nick's wheelchair into a tiny police car with the help of an upside-down black storage bin and flashing lights. Letters printed on the sides read, "Glen Ellyn Police Department."

"We're from Glen Ellyn and he wanted to be a police officer," said his father.

Seated inside the car, Nick looked content to watch as Raggedy Ann, a pint-sized pirate, several cats, a giant bee and a tiny tiger milled around, followed by the Caped Crusader and his sidekick, Robin.

Nick's eyes widened as he surveyed the scene.

"We tried to make it fun for Nick," said his father.