When word came out that the Pottstown Halloween parade would not happen this year due to funding issues, community groups led by Hobart’s Run as parade organizer stepped up to help the parade step off on October 22. The required fees were covered by Hobart’s Run, The Hill School, Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation, State Rep. Joe Ciresi, State Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, and Tower Health.
Mayor Stephanie Henrick, dressed in Beetlejuice attire, was joined at the front by enthusiastic Pottstown CARES club students from Pottstown High School and The Hill School, dressed either as zombies or tooth fairies who distributed free toothbrushes to children spectators. The CARES team was escorted by golf carts driven by Dr. Christian D’Annibale, principal of Pottstown High School, and PSD’s mascot, Trojan Man, as well as Kathleen Devaney, Hill’s new Head of School, her husband and Hill science instructor Mark DeKanter, and Blue the Ram, Hill’s mascot.
Pottstown CARES students walked back up High Street after the parade to wield Hobart’s Run trash grabbers and pick up litter left behind. The students and their supervisors observed that, fortunately, most parade-goers did the right thing, as there was relatively little trash left behind. (To purchase your very own trash grabber, send an email to contact@hobartsrunpottstown.org or call Jacque at 610-705-1018! They are $20 each, with a free grabber if you purchase 10 or more. All proceeds help support our cleanup efforts.)
Special thanks to Hobart’s Run board member Jay Lankford of Heritage Coach for providing the spookily decorated hearse and Barron Himmelberger for loaning us the trailer and driving the Hobart’s Run/Pottstown CARES float.