MACUNGIE, Pa. — The coronavirus pandemic was what first shut down Macungie's Halloween parade.
Then, last year, when it was set to return, further setbacks meant the borough went two years without the neighborhood tradition.
- The Lower Lehigh Lions Club, due to declining membership and lack of community participation, was no longer able to host the Macungie Halloween parade in 2021, after the prior year was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns
- With the threat of it not returning for a third year, a new group of three volunteers are reviving the parade, and are introducing a new "Halloween Festival" to the borough
- The event takes place starting at 5:00pm in Macungie Memorial Park, with the parade moving through many nearby streets
- Traditional Trick or Treat remains 6-8 p.m. on Oct. 31.
Now, thanks to a new group of volunteers, the event formerly run by the Lower Lehigh Lions Club is set to return to the streets of Macungie, alongside a new festival.
"We kind of made it a whole big event for the family," Margaret Young, one of the event's organizers, said.
Young said it started when she reached out to the Lions Club in August to see what the plan was for the year and, having volunteered with the Macungie Memorial Park, to see how she could help.
Instead, she was briefed on challenges with participation and membership the club was facing, and the prior year's difficulty with recruiting community members for the parade. Unable to support the event anymore, she and the volunteers were told they could take on the “adventure” of reviving the parade through the park.
Now, working with other volunteers MaryKate Messler and Morgan Martin, the parade is back on, with an additional draw.
Reviving the event
Young, Messler and Martin all are mothers of young children, which motivated them to bring back the event for the community.
“We all did it when we were kids, we had parades," Young said, "So we want our kids to enjoy the same thing, because those are great childhood memories to have."
The new Halloween Festival is set to begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, followed by the traditional parade about 7 p.m. out of the Macungie Memorial Park.
The festival will feature various family games and activities, with prizes and candy up for grabs.
A variety of food trucks and other vendors also will be present at the festival, which will last until the parade goes through the park, about 8 p.m.
The festival costs $5 per family.
The parade has taken place for decades, and is a community staple, much like nearby parades in Emmaus and elsewhere.
Angela Faidley, a local art studio owner, for years has participated in parades in Macungie, Emmaus and Alburtis with different floats.
She said she and many of her neighbors took note when the parade did not return last October.
“I kind of understood the COVID thing, that nobody was doing anything," Faidley said. "But the next year, I was hoping it would come back, which it didn't. So it's exciting that it's back this year.”
Faidley said it's always a delight to take part in the event, and that it's nice that both community members and organizations stepped up to help bring it back.
“I think the whole entire town is thrilled that the parade is coming back," Faidley said. "I think [not having] it was a big disappointment. Everybody's emails and Facebook and everything was like, ‘What do you mean, there's not a parade?’
It was devastating for a lot of people. So I think everybody's very excited. It's like a giant party, it seems even bigger than trick or treat night to tell you the truth.”
Hidden difficulties behind Halloween parades
Despite Halloween parades being a staple of many communities throughout the Lehigh Valley, they have a lot of hidden difficulties.
With declining membership and participation in the fraternal clubs and their events—a trend that goes far beyond just the Lehigh Valley—former parade coordinator for the Lions Club David Briggs, who headed the parade for a decade, said it was a relief that a new group is helping out.
"It's not simple at all," Briggs said.
It takes a lot to run a parade. Paperwork and contacts need to be made with not just the borough and local participants and organizations, but also the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) with insurance, route and permit considerations.
There also was the matter of getting a grant from the borough as the Lions Club had in the past. It also requires a lot of volunteers to help out the day of the event.
"We couldn't get the people to join," Briggs said. "We would try and get younger people to, and younger people nowadays are busy. I know, they're very busy. They can't get into, you know, an organization where you have to have bodies and everything help out and stuff like that. “
All that had to be tackled by Young and her partners, and they're now finishing organizing the event after the months-long process.
“We all did it when we were kids, we had parades, so we want our kids to enjoy the same thing, because those are great childhood memories to have."Margaret Young, co-parade organizer
Young, Messler and Martin previously worked on an Easter festival at Macungie Memorial Park and did other volunteer work with the nonprofit and around the borough.
"I didn't really realize the depth of planning that gets included for the parade,” Young said. “It's a lot of planning. It's a lot of outreach to the community.”
She said a lot of great volunteers have stepped up, including friends, families and community members, and they've received sponsorship and support from area businesses.
At different times, too, the volunteers said they got advice, resources and answers to questions from Briggs and the Lions Club on how things were done in the past.
"It's hard to find, you know, 20, 30 people who are willing to just give up their Saturday night to make sure 2,000, to 3,000 people have fun," Young said.
"So people want these big events, but when you have to find volunteers to take time out of their schedule in order to host, that is a scramble and very difficult to find. We had to do a lot of outreach."
But now that the event is coming into view, Young and her partners are ready to bring the event back to the community.
"I think we're gaining traction," Young said. "I think everyone's in the Halloween spirit. It's right around the corner; we're pretty excited."
When discussing the event, Briggs looked back on his time as the manager of the event, bringing things into the digital age for the managers.
“I'm glad that somebody has taken over and I'm glad to see a younger group that can make changes just like I did 10 years ago and make things streamlined and nicer," Briggs said.
“That's the only way to keep a parade going. I mean, that's the only way to keep any of these organizations going, is to step up.”
