A freaky Friday on Fort Myers Beach
It’s not every day you see clowns, pharaohs, princesses and dinosaurs in the same room.
Bay Oaks Recreation Center was filled with local families Friday for the annual Fright Night. With games and snacks, a haunted house and an escape room, there was something for every age this year.
It was Bay Oaks Director Sean De Palma’s first year organizing one of the center’s biggest events, and he said he was pleased to see how many different areas of the community came together to make it happen. From the local fire department to the town’s Public Works Department, everybody pitched in, he said.
“It was truly a community effort,” he said.
Besides about 35 community volunteers, De Palma had 30 students from Florida Gulf Coast University help out with the signature haunted house and haunted trail.
The re-make of Stephen King’s “It,” released in September, has made scary clown costumes a popular choice for Halloween this year – but the variety was endless. Superheros, cows, pilots and vampires were all well-represented.
Council Member Joanne Shamp said it was wonderful to see so many families filling the rec center. Often, being a self-described retired senior with friends mostly her age, it’s easy to think of Fort Myers Beach also being a senior-centric community, she said.
“But you come here, you see the families – the neighborhoods are full of families,” Shamp said. “They’re the core of our community.”