Halloween celebrated at local schools

Halloween started early at two of La Cañada’s elementary schools on Friday, Oct. 15.

La Cañada and Paradise Canyon Elementary both hosted a pumpkin patch and harvest festival.

Students and parents gathered at both campuses to pick out their prized pumpkin and celebrate Halloween 16 days early.

Paradise Canyon had homemade baked goods, face painting, pumpkin decorating and a dance party to commemorate the event. Carey Haynes, a local Realtor with Coldwell Banker, is once again sponsoring the event with Kirk Smith of Smith Produce to provide the pumpkins. Raffle tickets were also available to win a chance at claiming Big Mac, the largest pumpkin in the patch.

A few miles down the road, La Cañada Elementary had Halloween treats, shirts and pumpkins ripe for carving for sale with the proceeds going towards the school. Everyone had a chance to buy a raffle ticket to win the creation of a master pumpkin carver, who demonstrated his skills by carving several pumpkins on site.

La Cañada Elementary uses the harvest festival as a sample of what’s to come at their Halloween Haunt, the school’s largest fundraiser of the year.

No one will be going home empty-handed as there will be plenty of family-friendly games, where kids will collect tickets to buy a prize at the end of the day. Everyone will have a chance to leave with a cake during the “creepy cakewalk” and enter their carved pumpkin in the Haunt Pumpkin Carving and Decorating Contest. Vacation packages, spa certificates, food and wine, jewelry and tickets to sporting and other events will be sold to the highest bidder during the silent auction.

Of course, there will be plenty of food. Halloween treats will be available throughout the day, including some Korean barbecue. The Halloween Haunt is on Oct. 23, and will go from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.