Despite the cold and precautions, The Anchor saw such a great turnout for its fall programming and Halloween events that it’s going to do it again.
Who said Halloween can’t repeat?
Certainly not Chris Sinclair, of The Anchor.
“I was hoping things would go well last week and weekend in our fall programming here,” he said. “In fact, it went particularly well and I think the safe trick-or-treating went really well. I’d say we had 200 to 300 kids over a period of time. I don’t know how many kids there are in Charlestown, but it felt like we had a lot of them. So, we’ve decided to do it all again this week. In a regular year, I would be shocked by a good response for Halloween #2, but this year there’s not a lot happening and people need it.”
So it is, they will repeat the pumpkin patch, the apple trees, the kid’s activities, and the adult party afterwards. They will, though, have to follow the governor’s new guidelines and close by 9:30 p.m. Friday onward. But that won’t stop a lot of the fun prior to.
One of the most exciting features was the professional pumpkin carver, he said. The carver was designated as the 2019 Food Network Carver of the Year, and his designs and work process were fascinating to watch. However in the pandemic, he had very little business until appearing at The Anchor.
“We brought him here three times, and we’ll bring him one more time,” said Sinclair. “It keeps him in business and it’s clearly been a fan favorite.”
This week will also feature a gourd painting party, another Dia De Los Muertos paint party, trick or treating around 3 p.m., costume themed fitness classes, “paint the colors of the fall” canvas party, a fourth pumpkin carving demo and of course, Nightmare In The Navy Yard #2 on Saturday evening.
Sinclair said they would be ready for any chilly weather, though this weekend is supposed to be seasonally warm, but they have more than 5,000 single-use blankets ready and 10,000 hand-warmers to pass out.
“It keeps people warm and keeps people happy and helps us open,” he said. “These things go hand-in-hand.”
Here are some quick stats on The Anchor’s fall presentation:
•5 tons of pumpkins in the “city’s largest urban pumpkin patch”
•60 eight to ten foot-tall corn stalks
•22 apple trees
•Approximately 1,000 gourds
•Nearly 1 ton of hay/straw
•All sourced from a small regional farms
•Three professional pumpkin carving demonstrations and a fourth this week
•100+ Halloween props (many of which were custom fabricated)
•Daily socially distanced Halloween programming including sugar pumpkin painting, Dia De Los Muertos paint party, succulent decorating, tricking or treating, pumpkin carving, costume contest and live children’s music – daily leading into Halloween.
“It goes without saying that we are grateful to Mayor Walsh, his administration and the BPDA as their support during an extremely challenging year that enabled us to come together as a community and celebrate a fall tradition with some semblance of normalcy,” he concluded. “Plus we’ve created new traditions, like the pumpkin patch and our other themes, that we look forward to continuing in years to come.”