UMATILLA COUNTY — Halloween 2021 will be a holiday to remember for people of Eastern Oregon.

Friday to Sunday, Oct. 29 to 31, 2021, people turned out for local events. Some attended the activities as visitors, others as helpers, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

It was a big year for many people, as they delighted in experiences that had been canceled the year prior because of the coronavirus pandemic.

At Downtown Trick or Treat in Pendleton with her family, Dawn Skinner, Pendleton, was one of the many people making her way to see the Heritage Haunt. It was at the Heritage Station Museum and included costumed characters and candy giveaways.

It was fun, Skinner said. She especially liked treating her granddaughter to the tradition because she was not able to experience it last year.

Granddaughter Sawyer Skinner, 4, was dressed up as Ariel, from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” Downtown Trick or Treat was fun, she said. She also said she liked the Echo Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch, which she had visited earlier with her family.

It was scary, she said, adding she and her group got lost in some places.

“We used teamwork and found our way out,” Danny Kain, Pendleton, said.

Kain, Skinner’s friend who was with the family at the maze in Echo, also was with them in Pendleton for trick-or-treating.

Sawyer said she liked dressing up in costume.

“My mom likes it too,” she said of her outfit.

While young Sawyer and companions trekked Main Street, other people strove to make their enjoyment possible. Workers stood at the openings to many businesses, gifting children with candies. Long lines were common.

Joanna Engle, executive director of the Children’s Museum of Eastern Oregon, was one such person. She handed out candies from the doorstep of the museum, 400 S. Main St., and gave free museum passes to adults.

“This is another fun opportunity for us to get people into the museum and let people know about it,” she said.

She also liked making people happy, she said. When she was a child, she said, she enjoyed dressing up, which is why Halloween was a fun holiday. It was a time for her and her siblings to have fun together with the rest of the family. She added, as someone who works around children, creating joy for youngsters, giving them the same experiences, she had when she was small, means a lot to her.

With Engle, Kim Chavez-Sierra, museum board chair, said she also was loving greeting kids and giving them a happy Halloween. Chavez-Sierra is married to East Oregonian reporter Antonio Sierra.

“Halloween is actually my favorite holiday, even as an adult,” she said.

A kindergarten teacher, she added she the merriness on display at Downtown Trick or Treat was a good sight. The past year, with the pandemic continuing, has been tough on people, she said, and she was happy to see people finding joy in this activity, providing they were safe.

Stanfield

Also on Oct. 30, Stanfield’s Fall Festival & Haunted Library activities including games and “trunk-or-treat” provided much fun, thanks to the work of several volunteers. Cecili Longhorn, Stanfield Public Library director, was one of those volunteers. Dressed as a scarecrow, she welcomed people into the library, which was decorated as a haunted house.

Volunteers spent a couple of days setting up the library. There were eight other volunteers at the library alone for the “haunted library.” Some were dressed as monsters and murderers inside.

“Mom! I’m scared! Mom! Mom!” one small child shouted while touring the library, which was dark inside and contained frightening displays and music. Other visitors screamed, too, then laughed at themselves for being startled. The attraction, then, had its intended effect.

“We started it eight years ago,” Longhorn said. “A friend and I decided we wanted to do a fall festival, and we asked if anyone was interested in volunteering. Somewhere along the way, we thought it would be fun to do a haunted library.”

She said she had not, until then, even heard of a haunted library. A group of volunteers came together, and the idea grew from there. The library building, which closed for two days prior to the event in preparation, always contain fun new ideas she said. She expressed volunteers do a lot of work to give the impression of a large space inside their little library.

“I hope everyone who comes will come again to see what the library really looks like,” she said.

Hermiston

Hermiston hosted several events, including Treats on Main & Beyond. Local businesses handed out candy to costumed trick-or-treaters.

“It was pretty cool,” Sarah Ramos, Hales’ Restaurant hostess, said. There were many visitors with fun costumes, including some decked out as dinosaurs, she said.

Cristal Carman, cook for Veg Out, participated also in the festivities, as she handed out candy with a co-worker.

“It turned out really good,” she said. “I really enjoyed seeing all the costumes. Some of them made them themselves. Others had unique themes, like some ballplayers from ‘A League of Their Own.’ So I really enjoyed it, and I think the kids did, too.”

Another impressive costume, she said, was Col. Sanders, the KFC founder and mascot. Someone dressed up like the Colonel and carried a bucket of fried chicken, Carmen said.

Over at the Hermiston Public Library, staff also reported having a good time with their volunteerism. Vivian Cano, library assistant, was one of those volunteers, helping to put “goody bags” together and then handing them out to children.

She said she saw many excellent costumes — a giant banana, unicorns, Fortnite characters and more. She noted the specialness of this holiday, especially as some of the kids were enjoying it for the first time in a couple of years, having had it cancelled last year due to COVID-19 worries.

“They were excited, shy but excited once they got their bags,” she said. The bags contained candy, bookmarks and library information.