Gloria Dei Lutheran Church Hosts Safe Halloween Party

In trying to ensure safety on Halloween, held a “not so scary” Halloween bright light party from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. for kids and their parents to engage in some harmless fun.

The party featured bright lights everywhere -- on the floor and on the walls -- which helped make a dancing atmosphere. A young kid deejay worked the music on a Mac laptop and played Halloween songs like “Monster Mash” and interactive songs like the chicken dance, hokey-pokey and the Macarena.

“This is actually the first year we’ve done this,” said Mimi Fernandez, a youth-group leader for the church. “It’s just reaching out to the community and the kids for them to have a safe Halloween.”

The room included an arts and crafts table, candy table, foosball table and a food table. There was also an area for picture-taking and a guessing game of candy for everyone to play.

“This was in combination with Pastor Ron and we were throwing out some things that the kids can do during Halloween and he came up with the bright light party and I was like, 'I’m ready to throw a party!'” Fernandez said.

Throughout the two hour celebration of All Saints Eve, in walked a witch, a bumblebee, fairies, pirates, cats and ninjas, all excited to get their hands on the beach volleyball and hula-hoops.

“It’s not that long, but it’s good enough to have a little fun and then go home,” Fernandez said.

The biggest hits at the party — aside from the interactive games — were the tattoos and Chinese lantern making.

“For myself, I like to party, but for a child I think safety [is the most important part of Halloween],” Fernandez said. “Especially for the little kids; for as little as three-years-old to maybe 11 or 12, this is safer than walking around the neighborhood.”