Community Event

Hocus Pocus in Voyageur Park on October 23rd

Pine City Parks and Recreation will host a new event on Friday, October 23, at Voyaguer Park.   The evening begins at 6:30 PM for attendees to arrive and find a spot on the grassy hill to enjoy an evening of fun with Hocus Pocus. The evening will include a kids costume parade (observing physically distancing guidelines), a costume contest for all ages, digital pumpkin carving contest and will finish with the showing of the Disney Classic “Hocus Pocus”. 

“I love Halloween and I really wanted to bring something exciting and new to Pine City during this Crazy Covid Year,” said Stacy O’Rourke, Parks & Recreation Director.  “It’s been challenging this year to come up with programming that is safe and follows CDC guidelines. We have the space in our parks to spread out and be physically distanced while still interacting with our friends and neighbors, so an outdoor movie screening seems like a good fit.”  

O’Rourke shared a list of the variety of activities that are being planned, including a Kids Costume Parade for anyone who would like to participate. Costumes are encouraged and need to be family appropriate for both the parade and the costume contest. Participants in the Costume Parade will be physically distanced 6 feet away from the person or group in front of them. They will then go on a short route around the park to show off their costumes.  “The costume contest will be judged by the audience, so you may want to get there a little early to show off your costume to everyone. We are going to have categories like, best costume, best couple costume, and most original costume.”  A complete list of the categories can be found on the City website at pinecitygov.com.

Pumpkin carving is an event that many people participate in at home, for that reason it is a great event to have. All you need to do to participate in the contest is take a snapshot of the pumpkin you carve and email it to [email protected] with Pumpkin Carving in the subject line. All entries must be submitted with first and last name, age if under 18 and phone number if you don’t plan to make it to the event. Submissions must be turned in by October 21 by 5PM. 

The highlight of the evening will begin at 7PM with the outdoor screening of the Disney Classic “Hocus Pocus”. An overview of the movie tells us that after moving to Salem, Mass., teenager Max Dennison explores an abandoned house with his sister Dani and their new friend, Allison. After dismissing a story Allison tells as superstitious, Max accidentally frees a coven of evil witches who used to live in the house. Now, with the help of a magical cat, the kids must steal the witches’ book of spells to stop them from becoming immortal. The Film is PG and will last 1h 36m.  Make sure to bring chairs, blankets and snacks to enjoy during the movie. For more information about this event and other Parks and Recreation activities in Pine City, follow our facebook page at www.facebook.com/pinecityparks or on the city website at www.pinecitygov.com/parksrecreation.