Lauren Hayward, 1, of Downers Grove looks for the best roll of Smarties in Heather Williams' bucket in front of Gather & Collect in downtown Glen Ellyn during Saturday's costume parade.
Jake Griffin/jgriffin@dailyherald.com
The mere thought of a bucket full of candy was enough to give most kids a sugar rush Saturday morning in downtown Glen Ellyn.
Evelyn Lechner, a 6-year-old from Glen Ellyn, hardly had the patience to stand still as her father, Mike, adjusted her Dorothy costume from "Wizard of Oz" before she bounded off skipping toward the start of the costume parade, declaring she only wanted "Snickers!"
Thousands of costumed children, dogs and adults flooded the streets Saturday for the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce's annual Halloween Festival.
"She's doing pretty good in her costume for now," said Jen Zecher, whose 2-year-old daughter Clara was dressed in a homemade cupcake outfit. "We'll see how long it lasts. And, whoops, there it goes."
The start of the event was a costume parade through downtown led by an equally costumed drum corps. After the parade, the kids bounced from one business to the next, filling up their buckets with candy the business owners were handing out.
"They can have as much as they want, because I don't want any left," explained Heather Williams, who works at Gather & Collect vintage shop on Main Street.
Joe Snellgrove's hot dog cart was a flurry of activity Saturday as well. He estimated he'd go through more than 200 franks before the end of the event.
"I got three hours of sleep last night," he explained. "I love this event with all the kids dressed up. I was up at 6 this morning, cutting tomatoes and onions. It's a big day."
The festival ended with a pet costume contest that was seemingly exclusively entered by dog owners. About four dozen pooches competed in multiple categories.
The contest is a first for sponsors, Animal Rescue Foundation of Illinois.
"We didn't really have any expectations going in, but we've had several people come up to inquire about fostering pets and volunteering with us," said foundation Treasurer Ingrid Behling. "We've also had at least one person who saw that we were going to be here today come looking for a particular dog we have on our website, so it was successful, I'd say."
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Katie Gibbons of Lombard, dressed as Mrs. Potato Head, gets the rest of her cast of "Toy Story 4" characters ready for the pet costume contest Saturday in downtown Glen Ellyn with her dog Barney as Woody, 3-year-old son Stephen as Buzz Lightyear and 7-year-old niece Penny Callahan of Glen Ellyn, as Forky. The family won first place in their category.
Jake Griffin/jgriffin@dailyherald.com
As an elder statesman of this quadrumvirate of Buzz Lightyears, Henry McNeill, 4, standing, inspects his 2-year-old little brothers Timmy, left, and Tommy, right, and their 4-year-old buddy James Iaconetti, top left.
Jake Griffin/jgriffin@dailyherald.com
A drum corps leads about 300 children and adults through downtown Glen Ellyn Saturday for a costume parade.
Jake Griffin/jgriffin@dailyherald.com
Clara Zecher, 2, of Glen Ellyn waits in her cupcake outfit with pal Natalie Woenker, 4, of Glen Ellyn for the costume parade to start Saturday in downtown Glen Ellyn.
Jake Griffin/jgriffin@dailyherald.com
Ilana Haimes of Madison, Wisconsin, was in town visiting family and decided she and her dog Pickles should enter the pet costume contest in downtown Glen Ellyn Saturday.
Jake Griffin/jgriffin@dailyherald.com
Alexis Gard, 3, left, of Elk Grove Village celebrates the bounty of candy she got during Saturday's downtown Glen Ellyn costume parade by shredding a hay bale with 7-year-old Teddy Horvath of Glen Ellyn.
Jake Griffin/jgriffin@dailyherald.com
Connor Petrovski, 2, of Glen Ellyn helps his mom, Christine, push his wagon through downtown Glen Ellyn Saturday as he hunts for Halloween candy during the morning costume parade.
Jake Griffin/jgriffin@dailyherald.com
Evelyn Lechner, 6, of Glen Ellyn gets her Dorothy outfit situated with help from her dad, Mike, ahead of Saturday's costume parade in downtown Glen Ellyn.
Jake Griffin/jgriffin@dailyherald.com