Residents at Monte Vista Estates eagerly awaited trick-or-treaters with goodies.

MONTE VISTA—Hundreds of pre-Halloween trick-or-treaters crawled out from just about every nook and cranny on Friday, Oct. 26 for the Moonlight Madness ghoul fest in downtown Monte Vista.
There were kids dressed up as batgirl and witches, football players and princesses, transformers and mermaids, puppies, kitty cats, minion, little farmers and wood fairies. There was even a mini tin man paying homage to the classic movie “Wizard of Oz.” A very charming young girl donned the most beautifully-crafted Day of the Dead costume, earning one of the evening’s top costume prizes.
The Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce handed out maps of participating businesses, and volunteers working in conjunction with Vali 3 Theater hosted the fourth annual haunted house in the upstairs space above the old video store on Adams Street. Don Tomas Bakery baked up special hand pastries as ghoulish treats.   
Though most of the participating businesses were located in the downtown area, there were a few off-the-beaten-path candy angels, such as the Monte Vista Estates nursing home behind Ski Hi Complex. Staff at the nursing home bedecked the facility with Halloween decor. Outside the front doors hung creepy clowns, ghost circles and caged skeletons. On the ground lay pumpkin-headed bodies and witch’s legs sticking up from the grass as if the sorcerers were half buried.
Inside the nursing home was a much sweeter scene. Elder residents able to participate in the festivities sat in the reception area eagerly awaiting trick-or-treaters, each clutching a bag filled with candy for handing out to young visitors. As kids went around the semicircle accepting candy, everyone was all smiles.